Chipotle Beer Chili to Celebrate a Blog’s Birthday

Chipotle en adobo, dark beer and smoked paprika bring a deep, smoky flavor to this chili. Just the recipe for game day or a cozy afternoon in front of the fireplace.

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Happy Birthday to Gusto! One year ago today I was in a blogging slump and started this second blog to get my mojo back. It worked! I even blog more here now than I do on my original Reid All About It blog.

I’m so grateful for all of you who come here to read and comment and to those of you who share my posts on Twitter and Facebook. I get great pleasure from writing here, I’m so happy that others find my posts useful or interesting too.

Last year on January 12 I blogged about Saturday Night Football Chili. I didn’t give the recipe in the post, instead I wrote about the changes I made to the original Serious Eats recipe and provided a link.

I’ve tweaked that recipe since I posted it last year, changing the spices and adding a few additional ingredients. I think you’ll like it.

Bad photo of really good chili – can someone get me a light?
Football Chili | Grabbing the Gusto

Chipotle Beer Chili

• 2 pounds ground chuck — I’ve never made this with ground turkey or bison, but it probably works.
  
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, stemmed and chopped
• 2-3 (or more) garlic cloves, chopped
• 10 ounces doppelbock, porter or stout (save a few sips for the cook!) — I used Duck-Rabbit Porter.
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika – I used sweet smoked paprika since I have a lot of heat going on here.
  
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced – I added an extra teaspoon because it was already minced.
  
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1-1/2 cups corn (thawed if frozen)
  
• 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained
• Salt and pepper
• Optional toppings – sour cream, sliced scallions, grated cheddar cheese, pickled jalapenos, chopped cilantro

Crumble up and cook the beef in your largest pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat until it’s no longer pink. I use a wooden spatula to stir and smoosh it around while it’s browning. Make sure you break up the meat into small crumbles, no large chunks. Remove the beef to a plate and, in a nod to your heart’s health, drain the fat.

Heat the canola oil in that same pot on medium-low to medium heat and add the onions, green bell pepper and jalapeno. Sauté, stirring often, until they soften. Add the garlic and sauté one minute more or until it starts to golden. A weird, perhaps, aside: When sautéeing garlic, I push the veggies to the sides of the pot, put the garlic in the middle, add a tiny bit of oil on top of it and sauté on low, so it gets golden but not burnt.

Add the beer and let it reduce while scraping the bottom of the pan to release any cooked bits clinging to the bottom. Then add the browned beef, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, brown sugar, chipotles, tomatoes, corn and beans, and stir to mix. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. Add your choice of toppings and serve with cornbread.

Original recipe: Beef and Dark Beer Chili, Serious Eats

flickr photo by Shoshanah