Chili with beef #1 (Mad River Glen recipe)
I've often made my Spicy Vegetarian Chili but I decided to make a meat recipe, based on the one from the Mad River Glen ski area in Vermont.
I also have an updated version with more vegetables and other modifications that I like better than this recipe.
Makes about 5 bowls (about 12 oz. each).
1 lb. ground beef. I used 91/9 Angus ground beef. 4 slices of bacon medium diced (see below) 1 white onion, medium diced 1 green pepper, medium diced 1 jalapeño, stemmed and minced, with seeds and ribs (my addition) 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp. maple syrup (next time I'm going to use 1/2 tbsp.)
16 oz. beer, ale preferred
1 tbsp. chili powder (I used dark chili powder from Whole Spice , which is a little spicier than supermarket kind) 1 tsp. dried oregano 1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tbsp. ground cumin 1 dried chipotle pepper 1/2 tsp. black pepper
15 oz. tomato sauce 15 oz. diced tomato, with liquid (I used fire roasted with medium green chiles) 15 oz. kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tbsp. Tabasco sauce (original recipe called 1 tbsp., but I added other hot peppers along the way) 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce salt
Put a little oil in the bottom of the pot you'll use to make the chili in and brown the ground beef. When done, set the beef aside. I used 91/9 (9 % fat) Angus ground beef so there was nothing to drain off.
While that's preparing dice the vegetables and bacon.
Here are the spices. Since I had whole cumin, I ground the cumin, dried chipotle pepper, and black peppercorns in my spice grinder. This is everything:
Here are my canned goods:
Muir Glen organic tomato sauce Muir Glen organic diced tomatoes, fire roasted, with medium green chiles Westbrae Natural organic kidney beans
I figured the fire roasted diced tomatoes with chiles would add extra flavor. Also, the original recipe called for plain tomato purée, but my grocery store didn't have an organic version of it, so I used tomato sauce.
And my beer. 16 oz. of Saranac pale ale. Any ale is good, actually it probably would work with any beer. Since I used 12 oz. bottles I drank the 8 oz. remainder.
Since I always have frozen pre-cooked bacon, I used 4 slices. The original recipe called for 4 oz. uncooked weight of bacon, which now that I think about it, is probably more than 4 slices. If starting from uncooked bacon, cook that in the pot next and drain off excess bacon grease. Otherwise, add a little oil to the pot if necessary and add the bacon and cook for a few minutes. Add the onions, green pepper, jalapeño and garlic and cook for several minutes until softened. Add the 1 tbsp. maple syrup and stir. Cook over medium-low heat until the onions just being to caramelize.
Add the beer to deglaze the pan. Add the spices. Increase the heat to bring it nearly to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer and cook for 6 minutes.
Add the beef, beans, tomato sauce and diced tomato. Increase the heat to bring it nearly to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer.
And here it is, ready to simmer.
The original recipe called for simmering it as long as you can. I did it for an hour on the #2 setting on my induction hot plate, but longer is probably better.
When about 10 minutes from being done add the 1/2 tbsp. Tabasco sauce, 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce and salt to taste. The original recipe called for 1 tbsp. Tabasco, but I had already added the fresh jalapeño and tomatoes with chiles, so I added half that amount to start and it was good. Add more or less or your favorite hot sauce as desired.
If it looks too dry while simmering, add some water, but mine was fine using the #2 setting on my induction hot plate.
All done. Looks good, and is very tasty!
Pictured above with jalapeño cornbread and little Cabot extra sharp cheddar cheese microplaned on top.
Four remaining servings vacuum sealed and frozen.
