Chili with beef and vegetables #2

I decided to mix bits of my Spicy Vegetarian Chili and Chili with beef #1 (Mad River Glen recipe) and came up with this. It's delicious! Makes 5 servings (about 11 oz. each).

• 8 oz. ground beef. I used 91/9 Angus ground beef.

• 1 yellow onion, medium diced

• 1 green pepper, medium diced

• 2 carrots, medium diced

• 2 stalks celery, medium diced

• 1 jalapeño, stemmed and minced, with seeds and ribs

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

• 12 oz. beer, ale preferred

• 1 tbsp. chili powder (I used pasilla chile powder from Whole Spice, though I really intended to use the dark chili powder. Both are very good. Both are hotter than supermarket chili powder.)

• 1 tsp. dried oregano

• 1 tsp. dried thyme

• 1 tbsp. ground cumin

• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

• 15 oz. can tomato sauce

• 15 oz. can diced tomato, with liquid (I used fire roasted with medium green chiles)

• 15 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

• 2 chipotle in adobo, diced, with sauce

• 1/2 tbsp. Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce, to taste

• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

• salt

Dice the vegetables.

Put a little oil in the bottom of a sauté pan and brown the ground beef. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. When done, set the beef aside. I used 91/9 (9 % fat) Angus ground beef so there was nothing to drain off.

The dry spices. Since I had whole cumin, I ground the cumin and black peppercorns in my spice grinder. This is everything:

My canned goods:

• Muir Glen organic tomato sauce
• Muir Glen organic diced tomatoes, fire roasted, with medium green chiles
• Westbrae Natural organic kidney beans, drained and rinsed

I figured the fire roasted diced tomatoes with chiles would add extra flavor. 

2-3 chipotles in adobo, with about 1 tbsp. of the adobo sauce. I vacuum seal and freeze packages of 2-3 after opening a new can. These were previously frozen.

And my beer. 12 oz. bottle of Saranac pale ale.

Add a little oil to the pot you'll be cooking the chili in. Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat (3 on my induction hot plate) for a few minutes until softened. Make sure the onion doesn't burn. Add the celery, carrot and garlic and cook for a few more minutes.

Add the green pepper and jalapeño and cook for several minutes until softened.  Add the beef and the beer. Add the dry spices. Increase the heat to bring it nearly to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the beans (drained and rinsed), tomato sauce, diced tomato (with liquid) and chipotles in adobo. Increase the heat to bring it nearly to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer (2 on my induction hot plate).

And here it is, ready to simmer for an hour. Stir periodically to prevent the bottom from burning. If it looks too dry, add water.

When almost done add the 1/2 tbsp. Tabasco or other hot sauce to taste, 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce and salt to taste.

All done. Looks good, and is very tasty!

Pictured above with jalapeño cornbread. I often add a little shredded Cabot extra sharp cheddar cheese when serving, but I didn't today.

Four remaining servings vacuum sealed and frozen.

I usually reheat the frozen servings by defrosting the vacuum sealed bag in water (about an hour in cold water), the reheating in a saucepan.

You can also reheat boil-in-bag. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, this takes about 9 minutes in my stove. Then add the frozen vacuum sealed bag. Bring back to a boil, cover, then reduce to simmer for 9 minutes. Flip the bag over, then simmer for 9 more minutes.

Update: March 13, 2020 Also have made it with Beyond veggie ground instead of beef (but it's better with real beef).

2024-01-27

Made a new batch. It's good! Made 7 servings of 6.5 oz. for lunch or dinner, and 3 servings of 2.0 oz. for chili dogs.