sneaky_pepper_chilli.md

Sneaky Pepper Chilli v2.0

Ingredients

1. One red onion
2. One red bell pepper (green is ok if red is unavailable)
3. One celery stalk
4. One carrot
5. One jalepeno
6. 3 pounds of ground beef
7. One 29 ounce can of tomato sauce
8. 3 cans of black beans
9. One can of kidney beans (or any other bean you prefer)
10. fresh cilantro/coriander
11. Cumin
12. American Chili Powder (I buy this premade but have linked to a recipe in case unavailable)
13. Umami Powder and/or MSG
14. Garlic
15. Basil (I use dried but fresh is ok)
16. Cayenne Powder and/or Red Pepper Flakes
17. One bottle of beer
18. beef stock

Directions

Cut red onion into thirds. Dice the first third small. Cut the other two thirds into centimeter sized pieces. Keep all three separate.

Cut bell pepper into centimeter sized pieces. Dice one third of these smaller and place with the finely diced onion. Place the rest with the final third of the onions.

Dice celery stalk finely. Place with finely diced onions.

Cut carrot in half. Dice a third of these finely. Place finely diced with onion and bell pepper. Cut the rest into centimeter sized chunks and place with bell pepper and onion.

Cut your jalepeno into thick-ish rings. Take two of these rings and dice finely and put with the other finely diced aromatics. Place rest with the larger cut.

In a saute pan, heat some olive oil to a medium heat and stir in the finely diced aromatics. We are making a mirepoix/Holy Trinity. Don't let these get too hot. We want to cook these extremely slowly so they don't caramelize. Simmer on low for about twenty minutes while you begin next step.

Now, in the pot you'll be cooking your chilli in, add a bit of olive oil and heat. Place the third of the onions which were left by themselves in and caramelize them. Once they are nice and caramelized, add your beef in to begin browning. Place three tablespoons of your chili powder in with the beef.

Once beef is browned, add the rest of the onions, bell peppers, jalepenos, and carrots. Stir in the cans of beans and tomato sauce. Save one of the cans of beans. Fill the can with beef stock and pour in. Add two heaping tablespoons of cumin, two tablespoons of chili powder, garlic, basil, salt, black pepper, cayenne/pepper flakes and msg/umami powder to taste.

Pour in half of the beer. Drink the rest.

Check your mirepoix. It should be very soft now. Add to chilli. You can deglaze the pan with some beef stock or beer if desired and add that to the chilli as well.

Bring chilli to boil. Let simmer at least 2 hours. Check every thirty minutes or so and taste. Add more chili powder and/or other spices as need.

About ten minutes before serving, add some of the fresh cilantro. I use about a quarter cup but use your own judgement.

Has anybody made this? It's making me hungry. :)

I make it a couple times a year and it's always a hit. These days I just add the whole beer, and grab another one for drinking though ;)

Haha. I would do the same. What kind of beer do you typically use? e.g. Lager, stout, does it matter, etc.?

Usually a corona because that's just what I like to drink, but I think any beer you like to drink will be good. Most of the subtlety is cooked off anyways.