Recipe for "chili-3"

NAME

     CHILI-3 - Andy's own recipe for meat/bean chili
     This is the descendant of the chili that  I've  been  making
     since 1974.

INGREDIENTS (3 liters)

     1.3 kg    canned beans (drained)
     1.5 kg    stewed tomatoes
     1 kg      beef, cut  into  bite-sized  pieces  and  browned.
               Don't use ground beef.
     2         garlic cloves, chopped
     3         medium jalapeno peppers, cut up
     2         green bell peppers, diced
     1 or 2    medium onions, diced
     1 bottle  flavorful beer
     30 ml     cumin
     10 ml     paprika
     5 ml      cayenne pepper

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Saute the meat and onions. You may do  it  in  the
               same  pan  that you are going to put the chili in.
               The meat should be brown on the outside,  but  you
               don't have to cook it much at this time.
          (2)  Drain the fat from the beef.
          (3)  Put everything in a big pot over low heat (a  slow
               cooker is handy) and stir together.
          (4)  Wait half an hour to an hour and check the  flavor
               of the soupy base.  Adjust as you see fit. Perhaps
               add more beer, hot peppers, or spices.  Repeat  as
               necessary.
          (5)  Wait as long as you  can,  stirring  occasionally.
               You  may  eat it when the beans and beef are soft.
               Serve with bread, fresh-baked  biscuits  or  corn-
               bread.

NOTES

     This is best if it has cooked at least overnight.  Generally
     it's  ready  for consumption after about three hours. If you
     can't turn your stove down to a very low heat, you're  bound
     to burn the bottom of the chili a little, but as long as you
     don't scrape it off, it will taste  okay.  Slow-cookers  are
     great in this regard!
     At the three hour mark, the chili is somewhat soupy. If  you
     want  it  to  thicken  up, turn up the heat a bit and let it
     boil off the excess water.  While doing this, stir every few
     minutes or you may burn the bottom!
     I change the proportions of ingredients  (double  the  beef,
     drop  the  beans,  add  LOTS  more cumin) all the time; this
     recipe is just a general guideline.  The  amount  of  garlic
     given  in  the  recipe is very conservative.  Garbanzo beans
     (chick peas) are nice, but they take a lot longer  to  cook.
     Making  it  with  lamb or Italian sausage instead of beef is
     also interesting. Cherry peppers instead of jalapeno peppers
     are very nice also.
     Do not use wimpy American beer!  I have found that Moosehead
     adds a good flavor, and I bet that Anchor Steam will too.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 15  minutes  preparation,  3  hours
     cooking.  Precision: no need to measure.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Andrew Scott Beals
     Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore Ca
     bandy@lll-crg.arpa, {ihnp4,pyramid,seismo,topaz,ll-xn}!lll-crg!bandy