Texas Style Beer Braised Chili

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 10 dried bell peppers (*aji panca)
• 10 dried bell peppers (*cascabel)
• 1 dried pepper (*habanero)
• 5 lbs ground chuck
• 2 onions, diced
• 4 dried red bell peppers, diced
• 3 dried jalapenos, seeds removed diced
• 2 (16 ounce) bottles beer (a strong american ale or porter)
• 3 cups red wine
• 2 (28 ounce) cans peeled italian tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 1 tablespoon ground pepper (*aleppo)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne (more if you would like it spicier)
• 3 teaspoons red chili pepper flakes
• 1 head garlic, roasted
• 1 (8 ounce) can pickled jalapeno peppers, diced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 bunch scallion, thinly sliced (garnish)

Recipe

• 1 for the chili powder: toast the aji panca, cascabel, and habanero chilies in a 350 degree f oven until they are fragrant and crunchy. let them cool, then break them open and remove the seeds. grind them in a spice grinder and set aside.
• 2 for the chili: brown beef in a large stockpot over medium high heat. drain off fat and remove beef from pot. add the onion, red bell pepper, raw jalapenos, and 1/4 cup of the chili powder to the pot. cook until the vegetables are softened and the chili powder is toasted.
• 3 deglaze with beer and red wine. reduce by half and then add the tomatoes, the ground aleppo pepper, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne and red chili flake.
• 4 simmer for at least an hour. add beef back to the mix. add roasted garlic, pickled jalapenos, and salt and pepper to taste.
• 5 for spicier chili, add more ground aleppo pepper and cayenne pepper. garnish with scallions.
• 6 *these peppers can be found at kalustyan’s or at most specialty/gourmet grocery stores.