Kitchen highlights: beer-chilli
You’re always cooking the same five old recipes, and you’re starting to get a bit bored with them? Then I’ve got something here for you, because I think it’s time for another recipe – and since I like trying out something new in the kitchen, chilli con carne was on the menu this weekend . Boring? No, not in the slightest! Because this was not a run-of-the mill chilli, but one with a mystery ingredient namely with beer.
I’ve already tested chilli in numerous variants: ultra-traditional, but also, for example, with cinnamon and chocolate – though the latter wasn’t really my cup of tea. I was worried that in the beer version the taste of the beer would be obliterated by vigorous boiling, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, as the saying goes, so I gave the whole thing a chance: I started by reading a few recipes to see how beer can be used in chilli, and then put together my own favourite mixture. Whereupon I set off straight away for the supermarket.
My beer-chilli recipe evolved like this:
Ingredients for 4 people
- Oil for browning
- 700 g minced beef
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Salt, pepper
- Chilli flakes
- Chilli powder
- 300 ml dark bier
- 1 can of liquidised tomatoes (hot)
- 3 tbs tomato purée
- Dash of Tabasco
- Herbs of your choice
- 1 can of sweet corn
- 1 can of kidney beans
Preparation:
First of all, finely dice the onion and the garlic. Then heat up the oil in a large pot and brown the onion and the garlic. Then brown the minced beef as well, and add the seasonings (salt, pepper, chilli flakes, herbs, Tabasco). Deglaze the whole thing with dark beer, and reduce it by boiling for about 15 minutes.
Add the liquidised tomatoes and the tomato purée, and then let the chilli simmer away for about half an hour. About five minutes before the end, all you have to do is add the sweet corn and the kidney beans.
That’s it!
In the end, fortunately, my fears proved groundless! The beer in the chilli was very pleasantly detectable, imparting a very intensive, full-bodied taste, which even my friends who don’t drink beer absolutely loved. The secret ingredient, however, remained a secret until I chose to reveal it. Only then were my tasters able to identify the taste of beer. That doesn’t change my verdict at all, though: the best chilli con carne, I’ve ever made! And everyone at the table concurred!
That’s it. This is something you should definitely try for yourself – enjoy!
