Cooking With Beer

I’ve had some beer chilis that were downright horrible, but I hit the mark with this. 

Background

I like the deeper flavor of bison, and I wanted to make a decent Tex-Mex chili. I started with 3 packs of bison and I knew the sauce base would be stewed tomatoes (thanks to my brother-in-law). This type of chili should have onion, a green pepper (and perhaps a red pepper, although I didn’t), and some garlic. I also used spices to that area – cayenne pepper, chili pepper, cilantro, cumin, chipotle pepper, and black pepper. No salt was used in this recipe, although I’m sure there was some in the stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Oh, and I used about half a glass of a malty pale ale. The spices were not to the ‘light your ass on fire’ point, I wanted flavor and some spice, but I wanted it edible.

Recipe and Directions

3 pounds ground bison
1 red onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 green pepper, chopped
6 oz pale ale (other light ale may be able to be used, malty likely works best here)
3 cans (14.5 oz or so) stewed tomatoes
1 can (14.5 oz or so) tomato sauce
2 cans pinto beans (drained and rinsed well)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cilantro
1 tsp paprika
1/2 T (1 1/2 tsp) cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 T chili powder
1/8 tsp chipotle pepper

Directions:

1. Brown the bison, drain if necessary, transfer to crock pot
2. Re-oil pan if necessary, add onion and cook
3. Add garlic, cook for a minute or two, add beer
4. Add green pepper, cook until it’s tender
5. Add all pan contents (onion, garlic, green pepper, beer) to crock pot
6. Drain and rinse beans, add to crock pot
7. Add stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce to crock pot, break tomatoes up while stirring
8. Add all spices to crock pot, stir well
9. Cook two hours on high, then drop temperature to low for another 4-6 hours
10. Serve!

I paired this with the last of the pale ale I used for cooking and corn bread cooked in a cast iron skillet.

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This was a hit with the entire family, and the salt was not missed. Cheers!