Serving suggestion

This recipe is from Barbie Carson of Franklin, Virginia who I had the pleasure of meeting on Facebook. She is a friend of my Aunt Pam and Uncle Vernon on my dad’s side. Barbie’s beer chili can be modified to fit your favorite chili recipe. For that reason, I have listed two recipes below. Use the first one if you want to add beer to your own recipe. Use the second one if you need a complete recipe. For the second recipe, Barbie added beer to my Aunt Gail’s beef chili. Barbie says that “the magic of the beer is working to take the music right out of those beans and adds a great flavor!”

Recipe #1 (Beer added to your own chili recipe)

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 2-3 hours
Serves 6-8
Freeze any leftovers.

Instructions:

• Fry your beef and onions together as usual.
• Add kidney beans and one regular beer. (Not light beer, nor Lager beer, just regular cheap beer). It will foam up briefly.
• Add the remainder of your regular ingredients per your favorite recipe and let it cook as usual. (Barbie’s cooks for at least 1 hour).

Recipe #2 (Beer added to Aunt Gail’s Beef Chili)

Barbie’s ingredients are highlighted in blue font below.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 2-3 hours
Serves 6-8
Freeze any leftovers.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs (or more) lean ground chuck (ground beef)
• 1-2 large sweet onions
• 1 can of beer (not light beer or lager). The cheaper the better
• 2 regular size cans dark red kidney beans inc. juice
• 1 can light red kidney beans inc. juice
• 1 large can petite diced tomatoes with their juice
• 2 envelopes of Frenches Original Chillo Mix
• I large can, maybe 2 tomato paste
• 1 large can tomato sauce
• Pepper to taste
• Water if needed to thin it ( I like thick chili)

Instructions:

• In a large Dutch oven (this is a large pot), brown the ground chuck with the onions, stirring constantly until the meat is no longer pink.
• Drain all of the fat from the mixture.
• Add all the beans and their juice (get it all now)!
• Add the beer! All of it! None for the cook! Let it foam (for 2 minutes at most)
• Add the rest of the ingredients and bring the mixture to a full simmer.
• Reduce heat to low or medium low, depending on how your stove cooks and cook for 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally, tasting frequently on a cracker just because you cant wait for it to be done.
• Mixture is done when the meat is tender and and the texture of the sauce is thick.
• Salt if you must.
• Enjoy! Serve with saltines and grated cheddar cheese.

• Left overs freeze well.
• Always freeze a little container full for chili dogs later on. Just add a few shakes of Texas Pete Hot sauce to the mix!