Making Chili

As Nikka mentioned in this post, tomorrow is the yearly meeting of the swedish chile pepper association. She also mentioned that we will participate in the chili con carne competition. So my task for today was to make two litres of our favourite chili.

Making chili isn't too difficult. Basically, you just need a lot of time, chile pepper, meat and beer. I prefer chilies without beans. I have hade some good chilies with beans, but I generally regard beans as the poor man's substitute for meat. This is an ofted debated issue, so I won't push my point. Beans can at least give a nice visual appearance to chilies, especially when you mix various kinds of beans. Other subjects to argue about is the type of meat (whole chunks or minced?), if tomatoes should be included, if garlic should be included and so on. There are probably people arguing about every aspect of chili cooking... As long as you don't cook bolognese, throw in a can of white beans and call it Chili Con Carne, almost everything is fine with me. (Unfortunately, this is normally what you get when you order chili con carne in Sweden.)

However, I know what kind of chili we like. So this was what I made. Here comes the approximate recipe for two litres, which should be good for six servings.

1.5 kg stewing beef (in ½-1 inch cubes)
0.75 kg minced pork
2 medium sized onions, chopped
salt and pepper
vegetable oil
4-5 crushed garlic cloves
3 tablespoons of chopped jalapeno
3.5 dl ketchup
1.5 beef stock cubes
6 dl beer
9 tablespoons chili powder
3.5 tablespoons cumin (spiskummin, inte kummin!)
0.5 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon brown sugar (farinsocker)
1 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons "Try Me" Tiger Sauce (optional)

Directions:
Brown the beef cubes, minced pork and onions in oil in separate batches. Add salt and pepper according to taste.
Put in a large pot and add all other ingredients except for the optional tiger sauce and stir well.
Bring to a boil. Put on the lid and simmer slowly for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionaly.
When ready, the chili should have a nice thick consistency and the meat chunks should be extremely tender. Add cooking time, and take off the lid if the consistency is too runny. The tiger sauce may be added when the cooking is finished or when serving.

If you make smaller batches, you may have to add more beer or water during the cooking, so keep an eye open.

I recommend serving the chili with tortilla chips, mixed chopped onions, grated cheese and sour cream.