Your new favorite chili

Everyone has a chili recipe. Some I’m sure are quite good. Others, maybe not so much (and yet some people continue to make it anyway). The chili we make in our household has evolved over time. It’s been tweaked here and there. Seems like we always have to make substitutions because we thought we had an ingredient in the fridge or cupboard but didn’t (and typically we’re too lazy to run to the grocery store to pick it up).

The chili my wife made the other day was excellent and incorporated a few different chile powders I’ve picked up at the grocery store, two different kinds of beans, and two different kinds of peppers—including my most recent favorite, poblano.

This is definitely one of those recipes, though, where guesstimations are involved. So taste, taste, and taste again as you go along. The end product will be well worth it.

Finallly, this is a good Sunday recipe, because should have leftovers for your Monday meal.

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 poblano pepper, roasted, cored, and diced
  
• 1 vidalia onion, chopped
• 1 package of mushrooms (whatever you like best, we used sliced baby bellas this time)
• 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can of whole (peeled) tomatoes, crushed by hand in a bowl
• 2 tbs of brown sugar
• 1 bottle of beer
• 1/2 tbs of chipotle chili powder
• 1 tbs of ancho chili powder
• 1 tbs of standard chili powder
• 1 ripe avocado, diced
• 2 tbs of cilantro, finely chopped
• Sour cream

Brown the ground beef with the onion and red pepper in a large pot over medium heat. When the beef is brown, stir in the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes.

Add the chile powders and brown sugar and stir until well blended. Then add the beans, crushed tomatoes, and roasted poblanos and stir until well blended. Add the beer, stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook for at least 20-30 minutes.

At this point, take a taste. You want a hint of sweet, but not too sweet. This is intended to be fairly spicy, so take that into consideration when adding the chili powders. If you want a little more heat after tasting, add a teaspoon more of some chipotle or even some of your favorite hot sauce. Taste again and tweak as needed.

When the chili is where you like it, put some in a bowl, top with some diced avocado, a sprinkling of cilantro, and a small dollop of sour cream.