Scott said:One day I'm going to add some beer to my chili.
I've been working on this recipe for a few years now tweaking it a
little at a time. Something else I want to try is adding some whole
jalapenos without breaking them up and then remove. Sorta like using a
bay leave.
Sam Arnold's "Historic Jailhouse Chili"
from "The Fort" restaurant in the foothills overlooking Denver
6 slices bacon
1/2 lb hot bulk pork sausage
2 pounds ground chili beef or
chopped stew meat
1 cup of chopped onions
2 mashed garlic cloves
2/3 cup chopped red or green pepper
4 tablespoons pure New Mexico red chili powder
2 teaspons of cilantro
1 teaspoon or leaf oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
2 cans of beer (bottled brown ale is best)
1 12-oz can of tomato paste
3 cups cooked anasazi or pinto beans (canned beans may be used, but
they're not nearly as good as cooking them from scratch!)
Preparation:
Cook bacon crisp, drain, cool and crumble, set aside. Brown sausage,
drain, set aside. Keep 1/4 cup of the fat. Brown ground beef. Cook
pepper, garlic and onion and combine with cooked beef, sausage. Add beer
and tomato paste, and simmer at low heat (200 degree F) for two hours.
Add beans, cook 20 minutes longer and serve with shredded cheese and
chopped onion over the top. If you like it hotter, add finely minced
serrano chilies (not jalapenos).
I have made this dozens of times, with variations, and it's terrific.
It often needs the addition of some cayenne for heat.
Sam Arnold was a real character who built "The Fort" as a historic
reproduction of Bent's Fort and served presidents to popes with game
meats and things like rattlesnake, peanut butter stuffed jalapeno
poppers, Rocky Mt. oysters, and a killer chocolate dessert called a
"Negrita"--chocolate mousse in a thick chocolate shell.
He often prowled the restaurant in mountain trapper garb, reciting a
special toast, ending in "Waaauuuuugh!"
gloria p
