Monday, October 20, 2008

Fall Into Flavor: Wanda's Drunken Chili

I asked my sister what meal said fall to her family and she gave this one to me. We had to discuss it quite a while to get the measurements close, as she is one of those "dash of this" kind of cooks. ;->

Wanda's Drunken Chili


1 lb. ground beef
1/2-1 clove garlic, minced
1 large onion, finely chopped
up to 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, optional
1 tbsp. chili powder, or to taste
1 tsp. cumin
2-3 cans tomato sauce
1 cup (or 1/2 a can) beer
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans -OR- dark red kidney beans
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Angel hair pasta
shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese (or your choice of cheddar)
sour cream

Brown ground beef with garlic, add onion, cook till onions are translucent. Add rest of ingredients except pasta, cheese, and sour cream. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Near the end of chili cooking time, cook the angel hair pasta. Serve the chili over the pasta and top with cheese and sour cream.
Wanda
Wanda's Note: For an interesting change of flavor, do not add cinnamon. Instead, add 1/4 cup very strong coffee. Her friend adds coffee to everything and she leaves out the cinnamon and the beer and just adds the strong coffee. Wanda prefers to leave in the beer for the yeasty flavor it adds to the chili.

Patty's Note: This is my sis and my good friend...ain't she grand!?!



7 comments:

Skoots1moM said...

gonna try this soon...we love chili...
thanks for the recipe
BOO to u!!

Denise said...

Yummy chili.

Esthermay Bentley-Goossen said...

oooooooohh! this may take some doing to get the beer #1 payed for and out of liquor store #2 past the entrance into the kichen, and #3 into the chili pot. DH still doesn't know I took the complimentary bottle of strawberry wine from the B&B last December! hehehehehehehe

Cinnamon, huh? Interesting! I've a recipe for chili with Peanut Butter as the secret ing.

I may have to try this with my left-over wine. Whadda think?

Patricia said...

My motto is waste not, want not.

I've got the same problem with a rum cake I want to try... But it's not that hubby doesn't want me to make it with the listed ingredients. Besides the fact that I'll have to drive all the way into town, he won't go into the liquor store to get it for me.

Oh how pharisaical that all sounds... Just go get the stuff already, Patty!...God knows my motive is strictly culinary. *mirth-filled smirk*

Merrie said...

That sounds great! I used to have a great recipe for spaghetti that used beer. I have the problem of getting the beer too... being a pastor's wife and living in a fish bowl makes these type purchases interesting.
Everytime I head toward "that" area of the store, I run into someone who knows me... Even when we go out of town - half way across the country, we "find" people who know us!
I don't think root beer would have the same effect... hahaha - either in the chili, or me. At one time I had a good friend who could make the purchase for me and "sneak" it into my house and carry away the evidence... what a great friend!

Wandakaye said...

Love this recipe, thanks sis for posting it! I worry sometimes about making a trip to the libacious spice store (Liquor store sounds just so...alcoholic). I am not sure what looks worse..buying a six pack to use one beer or buying just one beer. Sometimes I think the latter may appear almost dipsomaniacal. What to do..what to do.

Kim said...

Reading the comments have really tickled my funny bone :-) Having been a pastor's wife, now missionary, I'm in the same boat as Merrie. But how can I make decent spaghetti sauce without decent wine? And how am I going to make truly drunken chili without beer? What a dilemma!