Rascals Recipes: Beer Bean Chilli

 

What’s better than a good chilli? Not much really, to be honest. Here’s a recipe using our Betty’s dry-hopped New Zealand lager. It’s a beer which yields some lovely lime and crushed gooseberry flavours and aromas, with a summery citrus hit and a clean snappy finish. Betty is perfectly complementary for a chilli of this kind. Here’s what you’ll need:

 

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper

1 finely chopped onion

2 finely chopped garlic cloves

1 heaped tsp chilli flakes OR chilli powder OR chopped fresh chillis

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 tins of kidney beans OR 1 tin of kidney beans and 1 tin of mixed beans

Tablespoon of tomato puree

500ml beef stock

1 finger/square of dark chocolate OR tsp of sugar

Handful of chopped bell peppers (throw in some chopped courgettes too if you want extra veg)

Almost a full can of Rascals Betty’s dry-hopped NZ lager

1 kilo of minced beef

 

Gently sauté the onions and garlic in some olive oil, in a large pot on the hob – the kind of pot you’d use to make soup. Then add the kilo of mince and mix it around, making sure to break it all up, with the heat turned up a bit so you’re cooking the meat. After a few minutes, while it’s not fully browned and still a bit red, add all the spices and the salt and pepper. Continue to cook until the meat is browned and there’s no red left.

The add everything else, literally. Your stock, your beer, your tomatoes and puree, the beans, the peppers, everything! Here’s the thing about chilli: you can use flakes, powder or actual chillis and it’s all the same, more or less. Fresh chillis – of any kind or heat – will always just be a bit more potent, especially if you include the seeds (and you should) but honestly well-kept flakes or in-date powder will work just as well.

At this point bring down the heat to a mere simmer, on your hob, and let it stew for at least 30 minutes. The lower the heat, the longer you can let it cook. But I’m not a major advocate of ‘low ‘n’ slow’ when it comes to stews or chilis. Really and truly all you need is a good half hour to get the juices and flavours thoroughly blended and mixed.

Towards the end of cooking you’ll probably want to add a little bit more salt and pepper.

 

 

Let it settle for half an hour – at least – before serving. In fact, chilli genuinely does taste a bit better when it’s left overnight and heated up the next day.

Serve with some fresh coriander leaf and crème fraiche or sour cream, as well as grated cheese and rice or a baked potato or some good sourdough bread… or whatever you like! This really is a versatile creation and you can enjoy it whatever way you like.

To buy Betty’s dry-hopped New Zealand lager, just visit our webshop here or find it in all good independent off licences, including our own at Rascals HQ Inchicore, open Wed-Sun from 4pm.

You’ll find a comprehensive list of Rascals stockists here.