Three-Bean Chili
Source: adapted from Smitten Kitchen
1 T olive oil
1 med onion, chopped
1 to 2 peppers of your choice (see Notes, below), finely chopped
8 oz mushrooms (button, cremini, portabella), sliced or chopped depending on size
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp table salt or 2 1/2 tsp kosher or coarse salt
1 12-ounce bottle beer
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups mixed dried beans (pinto, red kidney, black)
3 1/2 to 4 cups water
1 T red wine vinegar
Heat oil in the bottom of a medium-sized heavy pot or Dutch oven (if finishing it on the stove) or in a large skillet (if finishing in a slow-cooker). Once warm, add onion and peppers and cook for 5 minutes, until translucent.
When the onion mixture is ready, add the mushrooms and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until tender and light brown on the edges, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano and salt and cook for 2 minutes, until browned and deeply fragrant.
Add beer and scrape up any bits stuck to the pot. Boil until reduced by half.
If finishing on the stove: Add tomatoes, dried beans, any dried or rehydrated-and-pureed chiles and the smaller amount of water. Bring mixture to a full boil and boil for one minute, then reduce heat to a very low, gentle simmer, place a lid on your pot, and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally. Add the last 1/2 cup water if mixture seems to be getting dry.
If finishing in a slow-cooker: Scrape onion, spice and beer mixture into a slow-cooker and add tomatoes, dried beans, any dried or rehydrated-and-pureed chiles and the smaller amount of water. Cook on HIGH for 6 to 7 hours, until beans are tender. You can add the last 1/2 cup water if needed, but probably will not find it necessary.
Stir in wine vinegar.
Yield: About 9 cups chili; 8 smaller servings or 4 to 6 large ones
Notes:
Peppers: The most important decision you make about your chili is, unsurprisingly, in the chiles themselves. If you’re cooking for people who don’t like spicy food, I recommend just using 1 bell pepper or 1 fresh poblano, which is very mild. 2 fresh jalapenos will give you slightly more heat. 2 small dried chiles, depending on which you use, will give you a bit more of a kick, as will 1 to 2 chipotle en adobo peppers from a can. If you need help choosing a dried chile, Serious Eats has a great guide to the properties of each here. To best incorporate the flavor of dried chiles into your chili, cover them with a bit of boiling water until they’re soft, then puree them. If this sounds like too much work, you can cook them with the dried beans for decent heat flavor infusion.
Chile powder: If you’d like the clear flavor of your dried chiles to come through, you can skip the chile powder in part or entirely.
Tomatoes: This makes a fairly tomato-y chili. If that’s not your thing, halve the suggested tomatoes, using only a 15-ounce can instead.
Beer: Use whatever type you’d like here. I used Dos Equis; I think a Negra Modelo would also impart a nice, deep flavor.
To pre-soak your beans: This recipe doesn’t call for or require pre-soaking but pre-soaked beans will cook faster. How much faster depends on how long they are soaked for, but you can estimate that beans soaked for 6 hours or overnight will approximately halve suggested cooking times, regardless of cooking method. If pre-soaking beans, do so in the 3 1/2 to 4 cups of water listed in the recipe, and use the remaining soaking liquid as the water in the recipe.
Using canned beans instead: 1 1/2 cups dried beans will yield approximately 3 to 3 3/4 cups of cooked ones. To use canned or already-cooked beans instead, you’ll want to use 2 to 3 15-ounce cans of cooked beans and then — this is important — skip the water. Simmer all of the ingredients except the drained and rinsed beans for 20 minutes, then add the beans and simmer it 10 minutes more. If the mixture looks dry, add 1/4 cup water and simmer for another few minutes.