Soupy bean stew chili stuff

[ksmith]

I couldn't find a recipe that I liked all the way through, so I picked and chose from a few, then sort of winged it.

One large-ish onion, chopped, along with enough shallots to make 2 cups. 4-5 cloves garlic. Sautéed in olive oil. Added my last squash, chopped. Two of the peppers in adobo sauce, chopped, with about a tablespoon of the sauce. Cooked for 5-10 minutes. Added 3-14oz cans of fire-roasted tomatoes, diced. One can mild green chilies. A bottle of 1554 black ale. 1 tsp fennel seeds. 1.5 tablespoons cumin. A few shakes of chili powder. A couple of teaspoons dried oregano. The juice of two limes. 1 can of each of four types beans--chickpeas, black, pinto, red kidney, drained and rinsed. A teaspoon sugar. Couple cups frozen corn. A can of hominy, because I had it in the cupboard and wasn't sure what else to do with it.

I then blew the vegan aspect out of the water and added 2 500-ml chunks of my chicken stock because I felt the liquid needed more depth. I then had to switch the whole mess from my 4.5L dutch oven to the 6-qt stockpot because, well, overfilled.



Now I will let it simmer for a few hours.

Comments

[phantomminuet.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an excellent recipe.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

It has a pleasant amount of heat. Very hearty. I had it with grated white cheddar on top, and some corn muffins that I excavated from the freezer.

[e-moon60.livejournal.com]

Winging it is nearly always worthwhile. It looks delicious. I would never have though of adding the hominy, but since you did, it sounds like it would fit. Ditto the corn. The chicken stock's good, too.

And the really good recipes always grow like that.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I love corn in soups and stews. The hominy doesn't add a lot of flavor, but I think it may contribute just enough starch to give the sauce/soup some body.

The chicken stock added a lot. The recipe I reworked called for 1/2 cup of red wine, but I think this black ale was a good call.

I'll be freezing most of it, but it may not last very long.

[e-moon60.livejournal.com]

I've never tried beer or ale in cooking, since the smell of beer is (to me) sickening (though I've had kebobs marinated in beer that tasted wonderful--it's the prep that would be tough for me.) Does the ale smell like beer?

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

To me, it smells yeasty. I poured it from the bottle into the pot, and I had the stovetop fan going. I didn't notice any particular aroma, and what may have been there mingled with the other smells pretty quickly. The ale foamed a bit as it cooked, but that was over pretty quickly as well.