Triple-Kick Beer Chili

According to the old wheeze, firewood warms you three times--when you cut it, when you stack it and when you burn it. Chili can give you a triple kick too.

Good chili is wickedly satisfying to eat. It is joyful to cook. And, unless you are a complete hermit, it provides an enduring source of pre-dinner conversation. As in, “My chili is better than your chili.” Or, “My chili is better than anyone’s chili.”

Well, mine is.

Now, I cannot claim that the components of my chili are entirely original. Chili, after all, is a distinct thing--it comes with rules, which one breaks at one’s peril. I choose to break a single rule. Which is not enough to make it original.

An original chili would be called something like Vern’s Vanilla Bean and Arrowroot Vegetarian Chili. If someone says their chili is original and tastes like no one else’s, I run. I want my chili to taste like chili. Only better.

Well, mine does.

First, chili is meat. Many braggarts insist upon using chunks of meat. This rule I break. Too many gristly pot roasts as a kid, I guess. I use ground meat--but ground thick, which in Texas is called “chili ground.”

Next, chili is not beans. I honor this rule. If you want beans for starch, pour cooked chili over plain beans before serving. I prefer rice underneath my chili. The best is day-old, reheated rice with plenty of firmness. Others choose thin pasta, like spaghetti.

Chili is then a combination of spices added to the meat and cooked to achieve a lush, unmistakable texture and robust bite. Some ingredients are standard, like chili powder and cumin. Then there are the secrets, which provide a signature to your chili. These are what chili snobs argue about--sometimes until wisps of steam emerge from their ears and they turn just slightly red in the face. Then you know you’re on to something. At that exact moment, your chili should be done and ready to serve.

My secret is this: Cocoa combined with fresh craft-brewed ale of the dark variety known as porter. I use Black Butte Porter from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Ore., because I think it’s the loveliest made. Garden-variety lager beer is not an adequate substitute. Other well-made porters might be.

In my experience, good chili has a meaty, strong all-American flavor. The first mouthfuls can be good, even delicious. Then the surprise vanishes. The chili plays only a single note in the mouth.

Well, my chili comes at you like a three-piece band.

The first sensation is reminiscent of Mexican mole--the result of the cocoa and the caramel flavor of the dark malts used in porter. The texture must be slightly creamy, again suggesting mole. Then, as the food moves over your tongue, the distinct tang of ground chili and meat and roasty ale emerges--followed by the wallop of hot pepper.

The next spoonful starts all over again with the cooling smoothness of the mole opening the door to the tang, leading to the sizzle. It becomes rhythmic.

At this point in the meal, all conversation has ceased. Until someone asks, “So, what do you call this chili?” Because the final touch to a good chili is a name.

Bragging Rights Beer Chili

Active Work Time: 25 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 3 hours

Black Butte Porter from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Ore., is my beer of choice for this recipe. I also use El Toro chili powder and Durkee hickory smoked salt. Of course, I accompany the chili with pints of Black Butte Porter--I remove the beer from the fridge 20 minutes before serving to reduce the chill just a bit. Serve the chili over rice or spaghetti or alone with a hunk of bread.

2 cups beef stock

3 tablespoons New Mexico chili powder

3 tablespoons ground cumin, if possible freshly ground from seeds that have been toasted

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dry mustard

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

1 teaspoon hickory-smoked salt

1 (12-ounce) bottle porter

3/4 pound ground round, preferably coarsely ground

3/4 pound ground pork, preferably coarsely ground

1 small white onion, diced fine

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

Hot pepper sauce

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion, optional

* Bring beef stock, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, mustard, bay leaves, white pepper, paprika, hickory-smoked salt and porter to simmer in saucepan over medium heat, about 8 minutes.

* Meanwhile, brown ground beef and ground pork in skillet over medium-high heat, about 5 minutes.

* Transfer browned meat to simmering stock in saucepan with slotted spoon.

* Add onion and garlic to meat juices that remain in skillet and saute until onion is tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add to stock and simmer, covered, 2 hours.

* Stir in tomato sauce, cocoa powder and hot pepper sauce to taste, about 6 shakes.

* Remove 1 cup of liquid without meat from chili. Add flour and stir to form paste. Return to chili. Simmer 30 minutes.

* Garnish with red onion if desired.

4 servings. Each serving: 412 calories; 846 mg sodium; 91 mg cholesterol; 21 grams fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 30 grams protein; 2.70 grams fiber.