3000 miles 'til dinner.

Original MIL Mission #46: Chili with Dark Winter Ale.

I’m a big chili fan. Growing up, anything that was topped with a big glop of chili (hot dogs, french fries, nachos, burgers — you name it!) was better off than its original version. As I got older, of course, I learned to appreciate a nice simple bowl of chili on its own. Especially during the cooler months, and more importantly, during Super Bowl season! And I was all for simple, healthy dishes following the insanity of holiday cooking and eating.

♥HOW I MADE IT.♥

Here are the stars of the recipe, with my crock pot as the main attraction.

I had never cooked dried beans… ever. I’ve made chili or bean-based soups and stews in the past, but always with the canned stuff. I was pretty excited to finally make beans from scratch (is that what you’d call it?). Anyways, here they are soaking for a few hours before they start a-cooking.

I began to prep the other ingredients, which included chopping up the serrano pepper.

And then using my Cuisinart to fine dice the onion and garlic, as well as fine ground the beef. But I will say, I am very much a fan of chunky beef chilis also! But I’m sticking to what this recipe says.

And then the best part of slow cooking is that you just put everything into a pot…

Of course, adding the all important dark, winter ale. And I still had some of the holiday brews lying around in my fridge.

And pour that wintry goodness in…

And then set it and forget it!

♥MIL MISSION #46: ACCOMPLISHED.♥

So, I did accomplish the chili… eventually. I think it’s my slow cooker (time for a new one!), but it took 13 HOURS for my chili to finally be ready. I set it for low for about 7 hours, and when I tested it, it wasn’t even close to being ready. So I set it for high for several more hours, testing it as hours passed, until it was ready. So basically we weren’t able to have the chili until the next evening.

But all went well after. I decided to serve alongside a new skillet cornbread recipe I got. It was alll…. riiiight, but I definitely could use a better cornbread recipe. MIL, would you happen to have one? =)

The chili was hearty, a little spicy and definitely much more refined than the chili I used to top my fries with back in the day. I might ease up on the ale the next time I make this as it came out pretty strong this time around.

♥PLATE IT, ATE IT, GRADED IT.♥

scale: 0 (not at all) to 5 (very)

Cupboard to table time: 14.5 hours (includes prep, bean-soaking and dysfunctional slow cooker time)

Difficulty: 1

Deliciousness: 3.5 

Impressed Husband factor: 3 (probably because he tasted when it was not quite ready?)

Leftover-friendly: 5