By Gordon Dritschilo
Staff Writer

It's just about chilly enough out to start making chili.

Now that the obligatory pun-lead is out of the way, I will share with you the basic formula for a great pot of spicy meat and beans.

For every pound of meat, plan to use one onion, one can of tomatoes, one can of beans, half a red bell pepper and one beer. This formula has served me well for many years — though of late I have taken to also pouring in frozen corn. Sorry, no amount there — I pour it in until it looks right.

For the longest time, I turned my nose up at the thought of using ground beef in chili, preferring pork shoulder or those packages of corned beef you can get at the supermarket. As a busy dad, though, I have returned to using ground beef without a touch of embarrassment.

Chili-makers defend their spice mixes as if they were the schedule for the Normandy invasion. I keep mine secret by not bothering to measure anything. I will say that cumin is essential, and that I have never encountered a chili that had too much cumin. Salt, black pepper, oregano, paprika, garlic and a couple bay leaves all feature in varying amounts.

I will not recommend any particular bean over another, though I tend to prefer a mix of black beans and kidney beans. Don't let anyone make you feel guilty about not soaking your own beans. Goya cans contain some fine product and I've never had any complaints.

I almost always use beer as my liquid, preferably Sam Adams, and stay away from the darker beers. That said, when I'm trying to work with what I have on-hand and the only flavorful liquid in my kitchen is half a bottle of leftover merlot, I make do. There are also two exceptions to this standard that I'll discuss in a moment.

Finally, my chili pepper of choice is the chipotle. One per two pounds of meat usually — and do this one at your own
risk, because I have had some wildly divergent results — creates a chili hot enough to open my sinuses without doing serious damage to my digestion. Fewer will mellow out your chili, more will make it dangerous.

I do not typically bother with turkey chili, but decided to experiment with it on behalf of a non-red-meat-eating friend. I found the key was two-fold: a dark, rich, beer (I used Sam Adams Winter Lager) as the liquid, and the skin rendered early and then returned to the pot.

You want the skin finely chopped, but it can be difficult to work with when raw. I settled for large chunks at first and then chopped them smaller after the initial cooking.

As part of my overall effort to promote the use of fruit in savory cooking, I devised a cider chili. Due to the added sweetness, I stepped up my pepper choice from chipotles to habaneros. The latter need to be used sparingly and handled with care, but worked beautifully.

Basic Beef Chili

Four pounds ground beef (the fattier the tastier)
Four onions, diced
Two red bell peppers, diced small
Four cans of tomatoes
Four cans of beans, drained and rinsed
Six cloves of garlic, minced
Four bottles of non-dark beer (for those of you looking to keep it local, Long Trail is great)
1-4 chipoltle peppers, depending on your sense of self-preservation
Cumin
Paprika
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Two bay leaves
Oil

Brown the beef in the oil, seasoning with the salt and pepper, and remove. Sweat the onions and red bell pepper, deglazing with some of the beer when necessary. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about a minute, then stir in the cumin, paprika, oregano and bay leaves.

Add the tomatoes, liquid and all, and the beans. Return the meat to the pot and pour in enough beer to cover. Any beer you don't need is all yours. Thrown in the chipotles and bring to a boil.

Drop to a simmer and cook, covered, for at least four hours. You can leave this over a low heat all day if you need to.

Then, uncover and fish out the chipotles. For a milder chili, toss them. For a warmer one, mince them up and return them to the pot.

Remove and discard the bay leaves and raise the heat, cooking down the chili until you get the consistency you like. I prefer sludge, but I know a lot of people like a soupier chili.
Serve topped with grated cheese.

Rich and Hearty Turkey Chili

Five pounds or so of turkey thighs
Four onions, diced
Four cans of tomatoes
Four cans of beans, drained and rinsed
Six cloves of garlic, minced
Four bottles of a dark, spiced beer like a winter ale
1-4 chipotle peppers, depending on your sense of self-preservation
Cumin
Paprika
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Two bay leaves
Oil

Debone the thighs. Save the bones for making stock, cube up the meat and chop up the skin.
Brown the skin in the oil and remove. Then brown the meat in the resulting mixture of oil and turkey fat. Once the meat is browned, remove it and sweat the onions, deglazing with some of the beer if necessary.
Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about a minute, then stir in the cumin, paprika, oregano and bay leaves.

Add the tomatoes, liquid and all, and the beans. Return the meat and skin to the pot and pour in enough beer to cover. Add the chipotles, bring to a boil, cover and drop to a simmer. Let cook at least two hours. Stir occasionally, breaking up the chunks of meat as they soften.

When done, uncover, discard the bay leaves and chipotles and cook down to desired thickness before serving.

Jack and Cider Chili

Four pounds pork shoulder, cubed
Four onions, diced
Two red bell peppers, diced small
Four cans of tomatoes
Four cans of beans, drained and rinsed
Six cloves of garlic, minced
A half-gallon (you probably won't use all of it) of sweet cider
Jack Daniels (you may substitute your favorite bourbon, but then it isn't “Jack and Cider Chili” anymore.)
One habanero pepper, minced
Cumin
Paprika
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Two bay leaves
Oil

Pat the pork cubes dry with paper towels, season them with salt and pepper and brown them in the oil.

Remove the meat and sweat the onions and red bell pepper, deglazing with the Jack Daniels when necessary. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about a minute, then stir in the cumin, paprika, oregano, bay leaves and minced habanero.

Add the tomatoes, liquid and all, and the beans. Return the meat to the pot and pour in enough cider to cover.
Drop to a simmer and cook, covered, for at least four hours. Stir occasionally, breaking up the chunks of meat as they soften.

Remove and discard the bay leaves and raise the heat, cooking down the chili until you get the consistency you like.

For the strangest chili Gordon Dritschilo has ever cooked, check out the Rutland Herald's food blog, rutlandherald.typepad.com/Food_For_Thought/.

gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com