Andy's own recipe for meat/bean chili

     This is the descendant of the chili that he's been making
     since 1974.

INGREDIENTS (12 cups)

     5 cups    canned beans (drained)
     6 cups    stewed tomatoes
     2 lbs     beef, cut into bite-sized pieces and browned.
               Don't use ground beef.
     2         garlic cloves, chopped
     3         medium jalapeño peppers, cut up
     2         green bell peppers, diced
     1 or 2    medium onions, diced
     1 bottle  flavorful beer
     2 Tbsp    cumin
     2 tsp     paprika
     1 tsp     cayenne pepper

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Sauté the meat and onions. You may do it in the
               same pan that you are going to put the chili in.
               The meat should be brown on the outside, but you
               don't have to cook it much at this time.

          (2)  Drain the fat from the beef.

          (3)  Put everything in a big pot over low heat (a slow
               cooker is handy) and stir together.

          (4)  Wait half an hour to an hour and check the flavor
               of the soupy base.  Adjust as you see fit. Perhaps
               add more beer, hot peppers, or spices. Repeat as
               necessary.

          (5)  Wait as long as you  can,  stirring  occasionally.
               You  may  eat it when the beans and beef are soft.
               Serve with bread, fresh-baked  biscuits or corn-
               bread.

NOTES

     This is best if it has cooked at least overnight. Generally
     it's  ready  for consumption after about three hours. If you
     can't turn your stove down to a very low heat, you're bound
     to burn the bottom of the chili a little, but as long as you
     don't scrape it off, it will taste okay. Slow-cookers are
     great in this regard!

     At the three hour mark, the chili is somewhat soupy. If you
     want  it to thicken up, turn up the heat a bit and let it
     boil off the excess water. While doing this, stir every few
     minutes or you may burn the bottom!

     I change the proportions of ingredients (double  the  beef,
     drop the beans, add LOTS more cumin) all the time; this
     recipe is just a general guideline. The amount of garlic
     given  in the recipe is very conservative. Garbanzo beans
     (chick peas) are nice, but they take a lot longer to cook.
     Making it with lamb or Italian sausage instead of beef is
     also interesting. Cherry peppers instead of jalapeño peppers
     are very nice also.

     Do not use wimpy American beer!  Andy has found that Moosehead
     adds a good flavor, and bets that Anchor Steam will too.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy. Time: 15 minutes preparation, 3 hours
     cooking.  Precision: no need to measure.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Andrew Scott Beals
     Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore Ca