Guinness and Chocolate Chili

I am officially on vacation for the next week. This means lots of cooking. In a couple of months, I am participating in a chili cook-off, so I started my cooking week with a chili recipe I've been dying to try. I also discovered a huge pet peeve of mine today...when the grocery store doesn't have ingredients I need.

I started my shopping expedition by stopping at the bar to grab a can of Guinness and got roped into a Bloody Mary and betting on the Daytona 500. I later found out that whichever car I got was the first one to crash. Is this an omen as to how my vacation is gonna go???

Let's get to the recipe, since that's what you're all waiting for.

Guinness and Chocolate Chili
adapted from here

• 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1.25 lbs. ground beef
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1/2 bulb garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 cups tomato puree
• 1 1/2 cups Guinness
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 2 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 can spicy refried beans
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 bay leaf

Directions:

• Put the chipotle peppers in a blender or food processor with a little of the adobo sauce and puree.
• Heat up a bit of oil in a pan, add onions, stir fry until softened.
• Add garlic, fry until fragrant.
• Add beef, fry until dry and browned . Break any chunks of meat with a wooden spoon.
• Mix in all the herbs and spices. Fry until fragrant.
• Pour in chipotle pepper puree, tomato puree, stout, water, sugar, salt and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to mix.
• Bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer for 15 mins, uncovered.
• Stir in chocolate, cover and continue cooking for another 1 1/2 hrs (or longer). Remember to stir occasionally making sure the sauce doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan. Add more water if the sauce is drying out.
• Add refried beans and leave to cook for a few more minutes.
• Season to taste. 

The original recipe called for dried Ancho chiles, which Shaws usually has, but not today of course. So I opted to use the chipotle peppers. It also called for 2 cans of refried beans and I used 1 can. I felt 2 cans would have been too thick. The chili has some great heat, but not overbearing, and the chocolate flavor really comes through.

I was going to make some cupcakes tonight, but I think I'm going to save it for tomorrow to have a project to do during the day.