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Stout Braised Pulled Pork Chili

Stout Pulled Pork Chili

If you want to watch a culinary sports crowd get rilled up, ask what the "right way to make chili" really is. Just meat? Beans? No beans? Pork, vegetables, beef? Tomatoes? Because if you do it "wrong" you might was well be at  Morton’s and ask for ketchup with your steak. Or waltz yourself in the kitchen of a southern Grandma and boss her biscuit making ways around: you might get yourself punched.

I happen to be a bit more of a wandering chili Gypsy, the only requirement that I see necessary is a kick of heat. Some days I want beans, some days I want to pack it full of pork, chipotle stout, hold the beans and top it with pork rinds.

Regardless of your "right" way to make chili, I hope your take away from this recipe is that the braising liquid, what is left after a pork shoulder simmers in beer for 4 hours, is the perfect liquid to use in chili. It’s packed with flavor, beer, broth, spices, and meaty goodness. Don’t wash it down the drain, strain it and save it for making soup and chili. Even freezing it if you have to.

It’s like a free secret ingredient, even if you still have to fight with your brother in law about why you want to add beans.

Stout Pulled Pork Chili 2

Stout Braised Pulled Pork Chili

Ingredients
  

For the Pork

  • 1 tbs brown sugar
  • 1 tbs salt
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2.5-3 lb pork butt pork shoulder
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 24 ounces stout beer or porter
  • 2 cups beef stock

For the Chili

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1/2 red onion diced
  • 1 red pepper diced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 14.5 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 14.5 ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 14.5 ounce can stewed tomatoes
  • 3-4 chipotle peppers in adobo minced
  • 2 tsp adobo sauce from chipotle can

Garnish:

  • 1 cup sharp cheddar shredded
  • ½ cup cilantro chopped
  • ½ cup red onion chopped
  • 1 large tomato chopped

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper.
  • Sprinkle pork on all sides with spice mixture.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven until hot but not smoking. Sear pork on all sides until browned.
  • Pour the beer and beef stock over the pork.. Reduce heat to a low simmer. Add a lid at a vent and allow to cook until pork is very tender and shreds easily, about 4 hours. Remove from the pot, shred using two forks, return to the pot and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove meat from the pot with a slotted spoon to drain off excess moisture (reserve braising liquid).
  • In a separate pot heat 2 tbs olive oil, cook the onions and red pepper until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Add 1 ½ cups of the pork braising liquid, black beans, kidney beans, tomatoes, chipotle pepper and adobo sauce. Simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Serve topped with cheddar, cilantro, red onion, tomatoes and pulled pork.

Stout Pulled Pork Chili 3

 

Beer Braised Chicken and Hefeweizen Cornmeal Dumpling Soup

Although most of you are starting to pull out those wool sweaters you neatly packed away a few months ago, here in Los Angeles we are in the throws of a record heat wave that drug us into 108 degree heat yesterday. While most of the sane people of LA stayed indoors and avoided the oven, I spent the morning interviewing ex-cons turn foodies, and then came home and made soup.

Like i’ve mentioned before, my inherent rebellion pushes me to buck tradition and even reason. I drink stouts in the summer, eat ice cream in the winter and make soup in triple digit heat.

Beer Braised Chicken and Hefeweizen Cornmeal Dumpling Soup

Ingredients
  

For The Soup

  • 4 tbs butter
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken thigh fillets cup into bite sized peices
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup white onions chopped
  • 1/2 cup celery chopped
  • 1/2 cup carrots chopped
  • 1 cup sweet white corn kernels fresh is best, frozen is acceptable, canned is disgusting
  • 2 cups Hefeweizen Beer
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 2 tbs flour
  • 1/4 cup cream

For The Dumplings

  • 1/2 cup Masa Harina corn flour used to make corn tortillas
  • 1/2 cup fine ground corn meal
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • 2 tbs butter cut into small cubes
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup Hefeweizen beer

Instructions
 

  • In a large pot with a lid, like a dutch oven or enamel cast iron pot, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook until seared on all sides, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, onions, celery, carrots and corn, stir. Add the beer and broth, stir. Allow to simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the pot and whisk until combined. Remove from heat and slowly add the cream while stiring. Return to medium/low heat.
  • In a large bowl, add the masa, cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and rosemary, stir to combine. Add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingers until completely combined.
  • Add the milk and hefeweizen and stir until combined. You don't want the dough too thin or it will fall apart during cooking, you want a biscuit like consistency.
  • Drop mounds of dough, about 3 tbs in size, equally spaced on top of the pot until all dough has been used. Cover the pot and cook on low heat until the tops of the dumplings are dry, about 15 to 20 minutes.

 

Beer Braised Potatoes With Rosemary Beer Gravy

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A reader from Iceland emailed me last week to ask what I listen to when I’m cooking. "You seem like a music girl," she said.

Music, food, beer, it all seems to be a different parts of the same creature and just like food can find a matched pair with beer or wine, music is the same way.

Making these potatoes I was lured to music that was timeless, earthy and effortless. Here is a bit of that list:

Something In The Way She Moves, James Taylor

Tampa To Tulsa, The Jayhawks

Torn In My Pride, The Black Crows

Fortune Teller, Robert Plant

Wicker Chair, Kings Of Leon (this was off a Demo they made before they were famous, handed to me late one night on Sunset by Nathan. I’m not sure if it is still available online, but I still listen to that Demo all the time)

Red House, Shudder To Think

Duncan, Delta Spirit

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Between prep, braise and eating, this is the music that joined me and the potatoes in the kitchen. A slow, lazy Sunday afternoon playlist that was a perfect compliment to a timeless potato dish.

And the beer that came along for the ride was Damnation by Russian River. A Belgian style beer that gave the starch in the potatoes a beautiful push forward in taste. If you’re a craft beer fan, or just starting to grow in curiosity about the subject, Russian River should be counted among the Craft Beer Meccas of the world. Seek out the beers they make, and plan to stop by the brewery if you ever find yourself in Northern California, or the West Coast, for that matter.

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Beer Braised Potatoes With Rosemary Beer Gravy

Ingredients
  

For The Potatoes:

  • 2 tbs butter
  • 1 large shallot chopped (1/3 cup)
  • 1 lbs red potatoes chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 cup beer
  • 1 tsp black pepper

For The Gravy:

  • 2 tbs flour
  • 1/3 cup chicken stock
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325. In an oven safe Dutch Oven or pot with a lid (check that all knobs are oven safe) melt butter. Add the shallots and cook until soft, about 2 minutes.
  • Add the potatoes and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.
  • Remove from heat, pour beer over potatoes, add rosemary, pepper and salt. Cover with lid and place pot in the oven until potatoes are fork tender, about 18-20 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and return to stove. Using a slotted spoon, remove the potatoes and set aside.
  • Add the flour and stock, whisk over medium high heat until thickened, about 3 minutes. Serve potatoes with gravy.

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Beer Braised Chicken Sliders With Hoisin Beer Barbecue Sauce

There’s a good chance that when you think about cooking with beer, a meat recipe comes to mind. Your Dad’s beer marinated ribs? Beer can chicken? Beer braised pork? There’s a good reason for that.

Not just for the spectacular flavors that craft beer can impart on the meat, but because beer, especially high acid beer, acts as a meat tenderizer by breaking down tissue.

For this recipe you are free to run the spectrum of beer styles. Most recipes I write will be accompanied by stern warning about using any beer other than the type called for, this isn’t one of those recipes. That IPA I keep shaming you into avoiding? You can even give that a try. My gut instinct with a recipe like this was to use a light, high acid beer with herb notes (basil, sage, oregano) but I opted for a porter to test my "Any Beer Goes" theory.

The porter effect, as I am now calling it, gave a "meatier" quality to the chicken. Which turned out wonderfully, and gave this a bit of a pork taste.

The beer I used for this recipe was the Payback Porter by Speakeasy. It’s a fantastic choice for a porter because the notes are similar to those I see in barbecue sauces and rubs: smoke, coffee, cocoa, and molasses.

Next time I’ll use a beer with a high acid content for a little contrast, but as far as the beer that you pick, experiment and let me know how it goes.

 

Beer Braised Chicken Sliders With Hoisin Beer Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients
  

For the Barbecue Sacue:

  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 cloves fresh garlic minced
  • 1 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 cup beer

For The Braised Chicken:

  • 2 tbs canola oil
  • 3 chicken breasts boneless and skinless
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups beer
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 15 mini Hawaiian bread rolls

Yield: 15 sliders

    Instructions
     

    • Heat 2 tbs canola oil in large pot or Dutch oven. Sprinkle the chicken with salt on all sides. Place in the pot and cook on each side until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Cover with 1 1/2 cups of beer and 1/2 cup chicken broth, cover and cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked.
    • While chicken is cooking, prepare barbeque sauce by warming olive oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds; add 1 cup beer, hoisin sauce, chili powder and soy sauce. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until thickened and reduced, remove from heat.
    • When chicken is cooked, remove from pot and allow to cool. Using two forks, shred chicken to as thin slices as possible, then add to hoisin barbeque sauce pan, tossing well to coat.
    • Split rolls in half across the middle to resemble small sandwich buns, fill with chicken.

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    Beer Braised Pulled Pork

    There is nothing new about braising with beer. In fact,  it should be the standard. Beer, as with all alcohol, is a natural meat tenderizer but it’s the flavors of the beer that make for braise meat that has a truly special taste. Craft brews are known for more intense flavor profiles and will always produce a vastly superior product when cooking than a macro brew. Craft beer is truly that, a craft. I have had a soft spot for Rogue brewery for years. Rogue is beer lovers beer, and dedicated to the art of the craft. Actual real life people making really good beer. If you live on the West Coast, this Portland Oregon brewery’s beer is probably at your local grocery store. It’s one of the few great craft beers that I have a very easy time getting my hands on.

    What does braising mean? What a good question. Braising just means to sear meat at a very high heat and then cook it slowly at a low heat until cooked through. I used another amazing craft beer for this recipe. Rogue’s Chipolte Ale:

     

    Beer Braised Pulled Pork

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 tbs kosher salt
    • 2 tbs brown sugar
    • 1 tbs onion powder
    • 1 tbs chili powder
    • 1 tbs ground cumin
    • 1 tbs black pepper
    • 2 tsp smoked paprika
    • 2 tsp dry mustard powder
    • 3.5 lb Pork butt It’s acctually the pigs shoulder, and sometimes called that. The actual butt is called Ham.
    • 6 cloves of garlic peeled
    • 1/4 cup olive oil
    • 3 cups Chipotle ale or smoked porter (I used Rogue’s Chipotle Ale)

    Instructions
     

    • In a small bowl stir together the salt, brown sugar onion powder, chili powder, cumin, pepper, smoked paprika and mustard powder together until combined, set aside.
    • Take out your pork and stab 6, 2 inch deep holes fairly evenly spaced through the meat. Push a clove of garlic into each hole until no longer visible.
    • Rub the entire surface of the meat with the spice mixture, using it all.
    • In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil until very hot. Sear all surfaces of the meat, even the sides, until browned. The entire process will probably take about 10-15 minutes.Pour the beer over the meat, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, turning the meat over about every 30 minutes, until the meat is tender and falling apart.
    • Once the meat is finished, remove from the pot and allow to cool. Use two forks to shred into pieces. Return to the braising liquid and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the meat from the pot and discard the liquid.

     

     

    I used this meat in three ways, on italian bread as a delicious sandwich, over rice and beans, and in a burrito. Other ideas for pulled pork include:

    Pulled pork nachos

    Pulled pork sliders

    Pulled pork tacos

    Pulled pork enchiladas

    Pulled pork flatbread pizza

    Pulled pork hand pies

    Seriously, you could go all Bubba Gump about this and it would be endless. There is no shortage of uses for Pulled Pork.

     


    Oktoberfest Recipe: Beer Braised Pulled Pork

    My favorite thing about pulled pork is that it takes a long time. You didn’t read that wrong, I LIKE that it takes hours. Probably because I tend to over-committ myself, double book myself, take on too much, then feel guilty that I am not able to give 100% to everything and I need to remember to slow down. I work full time, I have this blog that I love more that anyone will know, I write for Honest Cooking, and for the Glendale Examiner, AND I am a mom. When I have decided to make a recipe like pulled pork I HAVE to stay home, play in the backyard with Tater, ignore my phone and listen to excessive amounts of Led Zeppelin. I need to make pulled pork more often.

    What does braising mean? What a good question. Braising just means to sear meat at a very high heat and then cook it slowly at a low heat until cooked through. I used another amazing craft beer for this recipe. Rouge’s Chipolte Ale:

    I have had a soft spot for Rouge brewery for years. Rouge is beer lovers beer, and dedicated to the art of the craft. Actual real life people making really good beer. If you live on the West Coast, this Portland Oregon brewery’s beer is probably at your local grocery store. It’s one of the few great craft beers that I have a fairly easy time getting my hands on. In fact, the very first time I decided to cook with beer (I made a chocolate beer cake), I used Rouge’s Chocolate Stout. I do believe that I owe Rouge for my fascination with cooking with beer.

    Thank you Rouge, you’re Pulled Pork thank you card is in the mail.

    Get the recipe on my other blog, The Beeroness!

    Get the recipe on my other blog, The Beeroness!

    I used this meat in three ways, on italian bread as a delicious sandwich, over rice and beans, and in a burrito. Other ideas for pulled pork include:

    Pulled pork nachos

    Pulled pork sliders

    Pulled pork tacos

    Pulled pork enchiladas

    Pulled pork flatbread pizza

    Pulled pork hand pies

    Seriously, you could go all Bubba Gump about this and it would be endless. There is no shortage of uses for Pulled Pork.

    My message of the day is this:

    Slow down, eat good SLOW food, Drink great beer and don’t forget to play in the back yard with your daughter while listening to Over The Hills an Far Away (OK, maybe that last one was just for me).