Your Best Chili

This chili is packed with flavor: stout beer, plenty of spices, tortilla chips, lime wedges, boneless short ribs, onion and garlic, roasted tomatoes and bell pepper, dried Ancho and Guajillo chiles, tomato paste, and dried beans.

Before starting the chili, the beans are parboiled with an onion and a bay leaf.

Amanda uses a plastic bag to protect her hands while seeding the dried chiles -- their spiciness is no joke!

You can use some the seeds if you dare, but the chili stills packs a punch without them.

The chile husks are toasted in a pan until they start to get soft and fragrant.

Then a quick soak in boiling water brings them back to life.

Meanwhile, Amanda slices the ribs into bite-size chunks and sets them aside to come to room temperature.

Toasting the coriander and cumin lets their true flavors shine.

Afterward, they get a quick stint in the mortar and pestle along with a big pinch of salt.

Amanda stares at the bowl of chopped onion, lost in thought, while draining the recontituted chiles.

The chiles, their flavorful soaking liquid, and all the spices go into the blender.

After adding a roasted and peeled bell pepper, we're ready to go. (Don't worry if a little bit of blackened pepper skin remains.)

The blender transforms all those ingredients into a uniform puree, no straining required.

Brown the short ribs in batches, salting as you go. Aren't these just beautiful?

The short ribs provide a perfect flavor base for the aromatics to follow.

The onions, garlic, and oregano go in next. Be sure to scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan!

We love that lastnightsdinner has us caramelize the tomato paste in a corner of the pot before stirring it into the onions: every last flavor enhancement counts.

Add back the short ribs (and any juices that accumulated in their plate), plus the chile puree.

The parboiled beans go in with their soaking liquid (remove the onion and bay leaf).

Then you stir in the fire-roasted tomatoes. (Yes, even more smoky flavor!)

After stirring in the dark beer, you walk away -- the chili simmers for 3-4 hours.

About an hour before you want to serve, stir in half a cup of crushed tortilla chips. We love using chips instead of masa to thicken the chili!

Glossy, gorgeous, and ready to eat.

With a chili this good, you don't need much else.

It's simple: black and white beans plus green chiles (canned), white corn (frozen), onions, garlic, ground chicken, and spices.

Measure out the oregano, cumin, chili powder, pepper, and cinnamon.

Cook the onions and garlic slowly so they sweat instead of browning.

Translucent and soft: perfect!

After setting the onions and garlic aside, use the same pot to cook the chicken - don't you love a one-pot meal?

Cook until no longer pink, breaking up the meat as you go.

The spices will cook slightly as you stir them into the chicken, intensifying their flavors.

Now you stir in the reserved onions and garlic...

...stir in water, and let the chili base simmer until the chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, the drained and rinsed beans go into the blender with some chicken broth.

Amanda carefully holds down the lid. No one wants bean puree on the ceiling!

Velvety and smooth -- just wait until this goes into the chili.

But first Amanda takes a break to say hi to Charlie, Peter Steinberg's baby son! It was his first visit to the test kitchen, and he just stared in awe.

Back at the stove, the bean puree gets added to the simmering chicken and spices.

Two more cans of drained and rinsed beans -- one white, one black -- add texture to the chili.

Finally, stir in the frozen corn (no need to defrost!) and a can of green chilis.

The kitchen smells amazing as the chili bubbles through its final simmer.

Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and some cilantro, and dinner is served!