2 Fly Wines Private Label Shiraz and Buffalo and Guinness Chili with Smoked Bacon

2 Fly Wines Private Label Shiraz

A large dusty purple hued grape with immense flavors that just flow through this wine. It has great backyard flavors, a medium full bodied red with hints of black fruit through out, along with a touch of that famous Aussie spice. This is an incredibly flavorful wine with a long silky finish.

Food and Wine Pairing: this lovely shiraz has the punch to stand up to a little bit of spice. This nice mild semi-zippy chili offset the earthyness of the shiraz while the smokiness of the bacon and the smoked paprika compliment the hints of dark fruit.

Buffalo and Guinness Chili with Smoked Bacon

Ingredients:

• 1/3 lb. Neuske smoked bacon or another good quality smoked bacon, diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 red onions, chopped
• 14 each plum tomatoes diced, you can substitute canned if needed: 2 12 oz canned diced and drained of liquid
• 1 medium Holland bell red bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium Holland bell yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 lb ground buffalo (or ground beef)
• 1 large jalapeno pepper, de-seeded, de-veined and fine chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, fine chopped
• 2 cups Guinness beer
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce, I prefer Chipolte flavor Tabasco
• 2 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro
• 3 14 oz. canned cooked black beans or about 7 cups fresh cooked beans
• Kosher salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons cold water

Preparation:

• In a cast iron skillet sauté bacon until cooked through, remove the bacon to drip dry on a paper towel.
• Add the olive oil to the bacon drippings and then add the onion, tomatoes, peppers and ground buffalo (or beef)
• Saute for approximately 5 minutes and then add the dry spices and hot sauce and sauté for an additional minute.
• Remove vegetables and meat and deglaze pan with the beer.
• Add the meat and vegetable mix, the cilantro, the cooked bacon and the black beans into the beer and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by approximately a quarter.
• In a small dish, blend the cold water and arrowroot or cornstarch to make a slurry, add the slurry into the simmering bean mixture and cook on low heat for about a minute until the mixture thickens.
• For a thicker chili, you can add additional slurry to get to the consistency you want. Season with salt to taste if needed.

Garnish with Sour Cream or my favorite, Cabot Jalapeno Cheddar and cilantro sprigs

Serves 6