I won't post the recipe here, as it is from the Williams-Sonoma Chicken cookbook, and is copyrighted, but if you want it, you can email me. Here's a picture of what it is 'supposed' to look like:
So I actually started taking pictures with these two. I thought it looked like a Mexican fiesta in my stock pot. (The Mexican flag is red, white, and green, and everything they decorate with is also those colors). Peppers, onions, and jalapeños...yummm!
I've cooked with wine before. Only white wine. It adds nice flavor, and everything I've put it in so far cooks for long enough that I don't worry about the alcohol content. This recipe, however, called for a cup of lager beer. If it had been a tablespoon, I wouldn't have worried about it -- I'd've just left it out. Ben was adamant that I not add beer to the recipe, regardless of how long it cooked. (When he was in high school, he was a foreign exchange student in Germany for a few months, where he had a taste of non-alcoholic beer. It apparently left an impression on him, and not a good one). I knew I couldn't just substitute water, because that would change the flavor, with the amount it was calling for. So I got online (Mom wasn't home, so I couldn't ask her). I found a great chart with all sorts of alcohol cooking substitutions. So I decided to try ginger ale.
Like I said, the flavor of the chili was great. Unfortunately, ginger ale doesn't have the same fermenting properties that beer has, which would help the cornmeal thicken up (because of the yeast in the beer). But there was so much other stuff in the chili that it was plenty thick.
How does my final product compare to the original photo? It was pretty darn good. I really am disappointed that it was so time-consuming and tedious to make. It's so good. I told Ben that it will be a special occasion meal -- birthdays, etc.
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