Irish Chili

My kitchen remodel is finally complete. I've unpacked and moved into my new, fancy-dancy kitchen. It is so beautiful! I'm super excited about it and I've been planning upcoming dishes to blog. Originally, I intended to blog easy dishes throughout my kitchen remodel but who was I kidding... Cooking was not even possible during the construction process. Dust everywhere, all pantry ingredients, pots and pans packed in boxes in the garage. Nope! Didn't happen. It was two solid months of eating out, cereal, sandwiches and microwave meals. But now that my life is settling down and I have a functioning kitchen again I'm happily cooking and trying out new recipes. One thing that's been tripping me up in my new space is the power of my new professional stove.  I've burnt more food in the last 2 weeks than I have in the last twenty years. It's been quite humbling and a bit frustrating, but I'm learning the quirks of my new beautiful stove and oven.
Anyway, I realize St. Patricks Day is a distant memory now that we are in April but I was able to whip up this delicious Irish Chili in honor of my contractor, Matt from Celtic Construction. He did such a fabulous job on my kitchen that I thought my first dish in my new kitchen would honor his Irish heritage. This is in no way authentic Irish food, it's just my delicious take on some Irish ingredients of Corned Beef and Irish Stout mixed together in this comforting Irish Chili! Enjoy!

Irish Chili

3-4 lb corned beef roast, cooked
1 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 can tomato puree
1 ham hock(I used a leftover ham bone from Christmas)
2 cans Rotel tomatoes with chiles
2 cans kidney beans, drained
1 bottle Stout beer
2 T chili powder
2 t. cumin
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper (to taste)
Dubliner cheese, grated
green onions, garnish

Cook corned beef according to package directions and cut into 1/2 inch chunks and set aside.
In a large dutch oven,  add olive oil, onions, leeks, green peppers and garlic and saute until onions are translucent ~5-8 minutes. 

Transfer cooked vegetables into a blender. Add chicken stock and blend until pureed.

Transfer blender contents back into dutch oven and add, tomato puree, Rotel tomatoes, ham hock, corned beef, beer, chili powder, cumin and bay leaves. Simmer for about and hour. Add kidney beans and continue to heat on low for another hour. Remove ham hock. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with Dubliner cheese and green onions.

More Corned Beef recipes:

Corned Beef Rolls

Corned Beef, Cabbage and Leek Soup

Corned Beef Tacos