{"id":313,"date":"2011-03-10T08:47:45","date_gmt":"2011-03-10T13:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/?p=313"},"modified":"2011-03-11T08:36:46","modified_gmt":"2011-03-11T13:36:46","slug":"how-to-chili-fries-with-beer-cheese-sauce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/10\/how-to-chili-fries-with-beer-cheese-sauce\/","title":{"rendered":"How-To: Chili Fries with Beer Cheese Sauce"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It probably sounds strange to have chili fries for dinner, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only because restaurant culture says that chili fries are an appetizer or side dish. But really, a hearty chili paired with a side of fries is a satisfying meal in itself.<\/p>\n

This is more of a how-to, because the components of this meal are pretty straightforward. I just had never thought of putting them together quite like this. The chili here is my usual go-to chili: Rachael Ray\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Turkey Chipotle Chili with Pepper Jack Cheese Corn Cake Toppers<\/a> (without the corn cakes). It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a relatively fancy chili, not something you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d use to top fries with. I also like that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a turkey-based chili \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s slightly less fatty than beef, so it gives that extra wiggle room on the cheese sauce. The only change I made to the recipe was making the sauce slightly thicker \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I used only a cup of the chicken stock. I figured this would work better when combined with the fries and cheese sauce.<\/p>\n

Because I made the cheese sauce from scratch, I decided to take a shortcut on the fries, by just using frozen fries from the supermarket. (I also had a couple of half-bags leftover, so this was an excuse to use them up.) If you had the time, though, I think it would be excellent to oven-roast your own potato wedges for this.<\/p>\n

And that leaves the cheese sauce. Normally for chili-cheese fries you get an over-processed, Velveeta-style cheese sauce that oozes over the chili like a fatty, yellow lava flow. Instead of that, I decided to make a cheese sauce from scratch, pulling elements from both chili (cumin, chili powder) and fondue (beer). The recipe for the sauce is after the break.<\/p>\n

In assembling this, I put some fries on the bottom, drizzled a bit of the cheese sauce on top, then a healthy serving of the chili, and then a bit more cheese sauce on top of that. Eat with a knife and fork. It was awesome.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Beer Cheese Sauce
<\/font><\/strong>This is your basic b\u00c3\u00a9chamel cheese sauce, but instead of using all milk, I used mostly beer and chicken stock. This method can be used to create cheese sauces for everything from nachos to lasagna to mac & cheese \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just adjust the seasonings as appropriate.<\/em><\/p>\n

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon paprika (preferably smoky, but sweet works too)
1 teaspoon chili powder (I used Penzeys\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Chili 9000<\/a>)
1 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper
3\/4 cup light-colored beer (lagers and IPAs work well)
1\/4 cup chicken stock
1\/2 cup milk
1-2 cups sharp cheddar cheese<\/p>\n

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat until bubbling. Sprinkle the flour over top, and whisk until combined and not too lumpy. Let this cook for a minute. Sprinkle in the paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper and whisk to combine.<\/p>\n

While whisking, pour in the beer & stock, combining thoroughly until there are no signs of lumps. Bring the mixture up to a simmer. As you do so, the sauce will thicken considerably. Add the milk a bit at a time until you get the consistency you want \u00e2\u20ac\u201c aim for something a little more liquidy than you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like, as the cheese will thicken the sauce more.<\/p>\n

Once the sauce is at a simmer, turn off the heat. Add the cheese a handful at a time, whisking thoroughly after each addition until it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s combined with the sauce. Repeat until the sauce is as thick and\/or as cheesy as you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like. Taste, and adjust the seasonings as necessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It probably sounds strange to have chili fries for dinner, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only because restaurant culture says that chili fries are an appetizer or side dish. But really, a hearty chili paired with a side of fries is a satisfying meal in itself. This is more of a how-to, because the components of this meal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,23],"tags":[95,94,65,171],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321,"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions\/321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}