Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Smokey Southwest Chili with Beans [Update]

The best chili I've made to date. This time I've made a chile puree instead of using chili powder, and added an unexpected ingredient. But it's still my trademark Southwestern-style fresh and smokey chili with organic ground beef, tomato base, and beans. This recipe makes a very large batch.

Ingredients
chile puree
3 dried whole ancho chiles
3 dried whole New Mexico chiles
1 dried whole habanero chile (go for 2 if you want it murderous... you could also use other small dried hot chiles and add fresh habanero with the veg)
1-2 C chicken stock
2 dried whole chipotle chiles in adobo sauce + 1 T sauce

Either toast the dried chile peppers in a pan or heat in a microwave at 15-sec intervals until they are pliable enough to remove the seeds and stems (using rubber gloves!). Place them in a saucepan, cover them with stock, and simmer until they soften and plump up (about 10 minutes). Pour the chiles and stock plus the chipotles and adobo into a blender and puree until smooth.

beef
2.5 lb organic ground beef (grass-feed preferred)
1 t ground coriander
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/2 t smoked paprika
1/2 t salt & pepper

In a large stock pot on high heat, brown the beef and seasonings. Aim for good caramelization, but no burning. My trick is to pre-heat the pot then put the meat in all at once, leave it for a good few minutes until my nose tells me it's on the edge, then add the seasonings and start to stir it all up.

veg
beef fat from browning
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 large jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced (again, add more or add other hot peppers depending on your spice preference)
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 small red onion, diced
2 small shallots, minced
1 bunch scallions, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t salt & pepper

Carefully remove the beef from the pot, leaving the fat. Saute the vegetables in the beef fat until they are soft.

chili
veg
beef
chile puree
3 15-oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed (you can soak and cook your own beans if you want, but I'm lazy)
2 15-oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (you can roast your own tomatoes in tomato season)
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
1 T ground coriander
1 T ground cumin
1/2 T smoked paprika
2 T fish sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Add the beef back into the pot along with the chile puree and the rest of the ingredients above. Bring to a boil, taste for salt & pepper and adjust accordingly, simmer until ravenous. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and cilantro.

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