Serve immediately with a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of grated cheddar and spring onions and garnish with fresh cilantro.
I think we're al looking for something to fend off the chilly winds of autumn. Time and time again thoughts of a big steaming bowl of chili pop into my mind, and I go shopping. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino has pointed out, chili recipes are one of those topics that can get your hackles up. The main bones of contention are: is it an all-meat affair, or do you include beans; and is there any place for tomatoes in any form in the recipe? Then of course there is the great debate about heat, and the learned dispute about garnishes. And since chili is at heart a very basic dish, nearly every cook has their own secret recipe.
Regional variations of chili abound. The Cincinnati version involves heaps of shredded cheddar cheese and some sort of bed to sit the chili in. Detroit chili is almost a sauce for hot dogs. Kansas City chili features lots of assorted barbecued meats. The famous Texas chili is purist and almost bare-bones: chunks of meat cooked in a very spicy red sauce with no beans and no tomatoes. Finding the origins of chili is an exercise in frustration. Like most simple ideas it doubtlessly springs from hundreds of possible Edens.
One thing is necessary for the primeval development of chili: access to chile peppers. Since these originated in more or less central America, we can look back to the Aztecs as early chili preparers. Certainly stewed chile peppers makes sense, and so does the instinct to add protein. Some legends suggest that the protein in question was taken from the bodies of slain Conquistadors, but we suspect far more benign sources.
Certainly the Gringo expansion into the American Southwest is an indisputable locale for the maturing of the dish they called chili con carne. Cattle drives had a ready made protein source, and the Mexican cowpokes who worked the drives had peppers in their saddlebags. Stories are told about the cowboys taking cut up beef and mashing it together with peppers, lard, and salt to make a solid brick that was transportable. The idea was to break a chunk off of the brick, toss it into boiling water and then wolf down the ensuing stew. A totally plausible idea.
Jerry has researched this subject and come up with some tasty ideas.
Texas Red
Ingredients
1 lb beef cubes
2 Tablespoons paprika
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 large shallot, roughly chopped
5 sprigs or oregano
4 mild dried chilies
2 small dried hot chilies
2 Tablespoons lard or corn oil
2 Tablespoons flour
Roll the beef cubes in the flour In a large sauce pan set over medium high heat, warm the lard or oil until just smoking. Add the meat and brown. Add the shallot and continue to cook, stirring so the beef doesn’t burn, for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cover with water. Allow the chili to come to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and hot sauce serve.
Pressure Cooker Texas Chili
Ingredients
3 – 4 dried hot chilies
4 large dried Chipotle chilies, soaked in 2 cups hot water until soft
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 quart chicken stock
4 pounds boneless beef short rib, cut into 4 equal size steaks
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
6 medium cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dark chili powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Hot sauce, to taste
Cilantro, chopped onions, sour cream, grated cheddar cheese for serving
Once the chipotles are soft, remove from the water and reserve it. Pull off the stems and chop the peppers into ¼ inch dice.
Season the short rib generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in in the pressure cooker set over medium high heat. One at a time, cook the short rib without moving until deeply browned. Flip and brown the other side. Repeat with the three other short ribs. When all the meat has been browned, cut it into 1 inch cubes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions to the pressure cooker. Allow the onions to cook until translucent. As they sweat of moisture, use that to scrap all of the brown meats particles left off of the bottom of the pressure cooker. Add the garlic, hot chilies, jalapeno and the chopped chipotles. Cook and additional 3 minutes. Add all the dried spices. Cook one more minute. Add the cubed meat, chicken stock and reserved water from the chipotles. Seal the pressure cooker, and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. Release the pressure according to the manufacturer’s instructions. We like to thicken the chili with a little roux but some people like it a little thinner. Check the seasoning and adjust using salt and hot sauce. Serve over rice or cornbread with all the garnishes.
Three-Alarm Chili Con Carne
Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil 3/4 lb yellow onions coarsely chopped 5 lb ground beef 1 12 oz can tomato paste 2 tbsp minced garlic 1/3 cup ground cumin 4 tbsp chili powder 1/4 cup Dijon mustard 2 tbsp dried basil 2 tbsp dried oregano 1 1/2 tbsp salt 1 1/2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper 3 28 oz cans Italian plum tomatoes, drained 4 tbsp chopped parsley
Heat the olive oil in a very large pot. Add the onions and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 15 minutes. Add the ground beef, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring until it's well browned. Spoon off as much excess fat as you can and discard.
Three Alarm Chili cont’d
Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, cumin, chili powder, mustard, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes and parsley. Stir well and simmer, uncovered,
for another 15-20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.
