Quote of the week

If we were not intended to eat extraordinary food, we would not have been given such extraordinary senses of taste and smell.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Carolyn's Game Day Chili

With the Super Bowl just days away, here is a great recipe for a crowd pleasing chili, sure to please all fans! And best of all, it is simple to make and easy to mix it up and make it your own!

Ingredients:

1 pound dried Pinto Beans or Red Kidney Beans-canned or dried, if beans gives you discomfort, I strongly reccommend that you use dry beans and soak overnight; it will allow for easier digestion.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
11/2 lb beef chuck steak, cut into 2 x 1/2 inch strips
11/2 lb lean ground beef
2 large onions, chopped
2 good size garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chili powder-trust you will need it
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 10oz can of green chilies
1  9 oz can of crushed tomatoes, personally this is where I use 16oz can of diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
2 bay leaves
pinch of dried Thyme
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste, I never just use a teaspoon
1 tablespoon of Worchestershire Sauce
11/4 cup of Beef Stock
1 teaspoon of salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon of pepper, or to taste
1 Jalepano chopped-pending on your level of heat-hot chop jalepano with seeds and all, not so hot de-seed and chop

Preheat oven to 300 F (150 C).  Heat half of butter with the oil in a large heavy saute pan over medium heat.  Pat the beef strips dry with papaer towels and saute in batches until brown-you do not have to do in batches if your skillet is large enough but you do want an even browning of the beef.

Transfer beef directly into a large heavy pot or Dutch Oven

Add ground beef to the saute pan and cook over medium-high heat, breaking up the lumps and until lightly browned.  Transfer ground beef and juice directly to the heavy pot or Dutch Oven

Add remaining butter to the saute pan and stir in the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the saute pan and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, add garlic and let cook for 2 more minutes longer.  Transfer to pot or Dutch Oven

Stir the chili powder into the meat mixture and add the reamining ingrediants-except the beans, mix well.  Heat to boiling, cover and transfer to oven.  Bake for 11/2 to 2 hours or until strips are tender.

For Dried Beans-place in a pot with cold water, heat to boiling, reduce heat, add some bacon fat and simmer till tender about 1 hour, drain.

When the meat is tender stir in the "dried" beans or canned beans and return to oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes.  If you noticed that your chili is lacking suace add a little more beef stock.  This has never happened to me.

Some extras:
Add roasted corn to this in the last 15 minutes of the uncovered cooking.
Vary your spices to your taste but also add some smoked Hungarian Paprika
Pickled Jalepanos-always a treat
Crunchy Tortilla Strips or Crunchy Jalepano Strips for garnish

And....Chili is always better the next day!!  Enjoy!







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