Cold Weather Essentials Classic Chili Con Carne Recipes

COLD WEATHER ESSENTIALS: CLASSIC CHILI CON CARNE

Steps:

• 1. PREP/PREPARE
• 2. The dried chilies that you use for this dish will determine its heat and its flavor. I selected a combination of Ancho, Pasilla Negro, and New Mexico Mild Hatch chilies.
• 3. The two cuts of beef I like for this dish are charcoal, and chuck. Both have nice marbling, great flavor, and braise up nice and fork tender.
• 4. If you want to pull a bit more of an earthy flavor out of your dried chilies, place them on a cookie sheet, and put them in a 500f (260c), oven until they begin to brown, about 5 - 7 minutes.
• 5. If you are interested, this is what 4 ounces of stemmed, deseeded dry chilies look like.
• 6. Gather your Ingredients (mise en place).
• 7. Place a rack in the bottom position, and preheat the oven to 220f (105c).
• 8. Add the chicken stock, and dried chilies to a saucepan over medium heat.
• 9. Allow the saucepan to slowly simmer for 10 - 12 minutes.
• 10. Remove from heat, allow to slightly cool, and then use a blender to puree the sauce.
• 11. Add the grapeseed oil to a heavy-bottom pot, preferably a Dutch oven. Set the heat to medium high.
• 12. Sprinkle both sides of the beef slices with salt and pepper, and then brown on both sides in the hot oil, about 4 - 5 minutes per side.
• 13. Remove from the pot, allow to cool, and then cut into bite-size chunks.
• 14. Chef's Note: The beef will not be cooked in the center, and that is okay. The purpose of the searing was to develop a bit of flavor in the beef, and get some fonds on the bottom of the pot.
• 15. Reduce the heat of the pot to medium, add the onions, and cook until softened, about 4 - 5 minutes.
• 16. Chef's Note: You might need to add a bit more oil to the pot.
• 17. Chef's Note: When the onions begin to soften, and release their moisture, use a wooden spoon to scrape up all those yummy brown fonds that developed on the bottom of the pot, while you were searing the beef slices.
• 18. Add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 60 seconds.
• 19. Add the reserved chili/chicken stock, plus the vinegar, cumin, oregano, and cinnamon, and then stir to combine.
• 20. Chef's Note: Add a bit of hot sauce, to taste.
• 21. Add the beef chunks, and bring the pot up to a simmer.
• 22. Place the pot into the preheated oven, and bake until the beef is fork tender, about 2.5 to 3 hours.
• 23. Chef's Note: The cut of beef you choose will determine the amount of time it takes for the beef to become fork tender.
• 24. PLATE/PRESENT
• 25. I like to serve this rustic style, with bowls of cheese, sour cream, and chopped onion; plus some nice warm tortillas, a bottle of hot sauce, and lots of ice-cold beer. Enjoy.
• 26. Keep the faith, and keep cooking.

CHILLI CON CARNE RECIPE

Steps:

• Prepare your vegetables. Chop 1 large onion into small dice, about 5mm square. The easiest way to do this is to cut the onion in half from root to tip, peel it and slice each half into thick matchsticks lengthways, not quite cutting all the way to the root end so they are still held together. Slice across the matchsticks into neat dice.
• Cut 1 red pepper in half lengthways, remove stalk and wash the seeds away, then chop. Peel and finely chop 2 garlic cloves.
• Start cooking. Put your pan on the hob over a medium heat. Add 1 tbsp oil and leave it for 1-2 minutes until hot (a little longer for an electric hob).
• Add the onion and cook, stirring fairly frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft, squidgy and slightly translucent.
• Tip in the garlic, red pepper, 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder or 1 level tbsp mild chilli powder, 1 tsp paprika and 1 tsp ground cumin.
• Give it a good stir, then leave it to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Brown 500g lean minced beef. Turn the heat up a bit, add the meat to the pan and break it up with your spoon or spatula. The mix should sizzle a bit when you add the mince.
• Keep stirring and prodding for at least 5 minutes, until all the mince is in uniform, mince-sized lumps and there are no more pink bits. Make sure you keep the heat hot enough for the meat to fry and become brown, rather than just stew.
• Make the sauce. Crumble 1 beef stock cube into 300ml hot water. Pour this into the pan with the mince mixture.
• Add a 400g can of chopped tomatoes. Tip in ½ tsp dried marjoram, 1 tsp sugar and add a good shake of salt and pepper. Squirt in about 2 tbsp tomato purée and stir the sauce well.
• Simmer it gently. Bring the whole thing to the boil, give it a good stir and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until it is gently bubbling and leave it for 20 minutes.
• Check on the pan occasionally to stir it and make sure the sauce doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan or isn't drying out. If it is, add a couple of tablespoons of water and make sure that the heat really is low enough. After simmering gently, the saucy mince mixture should look thick, moist and juicy.
• Drain and rinse a 410g can of red kidney beans in a sieve and stir them into the chilli pot. Bring to the boil again, and gently bubble without the lid for another 10 minutes, adding a little more water if it looks too dry.
• Taste a bit of the chilli and season. It will probably take a lot more seasoning than you think.
• Now replace the lid, turn off the heat and leave your chilli to stand for 10 minutes before serving. This is really important as it allows the flavours to mingle.
• Serve with soured cream and plain boiled long grain rice.

CHILI CON CARNE

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink, 5-7 minutes; crumble beef. Drain and set aside. , In the same pot, heat oil; saute onions until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the green pepper, salt, chili powder, bouillon, cayenne, cinnamon, cumin and oregano. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring until combined. , Add tomatoes and browned beef. Stir in water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for about 1 hour. Add beans and heat through. If desired top with sour cream and jalapeno.