Texas-Style Beef Chili

This is a “traditional” Texas-style chili: beef and peppers and not much else.

Hardware

Ingredients

6   ancho chiles
12   Chipotle chiles
1 T   pequin chiles (dried)
6 c   beer, divided
  vegetable oil
3 1/2 lbs   bottom round rump roast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 med   yellow onions, chopped
1 bulb   garlic, minced (about 15 cloves)
  oregano
  cumin
  sweet paprika
  salt

Procedure

  1. Place the chiles in a heat-proof bowl; measure out enough beer to completely cover the peppers and bring to a boil in the saucepan; pour the hot beer into the bowl with the chiles, and weight the chiles down with a plate if necessary; soak for 30 –45 minutes.

  2. When the chiles are soft, drain and reserve the soaking liquid; remove the and discard the stems.

  3. Puree the chiles (seeds included) into a paste; use some of the soaking liquid if necessary.

  4. Return the chile puree to the soaking liquid and mix well.

  5. While the chiles are soaking, heat some oil in the skillet and brown the meat; work in small batches or the meat will turn grey instead of brown; as each batch is finished, remove it to the large pot.

  6. Deglaze the skillet with a bit of fresh beer.

  7. Heat a little more oil and saute the onions until almost soft.

  8. Add the garlic and continue cooking until the onions are soft; dump into the large pot.

  9. Deglaze the pan again with a little more fresh beer.

  10. Add the chile “soup” and the spices to the large pot; add enough beer to completely cover everything then add a little more; you want the mixture to be slightly soupy at this point.

  11. Bring to steady simmer and cook until the meat is tender, about two and a half hours.

  12. An hour and a half through the simmering, check the spices and adjust if necessary.

  13. Serve over rice or with crackers.

Notes

Bottom round rump roast is a tough cut of meat; don’t be surprised if it takes a long, long time before the meat even starts to get tender.

If, when you check the spices, you decide you want it more picanté, add some chipotle powder (or ancho or cayenne) – but watch out: It’s easy to add too much at this point in the process. Stir in a little chile powder, let it simmer for half an hour, then taste it again; repeat as needed.

Under construction:

??? soak pequins separately; strain seeds from soaking liquid before adding to meat ???

??? soak chipotles a second time to soften more; reheat same beer ???

??? remove more seeds from chipotles ???

Rating

Source

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