Chili
Every person needs to have a good chili recipe in their back pocket because nothing screams for a good bowl of chili like a chilly fall night, poker night, cookout, or just trying to judge the pain tolerance of a date (and my parents wonder why I am still single). Pair it with a slice of cornbread covered in butter and honey and you could see heaven.
I prefer to use chuck roast since it has a good amount of fat and muscle fibers in it. Paired with the long and slow cooking of the whole dish causes the meat to break down and turn into something that is melt in your mouth.
This brings me to my final point please do not freak out over the long cooking time. After everything is in the pot it is hands off and it will make your house smell absolutely amazing.
For this recipe you will need:
- 2 lbs of chuck roast cut into bite size pieces
- 1/4 lb of bacon cut into bite size pieces (for my non-pork readers subsitute a couple TB of a good high temp oil)
- 1/2 cup of chili powder (recipe I used posted below)
- 1 bottle of your favorite beer
- 1 TB of oregano
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 1 onion finely diced
- 4 cloves of garlic finely diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 28 ounce can of tomatoes
Chili Powder:
- 2 dried chipotle peppers
- 2 dried ancho chili peppers
- 2 dried passilla peppers
- 2 dried guajillo peppers
- 1 TB of whole cumin seeds
- 1 TB of whole coriander seeds
In a dry skillet toast the cumin and coriander till fragrant (about a minute). Chop the stems off the chilies and throw everything in your coffee grinder that you use for grinding spices and spin till a powder.
Chili:
Over medium-high heat in your dutch oven (if you don’t have a dutch oven time to invest or use your favorite pot you use for soup making) add in the bacon and cook till crispy. Remove the bacon leaving that beautiful grease behind and add in 1/2 of the chuck roast. Cook till browned all over, remove, and add in the other 1/2 of the chuck roast. Once that second batch is browned all over, remove, and add in the onion with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook till the onion is softened (about 5 minutes), add in the garlic, and cook for another minute.
Add everything else and bring to a boil. Once the chili is at a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and let it simmer for 2 hours. Make sure you taste every so often and adjust the flavors as you see fit.
If after the two hours the meat is still not tender enough cover and let it go for about another 30 minutes.
Once you are happy with the taste and everything, pour the chili into some soup bowls, and enjoy. I love to garnish it with some sliced jalapenos and shredded cheese.
Yep, I agree chili is one of my secret weapons. I host a chili contest on my street every year. I love your use of different peppers, I’ll have to try some of those! I can’t believe you’ve given away “your chili” recipe…I’m not sure if I could…but then again I’m having a contest over here.
Chili is the only thing my husband cooks. And now that football season has started, I know it’s chili time again. He never garnishes his, I’m going to show him your photo and demand peppers and cheese on mine.
your chili recipe is quite different from mine (i’m a ground meat and bean aficionado), but it’s appetizing nonetheless. bring on the fall weather so i can eat me some chili!
I always love a good chili and this looks like a damn good chili (even if you forgot the beans
).
Love this! I need to incorporate the chuck roast next time instead of ground beef. I make a ton of chili in the winter. I love it hot & spicy and then a kick of sweet.
I’m always up for adding another chili recipe to my repertoire. Yours is quite different from mine, but looks equally delicious…almost like a cross between my chili and my vegetable beef soup.
Now that it’s cooling off here, especially in the evenings, I’ll be giving your chili a chance. I’m actually really excited to try it!
chili in chilly weather - the perfect combo
no beans in your chili? we’re all for them
Can’t wait to make this when it gets snowy outside… I don’t mind the long cooking time at all. The longer you wait the better it gets.
Weird! I loaded this up to add a comment last week - but managed to lose the tab til now! :-S
Chili is one of my favourite things about the colder weather… and I bought a whole array of dried chillies yesterday to make a big batch this week - can’t wait!
I hadn’t tried making it with beer though - interesting!
I’ve always used chuck roast myself. I’m interested in the bacon idea. I planned on making chili tonight. I might try a little. I’m a beef eater. Love the cow. So does the pork over power the beef or just enhance it? My only other secret is waiting even longer to eat and use a crock pot on slow for close to 6hrs. Add some elbow mac at the last 30min. to remind me of mom’s chili.