Woody DeSilva’s Championship Chili
Posted by Sylvia on Sun 6 March 2011
This recipe for Texas Chili is from Saveur Magazine. I’ve been interested in trying one of the “no-beans” chilis but generally they look a bit sad to me. I didn’t want to make a version that left me thinking “I should have added in a can of pinto beans”. This one attracted me as straight-forward to make and interesting. I can’t get chile pequín here so I used a large chopped up chipotle in adobo and a couple of tablespoons of the sauce. Our sweet paprika is smoked so that added to the smoky flavour.
I simmered it gently for four hours, not two (luckily I prepared it the day before!) and then reheated it quickly for lunch.
- Serves 6
- 4 lbs. beef chuck, trimmed and cut into 1⁄2″ cubes
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 4 tbsp. canola oil
- 5 medium onions, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 6-oz. cans tomato paste
- 4 tbsp. dried oregano
- 3 tbsp. chili powder
- 4 tsp. ground chile pequín or cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp. sweet paprika
- 1 tbsp. Tabasco
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 4 tbsp. masa harina
- Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 6-qt. pot over high heat. Working in 4 batches, brown beef, about 3 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a plate.
- Add onions and garlic; cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Return beef to pot; stir in tomato paste. Cook, stirring frequently and scraping bottom of pot with a wooden spoon, until tomato paste is caramelized, about 12 minutes. Add oregano, chili powder, chile pequín, paprika, Tabasco, and cumin; cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute.
- Add 5 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender, about 2 hours. Stir in masa harina; season with salt. Simmer, stirring, until thickened, about 5 minutes.
I served the chili with green onions, cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream on top. On the side we had corn bread but that was a little bit weird. I think just a big piece of crusty white bread would be better.
Posted in Main Course, Southwestern, USian | Tagged: easy | Comments Off on Woody DeSilva’s Championship Chili