Cam's "Adopted from Texas" Chili
feeds 2 with some leftovers
Ingredients
- 1lb 80/20 ground beef
- 1 white onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 poblano pepper
- 1 box of beef stock
- 1 28oz can crushed tomato
- 1 14oz can of corn (drained)
- tomato paste (the kind in a squeeze tube is good because you don't need much)
- ground corriander
- smoked paprika ('regular' parprika is not even close)
- cumin
- oregano
- cinnamon
- chili powder
- dry bay leaf
- worcestershire sauce
- crystal hot sauce
- oil (veg, canola, olive, whatever)
- salt & pepper
- baking soda
Prep
chop all veg before you start cooking
- Grab your favorite chili pot and place on low heat
- Coat beef with 2 tsp baking soda. Put aside.
- Slather poblano with oil. Place on a metal tray and broil on top rack of oven. Keep an eye on it and turn until skin is bubbled and black on all sides.
- Place poblano in a sealed container. Put aside.
- Fine dice half of the onion.
- Mince garlic
- Remove seeds from red & green peppers and 1/4" dice
- Remove poblano from container and pull out the stem. Slice in half and remove seeds.
- Using your fingers or the blade of a knife, peel the skin from the poblano and 1/4" dice.
- Set out your spices. Go ahead and open any cans you'll be using.
Cook
i use a big wooden spoon for stirring. feels right.
- Your pot should be nice and warm by now. Add 2tbps oil and turn it up to medium heat.
- Add garlic and onions. Stir as needed until onions are translucent.
- Add all peppers.
- Turn heat up a bit. Add beef. Break it up and brown it. It'll release a lot of fat. This is ok. We'll skim some off the top later.
- Add 2tsp salt and a few cranks of black pepper.
- Once the meat is browned, clear a spot in the center of the pot. Add a dash of oil here and add 2tbsp tomato paste on top of the oil. Simmer the paste until it has browned a bit.
- Add corn, crushed tomatos, beef stock, and bay leaf. Bring to boil.
- If you're drinking a beer, pour some in.
- Once brought to boil, reduce to low heat.
- Add spices. Generally I start by putting in .25tsp of each and add more as I go. You probably won't need to add more cinnamon, though.
- Add a few big dashes of worcestershire.
- Add hot sauce to taste.
- When you're happy with where it's at, cover pot for ~15 minutes.
- Remove lid and skim fat off the top (as much or little as you want).
- Enjoy with your favorite chili toppings.