I promise this isn’t a food blog. Really. I do love to cook though and I like sharing the things I make, especially when they turn out well. My hope is that it’ll inspire someone to come up with something fun to cook at some point.
Anyways. On the blog today - a recipe for smoked rib chili! I have to tell you, chili is one of my favorite foods. I don’t think it can be beat by much (maybe lasagna?).
When it comes to chili, I’m not real keen on entering into any of the debates (beans or no beans? tomatoes or no tomatoes? olives or no olives?). I’m just gonna share how I learned to do it and let the reader decide the best way to you. Any of it can be good (except with olives…keep that stuff away from chili), this is just my general method.
The Base
I tend to start with some veggies like chopped onion, green pepper, garlic and celery, sauteing it in some fat until they get some color. This time, for a fat I used 1 part butter to 3 parts beef tallow (that I rendered a few weeks ago). Once you get some color I add about a quarter of the spices and really let them develop flavor with the aromatics in the dutch oven. When the moisture seems to disappear and you start seeing some sticking on the bottom of the pan, deglaze with beer/cider/wine or water. I used 1/3 of a can of cider because I didn’t have GF beer on hand and just let it reduce with the aromatics.
The Stew
Now add the rest of the cider or beer (or equivalent of water or wine). Also, add a couple of cans of beans (but strain them first). I used a can of kidney and a can of pinto beans. Then add a tiny can of tomato sauce, a can of diced tomatoes and a can of stewed tomatoes. Also add the rest of the spices (for ease I used Carroll Shelby’s Texas Chili spice mix) and any meat (chopped up smoked rib this time).
Bring to a simmer and let it do its things for a minimum of 30 minutes. The longer you let it simmer the better the flavor that develops though - keep that in mind.
Serve it up
I like chili a couple of different ways: over fritos with sour cream, cheese and cilantro OR over spaghetti noodles with chopped raw onions, a bit of cheese and a dab of sour cream. We did the frito way this time. You do you though!
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