Recipe: Beef & Pork Red Chili

I recently noticed a small grocery store tucked into a strip mall near my house. The name is in Spanish so I have no idea what it means, but directly under the name on the sign it reads "Latin Grocery." The first thing I think of is peppers, and the best thing to make with a bunch of different peppers is chili. So I went shopping for some goodies to throw into my pot. Other than some spicy peppers, the best thing I found to add to my chili was chorizo.

You may have heard or even eaten this sausage before, but probably not like this. Years ago, I worked with a girl who was from Mexico and she always said that she could not understand why we called the sausage used for our "black bean and chorizo" soup chorizo. She swore that chorizo in Mexico was something totally different, and one day she brought some to the restaurant for me to try. It was spicy ground pork in something like a chili marinade and all rolled into a wax paper casing. She popped open the casing and cooked the filling in a skillet, then slapped it onto some homemade tortillas and served it as tacos. To this day that is one of the best mexican meals I have ever had. Since chorizo is largely known as a Mexican creation, I had to believe she knew what she was talking about. But every time I find chorizo on the menu at a Mexican restaurant, it comes in the form of a sausage and I am sorely disappointed. I was starting to find myself doubting my little mexican friend from many years ago until I came across the cooler section of my neighborhood latin grocer.

Now I had my secret ingredient and the perfect recipe to put it to use. If the soft mexican version of chorizo proves hard to find and you need a substitute, make sure it has plenty of spice and a red color to it. The red color should signify that the chorizo has the correct seasonings for chili. I also grabbed a bag of masa harina, which is specially prepared corn meal used to make tortillas. This will be used to thicken the chili just a bit. If you can't get a hold of masa harina, using some fine ground corn meal substitutes just fine in this recipe.

I used some beef stew meat, which came already cut into 1 inch cubes. Any cut of beef is fine as long as it is cut into pieces of similar size. After cooking your chili for 2 hours, the meat should be tender and still in big pieces, but ready to eat. I prefer to break up the beef cubes by smashing them against the side of the pot using a big wooden spoon. I let it cook slowly for one more hour, giving the beef a chance to fall apart into shreds. Now my chili is perfect for burgers, hot dogs, or just in a big bowl with some grated cheddar cheese, chopped onion, and saltine crackers. With fantasy football drafts starting up, many hosts may want to put this on the menu and serve it with some ice cold beer. This chili can satisfy the biggest appetites and impress the most critical palates.

Ingredients:

1 oz vegetable oil

3 large yellow onions 1/2 inch diced

1/2 bunch of celery 1/2 inch diced

3 green bell peppers 1/2 inch diced

2 bulbs of fresh garlic peeled

5 jalapeno peppers seeds removed

2 habanero peppers seeds removed

2 serrano peppers seeds removed

2 banana peppers seeds removed

2 cherry peppers seeds removed

4 dried ancho chiles seeds removed

3 lbs of beef

2 lbs of pork chorizo

3 tbl chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tbl smoked paprika or regular paprika

2 tbl dried oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 1/2 cups diced tomatoes

2 cups beef stock

4 tbl masa harina

salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a small pot heat the beef stock and the dried ancho chiles until it simmers. Continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the fire and allow the dried chiles to seep in the stock for another 20 minutes.

2. In a large heavy bottom pot heat the oil over a high flame for 1 minute. Add enough cubes of beef to cover the bottom of the pot, working in batches. Brown the beef on all sides then remove and place on a plate.

3. When all of the beef is cooked and removed, add the onions, celery, and bell peppers. Cook for 5 minutes and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release any bits of meat that have stuck.

4. Place the jalapeno, habanero, banana, serrano, and cherry peppers into a food processor with the garlic and rehydrated ancho chiles(not the beef stock). Finely chop all these ingredients and add them to the pot. Also add the chili powder, cumin, dried oregano, cayenne, and tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes.

5. Add all the beef back to the pot and the pork chorizo. Stir all of the ingredients well, then add the beef stock to the pot. Turn the fire down to medium-low and cover. Cook for 2-3 hours stirring occasionally. For more shredded beef, break up the chunks after two hours of cooking.

6. Add the masa harina to the pot and cook for 15 minutes.

Note: For spicier chile leave some of the seeds in the peppers when cutting them open. Be careful though! The seeds will dramatically increase the heat, especially from the habanero peppers. By the way, any type of hot peppers can be used as long as you have a total of 12 -15 peppers.