Another chili cook off and the first thing that comes to mind? I probably will lose because my chili always comes out too spicy! Lol! True story. I have entered only a handful of cook off competitions, but never won…until now! It was not a national or official, but hey, I will take the win. I have placed first for my texas-style tomato jalapeño salsa though. Who knew? Salsa prepared from canned tomatoes and everyone loved it, ha, ha, ha! It is kind of addicting, especially with homemade chips. For today’s recipe, my better half, Richard wanted to enter the chili cook off at his place of work. Lucky for us, they allowed the spouses to prepare the chili if need be. Well, he would need it because, he doesn’t cook at all. Ok, maybe toast, Lol! I am no authority on cooking chili. I just just know that I like it and I know what flavors I like and how spicy I like it. Lucky for me, there were several categories to enter your chili. They had a “hot” and “very hot” category, so I went into this recipe with no worries, lol! I figured if I lost, that at least my husband’s co-workers would enjoy a “hot” bowl of chili no matter what. So armed with my ingredients at 4 a.m., I prepared my “somelike it hot” version of beef chili. We had to give our chili an official name. I decided to create this blog post after being asked for the recipe by several people. My best advice is you should prepare the chili a few days before you serve it. The flavors are so much better!
Beef Chili with Roasted Jalapeños and Pasilla Chile
A good chili, just like a good mole sauce requires layers of flavors! I know it looks like alot of ingredients, but in the end you will have a robust and flavorful pot of chili!
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 cup red or white onion diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large poblano diced
- 4 to 5 large roasted jalapeños diced fine
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1 carrot sliced
- 6 roma tomatoes 2 quartered and the other 4 diced
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 16 oz. tomato sauce
- 8 oz El Pato Salsa a Mexican-style tomato salsa
- 3 full tablespoons chile ancho powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon granulated onion
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon chile de arbol powder or chipotle powder
- 2 tablespoons Maggi seasoning-sauce or Worcestershire
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 to 3 chile pasilla or chile guajillo stems and seeds removed
- 4 tablespoons of masa harina corn flour
- 4 cups of red, kidney or pinto beans previously cooked and drained
- 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
Instructions
Directions
- Preheat large pot to medium heat for a few minutes. Add beef and season with 1 teapoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon granulated garlic.I don’t typically add any oil to the beef, but if it seems a bit dry, go ahead and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook the beef until it’s nice and seared.
- Move the beef to the outer edges of pot and add the onions, garlic, poblano and jalapeños to the center of pot. Season veggies lightly with salt and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes.
- While the veggies saute, add the celery, carrot, 2 quartered tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water to the blender. Blend on high until smooth. Add tomato mixture to the pot. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, stir well to combine all ingredients. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients, minus the dried chiles, beans and cilantro. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and taste for seasonings. At this point I will reseason to my taste. When you are happy with the seasoning, add the dried chiles to the chili and let them cook fully immersed in the broth for 10 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the dried chiles from the pot and transfer them to the blender. Ladle out about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of hot broth from pot and add it to the blender. Also to the blender, add the 4 tablespoons of masa harina. Holding the lid to the blender down with a towel, blend on high until smooth. Stir this mixture back into chili. Add the beans and cook for 20 to 30 minutes at a low simmer. Fold in the cilantro, cover and let sit for a few minutes before serving. If you don’t like the chili to be so thick, you could add some more broth. Garnish with your favorite toppings.
Recipe Notes
I used the masa harina mostly for thickening, but it also adds a subtle corn flavor. You could also use 2 corn tortillas, diced and blended until smooth with some of the warm broth from chili. Add it in to simmering chili for thickening. Roast jalapeños on the stove top in a nonstick skillet at medium heat. Add just 1 teaspoon of oil and char, turning as needed. To cook beans from scratch, I soak by beans overnight. Drain water and add fresh water to cover. Add onion, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns. Cook at a steady simmer for 2 or more hours or until beans are tender. Add salt once beans are cooked. You will have to add more hot water as they cook.
Tips~ I like adding a little Maggi to many of my soups, stews and chili recipes. It enhances the flavors of the broth. If using, go light on the regular salt.
Below, my chili is garnished with sharp cheddar, fritos, onion and sliced jalapeños.
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