There are things out there that I like in theory, but not in practice, chili happens to fall on that short list. I'm pretty sure I brought up my aversion to beans in a previous post, so I wont bore you with it here.
About a week ago I attempted to make Chipotle Steak Chili and to my surprise (considering the ingredients) it turned out really good.
So here ya go:
3 lbs of chuck steak
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium yellow onions
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 ½ tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobe sauce (you will find this in the Mexican section)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 cloves garlic
32 ounces of beef broth
3 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes
1 (1 ½ inch) cinnamon stick
1 red bell pepper, chopped
Cut your steak into bite-size pieces of meat. Sprinkle with salt.
Remove a couple of chipotle peppers from the can and slice them in half. Use a fork and knife to pull the peppers apart. Remove the seeds and discard. Be careful when handling these peppers because they are hot. Finely chop peppers until you have enough for the recipe. Set aside.
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat vegetable oil. When oil is hot, add your onions and cook 2 minutes. Then add your meat, chipotle peppers, spices and cocoa powder. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add cornstarch, garlic, tomato paste and ½ cup beef broth and cook 1 more minute. Then add remaining broth, water and cinnamon stick.
Bring to a light boil for 30 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick after 30 minutes. You just want it to enhance the soup, not overwhelm it.
Now add the chopped red bell pepper. Place a lid on pot, reduce heat to low and simmer for 90 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes or so. Serve over rice.
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The first time I made this, I did a half batch. It was perfect for just myself and my partner in crime. We ditched the chipotle peppers for some jalapenos, and cut the amount of onions by half. We felt it needed a bit more kick to it, so we'll be experimenting with the full batch we are making tonight. Added a serrano pepper to the mix and a bit more chili powder. Looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
This may be the most time consuming meal I've ever made, and I've prepared a full on, four course, French meal with three other people in my kitchen. It's about 30-45 minutes to measure and cut everything, and another two hours plus to let everything simmer together and make magic. And you've got to be there to stir and add and subtract along the way. Not a complaint mind you, just an observation to keep in mind when planning to make this. If you want dinner hot and ready by 6pm, don't start cooking any later than 3pm.
This is more on the soupy side, so I add extra corn starch to thicken it up. About 30 minutes before it's done simmering I'll add some to the pot depending on how much of the broth has boiled off. This is also a good time to start the rice if you use the minute variety, and put some corn biscuits provided by the dough boy in the oven.
The above directions have been copy and pasted from the site I found the recipe on, did you notice that the recipe calls for diced tomatoes but doesn't tell you when they go in? Good, glad I'm not crazy. I've been adding them with the chopped bell pepper. Seems to work.
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