4 tbsp cornmeal
2 15oz cans of tomato sauce
3lbs chuck or brisket
12 roma sized tomatoes or 1 30oz can of whole stewed tomatoes (approx 12 inside)
1 medium yellow onions
1 cup of minced cilantro
4-6 medium sized garlic cloves
2 minced habaneros (1 or 0 if you want to make it less spicy)
3 minced jalapenos (1 if you want to make it less spicy)
3 serranos
3 tbsp chili powder
3 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
Salt
2.5 cups water (or 1 beer and 1 cup of water)
Smokey flavor: (see very end of recipe for changes to make smoked chili)
Instapot, pressure cooker notes towards end as well
Sous Vide Notes are also at very end
1. Cut tomatoes into chunks or halves and decore
2. Mince your onion and garlic, I prefer a food processor for these parts just to save time
3. Cube your beef into 1" to 1.5" squares
4. Mix all your spices into a bowl, you should be mixing the following items: chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, paprika, herbs, rosemary, thyme, salt
I say this is optional, if you're in a rush, haven't made this recipe yet, whatever it is, skip it for now... but you'll see why it's important later. This step also pairs great with a smoker, some bbq'ing in tandem whatever it is, to boost that flavor.
1. Set your oven to 350f
2. Face your tomatoes down on an oven baking sheet
3. Put your jalapenos on the baking sheet as well
4. Cook for 20-30 minutes, flip your jalapenos halfway
5. Spread tomatoes out over a baking sheet or cutting board and let them cool
6. Fire up a skillet (I use my cast iron) with some oil in it for pan frying
7. Sear beef cubes in a skillet, if you can't fit all you may have to do in multiple batches
8. Once beef cubes are seared, move the pieces to the pot or crock pot
9. By now tomatoes should be cool enough to peel and deseed
Here in this phase you can use either a crockpot or a pot on the stove, however I want to note since stoves aren't as exact temperatures your cooking times may vary.
1. Remember your beef should already be in the pot/crock pot and ready to start cooking again
2. Add your water and/or beer
3. Add your minced peppers
4. Add your minced cilantro
5. Add your spice mix
6. Mix everything up really well
7. If you chose crockpot turn to high for 1 hour and then low for 5 hours
8. If you chose pot on stove bring to a boil and then turn to low-medium for 2-3 hours
5 hours later...
1. If your meat is shredding now add in the following ingredients: oven/fire roasted tomatoes, tomato sauce
2. Sprinkle the corn meal on top of the chili, do this in batches of 2 tbsp at a time and stir and then repeat
3. Continue to simmer for several more hours, beef will turn into shredded texture and chili will thicken, serve when ready
Additional items needed:
BBQ Grill
Charcoal
Mesquite and other wood, lately I've been enjoying just a small amount of presmoke with mesquite and then mellow out the smokey flavor with pecan or hickory
Use the same cooking methods from above, but for your jalapenos and tomatoes smoke them on bbq grill for 30-40 minutes
You can also substitute chuck with brisket, brisket is usually $1-2/lb cheaper than chuck, you can also smoke this for about 4 hours and cube it then cook the chili. If you do use smoked brisket you can skip the searing step in the skillet
NO WATER/BEER MEASUREMENT IS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE: whatever the solid amount is inside the pressure cooker or instant pot, cover it by 1/3rd equivalent as long as it doesn't go past the MAX line.
For smokey flavor, either pre-smoke meat, or add in 1tbsp of liquid smoke per 1lb of beef
1. do prep from above
2. sautee onions, jalapenos, serranos, habaneros and spice mixture in oil in pressure cooker or "sear" mode on instant pot
3. after a few minutes of sauteeing add beef cubes and brown them as well
4. add in remaining ingredients, except corn meal and pressure cook 45 minutes (might need to add a little more time for an instant pot? i've never used one, would assume high pressure setting if it has pressure settings)
5. once done remove lid and use a hand mixer to shred and blend ingredients, you want a shredded texture
6. sprinkle in cornmeal in batches of 1tbsp at a time to thicken
7. you're now ready to serve, you can also keep it on low and let it simmer thicken more if you like
*** ignore this, these notes are for sous vide and do not apply to crockpot or stove cooking:
Bag ratios are approx 1/3rd of all ingredients above with the following changes: about 6 roma sized tomatoes, 7 oz of tomato sauce, 1 habanero, 1 jalapeno, 1 serrano per 1lb of beef, also if you want to not smoke meat/peppers/tomatoes, use 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke per 1lb of beef portion of chili