Cook time: 3 hours (though this is MUCH better made a day in advanced and the meat shreds up nicely after marinating in the chili overnight. I reheat and shred up the meat right before serving time). A 6 hour crock pot stint would be great, too. If you decide to use the crock pot, still saute the onions, garlic, peppers and brown the meat first.
Serves: 12
Ingredients
plenty of olive oil for sauteing
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 20 oz can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 15 oz can pinto beans
1 can red kidney
20-ish ounces of chicken broth
3 lbs steak tips strips
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped (this sounds like a lot, but chili needs a lot of flavor or it's just not good)
1 really large green or red bell pepper, or two small, chop in small dice
1 jalapeno pepper
1 anaheim chili pepper *see bottom of page for a guide to chili peppers
1 pablano chili pepper
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp sugar or molasses
2 oz really dark chocolate (to grate into it. omit if you don't have it)
a few dashes of red pepper flakes or powder
a few dashes of red pepper flakes or powder
salt to taste, I would wait add and end
Steps:
You need one large pot for the chili, and one good pan for sauteing veggies and browning meat. As you complete steps in the pan, you will transfer them to the large pot.
Over med heat (heat pan and oil before adding food) saute minced garlic and onion together. If your pan is really huge, throw in your bell pepper and small-diced chilis as well. If you don't have room, do two batches of sauteing. Don't let garlic burn, keep stirring, just til onions transluscent.
Next, brown meat over med/high heat. You can add a little EVOO. Brown all over, don't worry about cooking through.
Throw everything in big pot and simmer for 2 hours or so, stirring occasionally. Don't let it get to a rolling boil.
Take off heat. Put in fridge overnight. At this point there will be 3-6 large chunks of steak in your pot (depending on how you bought it or cut it. They are not soft enough to shred beautifully. Believe me. They need more time in the sauce.
The next day when serving, reheat for fifteen minutes. Remove chunks of steak and with forks shred. Return to chili and enjoy with sour cream, cheese, cilantro, etc.
Chili Pepper Guide:
Anaheim chili: very mild. More flavor than anything. You could put the whole thing in and won't make your lips burn.
Poblano chili: same as anaheim, a teeny amount of kick, this is for flavor, not heat.
Jalapeno: This gets hot. If your family likes hot, dice the whole thing. I did 1/3 of one jalapeno and it was not too hot for my kids to eat. A little after burn but tastey.
If you want more spice, habanero (shown below) is renown for being very very hot and you don't need a lot of one to add some serious heat. They are small and round. Be careful cutting it. Avoid touch it as much as possible.
