Chili con Carne
Along with the usual New Year resolutions each year I add a culinary resolution to my list. In years past I’ve vowed to be more experimental with vegetables, expand my herb garden, get out of the rut of usually cooking “Mediterranean style” and commit to less food waste. I’m pretty good with keeping those resolutions and end each year with new convictions.
This year my resolution is to be more experimental with dried beans. We enjoy a variety of beans at our house but too often I’m lazy and opt for the precooked canned ones. I like trying the little bags of dried beans but I’m not convinced these mass-produced commodity brands are very fresh when they arrive on the store shelves.
My inspiration for tackling this year’s resolution comes from Rancho Gordo. This online source for dried beans is phenomenal. The founder, Steve Sando, is focused on heirloom beans, particularly those that are indigenous to the Americas. I had no idea there were so many different varieties! His clientele has many famous chefs including Thomas Keller. When I peruse his web site I’m struck by the variety of colors - the beans look like gems. I have to admit, it’s only January but I’ve already gone a bit overboard buying many varieties. Because Rancho Gordon’s beans are so fresh, they cook up relatively quickly and don’t need to be presoaked (although I generally do presoak them just to hurry up the process a bit more.)
My latest creation was making Chili con Carne using beautiful black-and-white speckled Vaquero beans and Sando’s recipe available on his website ((www.ranchogordo.com). Before assembling the chili I cooked the dried beans. I soaked 1 cup of dried Vaquero beans for about an hour then cooked them in 3 cups of water. After an hour of slow simmering the beans were tender and delicious, even on their own.
This chili is a far cry from the bland “ground beef / canned beans / little packet of powder” version many folks make at home. Sando’s recipe calls for cubes of chuck beef, plenty of Mexican spices, a little bitter Mexican chocolate and believe it or not, a bottle of dark beer. After sautéing some onions and garlic, the spices are added and cooked, coating the vegetables in what could be described as a Mexican roux.
The resulting chili tastes like you’ve headed over the southern border for dinner! The only adaptation I’ll make to his recipe is to use less of Rancho Gordo’s New Mexican Red Chili Powder. The spices (available online) are also very fresh so they are extremely pungent. Yikes! The chili had a nice kick to it the first night, and when we reheated some for lunch the next day the flavors had “bloomed” into an even spicier bite.
Next time you’re thinking about making chili from a packet, take a good look at the ingredients. They might surprise you. According to Steve Sando “The star should be the chiles, either from pods or ground to a powder… A note on spelling: The pods are called chiles. The dish is called Chili. When you see Chile Powder you should expect it to be 100% ground chiles. If you are buying Chili Powder, there's a better than good chance there will be spices and herbs added.”
RANCHO GORDO CHILI con CARNE
Serves 4-6
¼ cup olive oil
2-3 pounds chuck roast, cut into ½- to 1-inch cubes
2 white onions, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon Rancho Gordo Mexican Oregano
¼–½ cup Rancho Gordo New Mexican Red Chile Powder
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
Salt
3 cups water
1 bottle Negro Modelo (or other dark beer)
1 cup Rancho Gordo San Franciscano, Vaquero, Santa Maria Pinquitos, or Domingo Rojo beans, cooked and drained
1 tablespoon of Masa Harina (optional)
In a stock pot heat the oil and brown the meat pieces. Remove as they brown.
When all the pieces are browned and seared, lower the heat and sauté the onions and garlic until soft. Then add the oregano, chile powder, cumin and salt. Fry the spices for a few minutes and then slowly add the water and then the beer. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Add the meat back to the pot and allow to simmer gently for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Add the beans. Cook for another 10 minutes or so. The texture should be somewhat soupy but if the liquid is too thin, dissolve the masa harina in about ½ cup of water. Stir well to avoid any lumps. Slowly trickle the liquid into the chili. Cook on low for another 15 minutes or so.
Ladle out hot with garnishes of raw chopped onion, chopped cilantro, chile powder, etc. Serve with hot flour tortillas, buttermilk biscuits or your favorite cornbread.