December 26, 2012
Author: Evan Kleiman
Ingredients:
½ lb. dry pinto beans, cooked until tender or 4 cans pinto beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, diced use white for sharpness, yellow for sweetness
Salt to taste
2 lbs. ground beef or buffalo, not lean
2 – 4 garlic cloves (to taste), grated on microplane or put through garlic press
4 tablespoons chile powder
2 tablespoons New Mexico chile powder
1 – 2 teaspoons Ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon Cumin
2 teaspoons Dried Mexican Oregano, crush with your fingers as you add to the pot
1 large can peeled tomatoes in juice
Preparation:
Use a heavy pot and a wooden angled scraper for stirring when making your chili. This will help prevent all those spices from burning on the bottom of the pot.
To cook the beans:
Wash pinto beans, put them in a pot covered with cold water by 4 inches. Bring the beans to a rolling boil. Cover the pot, turn off the beans and let them sit for an hour. Now open the lid and stir. The outer layer of bean skin should be completely hydrated. Now bring the pot of beans to a low simmer and let cook until they are just tender but not falling apart. Add water as needed but never more than covers the beans by 2 inches. This way you’ll have a nice thick bean liquor to add to the chili if necessary.
To make the chili:
Film the bottom of the heavy pot with olive oil and cook the onions with salt to taste over moderate heat until they wilt. Add the ground beef or buffalo to the onions. Break the meat up as it cooks until it’s pretty much cooked through and in small pieces, not large chunks.
Add the chile powders, garlic, cumin and oregano. Add salt to taste. Stir the spices in and let cook over low heat until the meat really absorbs the spice, about 3-5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes and juice, breaking up the tomatoes with your fingers as you add them to the pot. Add a cup of bean liquor if you have it. Stir well and let the beans simmer over low heat for a couple of hours, adding the cooked pinto beans the last half hour. Add water or bean liquid as needed to keep the chili liquid as it cooks.
Adjust seasonings at the end of cooking. This chili is better the next day. Serve it with bowls of minced raw onion, sour cream and grated sharp cheddar cheese.
Posted in Main Courses
Tags: Ancho chile powder, Beef, buffalo, chile, chile powder, Chili, cloves of garlic, cumin,Dried Mexican oregano, dried pinto beans, garlic, garlic cloves, ground beef, ground buffalo, mexican oregano, New Mexico chile powder, new years, new years day, olive oil, onion, onions, Oregano, pinto beans, salt, tomato, tomatoes