Now making lunch for everyone (which turned out to be about a dozen people) wouldn't have been such a big deal except that 'furniture pick-up day' was less than two days before I had to have everything packed up and loaded onto the rental truck. Packing up the things I had accumulated over the course of two years turned out to be significantly more work than I thought it would be. Yet, deconstructing and packing up the kitchen (the room with the most accumulations) was going to have to wait after the lunch (no one said I ever made anything easy on myself). Besides I needed to use the All-Clad slow cooker to make BBQ pulled pork and then there is something about eating on 'real' versus paper plates that makes food just taste better.
Lunch turned out to be great and ultimately everything in the kitchen was packed up, including the dishes and the slow cooker. For the past three months the slow cooker had remained in its' box. It wasn't until I was deliberating over whether I should make a BBQ brisket or Texas style chili that the slow cooker again saw the light of day. Tipping the scales in favor of making the chili was a craving for corn muffins (for some reason corn muffins and chili go together perfectly, more perfectly than corn muffins and brisket). The brisket could wait, however, I am pretty certain it won't be another three months before the slow cooker is used again.
There are probably many different versions of Texas style chili so it may be a little presumptive of me to even use those words to name this recipe (particularly because I am not from Texas and the handful of trips I have made there over the past 8 eight years would not qualify me as a Texas chili expert). I thought about calling it a Chuck Roast Chili (didn't sound right), a One Bean Chili (still didn't sound right), a Two Spice Chili (sounded a little better) and yes, I even considered calling it a Pretty Gosh Darn Good Chili. But rather than use my creative energies to come up with a name for this chili I decided to settle on Texas Style Chili. The inspiration for the recipe came from the Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Slow Cooking Cookbook. I thought if they could use the words Texas Style to describe this chili, well who I am to argue otherwise. But if anyone (especially if you are from Texas) takes any offense to the name of this recipe, it might be best if you directed any of your objections to them. I am merely a messenger of sorts and am not looking to mess with anyone from Texas.
There are several ingredients that contribute to the deliciousness of this chili and the choice of meat used (a chuck roast) is one of them. As delicious as a chuck roast is, a chili slow roasted for eight hours transforms this not so tender meat into melt in your mouth meat. A three pound chuck roast is first sliced, trimmed of fat and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Although the cubes were actually cut somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.
Before browning the cubes of meat, a large yellow onion chopped and three cloves of garlic are sautéed in two tablespoons of olive oil (use a large saucepan). Once the onions are softened (about three minutes) and the garlic is allowed to release its' flavor (another minute), the cubes of meat are added in batches until all sides are browned. I sautéed first batch of meat with the onions and garlic, however, before adding the second batch I transferred everything to a bowl. Each time I browned a batch of the chopped meat, I transferred it to the bowl. When the last batch of meat was browned, I emptied the bowl back into the pan.
Three tablespoons of chili powder and one teaspoon of ground cumin are added to the meat, onion and garlic mixture. The mixture is cooked for another two minutes to allow the spices to release their flavor. the entire mixture is then transferred to the slow cooker.
In addition to the onion and garlic, this chili uses fresh tomatoes and a fresh jalapeño. Both are seeded and chopped before added to the meat base mixture. Seeding the tomatoes is important. Your chili could end up being too thin if you don't. The heat for this chili comes from two chopped chipotle chiles in adobo. The seeds from the chipotle chiles were not removed. If you want a little less heat in your chili, remove the seeds or some of the seeds before chopping. In addition to the three tomatoes, one tablespoon of tomato paste is added to the chili mixture.
Two cans (15 ounce size) or red kidney beans are drained and rinsed before being added to the mixture in the slow cooker. The Williams-Sonoma recipe called for only one can but I wanted there to be a better ratio of beans to meat. Once the chili was finished cooking, I was glad I made the decision to double the amount of beans early on in the cooking process.
There are two sources of liquid in this chili: one cup of beef broth and one cup of dark beer. Just as you would never use a wine in a recipe you wouldn't drink, the same holds true with beer. I decided to use Left Hand Brewing Company's Fade to Black beer because it is a dark beer I like. It's also a beer brewed in Longmont, Colorado and I just happen to be a little partial to beers crafted in my favorite Rocky Mountain state. But if Fade to Black isn't available, feel free to use any of your favorite dark beers.
Once all of the ingredients are added to the slow cooker, stir in two teaspoons of Kosher salt and one teaspoon of black pepper (you can always add more salt and pepper later). Set the slow cooker on low, cover, and cook the chili for 8 hours. At the end of 8 hours you will have a pretty gosh darn good Texas Style Chili. And if amongst your friends you have an annual chili cook-off contest or chili throw downs, well this is definitely competition worthy chili. Yes, it's that good.
At the end of eight (8) hours my chili had a great consistency and no additional cooking time was needed. However, if for any reason your chili seems a little thin to you, remove the cover, turn the heat up to high and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.
You can serve the chili immediately or you can refrigerate overnight and reheat the next day. Allowing the chili to chill overnight further develops the flavors.
And oh, don't forget to serve with corn muffins or cornbread. When thinking of beverages to serve with this Texas Style Chili, cold beer and margaritas should be two of the options. But don't let me limit your choices.
If you have a slow cooker that hasn't seen much use in awhile, this chili recipe would be a reason to dust it off. Hey, it is also reason enough to go out and buy one.
Recipe
Texas Style Chili (slight adaptations to the Texas-Style Beef Chili recipe shared in the Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Slow Cooking Cookbook)Ingredients
2 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 pounds chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 Tablespoons Chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped (can remove some or all seeds if you want to reduce the heat)
1 jalapeño chili, seeded and finely chopped
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
1 cup dark beer (recommend Fade to Black, Left Hand Brewing Company)
2 cans (15 ounce size) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (recommend Goya brand)
Toppings: Grated cheddar cheese, sour cream or creme, minced green onions, chopped avocado, and/or finely chopped red onion.
Directions
1. In a large saucepan, heat two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook until onion is softened (approximately three minutes. Add the minced garlic and continue to sauté for an additional minute.
2. Turn the heat up to medium. In four or five batches, add the chopped beef cubes. Cook until the beef cubes are browned on all sides. After the first batch, remove the sautéed onions and garlic with the browned beef. Place in a bowl. Transfer each successive batch to the bowl. Return all of the beef, onions and garlic to the saucepan when the last batch has been browned.
3. Stir in 2 Tablespoons of chili powder and 1 teaspoon of ground cumin to the beef mixture. Continue cooking for another 2 minutes. Transfer mixture to slow cooker.
4. Add all remaining ingredients to the slow cooker, stirring to evenly distribute them.
5. Set slow cooker on low, cover, and cook for 8 hours. If sauce is too thin, uncover and cook on high for 30 minutes.
6. Serve chili with assorted toppings.
