Hearty Beef Chili
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Chili: As the dog days of summer draw to a close and the thermometer begins to drop, the thing I look forward to the most is being able to cook my hot soup stew-like recipes. Personally, I can eat dishes like gumbo, chilli, and soup on the hottest days of the summer. I understand though that most people like to wait for the Halloween decorations to start popping up before indulging in the warmer comfort foods which is cool…I guess.
One of the main things we’ve tried to stress with our recipes is being sure to use fresh, non-processed ingredients in your cooking. The two main reasons for this are taste, obviously. The other, and probably more important reason, is health. I’m a firm believer in the thought that over processed and artificial foods are the culprit for a great deal of the health problems we face as a country. Without delving too much into that, I’m simply saying that the more we can do on a daily or weekly basis to eat the freshest and cleanest foods, the better. So, long story short, we are always on the lookout for the freshest, cleanest ingredients.
This is where Tuttorosso Tomatoes come into the conversation. The first thing one obviously notices with these tomatoes is the taste. Simply put, just a sharp clean tomato taste. Exactly what you want when cooking chili or another recipe with a tomato base. The second thing you will notice is Tuttorosso uses steam to preserve their tomatoes. No preservatives or artificial colors and flavors which, when cooking, is an all around great concept to adopt. To find Tuttorosso Tomatoes, find a store near you with their store locator. I found mine at Rouses!
One of my favorite foods to enjoy during the time frame when temperatures dip below 80° Fahrenheit (which in South Louisiana sometimes feels like only 2 weeks out of the year) is chili. Now before we go any further, I understand how divisive chili can be. Beans or no beans, corn or no corn, etc. Let me say at the start, I love all these variations and I don’t think one is better than the other. So there, that should make all my chili friends who are very defensive over their particular models happy.
My favorite meat to use for chili is beef short ribs. They have a wonderful flavor and respond really well to braising which I use for chili. (We’ll talk about that in a second.) I like to use a combination of short ribs and chuck roast.
Instead of basing our chilli flavor purely on ground chili powder, I like using dried peppers that have been reconstituted and blended. It gives chili a wonderfully pure flavor. My favorite are guajillo peppers. They have a great flavor without being too spicy. Don’t be intimidated by the whole reconstituting peppers thing. It is super easy. But, if you can’t find dried peppers or are a little short on time, regular chili powder works just fine. Dried peppers can be found at most Latino grocery stores and even at some other grocery stores.
The other main difference in my chili recipe is my method of cooking. While most chili methods require slow simmering on the stove, braising brings out so many more flavors I find. But it’s up to you. Simmering is just fine. So when the weather gets a little colder, put a big pot of this chili on. You will not regret it.
I adapted my recipe below from Tuttorosso’s Hearty Beef Chili Recipe. I changed a few things but if you would like to see Tuttorosso’s original recipe, check it out here. While you’re there, check out some of their other great recipes!
Ingredients and Instructions
Beef
- 3 pounds beef short ribs and chuck roast cut into 1″ cubes
Seasoning Mix
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
Mix all seasoning mix ingredients together.
Coat beef cubes with seasoning mix and refrigerate for an hour.
Let beef sit at room temperature for a half hour before cooking.
Pepper Sauce
- 7 guajillo peppers destemmed and torn into pieces
- 4 cups water
Bring water to a boil and remove from heat. Add peppers and let soak for at least 30 mins.
Add water and peppers to a blender. Being very careful, blend the mixture until a sauce forms.
Set strainer over a bowl and strain pepper mixture. You should have about two cups of sauce. Set pepper sauce aside.
Chili
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Beef (see above)
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 2 jalapeño peppers diced
- 5 cloves of garlic diced
- 2 Chipotle peppers in Adobo chopped
- 1 (6 ounce) can of Tuttorosso Tomato Paste
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can of Tuttorosso Petite Diced Tomatoes
- 1 (28 ounce) can of Tuttorosso Italian Inspirations Crushed Tomatoes Chunky Style
- Pepper sauce (see above)
- 1 can of beer (a light lager works great)
Garnish
- Cheddar Cheese shredded
- Sour cream
- Cilantro
Preheat the oven to 300° Fahrenheit.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven on medium high heat.
Add meat in batches and brown well. Repeat until all meat is brown. Set aside.
Reduce heat to medium. Add onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño peppers. Cook for about five minutes until the veggies are soft.
Add garlic and chipotles. Cook for another two minutes.
Add Tuttorosso Tomato Paste. Stir in well and cook for another couple of minutes.
Add Tuttorosso Petite Diced Tomatoes, Tuttorosso Italian Inspirations Crushed Tomatoes, pepper sauce, and beer. Bring to a boil on the stove, put on the lid, and place in the oven.
Braise chili in the oven for about two hours or until meat is tender.
Taste chili and add any necessary spices to taste. (See seasoning mix above.)
Serve hot with some shredded cheese, sour cream and cilantro….maybe a giant handful of corn chips.
