Mmmm if forced to choose im going all thighs... oh wait a sec are we still talking about chili?

Yeh, where I'm working at right now there's lots of chicken & pork so have been trying different things. I was looking at recipes for a white chicken chili and green chicken chili, but didn't find anything on the red so I made one. Different...

I make chili, and I also make chili with beans. Texas Red is my favorite, actually just made another batch. Here's how I make mine.

First I make the chili sauce. I like to use 7 different types of dried chilis, adjusting the heat depending on whether or not I have little mouths or yankees to feed. I use chili ancho, chili guajillo, chili pasilla, chili arbol, chili morita, chipotle chili, & chili tepins. Gut the chilis, and then toast them in a skillet over medium heat (don't burn them). This makes a difference.






I quarter a red onion and throw it in a pot with 6-8 large cloves of garlic, add enough water to cover and drop in two cubes of Knorr chicken bouillon. Boil for 5 minutes, then add the toasted chilis and boil for 5 more minutes. Keep covered, turn off the heat, and let sit for 20-30 minutes. Then add all into a blender with just enough of the liquid to cover, add 1 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp hot Spanish paprika, and puree. Then I run the sauce through a screen to remove all of the pulp - set aside.

I trim my meat well and cube it up into about 1" pieces. Salt & pepper the meat or use fajita seasoning, I prefer fajita seasoning. Heat my cast iron pot up to med-high heat and drop meat in dry, I want it to stick to the bottom (don't overcrowd the pot). Once meat is browned set aside. Then I reduce my heat to med-low and drop in one diced red onion and some butter (real butter only). Sautee them onions down until they're real dark & caramelized, making sure you remove all of the goodness from the bottom of the pot while stirring. When the onions are ready, I remove almost all of the butter (leaving maybe a teaspoon), then I drop my meat back in/pour in the chili sauce/give it a good stir. Cover and reduce heat a little so to simmer about 2 hours or so, until meat is fork tender and the gravy is the consistency that you want. Remember the meat will make a little water on it's own while cooking, so don't go crazy adding water at the beginning. Taste for salt at the end.





I use venison, pork, beef, whatever. I like to make a batch of chili sauce ahead of time and take to camp with me. Pull some meat from a fresh killed deer or pig and make a pot of chili right there. For a little extra heat and flavor, crumble a few dried chili tepins over the top.


I like to serve with either cornbread, biscuits, toasted corn tortillas, or over rice.


If you want to make chili soup you can use ground meat and add tomato paste/tomato sauce/diced tomatoes/ and beans, just don't call it Texas Chili.

This chili recipe always gets rave reviews. I've been tinkering with it for the last year. It's getting really close to where I want it. In fact, this may be where I want it. I recently won a local chili cook-off with this recipe.


2 pounds coarse ground chuck
1 pound chorizo
.5 pound breakfast sausage
1 diced white onion
2 large can whole peeled tomatoes
3 tablespoons diced garlic
3 cups broth
.5 cup black coffee
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon oregano

Powder
1 tablespoon San Antonio Chili powder
1 tablespoon Ancho Chili Powder
1 tablespoon Chipotle Chili Powder

Chiles
2 diced poblano
2 diced serrano
1 small can chipotle in adobo, diced.
1 diced hatch ( I've used fresh and canned, if canned add at the same time as the chipotle)
2 diced Guajillo


Get a really good brown on all the meat. Brown in small batches so you don't overcrowd the pan. Set browned meat in a bowl.
Add onion and diced poplanos, Serrano's, and Guajilo to the same pan scraping up browned bits. Saute until tender. 10-15 minutes.
Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
Add seasonings and cook 1 minute. Don't add cumin and granulated garlic.
Add canned tomatoes and juice smash with a potato masher.
Add diced chipotle in adobo.
Add all the meat.
Add the broth.
Cook until tender.
Add cumin and granulated garlic about 15 minutes before finishing.

Serve over rice with diced avocado, thick shredded cheddar, and cilantro.

I get adding coffee is odd. But man it really does something to the flavor. Add 1/4 cup of it of your worried about the flavor.

Tonight - 5lb batch of Texas Red pork tenderloin chili about to simmer for a few hours and make a gravy. Life is good, hope all of you are too.