Pray For Snow Chili

This classic, spicy chili will not only warm the cockles of your heart, but it might also cause the powdery white stuff to fall early!

Equipment

• A large enameled Dutch or French oven with cover
• Mise-en-place bowls (small and medium sized soup bowls or mixing bowls)
• Sharp knife
• Cutting board
• Tongs
• Wooden spoon
• Slotted spoon
• Latex gloves (for deseeding and handling peppers)

Ingredients

• 2-3 serrano peppers
• 2 jalapeno peppers
• 3-4 habanero peppers
• 1 bell pepper
• 4-6 cloves of garlic
• 2 medium yellow onions
• 14 oz can kidney beans (Goya brand preferred)
• 14 oz can pinto beans (Goya brand preferred)
• 20 oz can crushed tomatoes (Muir Glen fire roasted preferred)
• 7 oz can of chipotles in adobo sauce (Herdez brand preferred)
• 1 lb ground beef (wagyu)
• 8 beef short ribs (about 1.5-2 lbs)
• 1 tbsp hatch chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• kosher salt
• 2 tbsp Marmite
• 1 tbsp neutral oil (grapeseed preferred, vegetable OK)
• water

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 300F

2. De-seed and finely dice the serrano, jalapeno, habanero, and bell peppers and set aside in a mise-en-place bowl. Don’t touch your eyes or wipe your nose!

3. Dice the onions and set aside in a mise-en-place bowl.

4. Mince the garlic and set aside.

5. Open the can of chipotles, remove the peppers and chop them up with a knife. Return the peppers to the can with the adobo sauce.

6. Pre-heat the Dutch oven on the stove top over medium-high heat. Add the tablespoon of neutral oil, and fry the ground beef very well, breaking it up into small pieces until it starts to get crispy and rich brown. Using slotting spoon, put cooked ground beef into a medium sized bowl.

7. Working in batches, fry the beef short ribs, until every side is seared. The inside of the ribs may still be raw. This is OK! Set aside the short ribs to cool. Leave any rendered fat in the Dutch oven. Once the ribs have cooled enough to handle, cut the meat off of the bones, and slice into a large dice. Set aside the meat and keep the bones.

8. Add the diced onions to the Dutch oven, season with some kosher salt, and cook over medium-high heat until the onions start to turn golden brown. Add the diced peppers and stir, continuing to cook until they soften. Add the minced garlic and stir, cooking until fragrant, about 1 minute.

9. Add tomatoes, both cans of beans including the liquid, and the can of chipotles and adobo sauce. Add the cooked ground beef, short rib meat, and bones. Add hatch chili powder, ground cumin, and ground coriander, and enough water (if needed) to ensure all of the meat is covered in liquid. Stir gently to combine, and bring just to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer. Stir in 2 tbsp of Marmite, and season with salt to taste. (It is best if the chili is just slightly not salty enough, as it will cook down and the flavors become more concentrated!)

10. Put the Dutch oven into the oven with the cover on and let the chili cook for about 3 hours. Remove the lid and cook for another hour or so until the liquid has reduced slightly.

11. Remove from the oven, and using tongs, remove the bones and any tough skin that might have come off the bones during cooking. Season with any additional salt or chili powders to taste, and serve. (For even better flavor, let the chili cool, then refrigerate it overnight. Reheat and serve.)

Hints and Tips

If the chili isn’t thickened enough, just continue cooking in the oven so that the liquid continues to reduce. You can also do this on the stove top, but this will cause a lot more splattering!

Try different peppers and chili powders. For more heat, try arbol chilies!

If you don’t have Marmite, you can try another umami bomb like anchovy paste, fish sauce, or even soy sauce.

To make this Texas style, skip the beans and add more meat.