CincyEats

Back in the fall some friends invited us to Louisville for a rib off. To put it nicely, Jess and I had an epic fail! The week was stressful leading up and we didn’t prepare. When they brought up the topic of a chili showdown we didn’t think twice. I am pretty sure that Jess and I have been working on our chili recipe for about 3 years.

The day of the showdown started out well. We felt pretty confident. All of our ingredients were top notch. We even brought our own spices from the Colonel, because we didn’t want anything to be different from the batch we made at home.

I guess you could say we did pretty well. Out of 7 chili’s ours came in number 2.  You can find the winner’s recipe on epicurious.com. No, he did not write his own recipe, but I can tell you that it was pretty tasty. If you’re looking for something a little different you should check it out. He described it as being Cuban, but Jess and I were both getting a Moroccan vibe.

As for our chili, it is pretty traditional with a slight twist with the addition of lamb. It is shredded which creates a much different texture than ground meats. It has a smokiness from adobo sauce, spiciness from jalapeno and poblano and a subtle sweetness from the chocolate.

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 1/2 lbs beef, cubed

1 1/2 lamb, cubes (I used boneless leg of lamb)

2 red onions, diced

5 garlic cloves, minced

4 jalapeno peppers

3 poblano peppers

2 Tbl chili powder

1 Tbl cumin

2 tsp mexican oregano

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 chipolte peppers packed in adobo

1 Tbl adobo sauce

1 bottle of beer (newcastle)

chicken stock

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

about 1 tsp. shaved chocolate

salt and pepper to taste

1. generously salt and pepper all the meat,add about a tablespoon of oil to a  dutch oven over medium heat
2. brown all the meat on all sides (add more oil as necessary) and set aside
3. add the onions, garlic, jalapenos, and poblano to the pot. Saute until the onions are translucent. At the same time scrape up the fond that is stuck to the bottom of the pot
4. add the chili powder, cumin, oregano and cinnamon to bloom their flavors. This will take about 30 seconds and the herbs will be very fragrant
5. Stir in the tomato paste chipolte pepper and adobo sauce. saute for about a minute and the color deepens slightly
6. the mixture will be thick, loosen with the beer. then add the beef back to the pot and stir to incorporate
7. add chicken stock just so that is covers the meat and bring to a boil
8. lower the heat to a simmer and cover and cook for 3 hours (stir periodically)
9. at this point the beef and lamb should be very tender. Take a wooden spoon and shred the meat by gently pressing it against the side of your pot and stirring.
10. to finish stir in the beans and chocolate and cook over low heat until the beans are heated through (about 20 minutes), salt and pepper to taste

notes: chili is a layering of flavors and salt is the best flavor enhancer. I would suggest salting as you go.