Chili con Carne

Hello Chili con Carne!

Did you grow up with Chili on the weekly meal rotation?  

I certainly did and I was never a huge fan of the dish until I tried it with dried chiles as the foundation.  Using dried chiles will give you a massive upgrade in flavor and will most likely put this classic Tex-Mex dish back on rotation for you. 

How To Make Chili con Carne

I used a mix of Anchos and Guajillos for this batch:

But there's leeway on the chiles, so don't worry about matching the exact combo I used.  For example, I've used New Mexican chiles in place of Guajillos before and still got a great result. 

I also added a chipotle in adobo for additional heat and smokiness, but you can consider this optional.   Working with chipotles in adobo. 

I usually start by de-stemming and de-seeding the dried chiles, but it's not crucial to get rid of every last seed so don't sweat it too much. 

Then I typically give these chile pieces a quick roast in the oven (400F) for 1-2 minutes to wake them up. 

Cover the roasted chile pieces with hot tap water and let them reconstitute for 20-30 minutes, or until you need them.  You can use a small bowl or plate to keep them submerged if they float to the top. 

I'm also in the habit of roasting tomatoes for this recipe, so I usually put 3-4 Romas in the oven before working on the meat.   

There's an extended simmer coming up so it's not crucial to fully roast the tomatoes -- I usually just throw them in the oven and grab 'em when I need 'em. 

For the meat I'm using 2 lbs. of chuck roast.  Best beef cuts for stewing.

Chop it into 1-1.5" chunks and give it a good salting. 

Preheat a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add a glug of oil. 

Then give the beef a good sear on all sides. 

I'm using this Lodge 5 quart Dutch oven and the recipe as written will only fill it up halfway.  That's plenty of food for 4-5 people, but you can double the recipe for larger groups and it will still fit into a pot this size. 

Once the beef is browned you can set the pieces aside. 

In the same pan, we'll add another glug of oil and cook a finely chopped onion over medium heat until it's softened and starting to brown. 

Then we'll add 4 minced garlic cloves and briefly saute. 

Scoop half of the onion-garlic mixture into a blender where it will become part of the chile puree. 

We'll also add one of the roasted tomatoes to the blender, along with the drained chile pieces and a single chipotle in adobo (optional). 

If it's your first time reconstituting dried chiles, be sure to take a taste of the soaking liquid! 

If you like its flavor then you can use a single cup of it to blend the chile puree.  If it tastes bitter to you then just use stock to combine the chiles. 

It usually tastes bitter to me so I added a single cup of stock to the blender and gave it a whirl.  

Then we'll add this chile puree to the main  pot along with:

4 cups stock
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano  What is Mexican oregano?
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Combine well and then add the meat pieces (and their juices) and the remaining roasted tomatoes. 

I usually just plop the tomatoes in and roughly chop 'em up.  I think it's a real treat to get bites of these tomatoes in the final product, but of course you can consider them optional. 

Bring this up to temp and then lower heat to a simmer.  Cover and simmer until the beef is tender -- my stove needs somewhere between low and medium-low to maintain a simmer when covered.     

The beef will be tender in around 1.5-2 hours.  I let this batch cook for 2 hours or so.

And now the big decision of the day...

Do you like beans in your Chili?!  I do but some people are vehemently opposed to it, most likely because that's what they grew up with 🙂

So I usually add in 1-2 cans of cooked black beans towards the end of the simmer, but you can consider this optional.  You could also use pinto or kidney beans and get an equally good result. 

Looking good!

Now is a good time to take a final taste for seasoning.

I added more salt, but keep in mind the salt level will depend on which stock you're using.  I used homemade chicken stock that doesn't have much salt in it. 

You can also adjust the consistency of the Chili con Carne at this point.  So far I've used 5 cups stock total (4 cups were added to the pot, a single cup was added to the chile puree) and I was happy with the consistency.  

If your Chili is too thick for your liking after the simmer, simply add 1-2 additional cups of stock to thin it out. 

If your Chili seems too thin you can always use cornstarch to thicken it up.  In a small bowl whisk together a few tablespoons of cornstarch and equal parts cold water.  Once combined add it to the Chili to thicken it up.  More on using cornstarch to thicken soups and sauces.  

Once you're happy with the salt level and consistency you can serve it up!

I think Chili con Carne is quite comfortable in a bowl all by its lonesome, and that's how this batch was served.

 

But feel free to garnish to your liking, with some good options being:

Mexican Crema
Freshly chopped cilantro
Squeeze of lime
Crispy tortilla strips

Okay, I hope this recipe gets Chili con Carne back on the regular rotation for you!  It's the ultimate comfort food and building it with dried chiles will give you an instant upgrade in flavor.  Feel free to use the comments section below if you have any questions about it. 

Buen Provecho. 

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