Chili Colorado, Double Recipe

Making chili for the parents, who are both in town tonight.

Design notes: Rick Bayless says that the recipe is a half hour hands on. That cannot be true. I sliced and seeded the chilies on Sunday, cubed the chuck roast on Tuesday, and this was still a good hour or two hands on, especially when one considers the massive clean up. The process, however, was very smooth. First I roasted the chilies, while the kettle was heating. By the time the chilies were done, the kettle was whistling. Covered the chilies and submerged with a plate. Chopped an onion and garlic, added the cumin and oregano to the blender. Took the meat out of the fridge and prepared the dutch oven. Added chilies (we are now at the half hour mark). Added reserve chili water. Blended. Put medium-high heat on the dutch oven. Added meat. Began straining chili puree over a bowl. Alternately pressed chilies while turning meat over and over to brown all pieces. This took about ten minutes--like Bayless wants, although my doubling of the recipe makes this a sloppy adaptation. Added chili, kept heat high for another five minutes. Kept scraping bottom. Made flour roux (2 tbsp for 4 cups of water). Added roux. Brought the mixture to a boil, partially covered. Dropped heat to medium. Started cleaning. Lots of cleaning.

3:45: chili simmering nicely.

Doubling the recipe was quite straightforward, with one exception--more difficult to press the chili puree. It left me paranoid, as usual, that I didn't have enough chili in my chili. It is simmering at present. Gives me time to brood.

Chili ratio: 8 anchos and 8 california chilies. They were large, so I didn't opt for more. Frying them did a number on my throat, I have discovered. Almost feel like wearing a mask when working with them.

4:45: Taste Test: Brilliant, but the chuck is still a tad chewy and the sauce a tad watery. Another hour will likely do it. If the sauce gets too thick, I will cover completely in the dutch oven.

Chili Colorado, Second Attempt

6 California Chilies, 4 Ancho Chilies. This time I fried the chilies an appropriate amount (a few seconds per side), and omitted the oil, a mistake I made the first time around. Nice to not smoke the house out on a Sunday afternoon.

Two changes to the recipe. The first has to do with frying, and I'm sure it is no big deal. I fried the meat in the dutch oven in two batches. After I finished the second batch, I cut the flame and pressed the chili puree through a sieve. Once fully pressed, I returned the heat and cooked for five minutes.

The second change was to make a flour roux using about a tablespoon of flour to two cups of water. I ran the water completely out of the sauce last time, but the result was very little chili. I'm hoping to get a slightly thicker sauce this time, so we'll see how the consistency turns out.

The water was added at 3:50 p.m., and the heat kept high while the chili returned to a boil. I started simmering the sauce at 3:55, partially covered. The simmer was at medium low (4 or 5, back and forth). Simmered until 4:55, then added another half teaspoon of salt. Cut heat down to low. Sauce is rich and savory, of medium consistency. Very tasty.

Chili Colorado, First attempt

Followed Rick Bayless's recipe, with a few mistakes/variations/adaptations. For starters,

I heated oil in the dutch oven and used it to sear the chilies. Was not necessary, and smoked fiercely. Will not repeat. ALSO: I have to wonder if fire roasting fresh chilies might not produce a better tasting sauce.The chilies drive the sauce, obviously, and I can't help but think that fresh is better, in order to produce a meatier sauce. However, every recipe I have seen calls for dried, so, more research is in order.

I also roasted the chilies for too long. High heat, and a few seconds a chili is all that is called for. I probably did closer to a minute a side on most.

Once the chilies were soaking in a bowl, I followed the recipe pretty much down to the letter. Browned the beef for ten minutes, pureed the chilies, cumin, garlic, onion, and oregano, strained it, added it to the beef, fried for five minutes more, then added water and cut it down to a simmer. I became obsessively worried about the water content, and so I fried up beef trimmings and added fat. Given that I had to skim fat later, I don't know if this was necessary. I had no problem reducing the sauce, so I will likely omit the next time around.

Simmered for two hours rather than one. Skimmed fat, and am letting it settle now.

The result was delicious. A dark, savory chili, almost brown in complexion and rich in flavor. The chuck was perfect. It veritably dissolved in the mouth. Chunks could have been larger, but I do prefer the smaller morsels. The color changed noticeably during cooking, as the chili slowly reduced. I did add a little more water at one point, but simmered it for 2+ hours, so it mattered little. There was virtually no water left in it. It could have made four very small portions, but was better suited for two, with a little in the way of leftovers.

THOUGHTS: I would like to get the thick sauce that comes with chili colorado at Leruas. I suppose a roux could be concocted, and I wonder about working with my homemade chicken stock rather than water. What I must remember is that the chili sauce I made here is probably the purest form. Cumin, garlic, and onion provide their own thickening agent as well as a nice blend of flavors, but the heart is the chili. My use of chili california and one long, red hot pepper gave this chili its distinctive flavor. It stands beautifully on its own, and if added to some other elegant sides, this could be a dinner party recipe.

Chili Colorado Recipe

From Jared's cookbook:

8-10 New Mexico chilies, California red chilies, anchos, or pasillas
2 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon flour
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon whole or powdered cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch oregano

Discard stems and seeds of chilies. Roast 4 minutes in skillet. You will smell them roasting, but don't let them burn. Transfer to bowl, cover with the 2 cups boiling water. Steep 10-15 minutes. Place chilies and 1/2 soaking water in blender. Reserve other half. Puree until smooth, thick consistency.

Heat oil for a few seconds in 1 quart saucepan. Add flour, garlic, and cumin and stir fry for 2 minutes. Paste should brown--when noticeably colored, remove from heat.

Strain the chili puree into the saucepan. (will probably need to press with a wooden spoon.) **Put the remainder of the liquid into the blender, then strain that liquid out too.

Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, for about two minutes. Add salt and oregano, simmer half a minute more and taste. The sauce should savor richly of chili and be thick enough to nap a spoon heavily. It may also have bitter quality, which is not very attractive until paired with the food to be sauced.

UPDATE:

Rick Bayless's recipe is very similar. Three cloves garlic rather than one. No flour, and he calls for only using 1 cup of reserved chili water. 2 cups are added to the simmering meat mixture. I'm uncertain which to follow. I'm nervous about adding too much water, as usual. Whether or not it is the chili reserve water will depend on the relative heat of the chilies I use. UPDATE AGAIN: Bayless says to avoid reserve water because of its astringency--hence one cup.