Chile con Carne
We did a lot of research on this one, there are so many sources and variations to this stew that it proved hard to be completely loyal to one recipe. In the end the base recipe is my fathers, with some ideas and modifications.
The result is a fine stew indeed, but the simplicity of regular chili con carne was sacrificed on the way to achieve a degree of chili perfection. That said; enjoy the ultimate chili con carne recipe!
Ingredients
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300 gr ground beef
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250 gr beef (cut in bite sized cubes)
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250 gr bacon
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1 cup of vegetable stock
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1 tablespoon vegetable oil
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2 medium onions
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3 or 4 cloves of garlic
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5 large tomatoes (peeled canned tomatoes also work)
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2 bell peppers (green and red)
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1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
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½ shot glass of Tabasco sauce
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1 tablespoon ground cumin
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1 tablespoon paprika
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1 shot glass of bourbon
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Optional: Chocolate, ground chile de arbol or pequin, black pepper and salt to taste
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½ cup of corn flour to thicken.
Preparation
Before you start anything marinate the beef for 6 hours in a bowl with the vegetable stock.
Cut the bacon up in to tiny bits and throw them and the vegetable oil in a large heavy pot at medium heat.
Chop the onions up and add them. Separate the beef from the marinade and add the whole bite sized beef before the bacon starts to get crunchy. Save the marinade for later.
Seal the meat well and add the onions, the garlic and the ground beef next. Wait till the meat has whitened and the onions are clear.
Next add the marinade, the chopped tomatoes all together in the pot. Stir it around. Wait until it boils and get ready to make the chili base.
Boil a cup of water (some people use half white vinegar) and pour it in the blender with the guajillo and pasilla chiles, remember to remove the stems and the seeds before you blend them all together. Then add the resulting paste to the main stew. You can experiment with different quantities but I found this ratio to be just right.
Add the chopped bell peppers. Optionally, some other nice vegetables to add are carrots, potatoes and zucchini.
Add the cumin, the paprika and the Worcestershire sauce while the meat cooks for the next hours (longer is better). Put a lid on it and come back to stir every 20-30 minutes. The tomatoes should have released enough water to keep it from burning, if not, adding a little water is fine.
When its one consistent mush, add the Tabasco.
When the meat is cooked and starts falling apart pour the shot glass of bourbon in to the pot and stir slowly.
The final step is to add the thickener, corn flour does the job nicely, but remember to do this at the very end because once the chili thickens it will burn a lot easier.
When the alcohol from the bourbon has evaporated taste your chilli and add salt and pepper to taste.
Optional
- To make your chili hotter add the pequin or chile de arbol or habanero sauce (slowly!).
- To make your chili sweeter add two squares of chocolate.
- If you are feeling extra nice accompany the chili with some pinto beans, jalapenos and rice.
This recipe produces about 5 liters (6-8 bowls) of stew.