Texas Tornado Chili - Recipe we won our Work Chili Cook Off

 

Ingredients:

3 lbs. ground beef – 93% lean

2 cans Hunt's Tomato Sauce - 14.8oz

2 cans Rotel® Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies 10oz

1 jalapeno Pepper – chopped (remove seeds)

1 habanero Pepper – chopped (remove seeds)

1 poblano pepper – chopped (remove seeds)

1 clove garlic - chopped

1 onion - chopped

2 tbsp. chili powder (See modification below)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground oregano

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

 

What I modified (use in place of Chili Powder):

About 9 Dried Ancho Chilies

About 7 Dried Guajillo Chilies (I don’t know what kind I used. Our HEB only had two kinds of dried chilies and the one I picked said “good for Chili”.

About 5 to 6 Dried chiles de arbol (these are in the seasoning section with the Fiesta brand stuff)

8 Garlic cloves, unpeeled

Salt/Pepper

1 tsp Honey

 

Cut peppers in half, lengthwise; remove stems and seeds. Place chilies de arbol in a small bowl and pour very hot water and let soak for 45 minutes.

Tear Ancho and Guajillo chilies into 1 inch pieces.

Add dried chilies to a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or stockpot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until slightly darkened with an intense, roasted aroma, 2 to 5 minutes. Do not allow to smoke. Remove chilies, place in a small bowl, and set aside. Toast garlic cloves in their skins, u ntil browned in spots but not burned, about 3 minutes. (Brown meat in same Dutch oven – we didn’t do this as we cooked the meat in the plow disk cooker). Return Dutch oven to medium-high heat and add 1 cup (240ml) chicken broth, using a flat wooden spoon or stiff spatula to scrape browned bits off of bottom of pan. Reduce heat until chicken broth is at a bare simmer, add toasted chilies to liquid, and cook until chilies have softened and liquid is reduced by half, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer chilies (all but chilies de arbol) and liquid to a blender. Peel garlic cloves and add to blender. Blend at high speed, scraping down sides as necessary, Add honey, 1T salt and 1 tsp pepper and blend until a completely smooth purée has formed, about 2 minutes. Taste and add chilies de arbol to your preference for heat. Start with 4. Set chili purée aside.

 

Optional ingredients:

1 can Bush’s Light Red Kidney Beans 16oz

 Directions (original recipe):

Place the ground beef in a large pot and cook over medium heat until browned. Drain off the excess fat and add to large crock pot (slow cooker). Add tomato sauce, rotel diced tomato with green chili, garlic cloves, onion, habanero pepper, jalapeno pepper, poblano pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper to crock pot (slow cooker).

Stir together well, cover, and cook on lowest crockpot (slow cooker) heat for 10-12 hours, stirring occasionally.

Place finely grated cheddar cheese on bottom of serving bowl, add chili to bowl, put more grated cheddar cheese on top of chili and serve.

Serve with side of warm corn bread and cold beer

Enjoy!

Directions for what we did at the cook-off:

1. Heat over med-high heat 4 T lard or oil in a large pan.
2. Add 1/3 meat, ¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper and brown, 6 to 8 mins per batch. Do this for the remaining meat. Transfer to a bowl
3. In stock pot, lower heat to medium and add 1 Tbsp of oil/lard. Cook the onion and diced peppers with 1/8 tsp salt. About 5 mins.
4. Add cumin and cook 1 more minute.
5. Add the chili puree and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes.
6. Add 4 cups of beef broth, oregano and meat.
7. Combine 4T masa with 4 cups of water and add to the mixture.
8. Add Tomato Sauce and Rotel
9. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook uncovered until meat is tender and broth is thickened, for three hours. (Needs to be simmering by 9AM)
   
10. Add Sugar and Vinegar 1 T at a time to taste.
11. Add cayenne, salt and pepper to taste.
12. Let sit for at least an hour.

Here are two recipes I looked at to come up with my modifications:

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/01/the-best-chili-recipe.html

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/our-favorite-texas-beef-chili-51249010