matt harris*

recipe box · Tacos & Tex-Mex

Matt’s Chuck Roast Chili

Love it.

Ingredients

  • 2.5 lb chuck roast — slice roasts into 1in cubes
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 poblanos, diced
  • 1 or 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (and a bit of the sauce), diced
  • 1 to 2 other vegetables (celery or carrots), diced (I used celery)
  • 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Seasonings: 1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 beer
  • 3 cups beef broth
  • 1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, hand crushed (Marzano is best)
  • 3 cups (2 16-oz cans) cooked black beans, pinto beans, or kidney beans (I used one light and one dark can of kidney beans)
  • Bacon fat
  • To serve: shredded cheese, sour cream, diced avocados, chopped scallions, hot sauce, chopped cilantro

Steps

  1. Render bacon fat. Fry the bacon in your pot of choice (I prefer a dutch oven) slowly to render the fat and make the bacon crispy. Remove bacon, reserve all but a tbsp or so of the bacon fat.
  2. Brown the meat. Be sure the chuck roast is diced into roughly .5in to 1in irregularly shaped cubes. Discard or set aside big fat sections. Sear over medium heat and brown the meat and liberally season with salt and pepper. Cook in multiple batches so there is space between the pieces to ensure all sides of the cubes are seared dark brown. Transfer the browned meat from the pot to a clean dish.
  3. Cook the vegetables. In the same pot used to brown the meat (add more bacon fat if needed), over medium to medium-high heat add the onions (season with salt and pepper) and cook until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the other vegetables (poblanos, celery/carrots, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce — season with salt and pepper) and continue to cook until softened, another 5–8 minutes. Clear a space in the middle of the pan and add the garlic. Cook the garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then stir into the vegetables. It’s normal for a dark sticky crust to start forming on the bottom of the pan.
  4. Add the seasonings. Add the other seasonings to the pan. Stir until the vegetables are coated and the spices are fragrant, another 30 seconds.
  5. Deglaze the pan. Pour the beer into the hot pan. Scrape up the dark sticky crust as the liquid bubbles. Continue scraping and stirring until the beer has almost evaporated.
  6. Add the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes to the pot. Stir in for a couple of minutes. Taste and add more seasonings or salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Add the broth and simmer. Add the browned meat back into the pan. Pour in the broth. Bring the chili to a simmer and cook for about 2.5–3 hours, stirring occasionally, until the meat is very tender. Let the broth reduce uncovered, but if it starts to reduce too low, put the top on (or worst case add more broth).
  8. Add the beans. Add the beans to the pot. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Taste and add more seasonings or salt to taste.
  9. Let it rest. Chili is often best the day after it’s been cooked, but even letting it sit off the eye for 15 minutes or so will improve the taste.
  10. Serve with garnishes.

Based heavily on: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-chili-cooking-lessons-from-thekitchn-109352 · https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/texas-chili.html