A while back I posted a recipe for “Goodnight Trail Chili” that my Dad used to make for amateur chili cookoffs. I’ve made this recipe a fair number of times and have experimented with extra seasonings, and I think I’ve come up with a very nice revised version. Since it’s based on my Dad’s recipe, I call it “Goodnight Trail Chili Junior” although if I do say so myself, I don’t think there’s anything junior about the flavor!
Oh— and I also don’t technically use a recipe for this, so much as “throw what seems like a good amount of stuff into it.” So don’t look for precision measurements.
Ingredients
- 1.5 to 2 lbs beef brisket, chuck roast, or flank steak
- 4-5 ancho chili peppers, plus 2 arbol chiles.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes & green chiles)
- 1 can diced tomato (you can dice your own fresh tomato if you like, but I don’t think it makes a difference).
- 32 oz beef broth
- 1 12 oz bottle of beer. Brand of your choice.
- Honey
- Dark brown sugar
- Spices:
- Smoked paprika
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Cayenne pepper
- Cumin
- Salt
- Masa harina (corn flour)
Procedure:
One Day ahead: Make up a spice rub of roughly equal parts each of salt, dark brown sugar, plus a half part each of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and cumin, and a little dash of cayenne pepper. Liberally rub this spice mix over the beef, then wrap tightly in foil (packing all the spice mix in around the beef) and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
On cooking day:
Remove the seeds and stems from the chili peppers and cut them into pieces. Put them in a sauce pan with the beef broth, bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes.
While the chiles are simmering, take the beef out of the refrigerator and cut it into cubes between 1/2 and 1 inch in size. Don’t rinse it off first. The spices will have turned into a paste & you want that paste to stay with the meat. Sear the meat quickly over high heat in a cast-iron skillet or griddle. Unless your cooking surface is very large, work in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan (that will prevent good searing). Don’t try to cook it all the way through, you just want a sear on the outside of the cubes.
- I like to use beef suet (fat) to grease the pan. You could also use lard or (if you must) vegetable shortening.You could sear the beef directly in your stew pot, but if you’re working in batches to avoid crowding the pan, then you’ll need an extra vessel to hold the seared cubes anyway so it doesn’t really save you any cleaning. I like to sear in a skillet and then move the batches into the stew pot at they’re done.
With the last batch of beef cubes, add the chopped onion & cook along with the beef until it starts to turn translucent. Then, deglaze the skillet with the beer and add beef, onion and beer to the stew pot.
Put the pot over heat. Add a good dose of garlic powder, cumin and paprika. Drain the diced tomatoes and Rotel and add those as well. Stir and let start to boil.
Using a blender (an immersion or stick blender will let you do it directly in the sauce pan) puree the chiles & beef broth until smooth. Add to the stew pot and stir. Add a tablespoon or two of honey (yes, really).
Once everything’s boiling, reduce heat to a simmer. Taste the broth and add salt and honey. Yes, really— honey. You don’t want to add so much that it tastes sweet, but a little background note will help round out the flavor. (I believe chefs call this “balancing” flavors.) You’re looking for a strong beefy flavor that will emerge when you have the right amount of salt and honey in the mix.
Cover and simmer for at least two hours, stirring every now and again.
After 2 hours, taste the chili and add more salt and spices if you think they’re needed. Besides the ones listed above, go ahead and toss in any other spices you think might be nice— experiment! This is a freewheeling kind of dish. Whatever spices you add, give them time to cook in before tasting again, or you might end up adding too much— except for salt, the broth won’t take on the flavor instantly.
If the broth needs thickening, cautiously add small amounts of masa harina. Go easy with it— it will thicken the broth but it also damps down the flavor. If you want a really thick chili, you might need to add more spices to compensate.
Serve straight up, or over corn chips with some cheese on top. Also goes great over a slice of cornbread.
Enjoy!
