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Muleskinner's Chili

Source of Recipe

Sacramento Bee 1/30/02


Recipe Introduction

This recipe makes for a chunky and fairly hot chili, but it also lends itself to experimentation with other kinds and varying amounts of chili peppers. The recipe is from "Spirit of the West: Cooking From Ranch House and Range" by Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs (Artisan, $35), and was first published in The Bee five years ago.

List of Ingredients

Prep time: 15 minutes. Cook time: 3 hours. Serves: 8-10.
2 strips thick-sliced bacon
1 pound boneless pork chops, cubed
1 pound round steak, cubed
1 pound ground round steak
2 yellow onions, peeled and chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 (10-ounce) can Rotel tomatoes or Mexican- or Spanish-style tomatoes with green chilies
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 to 4 dried ancho chilies, chopped, or 1/4- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
3 heaping tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground oregano
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 ounces beer



Recipe

In a large, heavy skillet over medium-low heat, cook the bacon, turning occasionally, until crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon, crumble and set aside. Pat the meat cubes dry with paper towels. Brown the cubed meat and ground meat in the bacon drippings. If the skillet isn't large enough, brown the meat in batches to avoid crowding. Transfer the browned meat and any juices to a Dutch oven.

In the same skillet, sauté the onion and garlic for 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat, until slightly softened, adding some bacon drippings or oil to the pan if necessary. Transfer the onion mixture to the Dutch oven and add the reserved bacon, tomatoes, tomato sauce, chopped chilies and Tabasco. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to combine well. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook gently for 30 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, oreganos, cocoa, salt, paprika and cayenne. Stir in the beer. Cover and cook over low heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the chili has thickened and the meat is tender.

Per serving: 367 cal.; 49 g pro.; 9 g carb.; 11 g fat (4 sat., 6 monounsat., 1 polyunsat.); 131 mg chol.; 793 mg sod.; 34 percent calories from fat.