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"Yes It's High-Maintenance And So Am I"

Source of Recipe

the web


List of Ingredients

3 cups chopped onion.

2 cloves garlic, very finely minced. (NOT pressed.)

1 teaspoon fresh oregano, leaves pulled off stems and chopped.

2 1/2 teaspoons roasted cumin seeds.

3 Tablespoons chili powder.

3 Tablespoons water.

1 Tablespoon white flour.

4 cups fresh, skinned* tomatoes, crushed. (May need to chop with chef's knife if you don't have a crusher.)

1 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste. I use sea salt.)

2 cups hot beef stock*. (No, this isn't the same as beef consomme. If you're using canned beef broth/consomme, use the same amount and add 2 bouillon cubes plus a dash of celery salt and a dash of black pepper.)

1/4 cup masa harina - a/k/a corn or maize flour. (Quaker Oats makes a good version of this. It's also known as "corn flour" or "tamale flour" and should be available in the ethnic section of most large supermarkets.)

1 teaspoon dried thyme.

1 Tablespoon yellow mustard. (Like French's... the kind you use at a picnic but not Dijon.)


Recipe

Roasted cumin seeds: Heat skillet on medium-high until hot. Toss whole, store-bought cumin seeds into skillet and quickly shake to prevent burning. Cook over heat until dark golden brown. Grind with herb mortar or coffee grinder until fine. (Or use the rounded end of a screw driver in a coffee cup like I do.) You can substitute 1 1/2 Tablespoons of ground cumin from grocery store's spice rack, but the taste won't be the same.

Skinning tomatoes: The easiest way to skin tomatoes for any recipe is to boil water in a suitably sized pan, then cut an X with a paring knife on the stem end of the fruit. Toss the tomatoes in for 1 minute - look for the skin to begin shrivelling and peeling back from the slashes of the X - then immediately remove the tomato from the boiling water and plunge it into a sinkful of cold water with ice. When the fruit is cool enough to handle, the skins should peel back nicely in large strips.

Beef stock: I admit - I'm a purist when it comes to my soup stocks and I keep a stash of them in the freezer by making them regularly, freezing them in ice cube trays and dumping them into appropriately labelled plastic bags that I store in the freezer. If you really want to make a good beef stock, leave me a note in the comments. Otherwise, follow the doctoring instructions above for use with a store-bought broth or consumme.

Chili Directions

Using large saucepan, saute onions and garlic in oil (or bacon drippings...yum!) over medium heat until translucent, about 10 minutes.

Push onions and garlic to the side and add meat plus 1/3 c. water. Break meat into clumps and saute, sitring often, until no red is showing.

While meat is cooking, put chili powder, water and flour in a small container with a good lid. Shake the hell out of it until it's blended.

Add oregano and chili-paste to meat, stir.

Add crushed tomatoes, salt and beef stock, then stir in masa harina until thoroughly mixed.

Bring to boil then cover and reduce to simmer for 1 hour, stirring often. Check the meat for tenderness.

Stir in dried thyme and mustard. Let simmer 20 more minutes.

Serve with a topping of chopped white onions, shredded cheddar, a small dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of chopped (fresh or dried) cilantro. Cornbread makes an excellent side dish.