Reader Ron Cavill was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but for the last 25 years he's lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico. After reading Juli Kellner's Recipe Box on chili in the February/March 2014 issue, Ron sent us a few Southwestern chili recipes – or chile, as it's also known down there – from his cookbook, A Guy in the Kitchen. If you like chili with a little oomph, give these a try. Thanks, Ron!
Big Ron's Original Colorado Chili
I think this is the one true universal. It seems to me that everyone likes chili and almost everyone makes it. Chili may have become as American as apple pie or hot dogs. It is the staple of every football game gathering, whether in the parking lot at the stadium or in the comfort of your living room. There are as many ways of making chili as there are people who make it, and there are also many ways of serving it as well. I have two basic rules about chili: Make it simple and make it big. Three or four days later this chili is superb over a dish of rigatoni with grated Pecorino Romano cheese on it.
Like Colorado's mountains, this is a big recipe and therefore requires a large stockpot. I use a 10- or 12-quart heavy-gage aluminum stockpot because I like to prepare everything in the stockpot and eliminate the use of a frying pan. An 8-quart will work, but it gives you less working room in the pot.
- 4 to 5 lbs. ground meat (you can use any grade of beef, pork or turkey. I like a mix of all three)
- 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 lg (32 oz.) can whole Italian tomatoes
- 2 lg (28 oz.) can tomato puree
- 4 to 5 Tbsp. red chili powder
- 4 to 5 Tbsp. cumin
- 4 to 5 bay leaves
- 4 to 5 Tbsp. cilantro
- 1 Tbsp. crushed red peppers
- 1 lg (52 oz.) can kidney beans*
- 2 14 oz. cans of black beans
- 2 14 oz. cans of pinto beans
- 1/4 c. yellow cornmeal
- 1/4 cup milk
- Salt & pepper
Brown the meat in the stockpot with the garlic powder, salt and pepper. When the meat is gray in color (some red and pink can remain), drain the excess fat into a colander and discard. This solves some of the problem of the fat content in the meat.
Add the can of whole tomatoes, half the chili powder and cumin, cover and cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes. The tomatoes should break down by now, but if large chunks persist you can help them along with a large wooden spoon. If you do not like chucks of tomato in your chile, run them through the food processor for a moment before adding to the stockpot. Now add the tomato puree, the rest of the cumin, chili powder, bay leaves, cilantro and red pepper. Allow chile to simmer another 45 to 60 minutes on low heat.
Blend cornmeal and milk in measuring cup to a smooth consistency and add with beans in the last 15 minutes of cooking.
Serve with shredded sharp cheddar, sour cream, diced white onions, corn chips and flour tortillas on the side.
* Dry pinto beans can be used as the only bean in this chili and they do add a different flavor – soak and cook according to package and once fully cooked you can add them to the recipe in the last 15 minutes just as you did the canned kidney beans.
Mongo's Green Chile
Mongo like beef! Mongo also likes spicy food, so when he invited me over for Monday Night Football I offered to make green chile. I debated whether or not I should include this in the Soup section of the book, because you can eat it in a bowl with a tortilla, but you can also ladle it over anything Mexican to create the “smothered” version. This recipe takes a couple of days to make, so allow plenty of time. You can bypass the homemade chicken stock, but why would you when this recipe is so easy?
Chicken stock:
- 2 chicken legs
- 2 chicken thighs
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk of celery
- 1/2 white onion – quartered
- Water
- Parsley
- Salt & pepper
Green chile:
- 4 to 6 pork chops
- Paprika
- Salt & pepper
- Corn Oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 6 to 8 peppers*
- 1 tomato
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Chicken stock:
Place the chicken parts in a medium stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, skimming fat off the top. Boil vigorously for about 30 minutes. Add the carrots, celery and onion and about a teaspoon of salt. Allow to simmer for an additional 3 hours. During the last 30 minutes add about 1/4 cup of fresh parsley. No cover, just add water to maintain water level. The meat should fall off the bones, so help them out and toss the bones out – they have served their purpose. You can eat the chicken and veggies, if you like. I usually shred them into one of those nice tortillas and turn it into a quick snack for the cook! By the way, this is also why I use quality parts and not the chicken leftovers like a lot of stock recipes call for. Strain the broth through a strainer into a bowl to cool. Once it is cool, transfer to a container and refrigerate until the next day.
Green chile:
Pork chops are a higher grade of meat than most people use for green chile, so be sure you use the entire pork chop. Keep the fat and the bones in the stockpot for the initial process. Trim the meat off the pork chops and cut into 1-inch cubes. Dust the meat with salt, pepper and paprika before cooking.
Heat the corn oil in a large stockpot and brown the garlic and onions for a few minutes and then add the pork and pork bones. Stir the meat until it browns evenly and then cover the stockpot and cook on high simmer for about 30 minutes. This will create a nice liquid for later use.
Cut the tops and stems from the peppers and add them to the liquid in the stockpot. What kind of peppers? Poblanos or Anaheims both work well; experiment and see what kind you like. I have tried Anaheims when I charred two of them and cooked the rest as they were – nice flavor. Add about 3 cups of the chicken stock to the pot and cover and cook for about 45 minutes on medium simmer.
Remove the pork and bones from the stockpot with a slotted spoon and then blend the rest of the mixture in your food processor along with the tomato. Return the mixture to the stockpot, add the remaining chicken stock, the pork meat (including the bones) and the cumin. Cover and simmer for an additional hour to 90 minutes. Add the cilantro in the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
When the chile is finished, fish out the bones and throw them away – they should have yielded their entire flavor.
* Your choice of peppers is only limited to your geographic area and your grocer's inventory. I try to use fairly medium-heat peppers as my mainstay, which would be a poblano or an Anaheim in most cases. If you wish to ratchet up the heat factor, you can always add a jalapeño to the process, or for that matter toss in a habeñero if you want three alarms. Hot is good, but remember the flavor is what you want, and this recipe is bursting with flavor.