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Old Buffalo Breath Chili (1985)
Ingredients:
5 pounds chuck roast
8 cloves garlic -- crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoon Mexican oregano
1 tablespoon cumin seeds -- toasted and ground
1 lime -- juice of
2 tablespoon mild chile
2 tablespoon hot chile
beef broth
masa harina
small whole dried piquin chilies
salt -- to taste
Instructions:
This writer's own. On the Texas range, firewood meant mesquite. Not
only did the trail cook use it for his own pit cooking, but the ranch
cook used it to fire his wood stove. Until it was replaced with gas
and electric, mesquite-flavored grilling dominated rural Texas cooking
with its distinctive sweet savor. The meat of this chili is seared
over charcoal where mesquite chips have been set to flame (the taste
of mesquite charcoal is indistinguishable from that of any other hardwood
charcoal), which gives the resulting chili a haunting hint of smoke
-- and without tasting a bit like barbecue, since there is no onion
or tomato in it, none at all. For the fire: mesquite wood chips and
hardwood charcoal. For the Rub: 2 or 3 cloves of garlic and chili
powder. The chuck roast should be as lean as possible and cut at least
three inches thick. Two or three hours before you plan to make the
chili, rub the meat all over with a mash of crushed garlic and salt
then sprinkle it with chili powder to coat it lightly. Loosely cover
it with plastic and set it aside. Fire up enough hardwood charcoal
to sear the meat in an outdoor grill, preferably one with a cover.
At the same time, soak a few handfuls of the mesquite chips in the
water. When the coals are covered with gray ash, spread them out evenly,
and scatter the soaked mesquite chips over them. Then immediately
set the meat on a grill over the smoke, about an inch from the coals.
Cover the grill and adjust the dampers to maintain a slow, steady
heat. Let meat sear for about 12 minutes (this is meant to flavor,
not to cook the meat) and turn over to sear the other side for the
same amount of time. Remove it from the heat, saving any juices on
its surface, and transfer to the refrigerator. Let it cool thoroughly,
about one hour. After the meat has cooled, trim away any surface fat
or cartilage. With a sharp knife, cube the meat into the smallest
pieces you have patience for, saving all juices. Heat the olive oil
in a large, heavy pot over moderate heat. Stir in the garlic and sauté
until it turns translucent. Stir in the meat and all reserved meat
juices, adding just enough beef broth to cover, or about one cup.
Pour in the lime juice and sprinkle in the rest of the seasonings,
stirring and tasting as you go. Crumble in a few piquins or other
fiery chilies to bring the heat up to taste. However, do not try to
adjust the seasoning to perfection right now; it's easy to ruin a
chili by correcting the flavors too soon -- the long cooking will
smooth and sweeten it. Lower the heat to as low as possible. If the
pot is left to boil, the meat will toughen. Every half hour or so
after the first hour, taste for seasoning, adjusting and thickening
with the masa harina a teaspoonful at a time. The chili should be
about ready to eat in three hours, although it will benefit from a
night's aging in the refrigerator. Serve it simmering in large, heavy
bowls with an ample supply of soda crackers and a side of beans, but
not much else except, maybe, hot, black coffee or quart-sized glasses
of iced tea or a few frosty bottles of your favorite beer. And, after
a good long while, push things aside, lean back in your chair, and
start arguing. From the article "Just Another Bowl of Texas Red" by
John Thorne in the September/October 1990 issue of Chile Pepper Magazine.
-------------- Posted to the BBQ List by Carey Starzinger on Jul 29,
1996. |
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