Nov 10, 1999
Purpose
This is my increasingly-non-traditional tomatoless chili recipe. My sincere apologies to Jer. I call it: John's Black Jer's Famous Brown Chili.
It's my attempt at putting together a good chili recipe that doesn't involve tomatoes, or any exotic ingredients that aren't available to me. By no means is this my original recipe. I started with Jer's Famous Brown Chili, and made my own special modifications :
Ingredients :
- 2 lb top sirloin
- 2 tblsp corn oil
- 5 medium white onions
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 10-oz cans Bush's Hot Chili Beans (or pinto or black beans)
wash and drain the beans!
- 6 celery sticks from stalk
- 3 red bell peppers
- 1/2 cup frozen corn niblets
- 1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms (optional!)
- 2 oz Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 oz Soy Sauce
- 3 tblsp chili powder
- 1 tblsp ground black pepper
- 1 tblsp Oregano
- 1 tblsp Cumin
- 2 tblsp blackstrap molasses
or brown sugar, doesn't matter I'm sure.
- 1 tblsp (generous) crushed cayenne pepper
crushed, not powdered! Very important I'm told.
- 2 tsp Louisiana Hot Sauce
like Tabasco. Do NOT use 2 tsp of Dave's Total Insanity Sauce!
- 14-inch frying pan
- 8-qt pot
- If more liquid is required, add beer.
Preparation :
Cut sirloin into cubes 3/8-inch on a side (5/16 is okay, too). Add oil to pan, add heat under pan, add sirloin to oil. Stir. Chop 4 of the onions (keeping the other one for later) and garlic. Chop celery and bell peppers. Stir meat. When meat is semi (sorta) browned or grey, add onions, garlic and celery.
You'll get lots of moisture for a while, then as the onions go translucent, the moisture will reduce. Pour 8 oz of wine in large wine glass. Have a couple of gulps. Add chili powder. To the pot, not the wine glass. Stir until well mixed. Add Lea & Perrins and Soy.
Cook in frying pan, constantly stirring, until moisture has reduced to maybe a half a cup puddle in the pan. See if there's any more Lea & Perrins in the bottle. If there is, add another three ounces or so (...says Jer; I don't), and stir it in. Whether there is or not, have another couple of gulps of wine.
Transfer frying pan contents to pot. Pour a splash of wine in the frying pan, loosen all the scrapings and run-away seasonings by stirring, and add to the pot. Add beans, corn, mushrooms and bell peppers to the pot. If you're a chili purist, skip the beans and double the meat. Have a gulp of wine. Add the molasses, crushed pepper, oregano, cumin, black pepper and hot sauce. Stir, but do not taste. Have another gulp of wine, instead.
Cover the pot, gulp some wine, and simmer (the chili) on low for an hour and a half. Turn off the heat, and let it sit for an hour with the cover on. Gulp some wine. With your palette appropriately cleared and sharpened, taste the chili. Don't inhale with the spoonful of chili near your open mouth. Take another spoonful. Adjust seasoning until chewing, swallowing, and inhaling partially paralyzes the trachea at the bronchial juncture.
Serving :
Mince the last onion. Reheat chili until just barely bubbling. Ladle into bowls. Spinkle minced onion over surface of chili. Grate cheddar cheese on top of the onion. Add a generous tablespoon of sour cream on top of the cheese. Pour another glass of wine. Why wine instead of beer? For some reason, beer makes you sweat while you're eating Jer's Famous Brown Chili.
Evaluation:
- Delicious, flavourful chili. Lots of vegetables and beans, so can be eaten straight, without bread.
- Originally designed to taste great without tomatoes; but if you are not allergic to them, then try stirring a little tomato paste or unsweetened ketchup (if you can find it!) into your bowl.
- Heat: "hot" to the non-chilihead, definitely "spicy" to the pepper-addicted among us. Serve it straight-up to your family, and keep a shaker of cayenne pepper by your own bowl!
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