Grilled Chili

Chili is probably the reason I like cooking so much today. It was the first thing that I made where I began experimenting with the recipe. I started with trying one of those 5-alarm chili packets and just moved on from there.

About 10 years ago in NYC, my friend John and I would have friends over, try different recipes and see what worked the best. We even won a chili cook-off at bar in Hell’s Kitchen. Our recipe was called “The Champagne of Chilies.” The not-so-secret ingredient was Miller High Life. I still use this recipe a few times a year. I will probably do a write-up on it sometime.

However, today I wanted to do something on my Big Green Egg. As you can probably tell from my posts, it has been a few weeks. Inspired by a vegetable lasagna on another food blog that I read quite often called BBQEsquire. I wanted to try something on the Egg that I normally try on the stove. Chili was the winner.

Because I was using a grill, I wanted to use some beef chunks, instead of ground beef. That way I could grill the beef first. I found a recipe in an old Cook’s Illustrated magazine. The same people publish it who produce Americas Test Kitchen on PBS, and who published one of my favorite cookbooks, Best Recipe. It used chocolate, beer, and homemade chili powder (or paste). All were ingredients in “The Champagne of Chilies.” I decided to adapt this recipe to be used on the grill.

First thing I had to do was buy a cast iron pot that I could put on the grill. Bass Pro Shop actually has a great selection of Lodge cast iron cookware.  Kind of funny that they only time I go to Bass Pro Shop is to buy cookware. Maybe it’s time I start hunting and start a kill what you eat sort of diet, just like Zuckerberg.

I didn’t want to use canned beans, as they can get pretty mushy. However, you need to make sure that the dried beans are rehydrated enough, so they aren’t too hard. It’s a fine line. The Cook’s Illustrated recipe provides a way to do a quick brine. You basically bring water, salt and beans to a boil. Then remove from heat and have them sit covered for an hour.

Meanwhile, I used dried Ancho peppers and dried cayenne pepper for the base of the chili paste.  The Ancho pepper has a coffee aftertaste to them. There are a number of other peppers you could use that provide different flavors, sort of like a wine. I also like to use Pasilla, Mulato, and the smoky Chipotle.

Making a paste rather than adding the dried ground spices directly reduces the graininess of the chili. After removing the seeds and the stems of the Ancho pepper, I toasted 6 of them in skillet. I also removed the seeds from 3 hot red Cayenne peppers. The skins of these were too thin to toast. I added all the peppers to the food processor.

Before grinding them up, I added oregano, cumin, some cornmeal (to thicken the chili), and cocoa powder. I actually used a special cocoa powder from the African region of Yoruba. It is has a slightly spicy flavor. I found it at a spice store call Old Town Spice Merchants in Temecula, CA (where my parents live).  I started using it on my Smokin’ Mocha rub from my rib recipe. Should be great in chili too.

I ground everything into a fine powder and then added about a cup of chicken broth to the food processor and pulsed it until I got a paste. 

Then I got the Big Green Egg started to grill the meat and vegetables. First, I grilled some tomatoes and Jalapeños until the skins were blackened. I peeled off the skins of both. I diced the Jalapeños and chopped the tomatoes.

For the meat, I used a corn fed blade chuck roast from Whole Foods.  I actually do like corn fed better. I’ve done a taste test in the past, which can probably be its own write-up. In the end, the grass fed didn’t taste bad at all, but the corn fed tasted more like the meat I know and love.

After reading "The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan, I have a very hard time eating factory farmed food. I usually buy meat at Whole Foods or at a local butcher down the street, called Charlie’s Meat Market. I first lightly salted the meat and then grilled it until well browned. After grilling, I let it rest for 10 minutes and cut it into 1-2 inch cubes. I did not cook it all the way through, as it would finish cooking in the chili.

Finally I was ready to started making the chili, I first sautéed some diced onions in the cast iron pot on the grill. After 5-10 minutes, I added some minced garlic and sautéed further for a couple minutes.

I then added everything else: the grilled tomatoes, the beans, a 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes, the Jalapeños, the beef, the chili paste, and then 2 cups of chicken broth. I then added the “secret ingredients”, including a couple tablespoons of molasses and a bottle of the same Späten Oktoberfest I used last week in my stew.

BTW- If you decide to use canned beans, add shortly before serving. Otherwise, they will become mush.

 

I then closed the lid of the Big Green Egg and cooked the chili at 300 degrees for almost two hours.

When it was done, it was thick and meaty. I served it over macaroni noodles topped with diced onions, shredded Monteray Jack, light sour cream, and a bit of advocado. The pasta addition is a Midwest thing. My southern wife thinks it is communist, and won’t use it. To each their own.

It was delicious. The chili was extremely flavorful and smoky from the grill. The freshly ground peppers gave it a deep flavor and the molasses gave it a sweet edge. I had the second bowl without any toppings, just to savor the taste of the chili. Furthermore, the chili was spicy, but not overly hot. This allowed my wife to enjoy it as well. I have a bit of a reputation of burning family members with my chili, including my poor grandparents. The whole family can enjoy this chili.