"Big Red" Chili with Brisket and Pinto Beans

There are days when you wake up feeling like a true, creative original.   When they strike, nothing you do will seem derivative or reek of cliché.  You are inspired!  You wake up to start your day by putting together an outfit for yourself that has that certain je nes c'est quoi communicating the one-of-a-kind energy you radiate.   That fantastic tune you hum while shaving won't even be anything you have heard before. Your making it up as you go!  Could a Grammy be in my future?   And, as you post away on Facebook and Twitter you won't even have to rely on Rumi or Oscar Wilde for the oh-so-clever yet drippingly poignant bon mots.   There will be no retweeting for you today! 

Best of all, if you are lucky enough to be at the farmer's market on one of these electric mornings you can't help it but  but be inspired to create all manner of unique flavor combinations when you discover some new and obtuse vegetable nobody else has even heard of yet.   Watermelon radishes?  Fingerlimes? Can I put bacon on or in it?  You won't even see the man selling Kale and you certainly won't be tempted to dump everything you find onto an artisan pizza or toss it with some variety of infant lettuce picked before it has a chance at a full life. That would be just  too cliché for you and jumping on food fads isn't for you.  Not today anyway.

Today, as you can see, I wasn't having one of these days.

No sirree.  Instead I awoke this cold rainy morning  and the first thing I thought was "today is a good day to make some chili."   (Did I hear you hipsters groan?)

I blog about it even though understand that the internet needs another chili recipe like Youtube needs another cute cat video or my kitchen needs another piece of All Clad.  (That casserole/brasier does looks pretty cool however!)    If you Google "chili recipe" you will get over 30 million hits.  Take your pick as I will bet you most of them are quite good and more than few of them could even be considered great.   Some may even be unique although this is an adjective I am not really looking for when I set out to make chili and this one isn't, even if I have to say it is pretty damn good and it certainly does the trick this rainy day.  Even if making it on one is cliché.


No matter. All of the adjectives I had set out to use to describe this chili sound cliché once I put them into sentances anyway. Yeah, it is spicy, but not too spicy.  Its multiple ingredients all simmer for hours to become one mighty fine entree serving up both a discernible complexity and a singular depth.  (Ha!) This is, after all, what a good chili is supposed to do, right?  All while being tomatoey.  And yes, the house does smell amazing while it cooks on the stove for hours.  Just seeing it here on the blog I could lick my screen.

I was thinking of titling this post "Texas Red Chili with Beans" because I do think it fun to see Texans foam at the mouth when you deign to suggest that chili should have beans in it.  I giggled with glee reading the fallout from The Barefoot Contessa featuring Devon Frederick's "award winning" Tex Mex Chili containing not only 2 cans of kidney beans but, gasp, basil instead of cilantro.     Where does Ina go from here? Manhattan Clam Chowder with cream?

Nonetheless, Texans inflicted Rick Perry on us for a few months recently so I think it only deserved that we get to question their judgement on other matters as well. We can put some beans in our chili if we want to Rick!  So, reluctantly I decided not to go there with this post as even now,this discussion seems, yes, cliché.  (Thanks Ina. )

Whatever it is, this chili is fantastic and all this dish's many clichés will apply to it.  The recipe comes from my most recent cookbook acquisition "Two Dudes One Pan" which was recommended to me by my good blogger-friend Nathan Hazard.  (He of The Table Set podcast fame which is a good listen by the way if you are not already a fan.)  The book itself is not new but its recipes are timeless (this means cliché but in a good way) and their preparation, being limited to one pan, is certainly appealing.  It's very rare that I thumb through a cookbook where just about every recipe calls out to my personal cooking aesthetic so you will be seeing more from it here soon.   

Or maybe I'll just be inspired by it...when I'm having one of those days.


Big Red Chili w/Brisket and Pinto Beans
Adapted from Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo's "Two Dudes One Pan"

 

 

• 8 oz. bacon cut into lardons 1/2" wide
• 1 pound beef brisket, cubed into 1" pieces
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, mashed with the flat of a knife
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1.5 pounds ground chuck
• 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes with liquid
• 3 14 oz cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 12 oz bottle of beer
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup (less 4 tablespoons) light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoons Tabasco sauce (optional)

Heat a large, heavy Dutch oven or enameled pot over medium-high heat for a few minutes and then add the bacon and stir frequently until bacon is crisp, between 8 and 10 minutes.  When done, use a slotted spoon to remove bacon to a plate lined with paper towels.   Discard all but 1 tablespoon of the oil.   

Add the brisket cubes to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes until all sides are browned.  Add the copped onions, garlic, and salt and cook until the onions are soft (5 minutes).   Add the ground beef and stir until the meat is browned (5 minutes).

Pour the tomatoes into a large bowl and break up into small pieces with your fingers making sure to break them into small pieces. Add tomatoes, 1 cup of water, the remaining salt, and the remaining chili ingredients into the pot.   Stir and bring to a very low simmer and cook until the brisket falls apart and the chili has come together thick, about 3.5 hours.  Then simmer at even a lower temperature for  another 30 minutes!

Top with the usual non cliche toppings like sour cream, onions, and sharp cheddar.   Don't apologize for serving them with some cliche saltines.  There is a reason every greasy spoon diner in the United States with a chili specialty does this.  Even in Texas.