Recipes below: My Chili con Carne; My Hot Sauce, Mexican Style
If you’ve never tasted chili as imagined in the culinary head of an Italian American girl, you’re in for a treat. I am the chili queen of the West Village, or at least I’d like to think so. Over the years I’ve been playing around with my recipe, and I believe I’ve now gotten it down, a good blend of North Mexican, Southern Texan, Northeastern American, and Southern Italian. Sound like a mess? It works for me.
I grew up with chili. Every other Wednesday it appeared on my public school lunch tray, very brown, very sour. It trended in 1970s New York, a thing at all-night diners, the perfect hangover helper. Diner chili was often dull beyond belief, helped by a coating of Tabasco. Every Italian American mom I knew made chili, mine included. It’s similar to putting together a good ragù Bolognese, so the reflexes are in place. My mother made great ragù, with nutmeg, white wine, milk, and a touch of tomato. Her chili was okay, but it wasn’t in her blood, so generic ingredients, such as supermarket chili powder, took over. I can’t stand the taste of that stuff. Chili cooking is not in my blood either, but I just figured it out. First off, no musty chili powder. I instead go with a mix of dried ancho, smoked paprika, and cumin, and then I add soft notes with cinnamon and allspice. It tastes like country cooking. Whose country I’m not sure.
So here’s my version. I make it with a mix of beef and pork. It’s a medium-hot chili that suits my husband and sister, who can’t take too much heat. I serve it with my hot sauce on the side (the recipe for that is here, too).
My Chili con Carne
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound ground beef chuck
1 pound ground pork
1 chorizo sausage, finely diced
Salt
1 tablespoon wildflower honey
1 large onion, diced
1 cubanelle pepper, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 fresh bay leaves
1 teaspoon each of dried ancho chili powder, sweet smoked Spanish paprika, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, and ground allspice
1 cup dark beer
1 14½-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, chopped and lightly drained
1 cup chicken broth
1 1-pound bag Rancho Gordo Ayocote Negro beans, cooked until just tender and left sitting in their cooking liquid
About 8 sprigs of fresh Italian oregano, the leaves lightly chopped
The juice from about ½ a lime
Get out a big casserole-type pan fitted with a good lid. Set it over medium heat, and pour in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add all the beef, pork, and sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon so it covers the pan bottom. Season with a little salt, and drizzle in the honey. Let the meat brown a bit. Add the onion, all the peppers, the garlic, and the bay leaves. Cook down until everything is soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add all the ancho, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, and allspice, and cook another few minutes so their flavors can open up.
Add the beer, and let it bubble out. Add the tomatoes and the broth. Turn the heat to low, cover the pan, and let it simmer for about an hour.
Add the beans with about ½ cup of their cooking liquid. Simmer for another half hour. If the chili looks very liquidy, cook it uncovered.
Taste for seasoning. You’ll probably need more salt, but also consider the spices. I often add a little extra cumin at the end. You might want to add more ancho or a little more fresh jalapeño. Add the chopped oregano and a squeeze of lime.
I like to serve my chili over rice, with a dollop of crema, a drizzle of hot sauce, and possibly some chopped scallion greens.
My Hot Sauce, Mexican Style
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 Scotch bonnet pepper, chopped
4 Red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed
1 fresh bay leaf
A few thyme sprigs, the leaves chopped
A big pinch of allspice
A big pinch of cumin
A big pinch of hot smoked Spanish paprika
A drizzle of rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the Scotch bonnet and red bell peppers, shallot, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, allspice, cumin, and paprika. Cook until everything is fragrant and just starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and sugar, some salt, and a splash of water. Lower the heat, cover the pan, and simmer until everything is very soft, about another 8 minutes. There should be some liquid left in the pan. If not, add more water. Purée in a food processor. Adjust the seasoning, and pour into a bowl. This should last about 2 weeks in the fridge.