Recipe: Chunky Beef Chili
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Ease: 2
Taste: 9
Leftover Value: 8
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!!
I can't remember ever eating chili before I was in my twenties. Now, don't get shocked, blame my parents, and presume that I was sheltered as a child for never experiencing the wonder that is chili. By no fault of their own, my parents raised picky eaters. The type of eaters that complain when they taste something crunchy whether it be onion or lettuce in a stew or on a sandwich. Some of us remained picky well into our adult years, ahem--Justin, while others managed to venture out and explore the world of all things food related.
This chili is by far the best I have ever eaten. The star of the recipe, boneless chuck roast, would be enough to win me over, but the real reason I love this chili is this: there are no beans.
Though I've managed to eat and enjoy foods I never expected to eat, let alone enjoy, somehow beans have not even made it into the category of "foods I am okay with going into my mouth". When I eat anything with beans, I pick around them or hide them underneath other parts of the meal in hopes that I won't taste them if I end of actually eating them.
I know, I'm strange.
Back to chili. If you are a bean lover, you won't even miss them in this chili. And if you think you will desperately miss them, go ahead and throw them in. It certainly won't hurt.
Something as beautiful as this doesn't need beans to balance it out.
The recipe calls for four pounds of boneless beef chuck roast. I knew that would be an obnoxious amount for me to make for my little family of two, so I cut everything in half.
There are certain pieces of the roast that when I am cutting it up jump out at me. They are pieces that I know, without a doubt, will be one of the many, when cooked, that will melt in my mouth.
Here is the most difficult part of the recipe: browning the beef. Not because browning cubes of beef is difficult. It's actually rather easy. The difficult part is resisting popping every single cube into your mouth and completely disregarding any plans for making a real recipe with the meat.
Please tell me that I'm not alone in having this temptation.
After browning the beef, add chili powder, then tomato paste, to the dutch oven. Make sure that your tomato paste can has an Italian village and a presumably Italian woman on it. It makes it much more authentic.
Just kidding.
If the store brand is cheaper, go for that. It's all the same thing after all.
This next picture is horrible, so prepare yourself. This is the point in the recipe that I was almost certain I had just ruined two pounds of gloriously succulent boneless chuck roast.
It is for your sake I allowed that picture in this post. To me, it is the most unappetizing picture of all. Perhaps it is the fault of the photographer, or perhaps it is the fault of this step in the recipe.
Note to self: chili powder + tomato paste + boneless chuck roast cubed does not equal a pretty picture.
Two cups of beef broth make the drastic difference.
That, and of course, a picturesque bowlful of spices.
Look how much more beautiful that pot looks already!
This chili is chock full of all the good stuff: beef. Every bite contains a juicy piece of heaven.
Sprinkled with a little cheese, and it's heaven on earth.*
*Note: Sorry for my corniness.**
**Note to the note: I'm not really sorry, because the cheese did make it that much better.
Sometimes I'll make white rice or pull out tortilla chips to go with chili (especially if beans have managed to work their way into it). This chili seemed like it needed the big guns: cornbread muffins. They were the perfect addition that balanced out the subtle spicy bite of the chili. On a cold night, especially like the cold nights we've been recently having, this meal hits the spot.
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