YeOldeStonecat wrote:
Texas Red Chile
No beans, no hamburger....this is the real stuff.
Texas Red Chile recipe...great for those cold winter days
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Texas Chile (Texas Red)
Seasoning Mix
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon ground guajillo chile pepper
1 tablespoon ground arbol chile pepper
2 teaspoons dried sweet basil leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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5 pounds beef top round, cut into .5 inch dice
3 dried ancho or poblano peppers
3 dried arbol peppers or any small, thin hot red chile peppers
6 dried serrano or guajillo peppers
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 pounds salt pork, Boston pork butt, or bacon, cut into 1/4 inch dice (if you use salt pork..rinse some of the salt from the rind and pat dry)
6 cups chopped onions, in all
6 cups chopped green bell peppers, in all
3 cups chopped celery, in all
2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
4 bay leaves
6 cups beef (preferred), pork, or chicken stock, in all
8 medium fresh tomatoes, peeled and smashed, with their juices
1 tablespoon ground cumin
***
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Combine the seasoning mix ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl. Makes 6 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons
Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the seasoning mix all over the meat and work it in well with your hands.
Place the dried anchos, arbols, and serranos--or whatever chili peppers you were able to find---on a baking pan and dry then in the oven until brittle, about 10 to 13 minutes. Let cool. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, crush them with your hands into the bowl of a food processor and blend into a find powder. There should be about 7 tablespoons in all.
Place the cornmeal in a small skillet over medium-high heat and toast, flippin the cornmeal and shaking the skillet constantly, until the cornmeal is light brown, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Place the salt pokr, pork butt, or bacon in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Cover and cook, uncovering the pot occasionally to scrape the bottom, until the salt pork is a deep brown color, about 30 minutes. There should be a fiml on the bottom of the pot that looks like ground red pepper. Remove the salt pork from the pot with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Turn the heat up to high, and when the fat remaining in the pot is hot, add half the beef to the pot. Cook, turning once or twice, until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Then brown the remaining beef and remove to the bowl.
Add 4 cups each of the onions and bell peppers, 2 cups of the celery, the garlic, and the remaining seasoning mix to the pot. Stir well, cover, and cook 8 to 10 minutes. Add the bay leaves, cover, and cook, uncovering occasionall yto stir, about 15 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the vegetables are sticking to the bottom of the pot, about 6 minutes. Stir in the ground peppers and the browned beef. Cook unit the meat sticks hard and forms a hard crust on the bottom of the pot, about 20 to 25 minutes.
meanwhile place the browned salt pork and 1 cup of the stock in the container of a blender, and process until thoroughly blended.
When the meat has formed a crust on the bottom of the pot, stir in the salt pork/stock mixture and scrape the bottom of the pot. Add the tomatoes, the remaining 2 cups ionions, 2 cups bell peppers, 1 cup celery, and 1 cup of the stock. Scrape the bottom of the pot well and cook, uncovered, 12 minutes. Cover the pot and cook over high heat 8 mintues. Add the toasted cornmeal and 1 cup more stock to the pot and scrap the bottom. Stir in the remaining 3 cups stock and the cumin. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat, and simmer, scraping occasionally if the mixture starts to stick, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. makes about 18 cups.
Serve immediately or refrigerate overnight and rehat before serving. Fantastic with corn tortillas.
Note:These are the chile peppers we used. You can use whatever is available in your area, whole dried or ground, but be sure to buy pure ground chile peppers, not commercial chili powder.
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Recipe taken from Chef Paul Prudhomme's "Seasoned America" cookbook...this is one of my fave cookbooks, one of my fave cooks!
How many does this serve?
What would you recommend for a family of 4 (and leftovers of course)
maybe 1/4 the recipe?
I have about 15 lbs of smoked boston butt in the freezer. I need to use some of it.
