Very tasty chili

As part of my ongoing attempts to find the perfect chili recipe, I tried my hand at Chili Colorado, from my Sunset Mexican Cookbook. The recipe in the book called for 5 pounds of meat, and I only wanted to use about a pound, so I adjusted the ingredients accordingly.

Chili Colorado

1 ounce dried New Mexico chiles
¾ cup water
2 tablespoons salad oil
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 pound boneless beef chuck, cut into cubes
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried cilantro
½ teaspoon each ground cumin, ground cloves, dry oregano, dry rosemary, and dry tarragon
1 14.5 oz. can tomatoes (petite dice)
½ cup (or so) beef broth

Rinse chiles; discard stems and seeds. Break chiles into pieces. Combine chiles and water in a 2 ½ to 3-quart pan. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chiles are soft, about 30 minutes. (Note: Using different directions on the package of chiles, I pureed the chiles with about half the onion and the garlic, then added boiling water to the blender, and blended until smooth. I set it aside while I prepared the rest of the dish.)

Heat oil in a dutch oven or other large, heavy pan over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions and garlic; cook, stirring often, until onions are soft (about 10 minutes). Sprinkle meat with flour. Add meat and chile puree to pan and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. (Note: when I make this again I’ll probably brown the meat first, then add the chile puree).

Add cilantro, cumin, cloves, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, tomatoes and their liquid, and broth. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often, until meat is very tender when pierced (3-4 hours).

Serve with diced onion, diced tomatoes, grated cheese.

We had it cheese and sour cream, which really went nicely. Gabe even liked it. We also had some warmed up corn tortillas.