Hey All,
So all the leave are down, and the sky is grey. It's chili time! This is a sorta redux of last year's post https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/chuck-and-oxs-big-day.280454/
Our stars of the show: a 4lb chuck roast, 3 ox tails and 2 beef shanks. Everything got a nice seasoning with SPGO and a little chili powder. I hit the chucky heavy since it was pretty thick, less on the shanks as they were disappointingly thin (really who cuts a shank only 1/2" thick?). Set the pellet pooper to 225°F and threw on Chucky for 4hrs, Ox for ~3.5, and the shanks for only 2. Everything came off at an IT 150-160°F.
Oh baby!!!
Meanwhile I started chopping up my peppers, onions, celery (1 1/3cup dice), and garlic. I didn't end up using all the peppers in the pic. The three poblanos all had a bit more heat than most I've used in the past. The two long crinkly chilis I used were screaming (the chili with the red tip had a nice sweetness in addition to the heat). The pale yellowish pepper, I'm not sure what it is, had low heat but a very nice spicyness to it. The other smooth large green pepper was pretty much filler. Three nice Jalapenos. The habaneros and tabascos never went in.
Btw, brand new 15x21" bamboo cutting board from Aldi for $10!
I started with a nice lump of bacon grease in the dutch oven and began sauteing ~1/3 of the onions, peppers (except jalapenos they were petite dice) and celery with a touch of salt for about 15min. Then added in a touch more bacon fat and the rest of the veggies with 1/3 of my seasoning mix until they were getting soft then added the jalapenos. After about 10min the garlic was added until fragrant followed by ~2TBSP tomato paste (yeah, sorry TX peeps ;P ) and cooked off a minute or two while I increased the temp. Tossed in a 1/2 can of beer to deglaze the pot - I used a brown Ale - specifically Cigar City Brewing Maduro Brown Ale, but any good brown will work. I've used IPAs in the past but use a balanced one with a good malt body not a light body super bitter IPA. Threw in a 28oz can of chopped tomatoes and three small (smaller than a tennis ball that I used) chopped fresh tomatoes and another batch of seasoning. Once that was bubbling I started adding 1 qt of beef stock in parts to keep the temp up.
Smells good!
Once all that was happily bubbling, in went Skanky (I mean shanky) and Ox. Meanwhile I was chopping up/pulling apart Chucky and threw that in too then kept everything at a nice simmer. After about 20min and a taste test the remainder of the seasoning when it, then a nice simmer for 3+hrs, occasionally stirring and skimming fat. When the Ox tails and shanks were tender I pulled them out and separated the meat from the bones and tissue then back in the pot.
Why this pic insists on being rotated I have no clue...
For garnish we had some fresh chopped cilantro and green onion, shredded pepper jack and cheddar cheese and sour cream. Served with some nice jalapeno cheddar cornbread. I like the Krusteaz Honey Cornbread, then add 3TBSP diced jalapenos and 1 cup of shredded cheddar.
Beefy goodness:
Fully garnished:
I turned out quite good. For my taste it was a bit low on the heat scale, my GF described it as "a good, lasting heat". I thought it mellowed out a little in the fridge o/n and wish I had added a habanero but the flavor was great. The difficulty in cooking with fresh chilis is getting the heat balance correct. I guess I'd rather have it a little low and edible (I can always add some habanero sauce to my bowl) then burning my face off after a couple bites! Especially when I made enough for several meals. If it was just a cup to share as an appetizer I would turn it up :)
Thanks for looking!
-WR
So all the leave are down, and the sky is grey. It's chili time! This is a sorta redux of last year's post https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/chuck-and-oxs-big-day.280454/
Our stars of the show: a 4lb chuck roast, 3 ox tails and 2 beef shanks. Everything got a nice seasoning with SPGO and a little chili powder. I hit the chucky heavy since it was pretty thick, less on the shanks as they were disappointingly thin (really who cuts a shank only 1/2" thick?). Set the pellet pooper to 225°F and threw on Chucky for 4hrs, Ox for ~3.5, and the shanks for only 2. Everything came off at an IT 150-160°F.
Oh baby!!!
Meanwhile I started chopping up my peppers, onions, celery (1 1/3cup dice), and garlic. I didn't end up using all the peppers in the pic. The three poblanos all had a bit more heat than most I've used in the past. The two long crinkly chilis I used were screaming (the chili with the red tip had a nice sweetness in addition to the heat). The pale yellowish pepper, I'm not sure what it is, had low heat but a very nice spicyness to it. The other smooth large green pepper was pretty much filler. Three nice Jalapenos. The habaneros and tabascos never went in.
Btw, brand new 15x21" bamboo cutting board from Aldi for $10!
I started with a nice lump of bacon grease in the dutch oven and began sauteing ~1/3 of the onions, peppers (except jalapenos they were petite dice) and celery with a touch of salt for about 15min. Then added in a touch more bacon fat and the rest of the veggies with 1/3 of my seasoning mix until they were getting soft then added the jalapenos. After about 10min the garlic was added until fragrant followed by ~2TBSP tomato paste (yeah, sorry TX peeps ;P ) and cooked off a minute or two while I increased the temp. Tossed in a 1/2 can of beer to deglaze the pot - I used a brown Ale - specifically Cigar City Brewing Maduro Brown Ale, but any good brown will work. I've used IPAs in the past but use a balanced one with a good malt body not a light body super bitter IPA. Threw in a 28oz can of chopped tomatoes and three small (smaller than a tennis ball that I used) chopped fresh tomatoes and another batch of seasoning. Once that was bubbling I started adding 1 qt of beef stock in parts to keep the temp up.
Smells good!
Once all that was happily bubbling, in went Skanky (I mean shanky) and Ox. Meanwhile I was chopping up/pulling apart Chucky and threw that in too then kept everything at a nice simmer. After about 20min and a taste test the remainder of the seasoning when it, then a nice simmer for 3+hrs, occasionally stirring and skimming fat. When the Ox tails and shanks were tender I pulled them out and separated the meat from the bones and tissue then back in the pot.
Why this pic insists on being rotated I have no clue...
For garnish we had some fresh chopped cilantro and green onion, shredded pepper jack and cheddar cheese and sour cream. Served with some nice jalapeno cheddar cornbread. I like the Krusteaz Honey Cornbread, then add 3TBSP diced jalapenos and 1 cup of shredded cheddar.
Beefy goodness:
Fully garnished:
I turned out quite good. For my taste it was a bit low on the heat scale, my GF described it as "a good, lasting heat". I thought it mellowed out a little in the fridge o/n and wish I had added a habanero but the flavor was great. The difficulty in cooking with fresh chilis is getting the heat balance correct. I guess I'd rather have it a little low and edible (I can always add some habanero sauce to my bowl) then burning my face off after a couple bites! Especially when I made enough for several meals. If it was just a cup to share as an appetizer I would turn it up :)
Thanks for looking!
-WR
