Short Rib & Flank Steak Chili with Beans

While the fall season in NYC has been unbelievable, sunny and unseasonably warm in the mid-50s, I have had a fall craving for a meaty, chunky, flavorful chili. With the Bills out of town, I motivated today to prepare my first chili ever. And with either the Creuset pot or crock pot received as wedding gifts, I had two perfect vessels to prepare the meal, with the expectation it will be perfect for afternoon football tomorrow. I went with the crock pot because it's easy to leave behind in the kitchen without worrying about burning the building down.

Walking around Manhattan with Nicole and Layla, I stepped into the East Village Meat Market at 2nd Ave, just south of 9th Street. Sure enough the butcher selected 2 pounds of perfect, red fleshy beef short ribs. Later, I went to the Food Emporium - Bridgemarket, under the Queensborough Bridge, to pick up more ingredients (including a pound of flank steak to make a rib and steak chili with beans).

I reviewed a handful of chili recipes online, picked elements that met my preferences and called a few audibles along the way. I took careful note of portions, and the steps I took to cook. I won't fully know how it tastes until tomorrow, but it looks and smells outstanding. Here it is for you to try if you'd like...

Ingredients:

• 1 whole garlic bulb
• 2 jalapeños (fresh)
• 2 chile de arbols (fresh)
• 1 chili pepper de anaheim (dried)
• 1 habanero pepper (dried)
• 1 red bell pepper (fresh)
• 1 medium white onion
• 2 15oz cans mixed kidney, pinto and black beans
• 1 19oz can red kidney beans
• 2 15oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 6 oz Guinness beer
• olive oil
• Spices/Herbs: 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp dried parsley, 1 tbsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp ancho chili powder, 1/2 tbsp hungarian paprika, 1/2 tbsp garlic powder, 1/2 tbsp onion powder. Extra chili powder and cumin to season meat.

Directions:

1. Remove bone from the short ribs, and trim fat off meat as desired. Rub ribs and steak with chili powder and cumin and set to side.
2. Chop garlic bulb horizontally one-quarter from the top to reveal the cloves. Place on sheet of tin foil, drizzle exposed cloves with olive oil, securely wrap bulb with foil and place in oven to roast at 350ºF for 30 minutes.
3. While garlic is roasting, de-vein and de-seed the the fresh jalapeños and chile de arbols, and the dry habenero and chile pepper de anaheim. If possible, wear disposable gloves when handling the peppers, because the capsicum (oil inside pepper) will be extremely hot and cause potentially extreme discomfort if touching the face, eyes, etc. Place cleaned peppers in a bowl and soak in 1 to 2 cups of boiled water for approximately 30 minutes, to soften.
4. Roast the red pepper directly over open flame on stove top, to char the skin. Remove from stove, cut off top, de-seed and quarter. Remove garlic from stove and squeeze out cloves (they should slip out). Place garlic cloves, charred red pepper and soaked hot peppers with water in blender and process until smooth. Strain pepper mixture, pressing pulp to extract as much fluid as possible. Set 2 cups of strained pepper sauce to side. Save portion of pulp to later add to chili to increase the heat as preferred.
5. In porcelain enamel cast iron pot (e.g. Creuset) or slow cooker (e.g., a crock pot), place beans, fire roasted diced tomatoes, beer and 2 cups of pepper sauce. Bring to a simmer. Then add the spices and herbs. Keep covered.
6. In cast iron skillet, lightly coat with olive oil. Brown all sides of the short ribs and flank steak, cooking medium rare. Cut the meat into bite size chunks and immediately mix into chili. Then place minced onion into skillet and soften until golden brown. Add to chili. Taste, and if desired, add blended pepper pulp to increase the heat.
7. Simmer overnight.
8. To serve, consider chopped avocado, diced green onion, crumbled whole grain tortilla chips and/or shredded Wisconsin sharp cheddar cheese.

Enjoy. And if you use this recipe, make any changes or have any suggestions, let me know by leaving a comment.

Wedge and Sledge with Pops

I helped my father today with a 250 lbs steel staircase frame he built to extend stairs from the upper level of my parent's backyard down to the water line of Lake Ontario. The plan is to build a deck up top overlooking the water, but to have stairs lead down to a concrete barrier he set at the water line for fishing, walking on the stones when the water level is down, etc.

So we brought the frame to a nearby steel worker's shop, where a guy works on heavy machinery (transl., farm equipt.), to keep it up against the wear and tear from battling crops and turning cattle turf from season to season. My father discussed having the guy turn a side job... to sand blast and coat to weather proof the stairs, considering they will confront the Buffalo winters at the edge of the lake. A typical Saturday when visiting the family (including space for Layla to run free outside of NYC). So on the way back to the house, we see a cord of firewood for sale, stop and buy half. We're having a big family party today, Wii bowling tourney, taco bar, the whole 9s, and having sparking embers will contribute to our party burning brighter.

It's unseasonably warm (50s by day, 30s by night), so it's drawing a lot of moisture and fog off Lake Ontario during the last few days. A pretty cool scene. Without prompting, as we're unloading the cord from the minivan, I turn around and my father is taking wood in the backyard to wedge and sledge. I couldn't believe it, especially after discussing it earlier this week with friends. While he was using the ax as the wedge, it worked fine since we were paring down the already chopped wood. I snapped a couple picks with the blackberry and here you go. Good times with the man.