Chris’ Cow Lick Beef Chili

Main Dish Beef Comfort Food, Favorites, Grill, Kitchen, One Pot Meal Game Day, Gatherings

By Chris Capell

Chris has been making an excellent pot of beef chili for several years now, and he’s been honing his technique for maximum flavor. He loves to use fresh ground beef brisket, but also enjoys doing chili with cubed brisket when he has time to cook the beef a few hours until it’s tender. This recipe works with ground beef and only takes a couple hours. The flavor of this chili recipe depends on its simplicity and in the seasoning and browning of the meat using Cow Lick. It can be done quite nicely on the stove top, but Chris prefers to cook it on his Big Green Egg® . . . it gives the chili a nice hint of smoke.

While a good Texas chili with no beans or tomatoes may win a chili contest, this recipe is not really a purist approach to chili, but rather something you can sit down and eat a bowl of. Beans add body (and are really good for you) and tomatoes add a sweetness and tang that cannot be matched.”

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Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3 Tbsp Dizzy Pig Cow Lick Spicy Beef Rub
Oil for browning
3 dried Pasilla chilies
2 cloves garlic (or more), chopped
1 large sweet onion (or more), coarsely chopped
1 quart beef broth
1 Tbsp whole cumin seeds, toasted
1 Tbsp ground New Mexico Chili or other pure ground chilies to your heat preference (not a blended “chili powder”)
2 cans beans (mix and match kidney, black, pinto, red, white)
2 cans diced tomatoes
Couple squares of dark chocolate
Masa flour to thicken (if needed)

Directions

Preparation

Shake about half the Cow Lick seasoning onto the beef and toss
Cut Pasilla chilies open, remove seeds, and soak them in warm water until softened and rehydrated, about an hour
Puree the soaked chilies and garlic in a blender or food processor
Toast cumin in pan until fragrant and use a mortar/pestle to grind your toasted cumin into powder
Chop onion, garlic, and gather the rest of the ingredients

Cooking

Brown beef in dutch oven, cast iron is best. Do small batches over high heat so that meat actually browns, and don’t stir until the meat starts to caramelize. Reserve and brown the next batch
Remove browned meat from pan – it’s okay to leave a few bits in the pan
Add onion and a little salt, and stir while scraping the brown bits from the pan. This “fond” is packed with flavor, and is part of making a great pot of chili
Once the onion is soft, about 5 minutes, add your browned beef back to the pan
Pour in your chili/garlic puree, the beef broth, tomatoes, then add the cumin, pure ground chilies and the remainder of the Cow Lick seasoning and stir well
Bring to a simmer, uncovered, and cook for about 30-60 minutes until it all starts to thicken. Then add beans and stir well
Cook another half hour or more until the desired thickness is achieved. If needed, thicken with a little masa flour, which also adds a pleasant corn tortilla flavor
Add chocolate and stir
Add more Cow Lick if needed for a fresh peppery bite
Taste and add salt to taste, sugar if it needs a tad of sweetness
Your chili is ready to serve! Some like it over pasta, some rice, some just in a bowl. Chris likes it on crushed tortilla chips with cheddar cheese. And it’s always better the following day!