It’s not too late! For a Super Bowl party, that is.
Down here south of the Red River, watching the Super Bowl means digging into some Tex-Mex, say, guacamole, salsa verde or chile con queso. But nothing beats homemade chili con carne.
Here’s an easy, yet interesting recipe you can whip up in just a couple of hours (not including grocery store time). If you start now, it’ll be ready by half-time. Everyone can grab a big, thick steaming bowl, sit down and vote on their favorite commercials. Next time know it’s even better if you make it the day before, let the flavors meld and reheat it on game day
Notes:
- Chili is REALLY forgiving…If you put in a little more of an ingredient or a little less, it generally doesn’t matter.
- Be careful with the level of spiciness in the chili powder, though. Because it varies so much between brands, err on the side of caution when making the base. You can always add more powder later, but you can’t take it out.
- If you DO discover the chili’s eye-wateringly, insufferably piquant, then just serve it with lots of rice, sour cream and avocados. Everybody will think it’s wonderful.
- I know, I know. It’s hard, but serve it with Fritos! They’re authentic (created in Texas), plus they belong with Super Bowl chili, like gin with tonic and peanut butter with jelly. If you absolutely insist on being fancy, serve it with tortillas chips. Humphh!
Super Chili For A Crowd
Recipe Type: Main
Author:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
- Chili Base:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 small yellow onions, roughly chopped
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 9 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 ribs celery, leaves removed and chopped
- 1½ teaspoons cumin
- 12 tablespoons chili powder (more or less according to taste and spiciness of chili powder)
- 3 12-ounce beers, preferably Shiner Bock or another dark amber beer
- 3 cups orange juice
- 3 cups rich chicken stock
- 3/4 cup toasted unsalted peanuts
- 4 soft corn tortillas, shredded
- For the chili:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 pounds lean ground beef or beef sirloin, diced small
- 3 small yellow onions
- chili base (recipe above)
- Salt to taste
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 3 limes, juiced
- Fritos Corn Chips (preferably) or tortilla chips
- Grated cheddar cheese, for garnish
- Onions (preferably red or green), minced, for garnish
- Avocados, chopped, for garnish
- Sour cream
Instructions
For the chili base:
- In a medium pan over medium high heat, add the oil, onions, carrots, garlic and celery. Sauté vegetables until they begin to caramelize, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in cumin and chili powder. Stir in 1 bottle of beer and mix well so that chili powder is smooth and not clumping. Add the rest of beer, orange juice and stock. Stir well, then cook for an additional 5 minutes over medium high heat. Turn down to a simmer and add peanuts and shredded tortillas. Cook until the liquid has been reduced by half, about 30 minutes. (Tortillas will dissolve and thicken the base.) Purée in a blender until very smooth.
For the chili:
- In a medium pan over high heat, add the olive oil, meat, and onions and cook until onions turn translucent, about 5-8 minutes. Add the chili base and continue to cook over medium heat until meat is tender, about 1 hour. Season with salt, black pepper, cumin, and lime juice.
- Serve over rice, if desired. Pass around bowls of grated cheddar, onions, avocados and sour cream for garnish.
