One of the best chilli’s I have ever made, I have always been a chilli girl but I recently learnt about Texas chilli, a chilli that originally walked a fine line just this side of indigestible, daring the mouth that eats it and defying the stomach to digest it! Dubbed in 1977 The Lone Stars State Food and to a Texan anything else just isn’t chilli, now I was the spicy, chipotle smokey, ground chuck and hint of tomato chilli girl and this recipe changed that and the addition a cheddar beer sauce layer sealed the deal! I still love my non Texas chilli beef and enjoy that in a more versatile way with tacos, burritos, nachos etc, whereas if I want a bowl of chilli it just has to be red Texas beer chilli.
Prep time 30-45 minutes / Slow cooking time 2 hours
Ingredients
(serves 6-8 people)
Red Texas Beer Chilli
2 dried ancho chillies
2 dried de arbol chillies
2 dried guajillo chillies
2 tbsp olive oil or beef drippings
1 large white onion diced
1 large red pepper diced
2 fresh Fresno chillies
2 Anaheim peppers diced
3 tbsp masa harina
1 kg ground chuck steak
1 kg chuck steak diced
4 cloves of garlic finely diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp paprika (smoked optional)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Himalayan sea salt (to taste)
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 bottles amber beer like blue moon
2 ltrs beef stock
Cheddar Beer Cheese Sauce
50g butter
50g plain flour
1 bottle amber beer
250ml single cream
250g mature cheddar cheese
150g cream cheese
5 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp paprika
1 pinch cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Fixings
Flour tortillas
Corn tacos
Pickled jalapeños
1 large pot sour cream
8 scallion spring onions finely chopped
4 large tomatoes deseed and finely chopped
4 tbsp fresh coriander chopped
1 red onion finely diced
1 bag salted crackers 1/2 the bag crushed
Heat the beef drippings or olive oil medium hot in a deep saucepan, brown the diced chuck steak, remove then add the garlic to the pan along with the chuck steak mince and brown off, remove from the pan, while the chuck is browning in a dry pan toast the ancho, de arbol and guajillo chillies then take off the heat and cover with 250ml of boiling water and leave to soften for 10 minutes, add to a blender and blitz to a smooth sauce, next add some olive oil or beef drippings to the pan, add the diced onion, pepper, fresno and Anaheim peppers to the saucepan and soften for 10 minutes then add the paprika, cayenne, oregano, cumin and masa harina to the softened onions and cook for a further five minutes, add the browned off chuck steak and mince to the pan along with the blitzed chillies, stock and beer, season with the salt and pepper.
Place in the oven in lidded casserole dish or cook on the stove over a medium low heat for 2-3 hours until the diced chuck steak is fall apart tender, season with salt and pepper to taste at this point.
Meanwhile while the chilli is cooking make the cheddar cheese beer sauce, on a medium heat, melt the butter for a couple of minutes so it slightly changes colour to a light brown, add the flour and stir until smooth, cook the roux for 5 minutes on a low heat, stirring regularly, add the beer and whisk to a smooth consistency, bring to a simmer and add the rest of the ingredients stir until combined and you have a velvet sauce, season with salt and pepper to taste.
To make crispy baked tortilla tostada baskets to serve the chilli in, place the tortilla in a deep oversized muffin or pie tin and place a piece of baking paper inside and fill with baking beads or dried beans to weight it down, bake for 10-15minutes, pile high for everyone to help them selves.
I like to make my chilli the day before as the flavours develop much deeper for the next day. I like to serve this family style, big ole’ bowl’s of Texas red, cheddar sauce and all the fixings for everyone to load and layer up their bowl just how they like it, enjoy.
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