A Labor of Love
A few years back, our church started a chili cook off and it has now become a tradition. Usually in late January or early February, it is a great way to break up the winter blues and have some fun and fellowship. In recent years, we have even invited our local firefighters to come and be the judges. This allows us to show our appreciation by feeding them and praying over them while they are with us. This also makes the competition a whole lot more intense.
There are prizes for hottest chili, best overall chili and best decorations for the table. I have entered many times, but never won. “It was a honor just being nominated….”
This year, I wanted to go super adventurous. Because of my recent affinity for all things Korean, I was determined to make a Korean chili, with good quality beef, not just your average ground beef.
I searched for a good starting point and found a recipe online from Edward Lee for Korean-Style Texas Chili. What now?? Yep, that’s the question everyone asked when they came to our table at the cook off. Basically, it is a chili made with no beans, high quality beef, and lots of peppers, including Gochujang, the Korean fermented chili paste.
Edward Lee happens to be an amazing chef – the son of Korean immigrants, raised in Brooklyn and now living in Louisville, Kentucky. If you are interested in him and some of his other recipes, you can find his book, “Smoke and Pickles: Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen” on Amazon. This would make a great Valentine gift for a foodie. (Hint, Hint.)
Armed with a good recipe, we teamed up with our good friends from Texas, which only seemed appropriate. Not having made this particular recipe ever before, we had a test run couple of weeks before the competition. Having declared it delicious and intriguing, we stuck with it and committed whole hog, or cow as the case may be.
Decorating for Korean-Style Texas Chili presented some challenges, but we worked it out. Not prize-winning, but we got the point across.
The winners for best table decorations were Stephanie and Shelly, who had a great taco theme going on.
The chili I made was indeed a labor of love, even though it wasn’t trophy winning at this cook-off. It is a fantastic blend of 3 kinds of peppers, tender beef and tangy tomatoes, a complex and satisfying medley that gets better with time.
Because it takes so long to cook and meld all the flavors together, I prepared it the day before the competition. It is best prepared in a heavy bottomed pot, like a Dutch Oven. If you do not yet have one of these pots, I highly recommend purchasing one. You can find them in varying sizes and colors here on Amazon or at your favorite kitchen store. They are very versatile, even-cooking and easy to clean.
As I mentioned before, good quality beef chuck is key to this chili. Incidentally, I bought my beef at Aldi and it was cheaper than our area grocery stores and a really tender cut. I was very pleased.
Cut your chuck roast into 1/2 inch sized cubes and remove any excess fat. This is the most intensive part of the recipe preparations. Place all the meat onto a platter and begin to brown in small batches. The meat does not have to be cooked all the way through, as it will continue to cook once it’s mixed into the chili. It took me about 4 rounds of browning to get all of the meat nice and seared. Once the meat is browned, remove any extra fat from the pan, then return all of the meat to the pot.
Add the diced onion, garlic, jalapeños, and a big can of diced tomatoes and give it all a good stir. Then you add the Gochujang paste, chopped chipotle peppers and other spices. Mix again, then pour in 4 cups of beef broth.
Once all of that is in the pot, add a bottle of dark beer. Wait, what?! I added beer to my chili for a church cook-off? Yes, I did. The beer adds another layer of flavor, adding more of the fermented vibe Korean dishes tend to have. All of the alcohol is completely cooked off, so no worries.
Once the pot comes to a boil, bring it down to a simmer and continue to cook low and slow for 2-3 hours. Do not forget to stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pan to make sure nothing sticks.
The chili will cook down until everything is tender and the flavors are all blended. You will know it is done when you can easily cut a piece of meat against the side of the pot using just a wooden spoon. Patience is key here for really tender, delicious meat.
Once my chili was done, I allowed it to cool before transferring to the inner crock that I removed from my slow cooker. I stored that in the refrigerator until I was ready to heat up the chili the next day.
If you use this method, remove the crock from the fridge and allow it to warm up a bit before placing it into the slow cooker unit. Reheat the chili on low for 2-3 hours. Of course, you CAN eat the chili the same day and it is amazingly delicious.
Once you are ready to eat your chili, top with cheese, sour cream, cilantro, or Quick Kimchi and serve with some yummy corn bread or muffins.
I believe chili is one of those things that is fun to experiment with and I am often adding new variations to my repertoire. In fact, I think next year we should all exchange recipes at the chili cook-off. In the meantime, this particular recipe has quickly become a family favorite.
AuthorMelissa JoyDifficultyIntermediateChop your onion, garlic and jalapeños and set aside.
Cut the chuck roast into 1/2" cubes. Remove access fat and anything funky.
In a Dutch Oven or similar heavy bottomed pot, heat the vegetable oil. In small batches, brown the chuck roast. Place the meat onto a platter and repeat until all the meat is browned.
Remove any extra fat from the pot, then return the beef and add the onion, garlic and jalapeños to the beef and stir to combine.
Stir in the diced tomatoes, chipotle peppers, Gochujang and other spices.
Pour in the beef broth, being sure to cover the meat and peppers. Top with the bottle of beer.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and continue to cook for 2 hours and 45 minutes, or until you can cut the beef with a wooden spoon against the side of the pot.
Once the meat is tender, break the meat pieces down to your desired size and serve.
Top with cheese, sour cream and cilantro or kimchi. Any leftover chili can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Ingredients
Directions
Chop your onion, garlic and jalapeños and set aside.
Cut the chuck roast into 1/2" cubes. Remove access fat and anything funky.
In a Dutch Oven or similar heavy bottomed pot, heat the vegetable oil. In small batches, brown the chuck roast. Place the meat onto a platter and repeat until all the meat is browned.
Remove any extra fat from the pot, then return the beef and add the onion, garlic and jalapeños to the beef and stir to combine.
Stir in the diced tomatoes, chipotle peppers, Gochujang and other spices.
Pour in the beef broth, being sure to cover the meat and peppers. Top with the bottle of beer.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and continue to cook for 2 hours and 45 minutes, or until you can cut the beef with a wooden spoon against the side of the pot.
Once the meat is tender, break the meat pieces down to your desired size and serve.
Top with cheese, sour cream and cilantro or kimchi. Any leftover chili can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week.
* Recipe adapted from Edward Lee
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