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Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

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7 Chili Chili

[heart_this] · Mar 10, 2009 · 61 Comments

7 Chili Chili

I really like chili and I am always on the lookout for new and interesting chili recipes to try. I recently came across a 7 chili chili recipe on Homesick Texan that caught my attention immediately. When I make chili I normally toast some dried chilies and then grind them up and use them in powdered form. This recipe called for reconstituting them in hot water and then pureeing them and I liked the sound of that. In addition to using the chilies in a new way it also used 7 different kinds of chilies including 5 kinds of dried chilies, chilies in adobo sauce and cayenne pepper. Another thing that I found interesting about this recipe was the fact that it was pretty much just meat, chilies and spices. I normally like to add things like beans and tomatoes to my chilies to give them more body and make them into more of a complete meal. Bacon grease is used instead of oil to brown the meat and saute the onions, which is always a positive in my books as it adds a ton of flavour. When choosing liquids for stews you can just use water or you can you the opportunity to add more flavour and this recipe does so by using both beer and coffee. I also liked the use of the cinnamon and the Mexican chocolate which adds a nice hint of the exotic to the chili. One of my favorite ways of cooking meats lately has been braising. Braising takes a while but the meat comes out nice and tender and fall apart good. This chili calls for a good long braising of the beef which just sealed the deal and it made it to my meal plan.
This 7 chili chili took a lot of time and a bit of effort but the results were really worth it! One thing that I made sure to do when making the chili was to add the chilies a bit at a time. There was a lot of the pureed chilies and I added about half of it initially and then let the chili simmer for an hour or so to let the flavours mingle a bit. I then taste tested it and added more of the chili puree until I got it to the heat level that I wanted. In the end the chili was nice and spicy hot, just the way I like it! Then beef was perfectly cooked and fall apart in your mouth tender and covered in the spicy and tasty chili sauce. I served the chili with some freshly made cottage cheese cornbread which did a good job of cleansing the palate in between mouthfuls of the spicy chili.

7 Chili Chili

7 Chili Chili

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 6 hours 10 minutes Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes Servings: 4
ingredients
  • 2 ancho chilis
  • 1 pasilla chili
  • 1 costena chili
  • 1 guajillo chili
  • 1 chili de arbol
  • 1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce
  • 4 slices bacon (cut into 1 inch slices)
  • 2 pounds beef (chuck roast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
  • 1 onion (chopped)
  • 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
  • 1 cup coffee
  • 1 beer
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • salt to taste
  • 1/4 tablet Mexican chocolate (grated)
  • 2 tablespoons masa harina
directions
  1. Toast the ancho, pasilla, costena, guajillo and de arbol chilies in a pan.
  2. Cover in boiling water and let soak for 30 minutes.
  3. Cook the bacon in a large pan and set aside retaining the grease in the pan.
  4. Add the beef and brown on all sides in the bacon grease and set aside.
  5. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
  6. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
  7. Add the bacon, beef, coffee, beer, cumin, cinnamon, coriander, cayenne and oregano.
  8. Drain the chilies and blend in a half a cup of fresh water and add to the pot.
  9. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the beef is fork tender, about 5 hours, adding more liquid if required.
  10. Add the Mexican chocolate.
  11. Mix the masa harina into 1/2 a cup of the chili broth and add it back to the pot.
  12. Simmer until the sauce thickens.
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Bacon, Beef, Food, Main Course, One-Pan, One-Pot, Recipe, Texmex

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. chez aurora says

    March 11, 2009 at 1:21 am

    Whoa, that’s a whole lotta chilis! Looks delicious 🙂

    Reply
  2. VeggieGirl says

    March 11, 2009 at 1:31 am

    EXTRA spicy!! Love it.

    Reply
  3. dawn says

    March 11, 2009 at 1:36 am

    Sounds delicious…sure wish I had some right now. We went out for lunch today and had the worst chili…boring, not spicy and too many vegetables.

    If you have lots of chilis left over this is a great soup that requires a lot of the same chilis. It’s an Azteca soup http://rouxbe.com/recipes/1333.

    Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
  4. Helene says

    March 11, 2009 at 1:36 am

    This is serious cooking. I love all the explanations and that you are using different chilis. Thanks for the great post Kevin.

    Reply
  5. Leslie says

    March 11, 2009 at 1:42 am

    Holy cow Kevin..that is one mighty fine lookin bowl of chili!!

    Reply
  6. Daziano says

    March 11, 2009 at 1:54 am

    WOW, I thought chili was a completely different thing! And I had no idea there were so many different sorts of chilies! Is this really spicy? I guess it is!

    Reply
  7. Elra says

    March 11, 2009 at 2:07 am

    Whaaa, I though you’re kidding when you said 7 chillies. I know how delicious this dish is with all of those flavorful chilies. Well done Kevin.
    Cheers,
    elra

    Reply
  8. Melissa says

    March 11, 2009 at 2:08 am

    That does have a lot of chilies! It sounds tasty!

    Reply
  9. Sharon says

    March 11, 2009 at 2:28 am

    Love the tasty chili Kevin!

    Reply
  10. Lisa says

    March 11, 2009 at 2:31 am

    I’m fascinated by this recipe and thinking about a vegetarian version. Perhaps mushrooms and paneer cheese. The gears are turning. Thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply
  11. Elizabeth G says

    March 11, 2009 at 3:20 am

    Oh my, this looks good. You might be interested in my chili recipe with salmon:

    salmon chili

    Reply
  12. Foodess says

    March 11, 2009 at 4:04 am

    WOW, coffee, beer, chocolate… AND 7 chilis?! Sounds full of flavour!

    Reply
  13. lisa (dandysugar) says

    March 11, 2009 at 4:52 am

    So flavorful and spicy! That’s A LOT of chiles. My kind of dish! Tasty!!

    Reply
  14. Selba says

    March 11, 2009 at 4:53 am

    I love chili! This must be really good one!

    Reply
  15. Sam Sotiropoulos says

    March 11, 2009 at 5:23 am

    Now THAT is a Chili Lover’s Chili if ever there was one!

    Reply
  16. Anonymous says

    March 11, 2009 at 6:00 am

    hey kevin , nice looking chili, you got a real nice dark color to it!

    Reply
  17. Rosa's Yummy Yums says

    March 11, 2009 at 6:09 am

    Wow, I’d love to find all these chilies here! That chili is terrific!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  18. Jan says

    March 11, 2009 at 6:28 am

    Ooooh chili and chocolate – double yum!

    Reply
  19. Nina Timm says

    March 11, 2009 at 7:06 am

    I can just feel the perspiration running down my face when eating this. Wow, looks super-delicious!!!

    Reply
  20. Happy cook says

    March 11, 2009 at 7:51 am

    Wow this looks so yumm and the chillie list i don’t kno most of them will have to google to know what the variety is if i want to make them.

    Reply
  21. Jennifer says

    March 11, 2009 at 10:09 am

    That is my kind of Texan chili!!! My sister (a Texan) makes it very similar to that! YUM!
    You need to post the cottage cheese cornbread recipe 🙂

    Reply
  22. Edith says

    March 11, 2009 at 10:12 am

    Sounds and looks delicious. Love it!

    Reply
  23. Culinarywannabe says

    March 11, 2009 at 11:30 am

    Looks like just the thing to warm you up when it’s cold out. With all those chilis, I’m thinking even half the amount was spicy enough for me. Glad to hear it was worth the effort.

    Reply
  24. tamilyn says

    March 11, 2009 at 12:18 pm

    I’m such a Scandahovian-I nearly cried just looking at the ingredients! It would probably kill this white bread and mayo girl. Of course, the hubs-he is a chili freak so I may have to show him this post! The color is so beautiful-I’ll love to have the meat with some nice mashed spuds underneath and bottle of cold brew.

    Reply
  25. pigpigscorner says

    March 11, 2009 at 12:29 pm

    This looks and sounds absolutely AMAZING!

    Reply
  26. Bellini Valli says

    March 11, 2009 at 1:21 pm

    This is a sure fire winner Kevin!!

    Reply
  27. Dawn says

    March 11, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    You make everything look sooo damn good. How hot is hot? Just curious. I love a good chili, so I have to save this one.

    Reply
  28. Foodie with Little Thyme! says

    March 11, 2009 at 1:25 pm

    Wow, now that’s some chili.

    Reply
  29. Miette says

    March 11, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    It sounds so good ! I love chili and those recipes are fantastic !

    Cheers,

    Miette

    Reply
  30. Cathy - wheresmydamnanswer says

    March 11, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    WOW incredible – I have been on a Texas recipe roll and this will go great with my new collection!!

    Reply
  31. Gloria Chadwick says

    March 11, 2009 at 3:04 pm

    Your chili sounds awesome! Chipotle, bacon, coffee, beer, cinnamon, chocolate… awesome ingredients!! Would you like to share it in my chili cook-off on my San Antonio blog? 🙂

    Reply
  32. Burp and Slurp~! says

    March 11, 2009 at 4:16 pm

    holy moly! I love all that chilis in there! I’m a big spice girl myself! yumm!!!

    Reply
  33. Elizabeth C says

    March 11, 2009 at 4:38 pm

    New fan of yr blog here, also a SouthernUS ex-pat(Florida) and also in Toronto. Great site; great recipes–this one looks utterly delectable! My question: where in the GTA can you find all those different types of chilis?(Preferably in the downtown core, but outside that’s fine.)

    Reply
  34. Cheryl says

    March 11, 2009 at 4:56 pm

    That is the best looking chili I have seen in a long time!

    Reply
  35. Pam says

    March 11, 2009 at 4:58 pm

    Now that’s a bowl of chili – it looks fantastic.

    Reply
  36. Anonymous says

    March 11, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    That looks awesome and super spicy! I love how different the ingredients are…I bet it tastes wonderful!

    Reply
  37. unconfidentialcook says

    March 11, 2009 at 7:52 pm

    This does look well worth the extra effort! Thank you!

    Reply
  38. toni says

    March 11, 2009 at 8:08 pm

    This looks like an outstanding version of a Tex-Mex chili. The differences in chili are amazing – like the differences in mole sauces in Mexico.

    In New Mexico, what we call chili has no meat, no beans and very different kinds of spices. You can add it to meat, beans or anything else you wish (potatoes anyone?). But the basis of it chili, onions, garlic and a roux. Different families use different spices, but I’ve never met a chili I didn’t like!

    Reply
  39. Bridgett says

    March 11, 2009 at 9:24 pm

    Wow, look at how thick and hearty that is! Perfection in a bowl. I love this post.

    Reply
  40. Astra Libris says

    March 11, 2009 at 10:24 pm

    WOW, 7 chilis and coffee and bacon??!! A-W-E-S-O-M-E beyond compare…

    Reply
  41. Kevin says

    March 11, 2009 at 10:46 pm

    Elizabeth C: I got the dried chilies from a small import food store in basement level of the St Lawrence Market in downtown Toronto.

    Reply
  42. Kevin says

    March 11, 2009 at 10:47 pm

    Dawn: You can make it as hot as you like. Just add the chilies a little at a time until it has the heat that you want.

    Reply
  43. Paula says

    March 11, 2009 at 11:22 pm

    I just love the Homesick Texan’s recipes, and this is a winner, too. This is definitely a great looking chili with that braised beef and all those chile peppers. YUM!

    Reply
  44. Karen says

    March 11, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    Looks like this has a good, rich texture to it.

    Reply
  45. Jan says

    March 11, 2009 at 11:32 pm

    An interesting recipe, it sounds like it packed quite a punch, not that there’s anything wrong with that, I love spicy food.

    Reply
  46. Elizabeth C says

    March 11, 2009 at 11:33 pm

    Thanks! I’ll poke around St Lawrence market and see what I can find!

    Reply
  47. Pam says

    March 11, 2009 at 11:35 pm

    Now that is an impressive chili recipe!

    Reply
  48. The Duo Dishes says

    March 11, 2009 at 11:35 pm

    The color gives it away–this is a rich and spicy dish!

    Reply
  49. Manggy says

    March 12, 2009 at 12:15 am

    You had me at the first 2 words of the title! LOL 🙂

    Reply
  50. Jennifer says

    March 12, 2009 at 2:05 am

    I never think about using that cut of meat for chili.

    Usually when I make chili, I use ground beef.

    This version looks awesome. I’m one of those people who doesn’t really mind time consuming meals. That’s the best part!

    Reply
  51. MaryBeth says

    March 12, 2009 at 4:03 am

    That looks Wonderful! I will have to try this version real soon.

    Reply
  52. Anonymous says

    March 12, 2009 at 9:45 am

    Wow…this looks delicious! Your method of adding a little chilli at a time sounds interesting. The meat looks tender and flavourful.

    Reply
  53. Maggie says

    March 12, 2009 at 3:00 pm

    Wow, the chili really looks rich! You can tell that a lot of effort went into into developing the flavors just by the look of it. How much chocolate is one tablet? If I try it I think I’ll substitute dark chocolate and a pinch of cinnamon. BTW, I’m making the glazed corned beef today.

    Reply
  54. Olga says

    March 12, 2009 at 5:21 pm

    I don’t think I’d be able to stand the heat! I actually got 5 different kinds of dried hot peppers from Marx company in Seattle to play with and this could be a great idea!

    Reply
  55. giz says

    March 12, 2009 at 11:01 pm

    Whoa – are you still alive? are you on fire? should I call the fire department?

    Reply
  56. Kevin says

    March 13, 2009 at 10:18 pm

    Maggie: One tablet is 3 ounces. Dark chocolate with some extra cinnamon should work. I have also added unsweetened cocoa powder to chilies in the past.

    Reply
  57. Jeanne says

    March 19, 2009 at 5:38 pm

    Now why, why, why do I live in a country where all these chillies are speciality items that you really have to hunt for?? This sounds specatular & full of complex flavours.

    Reply
  58. Unknown says

    September 24, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    What is a costena chili? I know there is a brand called Costeña but can't find anything anywhere for a chili type called costena. Thanks!

    Reply
  59. Kevin says

    September 25, 2012 at 10:56 am

    Unknown: The costena chili is also called the costenos chili. If you cannot find them you can replace them with more chipotle chilies or guajillo chilis.

    Reply
  60. Anonymous says

    September 29, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    Hi,
    I'm from the UK, so I'm not familiar with the chipotle chilli in adobo sauce: I've found a 200g tin, when you say put 1 in, do you mean one chilli from the tin, or 1 tin?
    Thank you!
    Molly

    Reply
  61. Kevin says

    October 4, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    Molly: 1 chipotle chili from the tin, or more to taste. The rest of the chipotle chilies will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for weeks if not months so you do not have to use them all at once.

    Reply

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