The ZZ Top Three-Meat Texas Chili
ZZ Top was the inspiration for this great chili. You can listen to me and my buddy talk about ZZ Top and eat this chili on our podcast right here. Billy F. Gibbons and co. come from the great state of Texas, a place where you will be chastised for including beans in your chili. Take note, this chili has no beans. BUT, it has a lot of meat. If meat is your thing, this chili is for you.
Ingredients
2 +1/2 lb stewed beef chunks
1/2 lb thick cut bacon, (or uncut, so you can make thicker cubes)
1 lb chorizo sausage
glugs of olive oil
1 big chopped onion
2 diced sweet peppers, colors of your choice
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, deseeded, minced
2 diced jalapeños- deseeded and chopped
2 T smoked paprika
2 T chili powder
1 T dried oregano
2 T cumin
5 cloves minced garlic
2 bay leaves
28 oz can- stewed tomatoes
2 T unsweetened cocoa
2 T brown sugar or maple syrup
3 C beef broth
Salt and black pepper
2 T flour
Directions
In a very hot stew pot, add a glug of olive oil and all your meats. Try to get your beef to sear, but don’t sweat it if you don’t. Cook for about 15 minutes and remove meat from pan. If you have an excess of juices, set that aside too in a separate container.
Add diced onion to stewpot and sweat for 7 minutes.. Then add your sweet and hot peppers and cook for 7 more minutes. Careful not to breathe in the fumes, as the hot peppers may spice up your lungs. Then add all of your garlic and spices, (cumin, chili powder, oregano, bay leaves and paprika), and stir together.
Once that is all mixed and smelling good, add your canned tomatoes. At this point you can add the cocoa powder and brown sugar. Once everything is nice, hot and bubbly, (10 minutes), add back in your browned meat and beef broth. You can add some of the meat juice you saved from earlier, but keep in mind that’s all fat. It tastes good, but may make your chili a little too oily.
Speaking of oily, mix 2 T of flour with 1 cup of water or cold broth. Mix well so there are no clumps. Add this to the chili to bind up some of the oils and fats, and also to thicken it all up.
Cook for an additional 2-3 hours, or until you are satisfied with the tenderness of your beef. The longer you go, the more tender it will be
Serve with chopped green onions, greek yogurt, corn bread, oyster crackers, and/ or dabs of your favorite hot sauce. If you decide to put beans in here, don’t tell anyone. It’ll be between you and me. Enjoy your lunch and listen to This Band Could Be Your Food. Caio Chow!