Chili Verde

Recipe courtesy Karen Ray 2001 Chili Verde Champion

1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons green chile powder
1 (19-ounce) can green enchilada sauce
32 ounces canned tomatillos with their liquid
1 (7-ounce) can hot salsa verde
3 1/2 pounds pork sirloin, cubed
Lard or oil, as needed, to brown
2 cups finely minced onions
1 1/2 tablespoons pressed fresh garlic
2 pounds diced green chiles, fresh or frozen
2 cups very finely minced mixed fresh green peppers
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
Salt

In a small bowl, combine oregano, cumin, and chile powder. In a chili pot, combine enchilada sauce, tomatillos, and salsa verde. Press tomatillos against the side of the pot to crush. Add the oregano mixture to the liquids. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently.

Brown the meat in lard or oil in batches with onions and pressed garlic. Drain meat and add to chili pot. Add diced green chiles. Return pot to simmer.

After 2 hours, add half of finely minced green peppers. Add salt, as desired. Taste and adjust, adding additional minced peppers as desired. After 2 1/2 hours thicken or thin, as needed. After 2 3/4 hours, adjust salt and other seasonings as needed. Just before serving, add lime juice and cilantro.

And a dollop or three of sour cream! And maybe an extra squeeze of lime!

OR do this in your Instant-Pot or pressure cooker.

Brown meat as above in Instant Pot on Saute setting.

Add everything else (except cilantro) and pressure cook on HIGH for 20 minutes with natural pressure release or 30 minutes and rapid release. ( I confess I haven't done it this way, as I usually do it stove top in enamel cast iron on a weekend, so these times are guesses on my part!)

Cincinnati Chili

Cincinnati Chili

3 pounds lean ground beef
3 quarts water
3 cups chopped onion
2 T minced garlic
12 oz can tomato paste
3 T salt
2 T cinnamon
1½ T whole allspice
1 T cayenne pepper
1 T celery seed
1-2 tsp. in total black and/or white ground pepper
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. whole cloves
½ tsp. oregano
½ tsp. crushed red pepper (italian style)
¼ tsp. marjoram
½ tsp. dried mustard
5 bay leaves
2 oz unsweetened chocolate

Boil (yes, boil) the beef in the water in a large heavy pot and start adding everything else you see here and simmer on low heat (it will scorch if you’re not careful) at least 2 hours, but the longer the better. The final product should be thick and deep red, the beef should be in very fine pieces.
Tips.
You can use whole or ground spices but you will need to adjust the quantity based on freshness, etc. The whole spices get more interesting reactions around the table. White pepper is hotter than black so adjust the proportions and quantity of black and white pepper accordingly. Heat can be adjusted primarily by increasing or decreasing any of the peppers but the cayenne pepper provides the most bang for the buck—er, quid. If you have trouble finding some ingredients, try “chili powder” which (over here, anyway) is a combination of cayenne pepper, salt cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and sometimes oregano. Check the label and you can get by with this instead of some of the other constituents.

Serving Cincinnati Chili:
One-Way: Serve over steaming spaghetti or other pasta
Two-Way: Spaghetti, grated cheddar and chili
Three-Way: Spaghetti, cheese, chopped onions and chili
Four-Way: Spaghetti, cheese, onion, canned red kidney beans and chili

Also good on burgers (chili-burgers) and hot dogs (chili dogs)