Edit 10/25: Added the recipe in printable format.
I'm on Week One of the Sweat360 6-Week Fall Meltdown, so I'm casting about for as many recipes as I can find, or at least ideas to inspire me. I regularly make chili without measuring anything other than two pounds of this, two cans of that, everything else to taste, so I'm good about riffing on an idea. My fried RM mentioned a Pumpkin Chili recipe, so I gave it a look. (Check the link for the recipe if you like.)
I liked the idea of adding pumpkin for some added sweetness and thickness, but I wasn't in love with the idea of making bean-free chili with ground meat. Something about the texture of ground meat in chili cries out for beans, IMHO. But since Paleo disallows beans, I needed another way to make the chili really hearty and satisfying: Stew meat. Yes, it takes more time if you want to get it tender, but it's so worth it. And fresh off my positive experience with braised short ribs (Ruhlman's Twenty), I thought I could manage to get some stew meat tender.
(As a sort of Paleo joke, I made The Spinning Cook's Pan-Seared Green Beans to go with the chili. Get it? Chili…with beans. I know, right? Brilliant humor. You laughed until you stopped.)
So, here it is:
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Ingredients:
* 2 pounds stew meat (I used half beef, half pork from New Seasons)
* 2 cans diced/sliced/stewed tomatoes, pureed (15 oz cans)
* 1 roasted jalapeno, pureed with the tomatoes or diced (mine was red so I threw it in the Cuisinart)
* 1.5 cups chicken or beef stock (any stock will do, or you can substitute beer or wine if you're inclined)
* 1 to 1.5 cups cooked pumpkin puree (I used a quarter of a Sweet Meat Squash, but you could use practically any winter squash)
* 2 Tbsp chili powder (I make mine based on Alton Brown's recipe, but I add a tablespoon of whole coriander)
(If you're using store-bought chili powder, I'd also add a teaspoon or so of cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, and some black pepper)
* 1 large onion, diced
* 2 celery stalks, chopped or diced
* 2 carrots, chopped or diced
* 3-4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped (or minced)
* 1 bell pepper, any color, diced
* 1 (4oz) can mild green chilies
* Salt and pepper
* Olive oil, bacon fat, or whatever fat you like
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Some prep notes: I chopped veggies while browning the meat, but if you want to simplify things, just prep the veg first. I also used a skillet and a Dutch oven, but you could totally just go with the Dutch oven if you want to save on clean-up. But if you use both, you could start the veggies cooking while browning the meat. I also didn't cut the meat down to size. Instead, I browned it as is, let it get tender in the sauce, then pulled it out, gave it a quick chop, then back in. But you could cut it smaller if you want. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
Working in batches, brown the meat in oil in a skillet, removing browned meat to a plate or bowl. Once the meat is all browned, deglaze with a cup or so of the chicken stock. Set aside.
In a Dutch oven, sauté the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and bell pepper in oil until the onion is translucent. (You can go as far as you want, browning the onion and carrots for extra flavor, or just get them tender and move on.) Strain the reserved liquid over the vegetables. Add the green chilies, tomato sauce, pumpkin, and chili powder (or spice blend). Add the meat back in and add additional stock if you think it's looking too thick. Bring to a simmer, then turn the burner off, cover the Dutch oven, and slide it into the oven.
Leave it alone for 90 minutes or so. (An hour may be sufficient, and you can test by pulling out a chunk of meat. If you can't cut it with a fork you're not there yet.) I should probably note that you could just simmer it on the stove-top for all that time, but I think you get more even heating in the oven. And it makes you feel more cheffy, a thing which you can't undervalue.
I used a slotted spoon to pull the meat out onto a cutting board, then chopped them up a bit and added them back in. But there's nothing saying you can't stick with big old chunks. It should be tender enough that it wouldn't be much of a nuisance to eat in large chunks.
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Well, I hope you enjoy it! BTW, I used another bit of the Sweet Meat Squash to make Paleo Pumpkin Breakfast Bars. We'll see how those came out tomorrow morning. They certainly look good, but I'm delaying gratification and letting more of my flab melt away overnight. Trying to look better before I turn 40.
While I've got you on the line, I'll ask for any exotic vegetable recipes you have, so long as they don't have dairy, beans, soy, or grains. So fire away! I've got a couple Endives in the fridge that I'm planning to braise one of these days, just because I read the Braise chapter in Ruhlman's Twenty and braising is incredibly cool.