Beef Brisket Chilli - assistance

Walkerie

Walkerie

Walkerie

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Recipe as follows, ill update this into the OP too.

Beef Brisket Joint which was £5.80 from ASDA.

Put the brisket on a board, rubbed rock salt, ground pepper and mustard powder over with a little oil, then rubbed over some smoked paprika powder.

Browned each side in a hot pan for about 30 seconds - 1 minute per side (it'll go caramel brown) also browned off some chopped onion.

2x Cartons of chopped tomatoes, more smoked paprika, used a pestle and mortar to grind cumin and sprinkled some in.

1x Maggi Beef Stock Cubes - with about 300ml boiling water.


Poured it all into a large pan on the hob, brang to the boil and added the beef in (hopefully it should just about cover the meat but its fine for some to stick out)

once boiled, put on a simmer heat and leave for 3-4 hours depending on how big the brisket is, stirring occasionally. I added quite a bit of hot chilli sprinkles from a hot chilli grinder I have.

At around 1 hour to go I added a tin of mexican bean mix.

At around 30 minutes to go, you should be able to pull the brisket apart with two forks and it will literally fall apart if it hasn't already.

20121204172853.jpg


and here it is with some fried mix mushrooms, rice and mozzarella sprinkled on top.

20121204172643.jpg
 
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Walkerie said:
Hi all, im making beef brisket chili, I added some water to the beef stock cubes and have put the tomatoes, and all the rest in, its been in a couple of hours and hasn't lost any of the water, whats my best way of reducing it down? keep it simmering with the lid off?
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Exactly. Simmer with lid off for a while until you've lost what you think is enough vs. remaining time, then pop the lid back on.
 
Cook it in the same way you'd do any ragu style sauce. Brown meat, remove, celery, carrot, onion and garlic soften down, add tomato puree, some red wine to deglaze, meat back in, tomatoes or passata. Add your chilli powder, cumin, etc. simmer for a good age.
I add lardons to my chilli too, smoked ones. It gives it a much more smokey taste.
 
QuickLink said:
Cook it in the same way you'd do any ragu style sauce. Brown meat, remove, celery, carrot, onion and garlic soften down, add tomato puree, some red wine to deglaze, meat back in, tomatoes or passata. Add your chilli powder, cumin, etc. simmer for a good age.
I add lardons to my chilli too, smoked ones. It gives it a much more smokey taste.
Click to expand...

That sounds really nice but it's not really a chilli I'd say.

A decent chilli recipe a friend of mine discovered/adapted goes something like this:

Onions, garlic, beef shin (or brisket would work), small amount of tomato purée (maybe a tablespoon), cumin, ancho chillies, guajillo chillies, chipotle chillies, a bottle of mexican beer, a shot of espresso, a few small pieces of the darkest chocolate you can find.

Method:

Put the ancho and guajillo in some hot water to soak for 30 minutes before you cook.

Fry off the onions and garlic as normal.
Fry off the meat if you wish.
Add the cumin and chipotle (diced).
Take the ancho and guajillo out of the water, cut up and add.
Add the tomato purée.
Fry off a little.
Add the beer, espresso and chocolate.
If you like you can also add the water that you steeped the chillies in - gives it an extra kick.

Cook it for at least an hour, ideally more like 2+, until it reduces down and the beef is melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Absolutely divine :)

edit: I forgot the beans, lol. Also the usuals of salt and pepper/etc. We also add a couple of naga chillies if we're in the mood for something a little hotter.
 
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QuickLink said:
Cook it in the same way you'd do any ragu style sauce. Brown meat, remove, celery, carrot, onion and garlic soften down, add tomato puree, some red wine to deglaze, meat back in, tomatoes or passata. Add your chilli powder, cumin, etc. simmer for a good age.
I add lardons to my chilli too, smoked ones. It gives it a much more smokey taste.
Click to expand...

chilli powder, really? what a waste of good meat. Chili powder has no place in a good chili con cane.
Even the tomatoes are questionable but I will let you get away with that one.
 
D.P. said:
chilli powder, really? what a waste of good meat. Chili powder has no place in a good chili con cane.
Even the tomatoes are questionable but I will let you get away with that one.
Click to expand...

I kind of agree for the most part, though chilli powder isn't really a sin. It has it's place - perhaps not in a chilli, ironically enough :p

I think QuickLink's recipe is clearly borne of someone that is passionate about good-tasting food but not so much about the dish of chilli itself. From his other posts I've seen that he's an awesome cook.
 
D.P. said:
chilli powder, really? what a waste of good meat. Chili powder has no place in a good chili con cane.
Even the tomatoes are questionable but I will let you get away with that one.
Click to expand...

What's your recipe then? I'd like to make it.

Edit - This may sound mildly passive aggressive, but I genuinely would like to try it out :)
 
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Mine is:

Chopped onion and garlic, in a pan, sweat down a bit. Add Worcester Sauce, stir and shake to coat the onions. Add beef, salt, black pepper, a bit of cumin, a pinch of nutmeg. Stir and seal the beef (or mostly cook if you're using mince).

Add chopped peppers (amount depending on number of people eating) and stir in.

Add smoked paprika, more cumin, oregano, habanero powder, chopped chillies (if using them), tin of chopped tomatoes and mix well. Cook for a few more minutes, then add your drained beans (I prefer to use a "Mexican mixed beans" tin from Asda, they're great). Cook for a few more minutes to soften the beans a bit, then add a small carton of Passata. Mix it all up well.

Now, crumble in a beef stock cube, add a couple dashes more Worcester Sauce, sprinkle in more oregano, a bit of ground coriander, more habanero powder (if you want it), bit more smoked paprika (to taste, really) and darken it with a little more black pepper if the taste test requires. Add a few drops of CaJohn's Black Mamba hot sauce (chocolate habaneros... delish), a final blast of cumin, and then a very light dusting of cinnamon.

Mix well, leave to simmer while your rice cooks, then tuck in. If you're going low and slow, top up the pan a little with water or stock before leaving.
 
Beef mince has absolutely no place in a chilli con carne! I spent a long while perfecting my own recipe, but was bought 'Mexican Food Made Simple' with it's "quick" chilli recipe (er, still takes 4hrs+..) and I've been doing that ever since. The key ingredients are beef shin (cooked in massive chunks, then shredded before serving) and Ancho chillies for the perfect tobacco-y flavour.

Fortunately it's online:

http://www.shortlist.com/instant-improver/how-to-make-the-perfect-chilli

Once you cook a chilli with beef shin you won't go back.

EDIT: You can bulk out that recipe very well too. We normally end up with about 6 tins of beans in it and it's still really meaty :)
 
Beef brisket chilli is amazing, but chilli con carne is a fantastic way to use mince and is really cheap. Not to be sniffed at for a cheap meal. I always bulk it out with butter beans and kidney beans. This adds a great texture, especially if using mince.

I always make it up as I go along, coffee and chocolate is decent in it. I like to add cinnamon and a small amount of curry spices for a difference sometimes. Red wine is a must. The best way to add a depth of flavour is by using plenty of different types of chilli and hot spices. I like to add Scotch Bonnet, Green finger chilli, dried chilli flakes, chilli powder, cayenne pepper, West Indian hot pepper sauce and a dash of Tabasco. Basically whatever you have in the cupboards. I love chilli as you can make it up and try as you go!

Chilli powder isn't a sin, it adds quite a dry, earthy hot flavour, whereas fresh chillies can often be sweeter and less bitter.

EDIT: If you have someone who doesn't like spice as much as you, put Scotch Bonnets in whole. They will infuse the chilli with amazing flavour and will be easy to remove at the end. This leaves the spice lover with amazingly delicious fireballs to eat. You can also impress the womenfolk by eating mega spicy chillies (even though they're not ridiculous by the time you've cooked them for a while).
 
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My chilli - excuse typos as I'm writing this on my phone:
dice an onion and a couple of carrots and cook in some oil in a pressure cooker for a good while until browned. Meanwhile, brown 2kg of beef bones, chopped, in an oven for around 45mins at 160C.
Add the bones to the pot along with 500g of beef mince and cover with water. Bring to the boil, skim, and then cook at max pressure without venting for around 1hr 20mins. Once done, allow to come back down to temperature and then strain

Next, brown 2kg of short rib in a pan and lightly toast around a dozen dried chillis (adjust quantity for heat). Take around 1l of the stock and reheat in a pan with the toasted chilli. Leave to cool a little and then blitz in a blender. Check the heat, you can always add more chilli at this stage but this wants to be similar to your final heat level.

Take some sliced onions and gently fry in the pressure cooker until lightly browned. Add cumin and then add the short ribs and the stock along with the chilli stock, some tabasco, marmite and Worcester sauce and any other spices/flavourings/umami boosters you may want to add. Bring to the boil and then bring to pressure and cook for 45mins at full pressure. Again allow to fully cool once done.

Once it's come back down to temperature you can remove the short ribs and chop into size. Reduce the rest of the liquid down - don't go too far as it quickly ends up being incredibly viscous! You can add some chopped tomato and beans if you want to at this stage. Season (smoked sea salt is a nice addition and you may want further Worcester sauce for acidity) then add the chopped short rib back to the pan. Warm through and serve
 
Recipe as follows, ill update this into the OP too.

Beef Brisket Joint which was £5.80 from ASDA.

Put the brisket on a board, rubbed rock salt, ground pepper and mustard powder over with a little oil, then rubbed over some smoked paprika powder.

Browned each side in a hot pan for about 30 seconds - 1 minute per side (it'll go caramel brown) also browned off some chopped onion.

2x Cartons of chopped tomatoes, more smoked paprika, used a pestle and mortar to grind cumin and sprinkled some in.

1x Maggi Beef Stock Cubes - with about 300ml boiling water.


Poured it all into a large pan on the hob, brang to the boil and added the beef in (hopefully it should just about cover the meat but its fine for some to stick out)

once boiled, put on a simmer heat and leave for 3-4 hours depending on how big the brisket is, stirring occasionally. I added quite a bit of hot chilli sprinkles from a hot chilli grinder I have.

At around 1 hour to go I added a tin of mexican bean mix.

At around 30 minutes to go, you should be able to pull the brisket apart with two forks and it will literally fall apart if it hasn't already.

20121204172853.jpg
 
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