Tag: beef broth

Beanless Beef Chili

Growing up in northern Wisconsin, I used to think that chili was made with kidney beans, hamburger, tomato sauce, and onions seasoned with salt, pepper and a little chili powder.  People from Texas might have confused it with tomato soup.

As a child I liked the stuff, and Mom cooked chili for us at least a couple times a month in the winter.  But one day long after I had left home, I was served a bowl of real chili.  I have never looked back.

There are a great many variations in chili recipes, and this is just one that I prefer.   There are no beans and it does not taste like tomato soup.  It is spicier than most of the chili served at church suppers or cafes in northern Wisconsin, but it is mild compared to many bowls of chili I have enjoyed over the years.

If you are nervous about using three jalapeños, start with one or two.  You may surprise yourself and decide to make it with four or five of those flavorful peppers next time.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs. round steak, chuck steak or other inexpensive cut of beef
1/2 lb. pork sausage
3/4 cup shallots
1 medium onion (about 3 1/2 inches in diameter)
4 cups beef broth
1/2 cups dry red win
4 cups chopped fresh, frozen or canned tomatoes
1 small (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
3 jalapeño peppers
1 1/2 T chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 T brown sugar
1 T flour mixed with 2 T water
Salt and pepper to taste

PROCEDURE:

Cut the beef into 3/4 inch cubes.  In a large Dutch oven or heavy kettle heat a teaspoon of oil and brown the pork sausage until it turns gray, breaking it into pieces with a wooden spoon.  Add the beef and continue cooking the meat.  Season it with with a half teaspoon salt and a quarter teaspoon black pepper.

Peel and chop the onion and shallots.  You should have about two cups of onion and shallots in total.  Add the onion, shallots, beef broth, wine, tomato paste and tomatoes. Simmer for an hour.

Wash and cut the peppers in half and remove the stems, seeds and white membranes. Dice the jalapeño peppers fine and the green and red peppers medium and add them to the chili.  Stir in the chili powder, cumin, thyme and sugar. Simmer for about an hour.  Mix the flour with the water and stir it into the chili.  Cook for three or four minutes, then taste and adjust the spices.

Serve with buttermilk cornbread, butter and honey or jam and shredded cheddar cheese or sour cream that guests can add if they wish.

OPTIONS:  If you like your chili hotter, add some cayenne pepper, hot sauce or one or two more diced jalapeños.  For really spicy chili, add one or two minced habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers.

NOTES:  If you don’t have any shallots on hand, mince 5 or 6 cloves of garlic and increase the amount of onion so you have a total of two cups.   Be sure to wear gloves when working with hot peppers.

 

Oxtail Soup–A Peasant Recipe Goes Gourmet

Time was when oxtails were cheap.  In fact, if you bought some hamburger and a pot roast from one of the butchers in Hayward, Wisconsin, where I grew up in the 1950’s, he would often give you an oxtail free if you asked for it.  When hamburger was 30¢ a pound, oxtails were a nickel or dime.  

Oxtails were peasant food.  That was probably why my mother made oxtail soup, and I know that was why I made it when Jerri and I were first married. 

How times have changed.  When I told a friend what I had to pay for oxtails last week, he said, “Why not use prime rib?”  However, when I make oxtail soup, I don’t want to skimp on ingredients.  Prime rib is good, but it won’t make one of the finest beef soups you will ever taste. 

From what I read, gourmet chefs are responsible for the high cost of oxtails today.  They’ve discovered that oxtails are a wonderful meat, whether braised or barbecued, used to make a paté, ragout, terrine, stew or…soup.  And since there is only one tail per cow, oxtails provide a perfect example of the law of supply and demand.

Mr. Olson, the butcher who supplied us with many oxtails when I was a boy, would have thought you were crazy if you had told him that people would some day pay more for oxtails than hamburger.  Today you are competing with people who pay $5 for a cup of coffee, but you need an oxtail no matter what the cost. 

As is true with any meat you buy, the cost of oxtails varies from store to store.  In the past year, I have seen prices from under six to over ten dollars per pound, which is pretty darned expensive for meat that is mostly bones and gristle.  However, the connective tissue and bones are the reason why oxtails make such great soup.   The long slow simmering releases the gelatin and flavor, which creates the delicious full-bodied broth that characterizes this wonderful vegetable beef soup.   

This is my recipe from over forty years ago.  I don’t make it too often today: Oxtails are pricey, but I can resist temptation only so long.  Make this soup once, and you’ll begin saving pennies for the next batch.  

INGREDIENTS:

1 oxtail, 3 to 4 lbs., disjointed (cut into sections)

4 or 5 slices bacon

1- 3 T butter

1 medium onion

4 – 5 cups water

4 cups beef broth

1/2 — 1  tsp. salt

1/2  tsp. freshly ground black pepper 

2 bay leaves 

4 whole cloves

3 or 4 garlic cloves

1 large carrot

1 small diced rutabaga

1 medium diced parsnip

2 ribs celery

1/4 cup parsley 

1 small to medium tomato

1 cup pearl barley

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. marjoram

1/2 tsp. basil

1 cup dry red wine

2 T butter

2 T flour

PROCEDURE:

Cut the bacon into small pieces and brown them slowly in a large soup pot until the bacon is crisp.  Remove the bacon but leave the bacon fat in the pan.  You should have at least two tablespoons of fat to brown the oxtails.  Add a tablespoon of butter if you wish.

  

Increase the heat and brown the oxtails, turning them to brown on all sides.  While the oxtails are browning, chop the onion. Remove the oxtails when they have browned.  If necessary drain excess fat.  Reduce heat to low.  Add the chopped onions to about two tablespoons of fat and stir them until they are translucent.  Return the crisp bacon and the oxtails to the pot.  Increase the heat and add the water, broth and salt and pepper.  

Remove the paper from the garlic toes and cut them in half.  Put them with the bay leaves and cloves in a spice bag or tied in a piece of cheesecloth and drop it in the pot.  Bring to boiling, reduce the heat, cover and let simmer for three to five hours, stirring occasionally and checking to make certain that there is plenty of liquid covering the oxtails.  Add more water if necessary.  The meat should come easily off the bones.  If it does not, let it simmer a bit longer.

When the oxtails have cooked long enough, turn off the heat and use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove them from the liquid.  Remove and discard the spice bag.  Let the oxtails and broth cool.  After it has cooled,  chill it in the refrigerator.  Skim most of the fat off the broth.  If all is going well, you will see that that cold broth resembles a soft gelatin.  

While the broth is cooling, remove the meat from the oxtails with a small knife, taking care to separate the fat from the meat.  You will end up with shredded beef which you will return to the broth. 

Peel and dice the parsnip and rutabaga and scrub and dice the carrot and celery stalks.  You should have about 1 cup each of carrot, rutabaga and parsnip and about one and one-half to two cups of celery.  Remove the stem scar from the tomato and dice it quite fine.  Chop the parsley fine.  

Heat the broth to a gentle simmer.  Stir the meat and vegetables into the broth along with the the cup of barley.  Add the wine, thyme, marjoram and basil and parsley.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer very gently for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

Make a roux by browning two tablespoons of flour in two tablespoons of butter over moderate heat.   The roux should be a dark golden brown to help color the soup.  Remove the roux from the heat and carefully add about one cup of the soup broth, stirring well.  Return this mixture to the soup and continue simmering for five to ten minutes.  Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary.

Serve with a green salad and fresh bread.

As with most meat and vegetable soups, oxtail soup is even better warmed up.  It can be frozen and reheated for quick lunches or dinners.

NOTES:  If you don’t have beef broth in the house, use three bouillon cubes with the water.  Feel free to brown some cubes of steak with the oxtails if you want more meat in the soup.