Steak Chili

With the weather getting a bit cooler, there’s no better time than to curl up on the couch with a blanket, a good book and a hot bowl of chili. No wait. A hot bowl of chili with steak. And freshly made jalapeño cornbread of course.

I seriously inhaled an entire bowlful of chili as soon as it came off the stove. The best part? No, it’s not the juicy, tender chunks of steak meat that soaked up all the chili. No, it’s not all the garnished jalapeño monterey jack cheese that got melted into the chili into ooey gooey goodness. It’s the cornbread counterpart. It’s the dunking of the cornbread into the chili and savoring every. single. bite.

So here’s how you make this:

Let’s first start with some steak meat. I got mine from Trader Joe’s.

Make sure the meat is all seasoned with salt and pepper before searing it in a preheated Dutch oven. Yeah, this is exactly why I can’t be a full-time vegetarian.

Next we’ll throw in some onion, garlic and jalapeños. I added 3 jalapeños because I like my stuff super spicy but if that’s too much, adding just 1 will be more than enough.

Then comes the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder and lots and lots of kidney beans. Be sure to add some water too to make it more “soupy” and to have most of the ingredients covered. I think I added about 1-2 cups.

Now we’ll put the lid on, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer into absolute amazingness.

And that’s it! Just serve it with a generous sprinkling of Monterey Jack cheese (I love the jalapeño one from Trader Joe’s) and some freshly made cornbread.

One year ago: Linguini with Tomato-Almond Pesto

Steak Chili (adapted from Foodie’s Arsenal):

Yields 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 pounds stew meat, diced into 3/4-inch cubes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 red onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-3 jalapeños, minced
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• Shredded jalapeño Monterey Jack cheese, for serving
• Jalapeño cornbread, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

Season stew meat with salt and pepper, to taste.

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat. Add stew meat and sear until browned, about 2 minutes. Add onion, garlic and jalapeños, and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder, kidney beans and 1-2 cups water, making sure to cover most of the ingredients.

Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender, about 90-120 minutes.

Serve immediately with jalapeño Monterey Jack cheese and cornbread, if desired.

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