Southwest Beef

Now some folks might just call this chili. But real authentic Texas chili only has meat and sauce, and on the opposite end mainstream chili is more like a soup or a stew. Both are slow cooked for hours usually. This recipe is a bit different from either, cooks much faster, and can be used in several different applications. I first used it for home-made sloppy joes that blew the doors off the canned stuff. It has become my regular filling for tacos and burritos, tastes great in a grilled cheese melt, I even used it as a topping for pizza last night. Try it on hotdogs, as a topper for a bowl of mac n' cheese or Spanish rice. And of course, you could even use it as a stand-alone quick chili bowl. Depending on your intended use though, some slight variations might be in order for consistency.

I usually cook this in my electric frying pan, but my flat bottomed wok would probably work too. For this batch, we'll set the ratio mark for the ingredients based on about three pounds of ground beef. 85% lean beef is probably best. 80% you will have to drain a bit, but you don't want to go too lean either, you should have some fats in there for rich flavor and consistency. Of course, if you want your final product a little more “dry,” a leaner mix isn't going to hurt anyone. You might want it drier for taco filling, or more “soupy” for a bowl of chili. But more on that later.

Let's start with some chopped onion. I use about half of a large onion, or one smaller onion, well chopped. Toss that in the pan to fry a little with some cooking oil. I'm a canola guy these days for general use. Little healthier and more buttery tasting than vegetable oil. While the onion is getting some sizzle, I go ahead and chop up some red and green pepper. About half of each pepper. Slice into thin strips by halving the half, halve those again, and one more time or two. Then dice those strips off lengthwise so you have nice well chopped little squares. Of course, if you have a food processor, that would make quick work of it. I like the onion cooked more than the peppers, but you could get away with throwing them all in together then giving them some high heat sizzle.

They don't need to be thoroughly cooked, but get them softened up a little and then throw the meat in to brown. I slide all the peppers and onion off to one side, then incorporate into the meat a little each time I give it a stir. If you are going to drain off any of the fats, do it now that the meat is browned, and bring it down to a simmer.

Now we are going to season, and season well. Big spoonful of minced garlic. You could throw this in earlier, but I wait so as not to overpower the other flavors or burn the garlic. Next we are going to really go at it with dried seasonings. A thorough dusting of garlic powder and onion powder, like a little snowstorm just popped up over the pan. Don't go too insane though. You can always add more if you need it but the only way to fix over seasoning is to add more meat. We're going to do a second round of seasoning in a moment anyway. Finish off this first round with a thorough dusting of chili powder, and a bit of fresh ground black pepper. Go easy on the black pepper though, it can be bitter if you use too much, and there is no need for salt in this recipe. Store brand chili powder is just fine but you could use your own personal blend if you prefer, of course.

Incorporate all of that seasoning into the meat as you continue to mix on simmer. For most applications, I like the meat broken up well rather than in big chunks. Continue simmering and break out a big bottle of ketchup. For this, I really do recommend Heinz. Sometimes you can get away with generic stuff, but here, the Heinz really does make a good show. Give the meat a nice squirt and coat it from one side of the pan to the other, up and down, back and forth. Mix it all in, continue to simmer for a few more minutes.

Now we are going to fold in some small red beans. Half a can to a can, depending on your preferred bean to meat ration. Be careful stirring now though, don't want to break up the beans too much, and canned beans can be pretty soft. We're almost done now, so give it a taste. Wow, careful, dont burn yourself. Let the spoonful cool down enough, so you can taste it properly. Chances are, you are going to need a second good round of seasoning. Use all the same as above. If you want to add some herbs, like parsley or cilantro, now would be the time. Adding herbs too early only burns them and loses the potency of their flavors.

And with that, once you have it fine-tuned the seasoning it's all set to be used in whatever preparation you have in mind.

On a few occasions I have been without fresh garlic or onion and got away with just the powdered seasoning just fine. In fact, in competition chili cook-offs, many competitors prefer powdered. It's easier to keep on hand and easier to measure in order to get an exact flavor each time. The red and green peppers though, I won't bother to make this if I don't have them. You could skip the small red beans, but they do add a nice flavor and texture element, and help to stretch your protein dollar, being a lot cheaper than ground beef. Some folks prefer larger kidney beans, or milder pinto beans. Black beans might work well for a south of the border version, maybe with some shoepeg corn tossed in for added sweetness.

If you want to really put the sloppy in sloppy joe, use more ketchup. For a taco, you probably want a little less sloppy and more meaty, so ease back on the ketchup. Adjusting the ketchup levels will affect your seasoning though too, keep that in mind. If you're going to serve it as a bowl of chili, maybe with a little melted shredded cheese on top, you might add some hand crushed canned tomatoes to make it a little more soupy, and go with a more course chop on your veggies for rustic heartiness.

If you come up with any variations or uses that you think others might enjoy, go ahead and drop me an email, or post right here below in the comments box.


Here's your shopping list:

Ground beef, red beans, red and green pepper, onion, garlic, ketchup, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and a wee bit of cooking oil.

(Revised, 2/2011)