The best beef chili of all time is a bold statement. You may disagree. But once you taste I think you’ll change your mind. It’s that good. It has nothing to do with the state of Colorado. I’m sure they make great chili there. But this is Mexican. Colorado means red colour. It’s not really red though. More of a deep brick. The colour of chilies.
Chile colorado is about beef and chilies
Don’t let the amount of chilies in this recipe put you off. It’s not that spicy. Ancho and New Mexican chilies are pretty mild. More chilies means more depth of flavour. More intensity. Chili should be about the taste of chilies after all. For me anyway. What you get is this crazy delicious Mexican stew. The beef may be the backbone but the chilies are what makes it sing. Chile colorado not like anything else out there.
No secret ingredients here
If you are looking for some magic ingredient that makes this work it doesn’t exist. There’s no beer in this recipe. No chocolate. Or coffee. There are no beans. No wine. No cinnamon. Barely any spice beyond the chilies. This is pure chile flavour wrapped around chunks of good beef stew. Some fire-roasted tomatoes. Onions and garlic. That’s it. This is about technique really. There are some steps that may seem strange to you. But that’s what it takes. How it works. I make other chili dishes. Sometimes I add some pork with the ground beef. Tons of chili powder. Whole de Arbol chilies. Tasty but nowhere as good as chile colorado. This is my go to. I make it when I want to blow people away. When I enter a chili cook-off. When I want to win.
Chilies make the chili colorado
There are not a whole lot of ingredients here. So your chilies matter. They are the star. Along with the beef. So make sure you use good quality dried chilies. I use a mix of New Mexican and ancho chilies. More ancho than New Mexican. But that’s not a rule. Its a guideline. Go with your gut. Or what you can get. Anchos are the backbone though. So try to keep them in your mix. Toast your chilies before you rehydrate them. It’s a simple thing. But it makes a difference. Just a few seconds on each side. Two or three at a time. So you don’t burn them. Maybe two minutes of your time. Worth it. Do it.
Dry roast the onions
This may be a bit different from what you are used to. But it adds a little something magic. Dry roast the onions, garlic and jalapeños. Toss them into a dry cast iron skillet and char them a bit. Keep the garlic and jalapeños moving to cook fairly evenly. You are going for brown here. Not black. So don’t go overboard. Medium heat. Patience. But you do want colour so don’t stop too soon. The garlic will be done first. It will have little dark brown spots. The jalapeños come off next. Blistered and softened. The onions take the longest. Check them. Once they are lightly charred on one side flip them. They are done when they soften. Not mush mind you. Soft.
Fry the chile paste for the ultimate chile colorado
I picked this trick up from Mark Miller’s Coyote Cafe cookbook and it’s a good one. Fy the chile paste in the oil you cooked the beef in. Or better yet, add a bit of pork lard. Seems simple enough but it makes a huge difference. Taste the chile paste before and after. You’ll see why you need to do it. Raw, the chile paste is a bit bitter. All sorts of hard edges to the flavour. After it’s fried it’s smooth and round tasting. It’s a little bit of cooking magic.
Make chile colorado
I’ve held back publishing this recipe for a couple years now. Didn’t really want to share. It’s my killer chili after all. This is the one I pull out when I want to show off. Chile colorado. It may be the best chili you ever taste. My favourite for sure. Hope it becomes yours.
Watch how to make chili colorado
