This Year's Chili
Scott’s Chili Recipe #17
6 pounds Stew Lamb, cut into 3/4” chunks
4 @ 28 oz. cans diced Tomatoes, with liquid
5 cups red wine, preferably Merlot, Malbec or Shiraz, plus more for deglazing
1 cup Cider Vinegar
24 oz. Tomato Paste
13 fresh Jalapeno Peppers, ribs and seeds removed
5 fresh Habanero Peppers, ribs and seeds removed
6 dried Ghost Peppers
24 dried Tabasco Peppers (Locally Grown)
12 dried Cayenne Peppers (Locally Grown)
8 dried Thai Lemon Dragon Peppers (Locally Grown)
2 medium Red Onions, cut coarsely
1 cup coarsely chopped Yellow Onion
12 cloves chopped fresh Garlic
8 tsp Pomegranate Molasses
6 tsp Cumin
10 tsp Bebere (Preferably Florentine)
8 tsp powdered Chipotle Pepper (Preferably Kalustyan’s Green Jalapeno)
8 tsp Urfa Biber
6 tsp Smoked Paprika
4 tsp Mignonette Pepper (Penzey’s)
4 tsp Oregano
2 tsp Thyme
2 tsp Allspice
Olive Oil as needed
Safety Precautions for working with the peppers:
Wear surgical gloves while cutting up the peppers and have a glass of milk, beer or wine nearby for washing the fumes out of your throat, especially when frying. There will likely still be some burning sensation on your lips and nostrils. Be very careful to avoid touching your eyes or any mucous membranes with anything that has made contact with the peppers. Have as much ventilation as possible while frying the pepper mixture. Children and those sensitive to fumes may want to leave during the cutting and frying.
Cut the meat into small pieces and fry, draining thoroughly when removing from the frying pan. The meat will have to be fried in several batches where the first should have a small amount of olive oil to start but subsequent batches may use some of the liquid from the meat frying. Place the meat in a large pot with the vinegar, tomato ingredients and the wine, over a low flame.
Cut up the red onions and fry in the pan liquid. Remove the onions to the pot and deglaze the pan with a small amount of wine, adding the deglazing mixture to the pot. Prep the fresh peppers, garlic and the white onion, chopping coarsely. Add to the food processor. Remove the tops from the dried whole peppers and crumble into the food processor. Pulse all until finely chopped.
Use the liquid in the frying pan fry the peppers & onions & garlic mixture. Fry until just short of burning around the edges. Remove the mixture to the pot and deglaze the pan with a small amount of wine, adding the deglazing mixture to the pot. .
Add the spices and continue cooking on a low flame, stirring frequently, until the mixture seems to be coming together and the meat is softening. Adjust the spices and other flavorings and liquid as needed. Cook until the meat is soft, stirring to prevent burning to the bottom of the pot.
Serves: A lot of people. Expect it to take at about 3 hours to make this, from start to finish.