Ben Mims is the author of 3 cookbooks and is a food editor for the LA Times. Several years ago he and his partner spent a month in San Antonio enjoying all the wonderful food and eating ALOT of chili. The “authentic” kind with beef cubes cooked in a mole gravy, and the Tex-Mex kind, with ground beef and chili powder. After sampling so many, they decided their favorite was the ground beef with beans version, but with tomato paste and not canned tomatoes. It’s so quick to make that its been a staple of their weeknight dinners ever since.
Topped with cheese, sour cream, diced avocado and both red onion and scallions its a wonderful meal in a bowl. Put this in your lineup for fall dinners as the weather cools down, and what a great lunch the leftovers make.
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 pound ground beef
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. sweet paprika
2 Tbs. double-concentrate tomato paste
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
2 cups beef or chicken stock (or water)
1 can (15 oz.) organic red kidney, pink or pinto beans, undrained
Shredded sharp cheddar or Colby jack cheese, sour cream, diced avocado or guacamole, diced red onion and thinly sliced scallions, for serving.
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring to break it up, until no longer pink, four to five minutes. Sprinkle over the chili powder, oregano, cumin and paprika and cook, stirring,until the spices are toasted in the fat, about one minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring until lightly caramelized, one to two minutes.
Sprinkle the flour over the beef and cook, stirring, to cook off the raw flavor of the flour, about one minute. Pour in the beans, liquid and all, then pour the stock into the can of beans to help loosen any stuck beans and rinse the rest of the liquid out of the can; pour it into the pan. Stir everything to combine, then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened and slightly reduced, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and season again with salt and pepper.
Serve the chili in bowls and top with cheese, a dollop of sour cream, avocado, red onion and scallions. Serves 4.
Note: Ben says you can alter this recipe to suit your taste; use single ground chiles in place of the mixed chili powder, add ground coriander or smoked paprika. Or use ground lamb, bison or turkey instead of beef. Or even a beef substitute like Beyond Meat.
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