Cowboy Chili

Recipe from Mimi (Colorado Cache Cookbook)

Ingredients

• 1 pound pinto beans

• 1/2 cup butter

• 2 onions, chopped

• 6 shallots, sliced

• 1 (7 oz) can chopped green chiles

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 3 pounds sirloin OR round steak

• 1 pound pork OR turkey sausage (opt)

• 1/2 cup flour 

• 1 pound can baked beans

• 1 (4 oz) can pimentos (opt)

• 3 pounds fresh tomatoes, chopped

• 3/4 cup celery, chopped

• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

• 1 sweet red pepper, chopped

• 1–2 hot red peppers, chopped

• 1/2 cup fresh parsely, minced

• 1 (12 oz) bottle chili sauce

• Salt

• 1 Tbs garlic salt

• 2 Tbs pepper

• 2 tsp ground coriander

• 1 Tbs oregano

• 1/4 cup chili powder

• 2 cups (1 pint) sour cream (opt)

For serving: corn chips, sour cream, cheddar cheese, scallions, avocados, hot sauce…anything you like!

Directions

Wash pinto beans, soak overnight in water to cover. Bring to a boil in soaking water then lower heat. Simmer covered for 3 hours until tender. Drain. 

Melt butter in skillet, add onions, shallots, chiles and garlic. Sauté until onion is soft. Add chopped sirloin and cook over moderate heat until meat is brown. 

In a separate pan, brown sausage, pour off grease and add to meat-onion mixture. Stir flour into meat mixture and blend. Put meat mixture into a pot. Add beans, pimento, tomatoes, celery, mushrooms, sweet and hot peppers, parsley and chili sauce. Bring to a boil, lower heart and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Add salt to taste, garlic salt, pepper, coriander, oregano and chili powder. Simmer uncovered 75 minutes (11/4 hours), stirring occasionally. Skim off grease. 

Before serving, remove from heat, stir in sour cream and return to low heat to heat through. 

Note

Easy for a large group. This hearty chili should always remind us of cowboy poetry and the Colorado mountain sleigh rides…we’ve eaten it in those mountains many times.