Home in a Bowl of Chili

Posted on July 20, 2015

by Chef Ashleigh Scherman

Ziv, my husband of three years, and I have had a whirlwind marriage: We met in Houston, where my family traces its heritage to “The Old 300” original settlers, and I had fully intended to carry on that Texas legacy. But fate and job opportunities took us, with me kicking and screaming the whole way, to suburban Washington, D.C. The day we left Texas, it was 78 degrees and sunny; when we reached Rockville, Md., it was 13 degrees, with 2 feet of snow on the ground and more in the forecast.

This was clearly not home.

Begrudgingly, I spent days unpacking. One of the last boxes contained my kitchen toys. As I began to remove layers of bubble wrap, it was like unwrapping bits of home. First, I got to my molcajete (a traditional Mexican version of a mortar and pestle), then my tortilla press, my wooden spoons and my knives, and all at once it made sense. I braved the snow for a few ingredients and came back to cook. The smell of homemade tortillas and a giant pot of simmering chili with all the fixin’s were waiting when Ziv walked in. We sat on our living room floor and drank beer, watching it snow and eating chili and warm, fresh tortillas.

Those flavors, that smell, that long labor of love and patience in a bowl of Texas chili is as close to home as I can get without crossing another state line. In 2014, we settled in North Carolina, and home is where the chili and tortillas are.

Chef Ashleigh Scherman became The Carolina Club’s executive chef in August 2014, having worked at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., and The Briar Club and River Oaks Country Club in Houston. Scherman is an alumna of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., but much of her education came earlier, when she grew up spending time in the kitchen with her parents, who also work in the hospitality industry.

Texas Chili

Yield: 2 to 3 quarts

6 dried guajillo or pasilla chilies
1 dried chili de arbol
2 cups boiling water
2 chipotle chilies, canned in adobo
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
5 tablespoons bacon fat
3 pounds boneless beef chuck, trimmed and cut into ½-inch cubes
½ cup yellow onion, diced small
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups beef stock
12 ounces Mexican or Texan beer
2 to 4 tablespoons Maseca corn flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Lime juice to taste

• Add all dried chilies to a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and toast just until slightly aromatic (2 to 3 minutes each side). Be careful to not burn them, or they will become bitter; just toast them. Remove from heat, place in a bowl and add 2 cups boiling water to cover. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for at least 30 minutes.
• Drain chilies, reserving the water. Split, seed and stem them. Add the cleaned chilies to a blender along with ½ cup of the reserved water. Add chipotles and blend to make a smooth paste.
• Return the Dutch oven to medium heat. Add in all spices and toast until aromatic, being careful to not burn them. Once fragrant, add in bacon fat, and heat until it shimmers.
• Working in batches, add beef and sear hard on all sides. Remove and set aside beef cubes as they are seared. Once all cubes have been seared, add onion to the Dutch oven and sweat the onion with all the juice from the meats for about a minute. (Sweating releases flavors with moisture and low temperatures; no browning takes place. The pan is covered so the lid traps steam, which condenses and drips back onto the onions.) Add garlic and sweat again.
• Pour in beef stock and beer. Bring to a boil. Whisk in Maseca, starting with 2 tablespoons and adding as necessary.
• Return meat to the pan with brown sugar; stir to combine. Simmer 2 to 3 hours. The chili should have a nice, thick texture, and the juice should bubble around the meat. Finish by adding lime juice, salt and pepper as needed to taste.
• Serve with homemade tortillas, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, lime wedges and cilantro. (Note that Texas chili does not, will not, ever have beans in it.)

Corn Tortillas

Yield: 24 tortillas

2 cups Maseca corn flour
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups warm water
Oil, blended and as needed

• Add Maseca to bowl and whisk in salt. Slowly stir in 1½ cups of warm water. Knead the ingredients together until a dough forms. It should resemble Play-Doh and be slightly dry.
• Measure out dough into 1 tablespoon portions and roll into balls. Flatten balls in a tortilla press lined on both sides with wax paper or plastic wrap. Adjust consistency of dough based on the first pressing. Crumbly? Add water. Sticking to plastic? Add Maseca.
• Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat; lightly brush with oil. Cook 2 to 3 tortillas until charred in spots and edges start to curl, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn; cook through, about 15 seconds. Transfer to a kitchen towel; fold over to keep warm. Repeat, in batches, with remaining dough.