Smoked Brisket point or Chuck roast Chili

Ingredient list:

1lb lb of either smoked Brisket or Chuck roast, Final cook weight
1 large Pasilla Pepper
1 1/2 cup Chick or beef broth
1 small can tomato paste
 2 28 ounce cans of Whole plum tomatoes (I prefer Cento), or canned roma style tomatoes
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small - yellow onion diced
3 tbl of Olive Oil
1 tbl of cumin
1 tbl of dried oregeno
1 tbl and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt

optional toppings
Avocado
Feta Cheese
Sour cream

Equipment.

Smoker
Smoker fuel source, enough for the cook
Preferred Wood chunks if not using wood as your fuel source.
Grill Tongs
Water pans for humidity in the smoker,
Scale (I use a mail scale that I bought for like 30 dollars, does ounces and grams, works for baking as well, hence grams)
(2) 4-6 qt Dutch ovens, or large crock pot based on batch size
3-4 qt sauce pan (or second dutch oven)
Cutting boards as needed
I used a slicing knife & a chef knife
Potato smasher
Wooden spoons (a few of the if you have them)
Laddle
Measuring spoons (Teaspoon &Tablespoon)
Measuring cup pick your size. 1 1/2 cups of broth will have to be measured out at some point
Several dinner or soup spoons for tasting along the way, it tastes good enough, you will want more then one bite), and unless you are cleaning your spoon each time, it is best to not be a double dipper if serving to guests

So, for a few years I have been looking for that deep beefy flavor in the chili's I have been cooking, I have tried various tomato variances, canned tomatoes, fire roasted tomatoes, I have tried fire roasting my own, fire roasting garlic, and several different chili spices from the store. Never have found one that made me go; yes, this!  I won't claim that if you put the time into making this that you will feel the same way I did, but, I finally had found what I was looking for in a chili. So this year I decided to add my new found enjoyment (polite way of say OCD) in outdoor cooking, meaning cooking on my Weber Kettles or Weber Smoker to the process of chili.

I have made this chili with both Smoked brisket, smoked for 16 hours in my Weber 22 Smokey mountain or otherwise known as a Weber 22WSM, I then wrapped it in butcher paper and rested it in a large pan inside of a pre warmed cooler for another 2 hours. I also added a Large Pasilla Pepper to the smoker for 4 hours towards the end of the cook. I used a combination of Kingsford blue bag charcoal, I have other preferences, but, that is not what this recipe is about, I used a mixture of Apple and Hickory chunks in my smoker. Your smoker, your wood choices, are all your preference, and you should go with what makes brisket taste nice and Barky & and good smoked flavor.  I have also made this chili with a CAB (Certified Angus Beef) choice cut of Chuck. Both have tasted great. This also can be doubled from a quantity stand point and not have any affect in how the flavor came out, or so I think from my own testing. note: Most of the photos have come from a double batch

So, from a brisket or chuck roast side,  I will not tell you how to smoke the two various cuts that I have used in this chili. For many reason, one being I am not an expert, nor will I likely ever be anything beyond a backyard hack that has control issues. I do believe in measuring the temp of your cook and making sure you have brought the meat to probe tender on the brisket, I used the brisket point, I believe there is far more quality fat rendering in that section of the cut, and your odds for for great brisket on a regular basis then there is on the flat side of the brisket cut.chance for cut consistency, on a Chuck roast, I would pull this sooner 180 range, but with a caveat, if you want "pulled beef chili" then take it the full distance. Pulled beef was not my intentions. I wanted cubed beef.  You can also cook these a few days in advance if you prefer, there is another step to the meat before it goes into the chili pot.

So, you have the meat cooked and all the ingredients around you and you are ready to make chili! In this recipe I make or prepare most of the ingredients separately and then fold or layer in, no real science behind this, but, my little experience in WOK cooking and stir fry, I like to cook the ingredient to the consistency I want, and keep the flavors somewhat separated as well for eating experience.

 Cube up 2 lbs of your smoked beef selection and pick through, cut away, and remove the fatty pieces, you may like them, but if you are cooking for others, most people don't.  Once you have the 2 lbs of cubed or trimmed beef cut up, I put it in a 4-6 qt dutch oven on low and slowly let the meat come back up to temp and re-render the fat and loosen it up a bit. So a note on the Chuck roast, I did not cook to pulled tender, yet when I warmed it up slowly and let the fat render a bit more in a dutch oven on low, the meat gets away from it's packed cool meat cubed taste and becomes a nice loose chunk of meat that is tender, smokey, greasy, and just over all amazing.

While you have the meat simmering in it's own fat rendering on low in a dutch oven and have it to the temp and fat rendered I had 1/2 cup of chicken stock or broth to this to help keep it from over cooking and becoming dry. Then finely mince 2 decent sized cloves of garlic, dice one small to medium yellow onion, and finely mince one large smoked pasilla pepper - seeds removed, put them in a pan add a table spoon or two of olive oil and a pinch of salt. I do not pre-heat this pan as I want the garlic and onion to slowly wake up, not go right to brown, you are aiming more for sweating them and getting the aromas out, yet making them tender and translucent for the onions and garlic.  Next I take all the canned tomatoes, whole plum style tomatoes if buying from a store. I once read somewhere if you want quality tomatoes from a store, buy whole tomatoes, as when a whole tomato is sold, the odds are for blemishes and poor quality tomatoes will not make the cut when sold vs say a diced or pureed can, defects can easily be hid in a more processed can of tomatoes. It makes sense to me, so I do it that way.  I have used home canned as well   But, drain the cans of tomatoes and put in a second dutch oven, use a potato smasher to smash them down to the consistency you like for your chili, a blender could work also, however I believe you could go to far and end up with more of a tomato soup, so, I went with hand held potato smasher. Next add a can of tomato paste to the already smashed tomatoes and your last cup of chicken stock or broth. Let this simmer on low as well. A good enameled cast will simmer to a small little boil at a temp of low or 2, You don't want to scorch them, so keep it low, safe serving temp I believe is 140 degrees for soups. I try not to go much beyond that and stay between 140-165 range. Once the tomato base has warmed up, I will add 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of cumin, and one teaspoon of dried oregeno, stir and add meat, garlic, onion, & pepper.  Simmer for 30 minutes or longer.

Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy.