Brisket Burnt Ends Hatch Chili

• Chef’s notes
• Details
• Ingredients
• Directions

§Chef’s notes

Brisket can be smoked and prepped in advance. Same with the fire-roasted chiles.

I roast, prep, and freeze large batches of hatch and pablano chiles into usable portions when they come into season. The chiles are most easily dealth with if they are chopped at the time of roasting. I don’t remove seeds, some do. You’re choice. If you’ve never fire-roasted chiles: place chiles on a hot grill over open flame. Rotate every few minutes until the the outsides are black and blistered. Cool. Remove any access skin that comes loose easily. Chop and portion into bags or containers to whatever amount suites your cooking needs. I package some in portions of 8-10 and some at 4-5. If you’re doing this right before making the chili, that is fine, too. The roasted pepper will keep in the fridge for 3-5 days.

For the beef brisket, A 4-5 lb point cut is about right. Much variation in size will require recipe adjustements. Smoke in a pan at 225° F over mild wood with a simple seasoning blend (salt, pepper, garlic) for 8-10 hours or until the meat is fully relaxed. A crust doesn’t matter so much, nor does resting. Cut the brisket into bite-sized cubed, drain excess fat from th pan (reserving some for later). Place chunks back in the pan and toss with a cumin-heavy seasoning blend of your choice. Adjust smoker heat to 275° F. You could add more smoke here if you want. Place the pan in the smoker and allow brisket ends to slowly fry in the fat that accumulates, stirring them occassionally for even “burning”. This process takes 1-2 hours. The burnt ends are done when they are dark and even in color. Drain fat and store the meat until you’re ready to make the chili. 2 days out is safe for maintaining the flavors.

For this recipe, I kept it fairly mild. Left to my own devices, I would have used serranos and some cayanne to turn up the heat a little bit, but the recipe as written is for a small crowd.

§Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 10-12 hours for the meat, plus 1 hour for the chili
• 🍳 Cook time: 6-8 hours
• 🍽️ Servings: 8-10

§Ingredients

• ~3lb (finished) poor man’s burnt ends beef brisket, in bite sized cubes (see che’f notes)
• 8-10 chopped, fire-roasted hatch or pablano chile peppers (see chef’s notes)
• 5 c chicken broth
• 1 16oz can petite diced tomatoes
• 4-6 tomatillas, cleaned and diced
• 2 jalapenos, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c chopped frsh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp premixed yellow curry powder
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 bay leave
• 2 Tbsp fat rendered from the brisket

§Directions

1. Prepare brisket and chile peppers as described in chef’s notes
2. Set crockpot to low, add meat and chiles.
3. Saute onions and garlic in rendered drippings until soft, add to the pot
4. Add all other ingredients to the pot and stir well
5. Cook on low for 6+ hours, stirring occasionally. (this would probably be awesome in a dutch oven or on stovetop, in half the time)
6. Chili is done when the the tomatillas have mostly disintegrated. Sauce should be thick. Adjust with water and/or cornstarch to desired thickness.
7. Serve with flour tortillas, queso fresca, sour cream, cilantro, and lime wedges
8. Use any leftovers for a killer green chili omelet :)