Buffalo Gap Brisket Chili Texas Style Recipes

Steps:

• Soak beans in water overnight. Drain and rinse.
• In a large pot, combine beans with water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 1 to 2 hours, until tender. Once the beans have absorbed most of the water, and are starting to soften, season with chile powder, red pepper flakes, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Reserve the seeds.
• Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium low heat. Saute the onion and bell peppers for 3 minutes. Stir in diced zucchini, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and salsa. Season with jalapeno seeds and chili sauce, stir well, and leave on medium-low heat.
• Place ground buffalo meat in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. Stir buffalo and vegetable mixture into beans. Continue to simmer for 1 hour.

Steps:

• 1. Place the chiles in a straight-sided large skillet over medium-low heat and gently toast the chiles until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Don't let them burn or they'll turn bitter. Place the chiles in a bowl and cover them with very hot water and soak until soft, 15 to 45 minutes, turning once or twice.
• 2. Drain the chiles; split them and remove stems and seeds (a brief rinse helps remove seeds, but don't wash away the flesh). Place the chiles in the bowl of a blender and add the cumin, black pepper, 1 tablespoon salt and 1/4 cup water. Purée the mixture, adding more water as needed (and occasionally scraping down the sides of the blender jar), until a smooth, slightly fluid paste forms (you want to eliminate all but the tiniest bits of skin.) Set the chile paste aside.
• 3. Return skillet to medium-high heat and melt 2 tablespoons of the lard. When it begins to smoke, swirl skillet to coat and add half of the beef. Lightly brown on at least two sides, about 3 minutes per side, reducing the heat if the meat threatens to burn. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with 2 more tablespoons of lard and the remaining beef. Reserve.
• 4. Let the skillet cool slightly, and place it over medium-low heat. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of lard in the skillet; add the onion and garlic and cook gently for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the stock, the remaining 2 cups water and gradually whisk in the masa harina to avoid lumps. Stir in the reserved chile paste, scraping the bottom of the skillet with a spatula to loosen any browned bits. Add the reserved beef (and any juices in the bowl) and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain the barest possible simmer (just a few bubbles breaking the surface) and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender but still somewhat firm and 1 1/2 to 2 cups of thickened but still liquid sauce surrounds the cubes of meat, about 2 hours.
• 5. Stir in the brown sugar and vinegar thoroughly and add more salt to taste; gently simmer 10 minutes more. At this point, it may look like there is excess sauce. Turn off the heat and let the chili stand for at least 30 minutes, during which time the meat will absorb about half of the remaining sauce in the skillet, leaving the meat bathed in a thick, somewhat fluid sauce. Stir in additional broth or water if the mixture seems too dry. If the mixture seems a bit loose and wet, allow it to simmer a bit more (sometimes we like to partially crush the cubes of beef with the back of a spoon to let them absorb more sauce). Adjust the balance of flavors with a bit of additional salt, sugar, or vinegar, if you like.
• 6. Reheat gently and serve in individual bowls with a dollop of sour cream on top and a lime wedge on the side.

Steps:

• Prep your pit with your favorite wood.
• I prefer pecan for the mellow flavor.
• Optimum cooking temperature will be between 200 to 250 degrees.
• Trim excess fat from brisket and place in smoker.
• Let it slow smoke for 2 hours or until you have a good smoke ring around it.
• Remove from smoker and rub it down with a stick of butter and then rub in the brown sugar.
• Wrap in tin foil and place back in the smoker cooking at 1 hour per pound while maintaining slow smoked temperature.
• If the temperature is too hard to control then you can cook as above for the first two hours or until you get a good smoke ring, add butter and brown suger, wrap in tin foil and cook in oven at 225 degrees for the remaining cooking time.

Steps:

• Blend all dry ingredients together and rub into both sides of at least 4 t-bone steaks.
• Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in large skillet at fairly high heat.
• Cook steaks for 5 minutes; turn, drop heat to medium and continue cooking for approximately 10 minutes for medium-rare, depending on the thickness of your steaks.

Steps:

• Trim and chop brisket into 1/2 lb pieces. Sear sides of beef in a large cast iron pot or braising pot. Remove meat when caramelized on all sides and saute sliced onions in rendered fat left in pot.
• In a side saute pan toast all spices together. Once onions are caramelized, scrape bottom of pot and then add all ingredients and meat.
• Cover meat 3/4 of the way with beer and stock. Cover and simmer for 5 hours or until meat falls apart.
• Serve with shredded cheddar and cracker. At the restaurant they serve with "Garlic Cheddar Spurs", which is puff pastry cut into stars and brushed with butter and garlic and topped with shredded cheddar, then baked to a golden brown.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine meat with all ingredients except cheese.
• On a sheet of wax paper, flatten the meat mixture to 1/4 inch thick.
• Shape into a flat rectangle.
• Place cheese slices on top of meat, leaving about 1/2inch space on outside edges.
• Lift up one end of wax paper and begin rolling the meat mixture like a jellyroll onto cheese.
• When all cheese is rolled into meat mixture, pinch sides to keep cheese from melting out.
• Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.
• Use wax paper to help lift meat loaf into pan.
• Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Let rest for 20 minutes after removing from oven.

Steps:

• Slice leftover smoked brisket into bite size cubes (trim fat).
• Saute the onion and garlic in the oil over medium heat until limp, but not brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add the chili powder, pepper flakes, cayenne pepper and cumin and saute for 1 minute. Add the green peppers, bay leaves, tomatoes with their juice, the brisket chunks, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat, cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Taste and season with salt, to taste.
• Add the coffee and kidney beans, cover the pot and simmer for 1 more hour.
• Transfer the chili to a large serving bowl and serve with your choice of sour cream, grated Cheddar, diced tomato, tortilla chips and guacamole.