Omnivore

On the last day of April John made our adaptation of Melissa Clark’s (NYTimes Cooking) lamb and white bean chili. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12300-lamb-and-white-bean-chili?smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share Unfortunately it is behind a paywall so unless you have a subscription you cannot see it.

I have an old recipe which I actually like better but it uses lamb shoulder. Getting enough meat off the jumble of muscles, bones, and sinew is quite a task. Clark’s recipe starts with ground lamb and that really simplifies the process.

First you brown the meat and then let it drain on paper towels while you dump the excess fat. Then you bloom the chili spices and sauté the onions, cilantro stems, poblano peppers, Serrano or jalapeño chiles, and garlic. Add some tomato paste and then red wine to deglaze the pan. Open two cans of beans and drain. He used cannellini and pinto beans. Put the beans in the Dutch oven with two cups of chicken broth. At this point he also added a 14 oz. can of fire roasted tomatoes. Bring up to a simmer. Add the meat back in.

We cooked it for an hour or so. It needed some tweaking at the end —more salt, a little vinegar, and that great flavor enhancer, fish sauce.

To serve, crush a handful of tortilla chips in, a hearty squeeze of lime, some cilantro and, for some brightness and pizazz, a squirt of sriracha.