Superbowl Chili v.2010

I've combined a number of recipes for this year's batch of Superbowl chili, and added meat braising into the equation. It's cooking as I type this, so I've no real idea how it's going to turn out, but so far it seems like it's going to be the AWESOME. (Or inedibly spicy... one of those two...)

Shy's Superbowl Chili v.2010

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

3/4 lb sirloin, cut in 3/4-1 in cubes

5 cloves of garlic, chopped/minced

2 medium onions (red or yellow or both)

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 Italian pepper, diced

1 Jalapeno pepper, finely diced

1 Serrano chili pepper, finely diced

1 long pepper, diced

2 6-oz cans tomato paste

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup red wine

1 can/bottle beer

1 cup strong coffee

1 tbs Assorted dried chili peppers, ground up

1 tbs oregano

1/3 cup brown sugar or maple syrup

1 tbs cumin

1 tbs coriander

1 tbs cocoa

1 tbs chili powder

salt and pepper

1 1/2 tsp cayenne

2 bay leaves

1 tbs butter

2 tbs olive oil

cilantro

sour cream

Directions:

1. Season the cubes of meat with salt and pepper. (Seasoning just means sprinkling salt and pepper over the meat evenly. You'll get the hang of the amounts, but if you're just starting off, work with, say, 2 teaspoons (tsp).

2. Heat a large, over-proof pot over medium-high heat, then add butter and 1 tablespoon (tbs) of olive oil. (Hot pan, cold oil, foods won't stick.) Brown the cubed sirloin for about 8 minutes or until done on each side, then remove meat to a plate and then brown the ground beef. Remove ground beef to plate when done.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Add remaining olive oil and saute garlic and onion for 5 minutes, then add peppers and saute for another 7-10 minutes, stirring often.

5. Return meat and any juices to the pot and stir, then add tomatoes, paste, beer, wine, sugar, coffee and spices. Cook on stovetop for another 10 minutes or so until liquids reduce a bit, then cover and put in oven for as long as humanly possible, stirring occasionally.

6. Turn off before bedtime.

7. Wake up, turn oven back on to 325 degrees F.

8. Right before game, take out of oven, season with salt and pepper to taste (this means TASTE it, then add more salt and pepper). Serve with freshly chopped cilantro and sour cream.

9. Pass out.

10. Send Shy thank-you note.

Totonno's NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Fire Shuts Totonno’s, Legendary Coney Island Pizzeria - NY Times, 3/16/2009

I whispered the first "no" quietly, as shock and horror filled my heart (and stomach). My next was a Shatner-esque wail; Totonno's, the best, and longest continually-operating pizzeria in America, had closed.

I lived in Brighton Beach, at the southern tip of Brooklyn, for 10 years; a mere 10 minutes worth of hops, skips and a jumps from historic Coney Island, where Totonno's was located near. Their pizza, a thin crust, coal-fired, brick oven was perfection due to it's lack of perfection. The aged, sooty oven would leave blackened, but not burned, marks across the bottom and circumference of the crust, and the heat variations caused the rim to rise, pucker and brown in different spots, making each pie truly unique. Yet the flavor and texture were perfectly uniform, not too crunchy, not too soggy, just perfectly firm and chewy. Fantastic mouth feel. Their dough contained extra salt, which gave it an extra punch. Their sauce, rich and sweet, was made in a back kitchen that looked like any old kitchen in someone's house, and sat unpretentiously in a large steel bowl on a wooden work table. Their mozz, always fresh.

Also lost will be the atmosphere - the walls were packed with articles and photographs of celebrities and politicians (of an unfortunately and decidedly conservative bent) who had visited the small shop over the decades. The faded seaglass tint of the walls and the rigid, small wood booths - all lost.

Of the inside, she said: “It’s pretty bad. It’s a lot of damage. I have to redo the oven, because the water got into the bricks. We’re going to fix that, rebrick it.”

But, she said, this has been done many times before, to repair cracks. “I promise you, it’ll be the same exact pizza,” she said.

When Mei Lei Wai, the hands down best Chinese roast pork buns in all of the United States, was closed last year by the health department (bastards), I had a similar reaction. There was a great Times blog about it as well. But Mei Lei Wai re-opened, and the quality of their buns survived intact, and in my opinion, they were actually better than ever.

Totonno's plans to rebuild as well, but I'm concerned, because a while back they opened an expansion branch in Manhattan, a big, large modern restaurant in Grammercy, where the pizza, supposedly made the same way, just plain sucks. So when they say they're going to rebuild the oven, I'm concerned that whatever X-factor that made their pizza so wondrous is going to be lost in transition. I'm hoping the rebuild of the oven is minor and that they resist any urge to "improve" or modernize the appliance.

I feel like I'm being punished for liking a new pizzeria, Rizzo's, in my new neighborhood of Astoria. But she was always number two, Totonno's - she means nothing to me! You were always my number one! Always!

KHAAAANNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!