Prog Chefs Unite!!!

I'll definitely try your recipe, David, when I finally move to the US (hopefully soon) - and I'll add the chocolate as well. We do use dark chocolate with meat in Italy too, though many people are not aware of that. A number of years ago I had a dish of wild boar with chocolate sauce in a restaurant in the Tuscan countryside - quite an interesting dish, though I wouldn't eat it every day.

Incidentally, what David does with the pork shoulder is what we do in Italy (especially in the South) when making ragù di carne, or meat sauce for pasta. The traditional, Neapolitan recipe involves simmering the meat in the tomato sauce for hours, not just 45 minutes!

no pre-cooking other than a quick browning of the outside before a slow stew in the chili, but it doesn't fall apart in the way you mean, that takes longer.. the main reason I use it is for flavor-- by the time the chili is done the shoulder loses much flavor, having imparted its love to the sauce 

no, but I remember hearing that one ..always looking for a chili hint, thanks for reminding me about that

a nice chili tonight  ..I've been honing my recipe for years, think tonight's batch will be especially good, of course the key is the perfect balance of flavors;  In a big big soup or sauce pot sautee 1 small red onion quartered, 2 to 3 cloves garlic, a hunk of pork shoulder, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/2 tsp. chili powder (unsalted if possible), salt and ground pepper to taste, and a pinch of oregano in olive oil till lightly brown but not cooked..  dump in 28 ounce can of diced tomato (organic always tastes better), 1/2 bottle of your favorite beer, 2 tblsp. brown sugar, 1 tblsp ketchup, and any hot sauce like Tobasco (an Asian chili pepper sauce will do nicely)...  simmer on low flame covered for about 45 mins. stirring occasionally, adding more beer, brown sugar or salt if needed to balance flavors..  add a can or two of drained & rinsed kidney beans if you like and simmer for another half hour or so






Edited by Atavachron - March 19 2008 at 23:58

Man Erg wrote: That does it.I know what I'm going to have for lunch today.A hot salt-beef on rye with a pickle and mustard.Six hours to go.

brilliant...  and a cream soda 

you're not kiddin, with some good mustard and a pickle on the side.. best thing in the world

as cured meats go, my favorite is pastrami but try finding *really* good, fatty, moist, properly cut pastrami anywhere but NYC, Chicago, Philly and a few other meat-loving towns..  shame

Hmmm.... just noticed an ad from our local butcher. He is promoting lamb, I may get around to trying Dean's recipe this weekend or next.

darqDean wrote: Eh? What's with all this corned beef on St. Patrick's Day? Salt Beef doesn't strike me as a particularly Irish meat and I don't recall ever seeing it on the menu in Ireland, it must be one of those peculiarly American traditions.

It is, in fact, precisely that - a tradition among Irish-Americans.  The corned beef idea was taken from their Jewish neighbors, most likely in New York.

Eh? What's with all this corned beef on St. Patrick's Day? Salt Beef doesn't strike me as a particularly Irish meat and I don't recall ever seeing it on the menu in Ireland, it must be one of those peculiarly American traditions.