Frito Pie with Buffalo Chili

It's time for my Super Bowl chili recipe. This year I'm serving a Texas standard: Frito pie.

Frito pie is traditionally made by ripping open a bag of Fritos, topping them with chili, and covering with Velveeta. It is against everything I believe as a locavore...but if Frito pie is wrong, I don't want to be right. The crunchy chips, gooey cheese, and beefy chili make for a killer combination.
And by killer, I'm talking both amazing taste, and cardiac arrest. Don't make this a regular in your meal plan, OK? Serve it with some vegetables at least. And would it kill you to tuck in your shirt and stand up straight? Um...ahem...sorry, got stuck in Nagging Dad mode there.

Robb Walsh's fancy Frito Pie with Venison Chili was my target - it is clearly Frito pie, but it has enough real ingredients in it to get over my "eat local" objections. Instead of venison, though, I used buffalo. When I was in my fanatic weight loss mode, I would always substitute buffalo for beef. Buffalo is very lean, and tastes just like beef, only more so.*
*I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense. It's just...beefier. It makes me think of grass fed beef. Try some; you'll see what I mean.
**I buy my buffalo it from Red Run Bison Farm; they sell Buffalo at my local farmers market and supply my local health food store. 

I tried a new chili technique in this recipe: I replaced chili powder with a paste made from dried chiles, as suggested by both Robb and Kenji Alt. I followed Kenji's suggested combo of fruity (California), hot (arbol), and earthy (pasilla) chiles. Then I ignored his misguided hostility to smoky flavors in chile, and added a dried chipotle chile as well. Kenji, I love your writing, and you are a great source for ideas...but I can't make chili without adding chipotle.
*If the dried chile paste sounds like too much work, take the easy way out and use chili powder -see the variations section.

L to R: California, Chipotle, Arbol, Pasilla	Trimming the stem
Just starting to puff up	Blender with messy kitchen

Toasting the spices	Adding the buffalo
Still some pink - keep cooking	Adding the chile paste

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Frito Pie with Buffalo Chili

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• Author: Mike Vrobel
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 6 servings 1x

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Description

Texas-style Frito pie: Fritos topped with a rich ground buffalo chili made with a homemade dried chile puree, then beans, cheese and hot sauce.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x

Chile Puree

• 2 dried California (New Mexico or Anaheim) chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 1 dried chipotle chile, stemmed and seeded (or 2 teaspoons chipotle in adobo puree)
• 1 dried arbol chile, stemmed and seeded (add more if you like it hot)
• 2 dried pasilla chiles (or ancho chiles), stemmed and seeded
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups water

Chili

• 1 large onion, diced
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
• 4 pounds ground buffalo (or lean ground beef)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 (15 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper

For Serving

• Fritos (or tortilla chips)
• Shredded cheese
• 4 cups cooked red kidney or pinto beans (optional)
• Hot sauce

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Instructions

1. Prep the chiles: Stem the chiles, split them open, and shake out as many seeds as you can. Rinse them if they're dusty.
2. Toast the chiles: Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Toast the chiles until slightly puffed and lighter in color, about 30 seconds to 1 minute, flipping once. Move them to a blender with a slotted spoon, and add the onion to the pot right away so the oil doesn't burn.
3. Puree the chiles: Add the water to the blender, and blend for 1 minute, until smooth.
4. Saute the aromatics: Sprinkle the onions with the ½ teaspoon salt, and saute for 3 minutes, until just softened. Make a hole in the center, add the garlic, tomato paste, cumin, coriander and oregano, and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. Stir into the onions.
5. Brown the buffalo: Add the buffalo, sprinkle with the 2 teaspoons salt, and turn the heat to high. Cook, breaking up the meat, until it just loses its pink color, about 5 minutes.
6. Add the puree and tomatoes: Pour in the chile puree, and bring to a boil. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, and bring to a boil again.
7. Simmer: Reduce the heat, partially cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes (1 to 2 hours is better), stirring and scraping the bottom occasionally. Or cover and bake in a 325°F oven.
8. Season: Stir in the brown sugar and vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.
9. Serve: Put a layer of Fritos in each bowl, and top with a ladle of chili, a ladle of beans (if using), cheese and hot sauce.

Equipment

6 Quart Dutch Oven

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Notes

Equipment: A large Dutch oven and a blender (or food processor - the blender makes a smoother puree).

If you can, refrigerate the chili for a day or two, then reheat before serving. The flavor gets better.

Chili powder shortcut: Skip the dried chiles. Add ½ cup chili powder with the other spices.

Whole spices: Toast 1 tablespoon each of whole cumin and coriander seeds in the dry pot over medium heat until fragrant, and add them to the blender with the chiles.

For the cheese, Robb Walsh suggests a goat cheese topping. Freshly shredded cheddar is good too.

Adapted from Robb Walsh's Frito Pie with Venison Chili and The Tex-Mex Cookbook.

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Related Posts:
Texas Red Chili (My other Super Bowl standby. My mom doesn't like beans.)
Ranch Hand Chili
Pressure Cooker Turkey and Bean Chili

Adapted from:
Adapted From: Robb Walsh Frito Pie with Venison Chili
Robb Walsh: The Tex-Mex Cookbook

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