The foodie magazine Bon Appetit recently had a great cover shot of a chili made with Beef Brisket and Butternut Squash that looked incredible. We thought it was really inspiring, but we don’t normally keep whole Beef Briskets lying around so we had to come up with something on our own that would round out the dish a bit.

If you like Bon Appetit like we do then you should also check out Cook’s Illustrated which is basically the print version of the PBS show America’s Test Kitchen (or vice versa). They recently had a special issue all about classic soups and stews. Included among them was a recipe for Chili con Carne that had some great instructions for making your own Chile Powder from scratch using those dried, store-bought, pre-bagged Chilis you can find in the Ethnic Foods section of your grocery store. We thought there might be some potential for greatness if we combined aspects of both recipes into one great dish.

Making the Chili Powder was definitely the most labor-intensive part of this recipe but all that hard work is rewarded with fabulously intense Chili flavor with notes of fruit and chocolate and a nice, warm heat. It’s miles away from store-bought Chili Powder in both depth and complexity and, as an added bonus, the dried Chilis are really pretty affordable at around $3-$5 a bag. Also, by omitting the bacon that both recipes called for and substituting a single dried Chipotle Chili, we retained some of the smokiness (without the smoke tasting ‘fake’) and still had a vegetarian-friendly dish. If you don’t have one already, you’ll want to pick up a Spice Grinder (a cheapo coffee mill works great for this).

Ingredients:

• 1 2-3 lb Butternut or other Autumn/Winter Squash, peeled, cored, and diced (Butternut’s ridge-free rind makes it the easiest to peel)
• 3 dried Ancho Chiles
• 3 dried New Mexico Chiles
• 1 dried Chipotle Chile
• 1 medium Onion, chopped
• 1 14 oz can Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 14 oz can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 Tbsp ground Cumin
• 2 tsp dried Oregano
• 1-2 Garlic Cloves, pressed or finely chopped
• 1 24 oz can diced Tomatoes

Prep:

• Preheat the oven to 250°
• Lay out the whole Chiles on a cookie sheet or shallow baking pan and dry toast them just until they become fragrant, about 6 minutes
• Let them rest until they’re cool enough to handle and remove the stems and seeds. Working in batches grind them into powder. We found that a few small chunks wouldn’t grind up completely but it didn’t affect the dish negatively in any way.
• Mix the Chile Powder, Oregano, Cumin, and Garlic with just enough water to make a paste. Set aside
• In a stockpot over medium heat saute the Onion with a little Olive Oil until just beginning to turn translucent
• Add the diced Butternut Squash and a pinch of Salt & Pepper and continue to cook until the Squash is just cooked through, maybe 10-12 minutes or so
• Add the Chile Powder Paste and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute
• Add the diced Tomatoes and Beans and give the whole thing a good stir
• Turn down the heat to low and let it simmer for 10 or 15 minutes so the flavors can mellow and blend
• Season to taste with Salt & Pepper

Additional Thoughts:

This really is quite delicious and the sort-of-fresh-from-scratch Chile Powder is what makes it all work so well together. It really highlights the caramel flavors in the squash and melds beautifully with the savory exotic flavor of the Cumin. It’s really awesome with a little shredded Cheddar Cheese and maybe a sprinkle of diced Onion, but that’s not really necessary. We found that it was great all by itself right out of the pot.