On page 145 of Jon Szwed’s Miles Davis Biography “So What” the following ingredients which made up Miles’s recipe for chilli were listed. It was just a list of ingredients, thirteen of them, with absolutely no instructions. The finished product, Szwed notes, is to be served over linguini.
Bacon grease
3 large cloves of garlic
1 green and 1 red pepper
2 pounds ground lean chuck
2 teaspoons cumin
a jar of mustard
a shot glass of vinegar
2 teaspoons chili powder
Salt and pepper
Pinto or kidney beans
1 can tomatoes
1 can beef broth
Food blogger and Miles Davis fan Jonathan Dixon took inspiration from the above after reading the book and turned it into an actual recipe over at the Gilt Taste Blog as per below.
Jonathan Dixon’s Miles Davis’s Chili
Serves 6-8
3 tablespoons bacon fat or oil
2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium or large green pepper, cut into very small dice
1 large clove of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds (or ground cumin)
2 teaspoons chile powder of your choice, or several dried Mexican chilies, such as pasilla
1 32-ounce can tomato puree or crushed tomatoes
2 cups beef or chicken broth
2 tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 32-ounce can kidney beans, drained.
Salt and pepper, to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees (Put Miles Davis on your stereo)
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in a large pan over medium-high heat until very hot, but not quite smoking. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper, and brown it in one-layer batches so you get a deep brown color on all sides. Deglaze the pan with a splash of water if the brown bits build up, making sure you save the liquid. (If you have more beef to brown, wipe the pan dry, heat more fat, and continue searing.)
3. Lower the heat to medium, and cook the pepper in the remaining fat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until soft.
4. You can use the same amount of pre-ground cumin, but I prefer to start with whole seeds. In a hot, dry pan, toast the cumin over high heat, shaking continuously, until it becomes fragrant. (If it burns, toss it and start this step over.) Put the toasted seeds directly into a spice grinder and pulverize. You can also use a commercial chili powder, but I opted to grind two large dried Pasilla chilies. Add the powdered cumin and chilies to the peppers and garlic and cook for one minute.
5. Combine the beef, tomatoes, broth, mustard, vinegar and beans in a Dutch oven. Add the pepper mixture and any deglazing liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste, keeping in mind that it will reduce and intensify somewhat in the oven. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, cover, and immediately place in the oven. Cook for around 3 hours or until the meat is tender. You can also cook the chili in a pot on the stove top, simmering very gently and stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Serve with cornbread, over rice, on its own, or if you must, over linguini.
Read Jonathan’s piece in full over at Gilt Taste
