This is my answer to the age old question – “what to do with half a grilled London broil steak when the flavor of the new rub you tried rendered the final product almost inedible”? Yes ladies and gentlemen, I too try new recipes that look sensational in print and turn out to be, well how do I say this politely – not worth the ink used to print the recipe! And that’s exactly what happened when I tried a new recipe that appeared in our local paper. The steak rub/paste sounded oh so good, but unless you have only about 9% of your taste buds left, the taste of fresh herbs knocked your socks clear into next Tuesday! And you know how I feel about blended flavors. Each ingredient should compliment all the other ingredients. The only analogy I can draw is that the steak was like Wile E. Coyote, and the rub had the same characteristics as the Road Runner. And you know how that always turned out! – the steak, I mean  Wile E. never had a chance!

So, back to my original question; what to do with half a pound of highly spiced cooked beef on a cold and rainy spring day? And of course, the only answer that made perfect sense was chili. So after thinking on it for a few minutes, I came up with this recipe. And low and behold, it was good! No, not just good, it was really good.

So next time you get a hankering for chili, give this simple and tasty recipe a try. Serve it with corned bread and a good hearty beer, and life will become a bed of roses. (Just don’t over spice the chili, or you’ll end up like I did when I tried the rub recipe. Your bed of roses will have thorns large enough to use as knitting needles!)

• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
• ½ lb. lean beef such as London broil, round steak, top sirloin (raw or cooked*), diced into bite sized pieces
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• ½ red pepper, chopped
• 1 (28-oz. can) diced/chopped tomatoes (preferably Italian tomatoes)
• 1 heaping tsp. beef base
• 1 can black beans
• pinch marjoram
• pinch dried rosemary
• 2 T. chili powder
• 1 tsp. Mexican oregano
• ¼ tsp. crushed aleppo pepper or pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/8 tsp. ground guajillo pepper, opt.
• thinly sliced green onions, garnish, opt.
• Mexican sour cream, garnish, opt.

Heat the olive oil in a medium large covered pan. Add the raw meat* that has been dried with paper towels and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Fry until brown on all sides. Add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and red bell pepper and cook for about a minute or until you can smell the garlic. Add the canned tomatoes, beef base, black beans, marjoram, rosemary, chili powder, oregano, Aleppo and guajillo peppers. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and cook for about 2 hours or until the beef is fork tender. Stir often during the cooking time. Adjust seasoning along the way. Serve sprinkled with green onions and sour cream.

*if you are using already cooked meat, add along with the black beans

Note: aleppo and guajillo peppers are both new to me, but both have quickly become near and dear to my heart. Finding them ground can be kind of an adventure, but if you live in the Seattle area, visit PFI (Pacific Food Importers). Heck, even if you live in Portland you should visit PFI! It’s worth the trip. And if you don’t live in the area, go on line and order a bit of each. They are simply head and shoulders more tasty than crushed red pepper flakes.