The Cold Springs Tavern was originally a stagecoach stop on San Marcos Pass between the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara, California. While the stagecoaches are long gone, the tavern is still here serving great and hearty meals in the same rustic building that has stood for over 100 years. Reminiscent of the black bean soups served in Haiti and the Dominican Republic — however with a twist — it’s chili.

The Cold Springs Tavern has reduced the recipe to a manageable size for home use. While wild game is recommended, you can substitute a variety of meats (chicken, turkey, beef) and cuts to your taste.

Ingredients
Yield: 1.1 gallons

• 24 oz dry black beans
• 40 oz meat (venison, buffalo, rabbit are recommended) chopped or ground as desired
• 24 oz fresh pasilla chiles
• 24 oz onions
• 12 oz diced tomatoes
• 3 oz chili powder
• 2 oz cumin seed
• salt, pepper to taste
• water

Cook the beans in water according to package directions. This will dictate the basic amount of water to use. Feel free to add water to yield your preferred chili consistency.
In a frying pan, saute the meat until browned; reserve; saute the onions and chilies until the onions are transparent (use a little canola oil if fatfrom meat is insufficient).
Combine the beans, meat, onions and chili; add tomatoes.
Add seasonings and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for one hour.

Merle Ellis calls his chili Second Best Chili, because it is made with the “second best” shank chili meat, instead of “best” teen-aged longhorn. Another reason is that if he had claimed his chili to be “first best” in his newspaper column on the subject, he’d have been up to his neck in disputatious chili correspondence. In his private heart of hearts, Ellis, like every other chili cook, knows his chili is the One-and-Only. For the record, however, he stops short of confessing this.

• 4 lbs. lean tough beef shank, cut into cubes about the size of your thumb
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 12-oz. bottle beer
• 4 to 6 Tbs. chili powder
• 1 Tbs. cumin
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 2 Tbs. masa harina, or
• 1 Tbs. flour mixed with 1 Tbs. cornmeal

Put meat in heated oil in a good-size heavy pot. Stir with a long wooden spoon so oil will coat the meat. Cook over low heat until the beef turns gray, stirring once In a while. Don’t let meat brown. Add onion and garlic, cover, and simmer ten minutes. Add tomato sauce and beer. Cover pot and simmer for another ten minutes. While meat mixture simmers, combine chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar in a small bowl. When the time is right, add all the spices to the pot and stir it up a bit. Put the lid back on, lower heat, and let it cook for one hour or so. Stir once in a while so it won’t stick but keep lid on as much as possible so all that good rich pot likker stays inside. Just before serving, mix the masa or flour with cornmeal and with enough cold water to make a thin paste, and stir it into the chili to achieve just the right consistency. Cook’s Note: “Serve topped with chopped onions and accompanied with a cold beer!”

“Five-Alarm Chili”
3 kinds of beef:
½ c. flank steak (shredded)
½ c. skirt steak
½ c. cubed steak (Stewed beef)

Veggies, beans and spice:
2 chopped tomatoes
1 chopped bell peppers (red and yellow)
1 chopped chilies (anaheim, pasilla, jalapeno, yellow, serrano)
1 chopped white onion
1 bunch chopped green onion
½ cup sliced mushrooms
½ cup chopped black and Spanish olives to taste
2 bay leaves
1 chopped yellow squash
1 chopped green squash
½ cup black beans
½ cup white northern beans
½ cup chili beans
¼ cup Merlot
1 teaspoon Hot Sauce
1 head garlic
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 cube beef bouillon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
black and white pepper to taste
sharp cheddar cheese grated for topping

Braise the cubed steak with onions and garlic in a pan and set aside. Place the Flank steak in boiling water with Garlic salt, onion and garlic until cooked (about 25 minutes). When flank steak is cooked and cooled, shred by hand and chop into bite size portions adding to the chili pot.

Coat the vegetables and skirt steak in Olive Oil, Black Pepper, Garlic Salt and Chili powder. Then blacken on the BBQ (Peppers, chilies, onions, squash, and tomatoes). When blackened, chop finely and cook in Chili pot.

Remove 2 cups of vegetables and beans and puree in a blender or food processor and add to chili pot; this will serve as your thickening agent.

Add the braised beef, Merlot, beans, shredded beef, BBQ’d and chopped skirt steak, bay leaves, beef bouillon, and spices and simmer for 1 hour, stirring frequently.

Add spices to taste as you cook and when done cover with finely chopped onions and shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

• 3 Tbsp. Wesson oil
• 1 1/2 med. Onions (chopped)
• 1 med. Green Pepper (chopped)
• 1 large rib Celery (chopped)
• 2 small cloves Garlic (minced)
• 1/2 tsp. fresh Jalapeno Pepper (chopped)
• 4 lbs. Ground Round (course)
• 1 can 14 oz. stewed Tomatoes
• 8 Tbsp. Chili Powder
• 1 Tbsp. Cumin (ground)
• 2 tsp. Garlic Salt
• 1/4 tsp. Tabasco
• 8 oz. Budweiser Beer
• 1 1/4 cups Water
• 1 can 8oz Tomato Sauce
• 1 can 6 oz. Tomato Paste
• 1 can 4 oz. diced Green Chili’s
• 1 Bay Leave
• Salt & Pepper

Heat oil and saute first five ingredients until onion is transparent. Add beef and cook until meat loses it’s redness. Combine chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, Tabasco, salt & pepper with beer. Let mixture stand 1 to 2 minutes. Then add beer and spice mix, water, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, green chili’s, and bay leave to meat mixture. Simmer on low heat in a covered pot for three hours, stirring often. Remove bay leave before serving. (Makes 10 servings.)

ingredients:

• 3 lb. Top Round, 1/2″ cubed
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 2 medium onions, grated
• 7 tbs. chili powder
• 2 large cloves, minced
• 2 tbs. ground cumin
• 2 10 oz. cans chicken broth
• 1 cup water (if necessary)

Saute the beef in a large skillet. Put into a large pot and simmer, covered, with onions, garlic, and broth for 1-1/2 hours.

Add the tomato sauce, chili powder, and cumin. Stir; simmer on low for another hour. Add water if needed. Stir occasionally.