Gulf Coast Chili Recipes

SEAFOOD CHILI

Steps:

• Melt butter in large stockpot over medium-low heat; add tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic, and green onions. Cook and stir frequently until tomatoes have nearly liquefied, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Stir kidney beans, baby corn, and celery into the tomato mixture; add chili powder and lime juice and season with salt and ground black pepper. Cover and cook on low, stirring occasionally, until celery is soft but still has texture, about 1 hour.
• Stir crab meat and canned tomatoes with liquid into kidney bean mixture, breaking up tomatoes in thirds with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper; add brown sugar if chili tastes too salty.
• Stir shrimp, scallops, and hearts of palm into chili; cook until shrimp are bright pink on the outside and the meat is opaque, 2 to 3 minutes.

SALLY'S WEST COAST CHILI

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook bacon until crisp; remove to paper towels to drain. Reserve 3 tablespoons drippings. , Brown beef in drippings. Add onions; cook until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Return bacon to pan. Stir in the next 12 ingredients. , Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 3 hours. , Add beans and heat through. Discard bay leaf. Garnish with cheddar cheese.

GULF SHRIMP WITH PEANUTS AND GREEN CHILE SLICES WITH DIRTY RICE

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the shrimp and sear on both sides until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Remove the shrimp to a plate.
• Add the poblano pepper to pan and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the shrimp stock, bring to a boil, and reduce by half. Add the shrimp back to the pan, stir in the butter, lime juice, and cilantro, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Spoon over Dirty Rice onk a platter and sprinkle with the peanuts.
• In a large saucepan over high heat, heat the oil until almost smoking and saute the shrimp shells and tails, onion, carrot and celery for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the water, wine, tomato, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to medium, partially cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Strain through cheesecloth or a fine strainer.
• Yield: 4 to 5 cups
• Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the chicken livers to the pan and sear on both sides until golden brown (do not cook through, they will continue cooking in the rice).
• Remove the livers with a slotted spoon to a cutting board, let cool slightly and coarsely chop.
• Add the onions, peppers, celery, garlic, and serrano chile to the pan and cook until golden brown. Stir in the rice and cook for 2 minutes. Add the stock, maple syrup, chicken livers and season with salt and pepper, stir well and bring to a boil. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and continue cooking for 12 to15 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and thyme and fluff with a fork.

GULF COAST ALLIGATOR CHILI

Steps:

• Soak alligator in buttermilk in a container, refrigerated, overnight.
• Transfer alligator to a colander and rinse all the buttermilk off the meat. Let it completely drain or pat dry with a paper towel.
• Saute the alligator and ground pork together with the vegetable oil in a large stockpot on medium heat until the meats start to brown and release liquid, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the cooked meat to a bowl to separate it from the liquid fat. Keeping the fat on medium heat, add the onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic, followed by the chipotles, jalapenos and serranos. Sweat this mixture down until onions turn clear.
• Add diced tomatoes. At this point, you will have a bit of liquid from all the fats and vegetables. Stir in 1/2 cup flour (or more, if desired) to thicken up the liquid and absorb the fats. Stir in the chicken stock, followed by the tomato sauce. Add the drained ranch beans, although this step is optional, depending on whether you want beans in
• your chili (hint: we always do). Cook, stirring regularly, until the pot hits a low boil. Add the alligator and pork mixture, along with half the beer. Stir in the cayenne, chili powder, cumin, turmeric, paprika, black pepper and salt. Reduce the heat to very low, then cover pot and simmer, stirring every 10 minutes or so to keep the chili from sticking to the bottom, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Though you could actually serve this dish now, as it will taste great, we truly feel that refrigerating and reheating it again adds to "the leftover effect" which allows the flavors to really marinate and come out to a noticeable degree. Remove pot from heat and set to the side until chili hits room temperature. Refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, just reheat slowly (up to a low boil), stirring in the remaining beer to loosen up the dish. Garnish with green onions, Cheddar, sour cream and hot sauce. We always garnish the chili with our signature Dixie Fried Blue Crab and Corn Hush Puppies.

ULTIMATE GULF COAST GUMBO

Steps:

• Peel and devein the shrimp and place in the refrigerator. Place shrimp heads and shells in a large pot, and cover with 2 quarts of water. Cover, and simmer over medium-low heat until liquid is reduced by half. Strain out and discard shrimp heads and shells. Reserve shrimp broth.
• Heat oil in a very large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir in flour with a long-handled spoon. Cook and stir for several minutes until dark brown and flour is puffing and absorbing the oil. Slowly stir in chicken broth and an equal amount of water. Place chicken in the pot. Add onions, celery, bell pepper, tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, Old Bay seasoning, and salt. Boil until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove chicken from the pot, and set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove and discard bones, and chop chicken into 1 inch pieces.
• Return chicken back to the pot, along with reserved shrimp broth, crab meat, sausage, and shrimp. Add the file powder, and stir from the bottom of the pot. When the gumbo comes to a boil, remove from heat. Continue to stir from the bottom for 1 minute. Serve.

EAST COAST CHILI

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in chili powder, oregano, cayenne, tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover, simmer for 15 minutes.
• Stir in burger crumbles, beans, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for about 30 minutes to blend flavors. Serve hot.

GULF COAST CHILI

Steps:

• Broil or grill the fresh pasillia peppers close to heat source and turning frequently with tongs until the pepper skins are mostly blackened and blistered. (This may be done in a broiler or on an open flame over your grill or stove burner.) Place the peppers in a brown paper bag, fold over the top to seal and let stand for 15 minutes.
• Put gloves or bags over your hands. (okay, if you don't want to wear gloves, but it may burn your hands a bit and whatever you do, DO NOT pick your nose or wipe your eyes or anything else with your own hands for a day or so) Peel and discard the skin and stems of the roasted peppers. Cut open the roasted peppers and discard their seeds. Cut open and discard the stems and seeds of the jalapeño peppers. (If you like a spicier chili you can leave the seeds intact). Discard gloves.
• Place the pasillia and jalapeño peppers in the jar of an electric blender or food processor. Add the bottle of clam juice, 2 cloves of garlic, half of the chopped onions, and all of the cumin and white pepper. Process to a smooth puree. Set aside.
• Warm a skillet over medium heat. (we do the whole batch in one large cast iron pot so it only takes one pan) Add chopped bacon and cook, stirring frequently.After the bacon has released its fat, or is about half cooked, add the remaining clove of garlic and remaining chopped onion. Continue to cook until the bacon is cooked through.
• Place the bacon mixture and the pureed pepper mixture into your chili pot. Add the chicken broth. (You can add more if you find a need to do so) Stir and set pan over low heat for 10 minutes.
• Turn up the heat to medium, add the mushroom soup, canned chili peppers, and salsa verde. Simmer, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes.
• Cut a 2 inch thick slice of velveeta cheese. Cut cheese into smaller cubes and add to chili. Stir frequently, be careful not to have your heat too high to avoid sticking.
• Add green shrimp to chili, simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add cooked shrimp to chili. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
• Ladle chili into bowls and enjoy. I would advise against overcooking once the seafood is in the chili as shrimp can get weird if it is overcooked.