I was recently given a gift of The Official Disney Parks Cookbook containing “101 Magical Recipes from the Delicious Disney Vault.” In Editor Pam Brandon’s forward she notes that the recipes “… make it easy to enjoy the dishes at home. Some are fuss-free; others take a little time.” In addition to main dishes, the 101 recipes include starters (not a focus for me), desserts (I don’t do desserts) and drinks (gimmicky with some esoteric ingredients that are fun to drink there, but a bit much for home assembly).
As luck would have it, the very first recipe intrigued me. Brandon introduces the recipe, “This was Walt’s favorite meal. The original Disneyland version of the recipe appeared seasonally through the years at restaurants such as the Plaza Inn and River Belle Terrace. Over time, the ingredients evolved, too, with past versions including dried thyme and paprika. This is the current version and mainstay at the Carnation Café on Main Street, USA.”
Yes, I have another chili recipe, but I wanted to give this a try. My version uses just ground beef (or ground bison), other spices and is without beans. So adding stew beef (I used cut-up tenderloin) and pinto beans would be a new wrinkle for me.
Chili is “comfort food”; and comfort food deserves wine of a similar stripe. And my go-to’s for comfort food wine are: Côte du Rhône, Barbera, Valpolicella and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. I have put the Cadetto “Monty” into three different wine tastings. Beautiful fruit and enough muscle to take on the spices in a chili dish. If you prefer “new world” wine, then a flavorful Zin would do nicely here.
Podere Castarani Montepluciano d’Abruzzo Cadetto ’18 (Abruzzo, Italy )
With over 200 years of history Podere Castorani spreads across 75 acres of lush countryside in the province of Pescara, Italy, between Majella National Park and the Adriatic Sea. Pleasant fresh blackberries on the nose. Medium-bodied with a tight, crisp texture. Fresh blackberry and pip grip and flavor. 90pts James Suckling
WALT’S CHILI & BEANS
Ingredients
6 ounces of Tanqueray Gin
½ ounce of Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth
3 blue cheese stuffed olives
A goodly amount of ice
¼ Cup Olive Oil divided
¾ lb beef stew meat
1 small onion diced
1 medium green pepper diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef
1 tbs ground cumin
1½ tbs chili powder
1 tbs onion powder
¾ tsp cayenne pepper
3 tbs tomato paste
2 plum tomatoes, diced
1 can (28oz) diced tomatoes
2 tbs beef base
1½ cups of water
1 can (14.5 oz) pinto beans, rinsed an drained
Directions
1. Put gin and vermouth into a glass pitcher, fill with ice, stir vigorously while incanting, “You who know all, thank you for providing us juniper and all the other obscure ingredients responsible for creating this sacred liquid!” Strain into a pre-frozen Martini glass of admirable size. Skewer the olives on one of those tacky cocktail swords, place in glass. Immediately begin consuming. Now you can begin the food prep, and the cooking!
2. Heat 2tbs of oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add stew meat and sauté meat about 8 minutes, ‘til browned on all sides. Remove meat and set aside.
3. Add remaining 2tbs of oil. Add onions and green peppers, sauté ‘til soft about 8 minutes. Add garlic and sauté ‘til fragrant, about 1 minute,
4. Add ground beef. Cook, stirring to break up, ‘til beef is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Drain excess fat.
5. Return stew meat to the ground beef mixture. Add cumin, chili powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, tomato paste, diced can tomatoes, chopped plum tomatoes & beef base and water.
6. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to simmer over low heat for 3 hours
7. Add pinto beans and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
8. Garnish with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, diced onion & diced tomatoes.
n.b. I shaded back on the cayenne pepper. I had a question mark regarding the addition of water to the recipe. As you might imagine, it made for a less thick chili than the recipe I have used in the past. Although I enjoyed it, the next time I put this recipe into play, I think I will scale back the amount called for. Lastly, I thought red kidney beans were the beans of choice if beans are going to be used. I thought the pinto beans were perfect.