First, my apologies for my language….it’s not mine, it’s Michael Chiarello’s.  I have used this recipe for at least 10 years.  We love peppers, we love hot, and we love these with a nice meat dish.  Chiarello serves them with a recipe he calls “Forever Roasted Pork”.  This is one that cooks at least 6-8 hours in a 250 oven, or all day in a crockpot.  It’s great because it feeds a lot of people, and is relatively easy to do.  So, why am I giving you Steak House Chili?  First, here is the peppers recipe, and then I will explain what I made out of it.

DAMN HOT PEPPERS (Michael Chiarello)

4-6 large red bell peppers (if you like green, you can mix them 2 or 3 of each)

4-8 large jalapeños (Remove seeds and membranes if you are a Wimp).  That’s the hot part.  We are brave Gringo’s, so we leave them in.  The hotter the better!

2– 32 oz. can crushed tomatoes, or tomato sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

Small bunch fresh basil leaves (if possible)

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pot.  Chop all peppers in a large chop and add to hot oil.  Cook 20-30 minutes, adding about 1 cup water.  Add tomatoes, vinegar and basil and simmer till peppers are tender and the sauce is tasty.  NOTE:  I always add about 1 Tbs. of sugar to these tomato recipes.  I just can’t help it.  It really doesn’t make it too sweet, and it does help to cut the acid.

NOW FOR MY NEW YEAR’S DILEMMA……What do I do with a whole, leftover, beautiful, hand rubbed and Grilled Rib Eye steak? I usually don’t like the flavor of anything BBQ or Rotisserie flavored in my soups or casseroles.  Too distinct a flavor!  We had a wonderful dinner with our old friends, Duttons and Secher’s and although we are all good eaters, I severely misjudged the amount of food I made.  We served 3 Ribeyes and one large salmon, for 6 people.  Two steaks would have been plenty!  So there I was, with tasty BBQ’d steak.  Of course, we could have sliced it and made a nice salad out of it, but I had another idea!

First, slice the steak into bite sized pieces.  I chopped one small onion, added some garlic, and sautéed till soft.  Then I added the steak, and about 2 cups beef broth.  Simmer about 10 minutes.  You don’t need long cooking on this, because ribeyes are so tender.  Now the fun part.  I took my “Damn hot peppers”  (2-3 cups), chopped them a little finer (you could also blend them lightly in the food processor if you like).  One more can of tomatoes or sauce, simmer about 1/2 hour.  Serve with cheese, or other garnishes like sour cream, crushed Doritos, peppers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!