Chocolate Buffalo Steak Chili

This chili has an amazing flavor!  The meat in this chili is Buffalo (American Bison).

   
     The chili peppers and the unsweetened chocolate combine to create a marquis Mexican chile con carne flavor.  The Aztecs loved gourmet cooking.  Exotic flavor combinations that can not even be imagined were part of the magic of Aztec cuisine.  Extensive canal systems, exotic gardens, extensive farming, fishing and wild game supported this ancient western gourmet culture.
     Aztecs also incorporated many enthobotanicals into their cuisine.  One mild enthobotanical Aztecs use in cooking is cocoa.  Cocao beans were traded like currency by the Mayans.  Cocoa is a mild stimulant and euphoriant.  Many modern Aztec style mole pastes contain cocoa.
     Thankfully, an immense quantity of written Aztec cooking literature has been preserved.  Modern Aztecs in Mexico still cook with traditional methods and ingredients.  Chili peppers are a major part of Azteca cuisine, just like nearly all Mexican native cuisine.  All chili peppers are originally native to Central America, South America and the Caribbean Islands.  Edible tomatoes are native to the Americas too.  If you want to step back in time to taste the food of the Americas as it was before Colombus, then this chili recipe is perfect for you.  This recipe has medium hot chile pepper spicy heat level.
  
     Chocolate Buffalo Steak Chili Recipe:
     This recipe makes 4 to 6 portions of chili!
     Remove the stems and seeds from these dried chile peppers:
     - 4 Chile Guajillo
     - 2 Ancho Chiles
     - 3 Chile Pasilla
     - 2 Chile Morita or 1 large Chipotle Chile
     - 1 small handful of Chile Pequin
     Chop the dried chiles into small pieces.
     Place the chopped dried chili peppers in a sauce pot with 2 cups of water.
     Simmer the chili peppers over low heat to reconstitute them.
     Add 2 ounces of chopped canned chipotle chile en adobo.
     Add 4 tablespoons of ground ancho chili pepper.
     Add 2 chopped fresh red habanero peppers.
     Add 1 teaspoon of ground chile arbol.
     Add 2 chopped fresh green jalapeno peppers.
     Let the chili pepper mixture simmer slowly.
     Cut 18 ounces of American bison meat into small bite size cube shaped pieces.  (Sirloin strip steak section of American bison is best for this recipe.)
     Heat a sauce pot over medium heat.
     Add 1 splash of olive oil or 2 ounces of home made lard.  (Lard is authentic!)
     Add the buffalo meat.
     Saute till the buffalo meat, till it becomes lightly browned.
     Add 3 handful of chopped onions.
     Add 1 handful of mixed chopped green bell pepper and chopped red bell pepper.
     Add 6 cloves of chopped garlic.
     Saute till the onions turn clear in color.
     Add 3 tablespoons of cumin.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Add 2 pinches of white pepper.
     Add 2 pinches of Mexican oregano.
     Add 2 pinches of regular oregano.
     Allow the herbs and spices to cook for 1 minute with the hot oil in the pan, so the flavors infuse.
     Add a small sprinkle of masa harina to buffalo steak mixture, while stirring, to soak up the excess grease in the pot.
     Add enough beef stock to cover the ingredients.
     Stir as the chili mixture heats, till a thickened sauce is formed.
     Add 2 chopped fresh plum tomatoes.
     Add the simmering dried chili pepper mixture and broth from the other pot.
     Raise the temperature to medium high heat.
     Bring the buffalo chili to a boil while stirring.
     Reduce the temperature to low heat.     
     Add 2 ounces of unsweetened dark chocolate.
     Stir the buffalo chili, till the chocolate melts into the sauce.
     Allow the chili to simmer slowly, till the meat becomes tender and till the sauce reduces to a medium thin sauce consistency.  The chili should be thick with the sauce and not thin or soupy.  (Do not stew buffalo meat for too much time, because the meat is very lean and it may tend to shred!)
     Add 1 cup of rinsed cooked pink beans or rinsed canned pink beans to the buffalo chili.  (Gourmet beans like pink beans were a major part of Aztec cooking.  Pink beans are also called frijoles pinquito.)   
     Spoon the chocolate buffalo chili into a serving bowl.
     Serve with toasted corn tortillas or soft steamed corn tortillas on the side.
  
     The deep flavor of this chili comes from the blend of very mild to hot chili peppers.  The spicy chili heat comes on slowly, but comfortably, while releasing a strong wave of endorphins that are also triggered by the chocolate.  This style of chocolate buffalo steak chili has won many chili cook-off competitions!
     The buffalo meat is perfect for chili meat.  Buffalo is lean, it has a great hearty flavor and it is organic.  Buffalo is a very old traditional Native American stewing meat.
     The small amount of chocolate flavor adds a nice exotic flavor to this chili.  This is one of the greatest chili recipes of all!  Delicious!  ...  Shawna