This winter season in Chi-town has brought with it the most snowfall we've seen in ten years. We're scheduled to get another couple inches, mixed with rain and wind, tonight. It's been real shitty to say the least. I have found comfort in many things, but for our purposes here, braised meats. The latest, has been a round of chilli that was too good not share. Some will call this Texas-style chilli. That's fine by me. I will not be offended. The focus is braised beef in a red wine reduction. If that interests you, read on.

We're going to start with a nice beef shank. Riders can make their own substitutions. I prefer the shank for it's flavor. And, I usually have some lying around for consomme. You can request it from you butcher cut from the bone, or if you're like me, on the bone. I like to butcher things in my spare time, so a ten pound section of beef leg doesn't scare me. If you do opt to take up the knife, be sure to remove all the silvery tendons. This will keep you out of trouble for a good portion of the morning. Make sure to order enough to have about five pounds of meat.

Apparelle:

• Beef shank: 5 lbs. (substitute at will, if you prefer ground beef please leave now)
• Serrano chili peppers: 12-ish
• Jalepeno pepper: 12-ish
• Banana peppers: 3-ish
• Yellow onion: one large, or two medium
• Chili sauce: Does four jars sound about right?
• Red kidney beans: half pound
• Cabernet: 1 bottle, average price point
• Seasonings: chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, marsala, cayenne, salt (all of there items are to-taste)

As a disclaimer, the quantities listed there are general approximations. I tend to not measure things that don't matter. If I have a pile of meat this big (spread out your hands) I want a pile of aromatics that is this big. And besides, we are making chili here, not avocado foam. As for the heat, that's entirely up to you. If you want to swap out the peppers that is fine by me. We are focused on the meat.

Procedure:
Start by soaking the beans overnight. Then you'll want to cook them separately in boiling water until they're soft, or about 90 minutes. Remember to salt the water like soup. Again, decide whether you want you beans mushy or dente, with a slight pop, and adjust your cooking time. Keep in mind, they will not cook in the chili sauce mixture as it doesn't have a high water content.

Now for the meat. At this point you should have prepped beef shank, free of tendon. How you got to this point matters little. Keep it in fairly large chunks. Season it with your chili rub and sear it in clarified butter. [Butter aside: clarified butter is preferred for searing due to it's higher flash point. It allows a higher pan temperature due the fact that it has the milk bodies removed by cooking. It's simple to make: take a pound of butter and toss it into a sauce pan; put a high flame under it and cook it until the butter turns translucent; use a ladle to test clarity; remove from the heat and cool. End aside.] Get a nice carmelization to it. Remove it from the pan and de-glaze with red wine. Make sure you get all the fond from the bottom of the pan. Toss the meat and the de-glazing into a crock pot. Fill it with red wine, covering about half the meat. Bring the heat up to real slow simmer. Keep it going for about two hours, turning the meat from side to side every so often. You're done with this when you can pull the meat apart into individual shreds - like pulled pork, only it's pulled shank. If you're not there yet, grab a beer and let it simmer another hour or so.

While that pot is going you will need something to keep you busy, and you've got those aromatics sitting around waiting to be sliced. Get to it. I like a nice thin julienne on all of them. Keep them the same thickness for even cooking times. Saute them until nicely carmelized. The carmelization will add some smoke to the chili. Again, use the clarified butter - make sure you don't drown them, or choke the pan. A word of caution regarding the sauteing of highly acidic peppers: you are going to be putting acidic extracts into the air through the steam that is released. You may find this caustic. Deal with it - this is man's chili. And, be sure to clean you hands, and fingers, completely after handling the peppers. Your wife will be most thankful during your afternoon romp, when she isn't burning with a literal fire-down-below. When you are done, de-glaze the pan with red wine and toss this mixture into the crock pot. For me, I like a certain amount of control in the kitchen. So, I would keep this out of the braised meat until after the meat is finished. This way I have better control over the ingredients.

Once the meat is done, pull it apart into teeny shreds. Put it back into the crock pot, add the aromatics, the beans and the chili sauce. Season at your own risk. I prefer to adjust things after the cook is just about done. Keep in mind that though the water content will reduce over time, the salt content will not. You may get something you did not expect if you salt to early. Get this back up to a slow simmer and let it go for another couple of hours. You're done when everything has reached this homogenous texture where meat and vegetable have become a unified element, with some lumpy beans interspersed - error on the side of too long.