Pot Likker Chili with Beans
Submitted by cami
Southern pot likker chili built on collard-green broth with smoked chuck, ground beef, pintos, chipotle, habanero, and a splash of beer. Long-simmered, deeply smoky, bowl-licking good.
YIELD
1 batchPREP
30 minCOOK
READY
10 hrsThis is a chili cookout winner masquerading as a humble Southern stew. It starts not with broth from a can, but with eight hours of simmering collard greens with smoked pork jowl, vinegar, and garlic to make true pot likker, the mineral-rich, deeply savory liquid that cooks in the South have cherished for generations. That pot likker becomes the base for the chili itself.
Three meats pull their weight: smoked beef chuck chunks for chew, ground beef for body, and the rendered pork jowl flavor carried in the pot likker. Three chiles layer heat: chipotle for smoke, jalapeño for brightness, habanero for serious fire. Beer, Worcestershire, fish sauce, and toasted cumin and mustard seeds supply the umami backbone.
Blooming whole cumin and mustard seeds in a dry pan before crushing is what makes the chili’s spice backbone sing. Ground-from-jar cumin can’t compete.
Pro Tips
- The collard-green likker takes 6 to 8 hours. Plan ahead. The cooked greens are a bonus side dish with butter and hot sauce.
- Soak pinto beans overnight. They cook down faster and more evenly in the pot likker that way.
- Taste chili heat after the 2-hour simmer. Spice mellows during the cook, so adjust then rather than up front.
- Make the whole batch a day before serving. Day-two chili is always better than day-one as flavors meld and fat rises to lift off.
Variations
- Swap pork jowl for a smoked ham hock if jowl is hard to find. The flavor profile is nearly identical.
- Add a square of dark chocolate or a tablespoon of cocoa powder during the last 20 minutes for a Texas-Mexican flavor depth.
- Top with sharp cheddar, sour cream, diced raw onion, and crumbled cornbread for the full Southern-supper treatment.
Ingredients
Directions
First, make the pot likker.
Wash and soak the collard greens, remove the leaves from the stems, and put into a large pot.
Add water, vinegar, tabasco peppers, garlic cloves, onion, smoked pork jowl, and black pepper.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for six to eight hours.
Remove and reserve collards for another meal; strain pot likker and reserve.
Now, add pinto beans and bay leaves to the pot likker, bring to a boil, and simmer until beans are semi-soft.
Cut smoked chuck roast into bite-sized chunks and add to the pot.
Fry up hamburger, drain fat, chop, and add to the pot.
In a small frying pan roast the cumin and mustard seeds, crush in a mortar and pestle, and add to the chili.
Add all other ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occassionally.
Remove from heat, and serve.
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