By Request Betty Shimabukuro

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Award-winning
chili brims with oxtails

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Forget the chili purists -- those people who say a true pot of chili has no beans and no ground up meat, just big ol' chunks.

The winner of Kakaako Kitchen's Chili Recipe Challenge was a deeply flavored pot that included beans, ground sirloin and something truly radical: oxtails. With bones.

Sandra Yamamoto, a reservations agent for Atlantic Adventures, won a neighbor island trip for her Paniolo's Shoo Fly Chili, which was named best in show by the judges and also won the People's Choice award.

Yamamoto said she developed the basic chili recipe for a friend's birthday party. For the contest she dressed it up with oxtail, in keeping she said, with Kakaako Kitchen's reputation for creative local cuisine.

Note that this recipe calls for eight cans each of tomatoes, tomato sauce and beans. You can reduce can-opening by buying a single No. 10 can of each at a warehouse store.

Paniolo's Shoo Fly Chili

5 pounds oxtails
1/2 cup chicken base (see note), dissolved in 1-1/2 gallons water
3 pounds ground sirloin
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 pounds spicy pork sausage, casings removed and crumbled
1/2 cup white wine, to taste
2 large onions, diced
3 medium bell peppers, diced
5 tablespoons chili powder
8 15-ounce cans tomato sauce
8 14-1/2 ounce cans whole tomatoes, crushed
2 teaspoons oregano
2 bay leaves
3 large jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
Cornstarch for thickening, as needed
8 15-ounce cans dark kidney beans, with liquid
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
Pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons EACH Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce

Place oxtails in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil; drain and rinse. Return to pot and cover with chicken base mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until half-done, about 2 hours. Remove oxtails and reserve liquid (you should have 5 to 6 cups).

Brown sirloin in oil in a large pot. Remove. Brown sausage. Remove. Deglaze pot with wine. Lightly brown onions and bell peppers, then return beef and sausage to the pot. Add chili powder and cook 5 minutes over medium heat, then add tomato sauce, crushed whole tomatoes, oregano, bay leaf, jalapeños and reserved oxtail cooking liquid. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.

Add oxtails to pot and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour, until oxtails are tender (do not overcook). Add beans. Thicken with cornstarch dissolved in water, as needed. Stir in salt, sugar, pepper, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauces, tasting and adjusting seasonings as needed. Additional chicken base may also be added to taste. Makes 3-1/2 gallons.

Note: Chicken base is a paste sold in jars next to the chicken broth in grocery stores.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 230 calories, 12 g total fat, 4 g saturated fat, 35 mg cholesterol, greater than 1,000 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrate, 14 g protein.

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Nutritional analyses by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.

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Send queries along with name and phone number to:
"By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813.
Or send e-mail to bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.