January 05, 2024

Short Rib Chili with Sharp Cheddar, Sour Cream, and Crispy Tortilla Strings

Recipe by Chef Nick Kubitz
Pairing 2019 Petite Sirah – One Hundred Vineyard
Serves 6-8

Download Recipe

Ingredients

Short Rib Chili Ingredients

2 Lbs. Boneless Short Ribs (1" Chunks)
1 Yellow Onion (Diced)
1 Green Bell Pepper (Diced)
1 Poblano Pepper (Diced)
1 Small Jalapeno (Minced)
3 Cloves Garlic (Minced)
1 Bunch Green Onions (Sliced)
2 Limes (Juiced)
2 Cans Petite Diced Tomatoes (Drained)
2 Cans Pinto Beans (Drained)
6 Cups Beef Stock
2 Tbsp Neutral Oil
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Ancho Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Chipotle Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Ground Mustard
2 tsp Dried Oregano
2 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Kosher Salt to Taste

Chili Toppings

8 Corn Tortillas (Sliced Thin)
3 Cups Sharp Cheddar (Shredded)
1 Red Onion (Sliced Thin)
2 Jalapenos (Sliced Thin, Soaked in Water)
1.5 Cup Sour Cream

Instructions

Short Rib Chili
Add neutral oil to a large sauce pot and turn on to high heat. Add diced short rib to the hot pan. Sauté short rib until browned all over. Add onion, all of the peppers and garlic to the pan. Sauté vegetables with meat until tender and slightly browned.
Stir in the chili powders, mustard powder, dried oregano, ground cumin and fresh cracked black pepper. Continue sautéing ingredients to toast spices.

After 5-10 minutes, add the drained canned tomatoes and a large pinch of kosher salt. After sautéing ingredients for another few minutes, stir in the beef stock. Reduce heat to medium heat. Simmer uncovered until sauce has reduced and meat is tender, about 2-2.5 hours.

Stir in drained beans, lime juice and sliced green onion. Continue simmering for another 30-45 minutes. Adjust seasoning by adding more kosher salt if needed and serve with listed toppings.

Fried Tortilla Strings
Lay paper towels over a sheet tray to make a landing station for fried tortillas. Add canola oil to a medium sauce pot. Turn oil to high heat.

When oil reaches 350 degrees, fry tortilla strings in batches until golden brown and crispy. Season tortilla strings with a sprinkle of kosher salt as soon as they come out of the frying oil. Top chili with crispy tortilla strings, sharp cheddar, red onion, jalapeno, and sour cream.

Enjoy with a glass of LangeTwins One Hundred Petite Sirah. Cheers!

Chef Nick Kubitz

Our partnerships with talented chefs always start with the wines. When planning for any event, we consider the wine first before we move on to the challenge of asking our team to develop a meal that reflects a unique synergy. We are grateful to have a homegrown guy as one of our ‘aces’ in the kitchen. He is definitely a man who demonstrates a unique sense of tasting, pairing, and creating food recognizing the efforts made in the vineyard to produce our fabulous varietals.

At first glance, Chef Nick Kubitz looks like he should be a bouncer at your favorite club - big, burly, gritty but with a quiet confidence that owns the room. And actually he has clawed his way to the top with those jobs while earning his culinary management and hospitality degree at the Art Institute of California, San Diego. The past decade has found him trying his hand at a BBQ restaurant, managing a food truck, and working alongside Michelin starred chefs in San Francisco.

Kubitz has developed a passion for the best and freshest ingredients that San Joaquin County has to offer, and his past experience of overseeing a large kitchen in a San Francisco tech company allowed him to harness and integrate the tastes of ingredients from around the world to satisfy the many cultures of that particular employee base.

And he is not one to shy aware from pressure – Kubitz has twice joined us at the world-renowned Aspen Food and Wine show creating a series of private food experiences to tease guests away from the main tent headliner chefs. His knowledge of Lodi wines, the appellation, and terroir all layer into the choices he makes in the kitchen to offer what we would consider a ‘perfect pairing’.

We sit up nights trying to figure out how to shackle Kubitz to our kitchen – we block his calendar every chance we get, but support his dream of owning a unique fine dining company called Range – a place that will showcase the range of his talents and experiences.

You’ll find unique crafted recipes from Kubitz within this blog, give them a try and send us your thoughts and of course, a photo of the final product!