Dining

Award-winning Gilley’s chili in your own pot

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Craig Taylor shows off his green chili from atop the Gilley’s bull.
Photo: Steve Marcus

Treasure Island Executive Chef Craig Taylor’s green chili recipe is a testament to the chef’s persistence. Taylor originally developed the dish in the early ’80s while living in Colorado, where exemplary examples of green chili were abundant. However, Taylor was unsuccessful for years in procuring a spot for the dish on the menus of any of his restaurants, including the 12 he currently helms at TI.

The Details

Gilley's
At Treasure Island, 894-7111.
Kitchen open daily, 11 a.m.-midnight.

That all changed after the chef won a Monte Carlo chili cook-off three years ago—the first time he had ever entered a competition. With award in hand, a permanent home was soon found for the green chili on Gilley’s BBQ-centric menu.

Taylor’s secret ingredient? Nueske’s bacon—a specialty pork product that imparts a smokiness akin to chipotle that other, lesser pigs cannot. Check it out for yourself with the recipe below or in a bowl at Gilley’s.

Craig Taylor's Pork Green Chili

(serves 8)

Ingredients:

3 lbs. pork butt (cubed)

2 tsp. cumin

3 tsp. chili powder

3 tsp. ancho chili powder

3 lbs. Anaheim chilies

2 lbs. poblano chilies

3 tsp. canola oil

3 medium onions (diced)

3 garlic cloves (minced)

3 slices Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon

1 bottle Negro Modelo beer

½ gal. chicken stock

28 oz. canned tomatoes (diced)

Method: Mix dry spices, coat pork thoroughly and let sit overnight. Roast chilies over a flame, then peel and seed. Heat oil in a pot and add pork to brown. Remove pork from pot and reserve. Sauté onions and garlic until they start to caramelize. Add bacon and brown. Deglaze pot with the Negro Modelo. Add pork, chilies, chicken stock and tomatoes to pot. Simmer while stirring occasionally for three hours. Check for seasoning and add salt, if necessary.

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