STEERS & QUEERS
I don't want to get into splitting hairs on this, but let's just say it's understood "chili" means a stew of meat and spices. Beans are not a part of this dish. They were asked to join the pot when the folks doing the cooking didn't even have a shirt on their back, much less a happy and well-fed bovine to butcher out. The Italians, Spanish, and French use bread to extend their soups and stews. Americans and Hispanics use beans. Beans play no part in Texas Red. If you taste said chili and still want beans added, you'll not be invited back for supper.
My buddy Tim and I made a chili similar to Texas Red for a local chili cookoff years ago. We showed up with nada experience on the chili circuit, drank a case of schlitz in a hour or two, and then went home with the prize. Ever since then, I've been chasing that recipe. We kind of know what we put in it, but not really. Assembly was a bit hazy. The schlitz and whisky was flowing freely. Texas Red, a chili heavy on spice, works in absentia of the real deal. I think the original recipe exists somewhere, scribbled in a drunken hand on the back of a student loan envelope.
Texas Red is meat and spice. Ground chuck - nothing fancy. The fattier the better. If you can get local beef then, Jesus Harold Christ, go with it. The spice mixture is simple. I use one tablespoon per pound. Cumin, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, ancho chili, garlic, black pepper, sea salt. I roast the cumin and ancho and then grind them up. A half tablespoon of cayenne goes in at the end, too. Onions are needed. About one per pound of meat. Minced fine as a Franchi 12GA patterns out. Tomatoes - some huff about their inclusion. Muir Glen has a good fire roasted canned tomato. If you use homegrown, peel and de-seed them. I use one large can of tomatoes per three pounds of beef and nearly 16 oz of tomato puree.
Onions are cooked to nothing. Meat is browned and seasoned. Spice goes in. Tomatoes. Cayenne. A long simmer while the cornbread cooks. That's it. Ladled into a bone white bowl it resembles a lower demon's scat. Red, thick, steaming. It's hot going down, hotter coming out. But if you don't lick the bowl clean like a starving dog you just aren't good people.
My buddy Tim and I made a chili similar to Texas Red for a local chili cookoff years ago. We showed up with nada experience on the chili circuit, drank a case of schlitz in a hour or two, and then went home with the prize. Ever since then, I've been chasing that recipe. We kind of know what we put in it, but not really. Assembly was a bit hazy. The schlitz and whisky was flowing freely. Texas Red, a chili heavy on spice, works in absentia of the real deal. I think the original recipe exists somewhere, scribbled in a drunken hand on the back of a student loan envelope.
Texas Red is meat and spice. Ground chuck - nothing fancy. The fattier the better. If you can get local beef then, Jesus Harold Christ, go with it. The spice mixture is simple. I use one tablespoon per pound. Cumin, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, ancho chili, garlic, black pepper, sea salt. I roast the cumin and ancho and then grind them up. A half tablespoon of cayenne goes in at the end, too. Onions are needed. About one per pound of meat. Minced fine as a Franchi 12GA patterns out. Tomatoes - some huff about their inclusion. Muir Glen has a good fire roasted canned tomato. If you use homegrown, peel and de-seed them. I use one large can of tomatoes per three pounds of beef and nearly 16 oz of tomato puree.
Onions are cooked to nothing. Meat is browned and seasoned. Spice goes in. Tomatoes. Cayenne. A long simmer while the cornbread cooks. That's it. Ladled into a bone white bowl it resembles a lower demon's scat. Red, thick, steaming. It's hot going down, hotter coming out. But if you don't lick the bowl clean like a starving dog you just aren't good people.
posted by GSV JR at
9:48 AM
2 Comments:
I've been working between Wylers 2 alarm and Kenny Shopsin's recipes 'cause I'm a lazy shit. I do like the addition of coffee to leftover chilli. Also, I've used the chilli as a enchilada filling that the golf foxtrot likes a lot.
Roll some chilli in a corn tortilla that's been in hot olive oil for 20 secs. Put a row of 10 or so on a baking sheet and dump shreaded cheese on top. Hit the broiler for 20 secs and bang...you've just gained 5 pounds.
BTW, you're voice and writing is the best out there.
Damn. I'm going to do that this Saturday. I've got the leftovers in the freezer and maybe I'll be able to kill myself via beef when the Irish start their certain slide to the men of Troy.
As far as the voice and writing goes, T, I'd say the same of you, you ol' cuss.
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