Chili con Carne with Red Chili Powder, Meat, Cayenne Pepper, and NO BEANS!
This recipe will show you how to whip up authentic and delicious Texas style chili with a modicum of time and sweat invested, and also introduce you to a little bit of Texas culture.
There is a story behind this recipe actually.
Last winter, my mother, who was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas but now lives in Malibu, sent me a chili mix made in the Lone Star State, with a note saying that she was so glad to have finally found half-decent chili available in California. High praise indeed, coming from my mother, because though she's lived in California for nigh on half a century now, she's always found it to be somewhat lacking in culture, especially when it comes to chili, and other culinary wonders of the South West.
I promptly whipped up a batch of the chili, with a few modifications, loved it, and wrote home to say so. One thing I didn't mention in my e-mail was that I had added beans to the recipe--I thought it such a natural thing that it went without saying. My mother wrote back saying that she liked my modifications, and then casually mentioned that beans are not traditional in chili. I was shocked. I had always thought beans were an integral part of chili. In fact, I had always thought that chili was basically a bean dish, and that chili con carne was that bean dish with meat added to it. I of course explained none of this to my mother and made as if I had never considered for a moment adding beans to my chili--why, the very idea!
Texas Flood, by Stevie Ray Vaughan
Before getting to the chili recipe, take a couple of minutes and have a listen to the inimitable Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954~1990), a famous musician born and raised in Dallas Texas.
He was a unique talent known especially for his virtuoso guitar playing--Rolling Stone ranks him the 7th greatest guitarist of all time. His loss was mourned all across Texas when he tragically died much too young in a helicopter crash on August 27, 1990.
Long version of Texas Flood by stevie ray vaughn ! Texas Flood is an electric blues album by blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and his band Double Trouble, released in 1983. Although "Texas Flood" has three verses of lyrics, the song is more of a prolonged guitar solo, allowing Vaughan to show off his characteristic electric blues style. During live shows, he would often play portions of this song behind his back, arousing an enthusiastic crowd response. Stylistically, "Texas Flood" is structured around the common three chord blues progression. Written and performed in the key of G (sounding F# because of Vaughan's tuning), it is in 12/8 time, or compound time[1], which gives it a "slow burning" feel that is common in Texas blues. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Flood_%28song%29
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TEXAS STYLE CHILI INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds stew meat
1 tablespoon veg. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, ground
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/2 cup tequila
1 pack Carrol Shelby's chili mix
32 oz. bottle Big Daddy's
Bloody Mary Mix
Chili Mix & Bloody Mary Mix
Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili, 4 Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12)
Carroll Shelby's Chili Mix is great tasting and comes with the cayenne pepper and masa harina in seperate packets so that you can control both the heat and thickness of your chili.
In case you're wondering, yes, this chili mix was originally made by the Carroll Shelby, famous racecar driver and father of the Shelby Cobra. He is also one of the founders of the original Terlingua Chili Cook off in Terlingua Texas.
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Bloody Mary Mix, Big Daddy's Bloody Mary Mix is the Finest Ever Created. This Mouthwatering Blend of Tomato Juice and Secret Spices Will Ruin You For All Other Mixes!
Product Description:
The creator of Big Daddy's bloody Mary mix, James Miller, has been a bartender for over 20 years. James has found that getting a great tasting bloody Mary on a consistent basis is nearly impossible. This led James to formulate his own recipe, which he made at each establishment he worked. Currently, as a bar owner himself, James makes this mix by the gallon to satisfy the demand of his thirsty customers. They come religiously every Sunday (and every other day of the week) for the "Sunday, bloody Sunday" drink special. James takes pride in his great tasting mix and, he hopes you'll agree, this is the best bloody Mary mix you will ever purchase. Directions for use: Mix one part of your favorite vodka to three parts of Big Daddy's mix. Garnish as desired (celery, lime, olive, pepperoncini) a salted rim adds a touch of flavor and class........ENJOY
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Penguin Natural Foods All Natural Baking Mix Corn Bread 6 Pouch Box
March 26, 2009, Reviewed By Terri (Bronx, NY):
"This is the best cornbread I've ever had! I've tried other brands and I've also used one brand for years, but my mom went to Costco and bought this to make cornbread stuffing for Thanksgiving, and we polished off a whole batch of cornbread and had to make another one for the stuffing. LOL! I highly recommend this."
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Texmati Long Grain American Basmati White Rice, 36-Ounce Jars (Pack of 4)
July 25, 2009, Reviewed by Brian Oxley (Houston, TX):
"I grew up in Texas and live in Houston. Texmati is *the* rice. We have been buying it since the late 80s. It is very hard to cook wrong, does well sitting out or refrigerated, and is sturdy enough to mix with most any combination of spices. It is not overly starchy, so is poor for sticky rice uses, but is wonderful otherwise. Very recommended.
Also, I have never gotten a bad batch, or one with stones, sticks, or unidentified dark bits in it (which sometimes happens with bulk rice). Quality control is excellent."
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Texas Chili Cooking Instructions:
First, cut the beef into 1/2 inch cubes and brown in the oil in a large sauce pan. Reserve the beef, and saute the onion over medium heat, adding more oil if needed.
When the onions start to turn translucent, add the garlic and ground cumin.
Return the beef to the pan and add the chili mix, cocoa, and desired amount of cayenne pepper.
Saute until the meat is coated and the spices become fragrant.
Add the tequila and saute until the alcohol evaporates.
Add the bloody mary mix and bring to a boil (one 8 oz. can of tomato paste and 3 cups of water can be substituted for the bloody mary mix).
Lower the heat and simmer for one hour, with the pot loosely covered.
For thicker chili, add the masa harina flour included in Carrol Shelby's Chili Kit.
The chili kit also comes with the cayenne pepper in a seperate packet, so you can adjust the heat to your liking.
For the best results, make the chili one day ahead of time; like stew, chili always tastes better the second day. Also, if you put it in the refrigerator overnight, any excess fat will rise to the top and be easily scraped off with a spoon.
Nothing, of course, in this recipe is set in stone. Chili is not an exact science, so feel free to play around with it. Just remember, beans are not something you put in chili, though they do compliment it perfectly as a side dish. I usually serve this dish with refried beans, mexican rice, and corn tortillas, though corn bread is another traditional accompaniment to chili con carne.
The condiments are all the usual suspects:
chopped onions, grated cheese, chopped fresh cilantro, and chopped jalapeno peppers.
Traditional Corn Tortillas are Healthy
Real corn tortillas made by the traditional method go perfectly with Texas chili. As an added bonus, corn tortillas made the traditional way are very healthy because, through a process called nixtamalization, they are enriched with calcium and niacin, which are both essential nutrients.
For traditional corn tortillas, and many other delicious Mexican food products, visit Rudy's Tortillas, a tortilleria located in Dallas Texas. Alteratively, if you live in the U.S., there is a good chance that there is a tortilleria making fresh tortillas daily in your town, like Tortilleria Lilly in San Diego, or Tortilleria Nixtamal in Queens, New York.
These taste a zillion times better than the tortillas sold at the supermarket, and will go great with your chili con carne. If you are feeling really ambitious, here's a recipe for handmade corn tortillas."
One other thing that will have everyone raving about your chili is some great cheese sprinkled over it. Cheddar cheese is O.K. for chili dogs, but for this dish I recommend Mexican cheese, either panela or cotija, or both: panela on the chili and cotija on the beans.
Real Hand-made Tortillas in Zacualtipan, Mexico
So that's how they do it!
Real Hand Made Tortillas 2
Music composed and conducted by Arturo Rodriguez. Making real tortillas in Zacualtipán, State of Hidalgo, México. Includes grinding the "nixtamal" (dried field corn soaked in hot slaked lime and water). The lady uses a "metate", flat volcanic stone and grinding stone with both hands to get the "masa" dough. The dough is then pattered in a circular form, tossed a little and placed on the "comal", over the fire to get cooked. Enjoy a real tortilla, one at a time, not from powder, not form a machine.
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Weigh in on the controversy
Texas Cuisine
Texas Home Cooking
Re-creates home in the North, December 7, 1999
Reviewed by A Customer*
"Shortly after moving to Michigan from my home state of Texas I found Texas Home Cooking. I was doubtful that it would bring back the tastes of home I was craving. It has proven to be the only cookbook I pull out when seeking out a dish to wow my new family and friends. It truly is a reflection of Texas cooking from the Tex-Mex section (salsas, enchiladas, tamales and more) to the classic American home cooked favorites (B-B-Q, steaks, chicken fried steak, sweet potatoes) that are famous in the south. I use it for reference to recreate that dish I had and on a night when I want to try something new."
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The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos
A Different History of Texas, September 12, 2009
Reviewed by Working Girl:
"I'm a Texas native living in Georgia. This book not only let me recreate many tastes from my childhood, but it also gave me the fascinating histories behind many of those nostalgic flavors. When I first received this book, I literally sat down and read it cover to cover. From the old Frito Bandito commercials to the San Antonio chili queens, this book gives a culinary history of my home state. I highly recommend it to any Texas ex-pat."
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The Only Texas Cookbook (Lone Star guides)
Good food, great fun, big laughs, true Texas fare, May 10, 1998
Reviewed by mba@wt.net "mba@wt.net" (Texas):
"I read cookbooks for more than recipes. This book has it all. Curl up on a cool evening, or a torrid afternoon, to learn abut Texas and the great humor of Linda West. She talks about her family and friends in a way that makes you want to meet them and sit down and enjoy a hearty meal with them all. The recipes are easy to follow, and true to her description. Thoroughly enjoyable!"
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The Texas Hill Country Cookbook: A Taste of Provence
A True Taste of Texas, October 8, 2007
Reviewed by Eclectic Reader - See all my reviews
"This cookbook is a must-have for home cooks who like the distinctive flavors of Texas (chiles, pecans, beef) served up in sophisticated and innovative ways. The recipes are clear and easy to follow, the photos are luscious, and I love the emphasis on buying locally and eating sustainably."
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The New Texas Cuisine
The Heart of Texas, March 12, 2000
Reviewed by A Customer:
"Hell yeah! This is what Texas cuisine is all about. If you like Rick Bayless or Jane Butel, then you will definitely be impressed by this book. The recipes are complex and rewarding as Stephan creates dishes that are both original and traditional. Best thing is that he insists on using native southwestern ingredients in all his recipes. Mas tequila, baby!"
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Lodge Signature Dutch Oven
A Great Pot to Cook Your Chili In
Product Description:
4 1/2 Qt seasoned Dutch Oven is ready to use cast iron with stainless steel handles. Includes snug fitting cast iron lid with high polished stainless steel knob. Many great American chefs put Lodge Cast Iron on the list of the ten most essential tools in their kitchen. Simply put, Lodge Cast Iron cooks best. Better than even the most expensive stainless or aluminum cookware as nothing can rival the even heating, heat retentiaon, versatility, value and durability of Lodge Cast Iron. For more than 100 years, Lodge has been perfecting the process of making cast iron cookware. We formulated just the right metal chemistry, created exacting mold tolerances for our castings, and developed the perfect wall construction for the best even heating found in cookware. The Signature Series takes cast iron cookware to the next level with it's gorgeous high polished stainless steel handles. Casted in the USA. 4 1/2 qt capacity, 10" Diameter and 4" deep
Lodge Signature 4-1/2-Quart Seasoned Cast-Iron Dutch Oven with Stainless-Steel Handles
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Just For Fun
The Honorable Judge Roy Bean
This is a clip from the hilarious The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, a fictionalized account of the life of Roy Bean, the self-proclaimed "Law West of the Pecos."
He was appointed Justice of the Peace in the small desert "town" of Langtry, Precinct 6, Pecos County, Texas, even though he himself had, throughout his life, more often than not been on the wrong side of the law.
Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean: Bad Bob the Albino
Stacy Keach's cameo in John Huston's "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean".
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The History of Texas Chili
A popular theory has it that chili con carne originated in San Antonio Texas.
The following is excerpted from an article written by Linda Stradley and available on the website What's Cooking America:
The only thing certain about the origins of chili is that it did not originate in Mexico.
There are many legends and stories about where chili originated and it is generally thought, by most historians, that the earliest versions of chili were made by the very poorest people. J. C. Clopper, the first American known to have remarked about San Antonio's chili carne, wrote in 1926:
"When they have to pay for their meat in the market, a very little is made to suffice for a family; this is generally made into a kind of hash with nearly as many peppers as there are pieces of meat - this is all stewed together."
18th Century
1731 - On March 9, 1731, a group of sixteen families (56 persons) arrived from the Canary Islands at Bexar, the villa of San Fernando de Béxar (now know as the city of San Antonio). They had emigrated to Texas from the Spanish Canary Islands by order of King Philip V. of Spain. The King of Spain felt that colonization would help cement Spanish claims to the region and block France's westward expansion from Louisiana. These families founded San Antonio's first civil government which became the first municipality in the Spanish province of Texas. According to historians, the women made a spicy "Spanish" stew that is similar to chili.
1880s - San Antonio was a wide-open town (a cattle town, a railroad town, and an army town) and by day a municipal food market and by night a wild and open place. An authoritative early account is provided in an article published in the July 1927 issue of Frontier Times. In this article, Frank H. Bushick, San Antonio Commissioner of Taxation, reminisces about the Chili Queens and their origin at Military Plaza before they were moved to Market Square in 1887. According to Bushick:
"The chili stand and chili queens are peculiarities, or unique institutions, of the Alamo City. They started away back there when the Spanish army camped on the plaza. They were started to feed the soldiers. Every class of people in every station of life patronized them in the old days. Some were attracted by the novelty of it, some by the cheapness. A big plate of chili and beans, with a tortilla on the side, cost a dime. A Mexican bootblack and a silk-hatted tourist would line up and eat side by side, [each] unconscious or oblivious of the other.
San Antonio buffs swear that chili powder was invented by William Gebhardt, a German immigrant in New Braunfels, Texas (now a suburb of San Antonio) around 1890. Since chiles were only available after the summer harvest, chili was only a seasonal food during that era. Gebhardt solved the problem by importing Mexican ancho chiles so that he could serve the dish year-round. At first he called the product "Tampico Dust." In 1896, he changed the name to Eagle Brand Chili Powder and registered his tradeamark, making it one of the oldest in the United States. In 1960, it was acquired by Beatrice Foods and is now known as Gebhardt Mexican Foods Company. The blend today is unchanged and is still one of the most popular brands used.
1967 - The most famous and well known chili cook-off took place in 1967 in Terlingua, Texas. Terlingua was once a thriving mercury-mining town of 5,000 people and it is the most remote site your can choose as it is not close to any major city and the nearest commercial airport is almost 279 miles away. Just getting to Terlingua requires a major effort. It was a two-man cook-off between Texas chili champ Homer "Wick" Fowler (1909-1972), a Dallas and Denton newspaper reporter, and H. Allen Smith (1906-1976), New York humorist and author, which ended in a tie.
The cook-off challenge started when H. Allen Smith wrote a story for the August 1967 Holiday Magazine titled Nobody Knows More About Chili Than I Do, which claimed that no one in Texas could make proper chili. Smith contended that ". . . no living man, I repeat, can put together a pot of chili as ambrosial, as delicately and zestfully flavorful, as the chili I make." His article included his recipe for chili that included beans.
Of course, this offended many Texans who would never consider adding beans to their chili. When Frank Tolbert (1912-1984), famous journalist and author of A Bowl of Red, saw Smith's article, he started open warfare in the press with a column he wrote for the Dallas News. A reader suggested that Fowler answer the challenge, which he did. The cook-off competition ended in a tie vote when the tie-breaker judge, Dave Witts, a Dallas lawyer and self-proclaimed mayor of Terlingua, spat out his chili, declaring that his taste buds were "ruint," and said they would have to do the whole thing over again next year.
1977 - The chili manufacturers of the state of Texas, successfully lobbied the Texas legislature to have chili proclaimed the official "state food" of Texas "in recognition of the fact that the only real 'bowl of red' is that prepared by Texans."
Bonus Video: Lone Star Blues
Delbert McClinton is another great musician from Texas.
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Any Comments, Spicy or Mild, Welcome
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- triathlontraining triathlontraining Nov 23, 2009 @ 9:24 am
- Very tasty looking and sounding. I'm from Minnesota and we use beans. :)
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- skiesgreen skiesgreen Nov 23, 2009 @ 1:35 am
- This is a great lens and history lesson as well. Not being a chili person its hard to appreciate such a dish but those who do enjoy it are bound to get a lot more from this page than I. 5* fave
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- milleniumfan milleniumfan Nov 23, 2009 @ 12:15 am
- Excellent work - nice layout and great content! 5 stars and favorite...
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- theraggededge theraggededge Nov 21, 2009 @ 5:48 am
- Brilliant lens. So much information about the not-so-humble chili. Lensrolling to my Reggae Reggae Sauce lens.
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- jgelien jgelien Nov 18, 2009 @ 12:43 am
- This recipe sounds very good. Cocoa powder. Just follows my theory that anything is better with chocolate in it. Wonderful lens.
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- Chili Recipes "Texas"
- Here's a site with more authentic chili recipes than you can shake a ladle at.
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- Chili Appreciation Society International, Inc.
- A site with everything you could possibly want to know about theTerlingua International Chili Championship Cookoff, including how to enter.
- International Chili Society
- ICS says, "Our sole purpose is to promote, develop and improve the preparation and appreciation of true chili and to determine each year the World's Champion Chili through officially sanctioned and regulated competitive cookoffs. This association shall further the camaraderie of chiliheads on behalf of charitable and nonprofit organizations in the world."
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- dirkbendover
- @thePudgyMidway LOL! We hadddd... chili =D good ol' Texas style chileh, my dear friend.
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- East Texas Red Chili recipe http://www.jittery.com/recipes/east-texas-red-chili-recipe-41218.html
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- CharlesMendoza
- @blairherter kind of how we do it in texas except we cook chili instead of gumbo and have at least 3 kegs
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- Spicy Texas Chili http://bit.ly/8WztYA #recipes
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- dickerone
- SAVE $8.47 - Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili, 4 Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12) $28.25 http://dealnay.com/157549 #soup #sale
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