Real Texas chili, y'all: Cooking Live with Slashfood

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Feb 3rd 2006 @ 10:01PM

texas chili

UPDATE: Chili served up with all the fixin's...

After an hour and half of simmering on the stove, with gentle stirs every once in a while, and requisite tastes for seasoning, the Texas Chili should be...dope. That's some dope Texas Chili - beefy, beanless, spicy chili.

Here's the secret, though, to what truly makes the chili turbo awesome. Make it the night before you plan to serve it. I have no idea about the chemistry involved with letting it sit overnight, but for some reason, Texas Chili tastes about one bazillion times better the day after you make it.

Let it cool on the stove top, then cover it and stick it in the refirgerator until tomorrow.

Then I'll show you how to dress your Texas Chili up for Debutante Ball.

Part 4: Simmer Down!
texas chili - dump the ingredients

Once all of the meat has been browned, remove it to a separate plate. It's a wee bit annoying to have to do this, but it's one plate.

Add the 2 chopped onions, chopped garlic and jalapeno peppers to what is presumably the rendered beef fat. If you have drained off the beef fat, use about 2 Tbsp olive oil, health-nut. Cook the vegetables over medium low heat until the onions are translucent and tender, which takes only a few minutes.

Add the browned beef back into the pot, dump in about half the chili powder to start, ground cumin, salt and pepper. Be careful on the salt, because if you plan to use canned beef broth, it might be salty already. Stir to combine, then add the beef broth and canned tomatoes.

Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and let that pot "of red" burble down for about an hour and a half, giving it a stir every once in a while, tasting, and adding more chili powder, salt, and pepper as needed

Part 3: Brown the Beef
texas chili - browning the beef

Some people are of the belief that the beef must be dredged in flour before browning. Evidently, this helps to create a "crustiness" on the beef and will serve to thicken the chili later. Blasphemy! I know I said that there are no rules in chili, except for the one rule about diced steak and the other rule about no fillers. Flour, to me, counts as a filler.

Simply salt and pepper the diced beef and brown over medium heat in the pot you plan to use to cook the chili. You can add oil first to brown the meat, but even though the meat is lean, it does have some fat, which will be enough to brown the meat.

You can drain off the rendered fat once you're done browning, but I never bother. The fat tastes good.

Part 2: Prepping Everything Else
texas chili - ingredients

Before browning the beef, it's a good idea to get all the other ingredients for Texas Chili ready to dump into the pot at once. I am notorious for prepping nothing in advance, and simply mad-dash chopping vegetables, grabbing spices out of the cabinet and opening them with *gasp!* greasy hands.

The thing to achieve here is vegetables that are chopped smaller than the beef so that they almost melt into the chili's "liquid" before the end of cooking. I used 2 large red onions because those are what I already had. Otherwise, use regular onions since they are stronger.

My recipe says to use 8-10 cloves of garlic that are finely minced, but really, my garlic cloves are always enormous, so if you want to use more than 8-10, by all means, do it. If I hadn't run out of garlic, I probably would have used a whole damn bulb.

Now a lot of recipes call for fresh jalapenos or serrano chiles. Whatever. I prefer the pickled jalapenos because I'm lazy. They've already got a bit of acid and salt from the pickling brine they were in, so I don't have to worry about either of those elements later.

As far as spices go, have about 1 c. of chili powder ready (ground chiles, ground red pepper and ground oregano, in your preferred ratio) as well as 4-5 Tbsp. cumin, more if your chili powder doesn't include it.

Part 1: Dicing Beef
texas chili beef prep

Last week, Sarah Gilbert showed us how she sniffed out the secret of Nick's Coney Island Chili. I'm no food sleuth, but I do love chili, and was motivated to make my Texas Chili.

Obviously, there are no "rules" in chili. I think chili started as a big old pot of "stuff" - whatever meat and vegetables were around, tossed into a pot and cooked until the cows came home. However, there are a few things that make a Texas Chili, well, Texas. It uses diced steak or other cut of meat, not ground beef; it's fairly spicy, and there are absolutely no beans. None. Never. Otherwise it's just plain old chili.

This isn't a giant pot of chili - just enough for a few friends. I'm starting my chili with about 2 lbs. lean chuck, diced. The rest of the ingredients are:

2 large onions, chopped
8-10 cloves finely minced garlic
a handful of jalapenos, chopped
1 cup beef broth
1 15 oz. can plum tomatoes, crushed or chopped
ground cumin
your favorite chili powder (which probably already has cumin)
salt/pepper

That's it. Once the beef is prepped, we're off to San Antonio...

Filed Under: Ingredients, How To, Methods
Tags: america, appetizers, beef, comfort food, dinner, hors doeuvres, lunch, vegetables

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Reader comments (Page 5 of 6)

2-09-2006 @7:10PM lincoln from texas said... I can't believe so many adults are stressing over chili! There are many ways to make it depending on where you live in Texas and in other regions of the country. I have an easy solution, if you don't like the recipe, don't make it. And don't got to any Chili cook off or seeing all the tomaotes and beans they use will make you cry!
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2-09-2006 @7:10PM randy miles said... The chili was great and similiar to a dish we already use. I've never eaten dog slop, but if it's similar, maybe I'll try it.
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2-09-2006 @7:11PM randy miles said... The chili was great and similiar to a dish we already use. I've never eaten dog slop, but if it's similar, maybe I'll try it.
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2-09-2006 @7:16PM doug said... I'm from Texas and while I agree Sheree's comments are illadvised, I believe most true Texan's like a good dog slop. We are pretty open to trying anything and everything. That is what makes life fun. We also allow folks to like or dislike individually without judging. By the way your recipe sounded good to me although I would use more garlic and more fresh jalepenos.
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2-09-2006 @7:21PM sarah said... dear readers, i can't tell you how awesome everyone's comments and suggestions have been so far! having grown in up in san antonio, then quite a few years in cincinnati, i thought i had my fair share of all kinds of chili, but everyone's recommendations for ways to make it better, spicier, deeper, leaner, greasier, beanier, less beanier...are awesome! it gives me incentive to experiment to come up with an even REAL-ER texas chili ;)
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2-09-2006 @7:23PM sarah said... oh, and by the way, i think i HAVE had real dog slop, too.

it's called hormel corned beef hash. LOL!
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2-09-2006 @7:23PM Don said... I am sorry --but this chili is not Texas chili.It looks nothing like Texas Chili and in real Texas chili there is not Jalapenos and very little garlic(if any) and very little tomato sauce or tomato paste(if any).I do not know where the person lives who has this recipe for Texas Chili--but I can guarantee they are not from Texas---my guess would be New York.
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2-09-2006 @7:29PM Toni Collins said... I think your recipe sounds delicious and I am excited to try this one on my family. They love anything spicy! I am not a Texan but God bless them for their wonderful food. I also make a recipe that is very spicy and one that is not so spicy for my church. My pastor said he had never eaten chili that was too hot .... until he ate mine! I felt sorry for him when I saw his face. It face was the brightest red I'd ever seen and he was sweating profusely but he said that was the best he has ever had. Keep the recipes coming because you have some folks in Louisiana that love them!!!!!!!!!
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2-09-2006 @7:36PM james said... Hey, the chili looks alright....for yankee chili, it ain't no texas chili(yes i said ain't no), thats for sure...but it looks good still, just not like texas chili.
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2-09-2006 @7:41PM J said... Being bred,born, raised and living in Texas all my life i'd have to say thats real Texas Red.
as always some folks will have thier variances but it doesnt change much at all.
its a great recipe,thanks for sharing and dont sweat the rude, uncalled for negative comments.
Bon Apetite!
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2-09-2006 @7:41PM Sara said... I'm of the mind that there is more than one way to make good chili. That said, I do think the beans vs no beans thing is the biggest difference between "texas" chili and others, though most (not all) use steak instead of ground beef. What I do is somewhere in the middle between the two, it's what I have worked out. I cut chuck up into smallish hunks and then cut it up myself in the food processor with the garlic and whatever else I wish to season the actual meat with. The chunks of meat are not quite "ground" beef, but they're not quite cut pieces and it's easier than cut pieces. I think that works out as the perfect compromise between the two.

Good eating!
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2-09-2006 @7:42PM Debra said... Chili is a very personel dish! There is nothing wrong with this Chili. This recipe looks like you could modify it anyway you wanted. Use some imagination, Sherree! For the vegetarians - try black beans & navy beans instead of the meat. Oh, and in your Jiffy mix cornbread, try adding some canned corn &/or green onions!
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2-09-2006 @7:44PM Sara said... BTW, Sarah, regarding post #5 - you sure did handle that with grace and tact - kudos to you!!! :D
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2-09-2006 @7:45PM LANCE said... AT MY HOUSE IF IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE DOG IM SURE ITS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. BESIDES DID TEXANS REALLY INVENT CHILE. ALWAYS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING NEW TO TRY AND THIS SOUNDS GREAT THANKS
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2-09-2006 @8:18PM Al said... it seems that i can not get past comment #20, and I know I left one around # 19?? would like to read additional comments, but when i try to go to page 2 plus, i get a blank screen! why?

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2-09-2006 @8:48PM Donna Lynne said... I have lived in Texas for the last 10yrs and have recently relocated back to my hometown in California...This recipe was forwared to me from a native Texan (still living in Houston) wanting it for dinner when he comes here to California this weekend...says it is just like his grandma's! It lookes yummy and probably will be come a Calitex meal often!!!! Thanks for sharing.

Donna Lynne
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2-09-2006 @8:48PM Al said... this is so interesting; there are as manyTEXAS chilis as there are TEXANS. we might as well argue about TENNESSEE whiskey vs. bourbon, but if you like it, make it your way.
By the way, I am a Yankee, by birth. If you ever get to East Muleshoe, and can find John Miller, ask him about my chili...he'll say it ain't hot enuff, but then he's about 80, and i'll wager his tastebuds are well-seasoned.
God Bless America, and God Save our POW-MIA's.
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2-09-2006 @9:11PM Al said... the greatest thing about this discussion is that we CAN have it! If you like TEXAS chili, KANSAS CITY chili, it does not matter! We are all talking about an AMERICAN dish in an AMERICAN way!
So, y'all take your chili as you like it, and enjoy it; keep passing along recipes and tips, and who knows, maybe someday one of us will come up with the perfect chili!
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