Captain Sousie wrote:schlepporello wrote:Who can eat 3-alarm chili and live?
The hotter, the better
Not if it's real chili.
Real chili has the following ingredients:
-flour
-oil
-beef
-onions (white)
-garlic (more than you think it should)
-chili powder (I like Gephardts, and have it shipped from Texas), which includes such spices as comino (cumin), the principle ingredient in any chili spice, and cayenne pepper, enough for taste but not enough to cause injury
-water
-red kidney beans (please, no pinto beans), if you want beans
-salt
Notice there are no tomatos, and no tomato sauce. Chili is pioneer food, and should be cooked with ingredients that would keep on the trail (except for beef, of course, which was in good supply on the hoof).
I start with a roux of flour and oil and cook it until it's almost, but not quite burned. The darker the better, but if it burns, throw it away. It should have a color no lighter than peanut butter. (That's a cajun touch, by the way, and absolutely essential to this recipe.) The roux should be enough to cover the bottom of a 10-quart pot (with a thick bottom, please--no soup pot) by a little less than half an inch, with a consistency that leaves a gap for a few seconds when you drag a spoon across the bottom.
Then, I put in five pounds of
lean beef round, which I have the butcher run through his coursest grinder just once. When the meat is seared, I add two white onions, chopped, and a whole garlic, also chopped (not a clove, but the whole garlic). Then, I add two-thirds of a bottle of Gephardt's chili powder, and stir. I add water to about two inches from the top of the pot, and cook for a minimum of two hours over a medium-low flame, stirring often enough to keep the bottom from burning. Then, I add five cans of dark red kidney beans, and then salt to taste.
It tastes better if you let it cool, refrigerate, and reheat the next day, adding a bit of water. The flavors will mix better.
Makes nearly 10 quarts and keeps in the fridge for five days. Can be frozen.
This is not Mexican chile, which is a pepper salsa, but Texas chili favored by pioneers.
Rick "giving out sacred information and expecting gratitude" Denney
