Prize-winning Texas chili

There’s a simple reason why this chili has won contests: it’s fabulous. It’s so good I’ve made it twice in five weeks and each time I made a full, big batch and froze some. I’ll be making it again next month.

Texas chili is all about the beef and robust red sauce; beans don’t go anywhere near it. Ever. I think of it as meat and heat, although it doesn’t have to be a scorcher to be good. The depth of flavor comes from its low, slow cooking and a combination of spices. Control the heat with the hot sauce.

I found this at the Dallas Morning News, in a roundup of prize-winning chili recipes. What intrigued me about this one, by Dorene Ritchey, is the addition of the spices in three stages and only after it’s been cooking a while. So much good cooking relies on layers of flavor that result in subtle but complex tastes, not in-your-face seasoning, and I think that’s the principle here. No one flavor — or spice — dominates when it’s in the bowl. It’s just reach-for-seconds tasty.

I did not follow the recipe exactly. For instance, I don’t ever brown meat in Crisco as Ritchey does. I used canola oil and less of it. The original uses boullion cubes but their excessive sodium, to say nothing of their harsh, artificial taste, disqualifies them from any dish I make. I used low-sodium beef broth instead. And a head-scratcher was 1/8 teaspoon of bay leaf. I simply tucked a whole dry bay leaf into the pot the second time I added spices and removed it at the end.

Please click the link above to see the original. The recipe here is the way I make it. She simmers on the stovetop, I use the more gentle and even simmering of the oven with no adjustments in time. Either way, you’ll want to check from time to time to make sure the meat is still covered with liquid, adding water if need be. I never have to add a drop when cooking it in the oven. You want the sauce to remain thick during cooking for the most flavorful beef. It emerges meltingly tender for a soul-satisfying bowl of red.

Texas Chili

Adapted from Dallas Morning News

2 – 3 TB canola or vegetable oil
2 pounds cubed beef, chuck or shoulder
8 ounces tomato sauce
hot sauce, such as Tabasco, to taste (see note)
2 jalapenos, skin slit but left whole, divided use
1 14-ounce can low-sodium beef broth
water as needed

6 TB (3/8 cup) chili powder, or to taste
1 heaping TB cumin
1 TB onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp fresh-ground pepper
scant 1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf

Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until hot and shimmering. Add the beef and cook just until it loses its redness. Stir in tomato sauce, hot sauce to taste, and one jalapeno. Add broth and, if needed, enough water to cover.

If you are going to simmer in the oven, preheat to 325F/165C/Gas 3.

Bring to a strong simmer, reduce heat, cover and let simmer in the oven or on the stovetop for one hour. Remove jalapeno, squeeze its juice into the pot and discard pulp and seeds. Add water if needed.

Mix together the chili powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, cayenne and oregano. Add one-third of the mixture and the second jalapeno, stir well and return to the oven or bring back to a simmer on the stovetop and continue to cook, covered, for another hour.

Add the bay leaf and another 1/3 of the spice mixture and continue to cook as above for 30 minutes, adding water if needed.

Add the final 1/3 of the spices and cook as above for another 15 minutes. Remove jalapeno and bay leaf. Taste for salt and adjust, if necessary.

Serves 6

Ella’s Note: I like and can tolerate heat and use 8 to 10 shakes of Tabasco, which does not give me a sauce that I consider to be hot-hot. I know some people use Tabasco by the drop, not the shake, so if you start with only a couple drops you can always add more while it cooks if you need to. I’d taste and adjust when adding the second round of spices, giving the sauce a good stir before you taste it.

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