Pedernales River Chili "Lyndon Johnson once loved the kind of greasy chili that Sam P Pendergrast cooks. His doctor made him modify the recipe, though, when he suffered a heart attack during his tenure in the US Senate. This became the new reduced-fat version, graciously provided by Mrs. Johnson." From Texas Home Cooking
INGREDIENTS


4 pounds chili-grind beef chuck or venison
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
2 tablespoons chili powder, or more, to taste
1 teaspoon round cumin
Salt to taste
2 to 6 dashes Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
2 cups hot water
1 1/2 cups canned Rotel Tomatoes

METHOD

Place the meat, onion, and garlic in a large, heavy frying pan or Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat until the meat is lightly browned.

Add the oregano, chili powder, cumin, salt and hot pepper sauce. Pour in the water and tomatoes, and bring the chili to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 1 hour. Skim off any fat during the cooking.

Serve the chili hot.(duh)

Serve:s 5 to 6

This is similar to the recipe my Dad made. He would have a rump roast very coarsely ground, ( cubed almost) And at some point he sometimes added masa harina to thicken
Now note there are rotel tomatoes in this recipe. Good chili powder is key to a good chili.
WIML tends to add a whole jalapeno to the mix himself. hot chihuahua!

I admit to making vegetarian chili and other fru fru such things involving beans and hey its pretty good but its not really chili.

I've never had great chili. Alton Brown's chili looked okay, but I've never made it. If anyone wants to share a particularly groovy chili recipe, then thanks in advance.

I like chili with and without beans. I make mine with. And with a good amount of heat. I'm not from Texas, so y'all can bite me.

And I agree ... drink beer with it.

I use red kidney beans and their liquid and black beans which have been strained.

Fred, good to know you know how to do it right in DC.

Me thinks we are getting ready to have a FF.
Frijole fight.


Arrg. Was just shot by fellow Texans.

Post deleted by BellaDonna

I enjoy wine wiith complexity and character but would rather drink something easy.

There's nothing wrong with a Coor's Lite under the 100+ degree Texas sun! When sweat is running down your body in buckets one can't taste the complexitys or anything. I know all I want is something icy cold that I can jug.

Did I say "jug"?

I meant "chug"!



And yes... definitely plural.

If you're interested, here's the About.com descrip of chili, emphsasis is theirs.

Chili
There are as many versions of the origins of chili as there are chili recipes. What some people call chili almost borders on soup, stew, or even a garden salad. I'm sure they have their place, but not in Texas where chili is the Official State Dish. Real Texas chili is a thick concoction of beef and chili peppers. And most important to remember, real Texas chili does not have beans . In fact, in some quarters tomotoes or onions are looked down upon but as long as you serve it up with lots of meat (usually beef) and chili peppers andno beans , those other transgressions can be overlooked. Chili is a meal all by itself but a nice chunk of Southern-style cornbread or flour tortillas are acceptable accompaniments.

Flour tortillas are absolutely right on. Wrap it up and stick a half a jalepeno in it along with some nice spicy chili... Yum!

The tortilla helps mute the fire much better than any cold liquid. Of course a big chug or beer helps refresh one's pallet ready to accept the next round of heat.

Top your chili with Fritos and cheddar cheese and diced onion.