The recipe by the Cajun
Source of Recipe
the web
4 lb. beef.
Do not use wimpy tender cuts for this recipe. The real stuff was cooked from the remnants of mature cattle who spent their lives scrabbling through the brush for their living. So don't buy the $5 a pound sirloin. Buy the cheapest lean stew meat or brisket. Trim off most of the fat. Save the fat for the cooking. Chop the meat up with a knife into little pieces quarter-inch or so. Don't work too hard at it. The authentic cooks wouldn't have. If you have a meat grinder, you can run the meat thru one time using the coarsest blade. Don't use ground meat. Ain't no telling what's in there, and it cooks up into an amorphous paste instead of a real chili.
5 tablespoons chili powder - more if you want
Texjoy works good. So does Gebharts. If your chili powder has been sitting on YOUR shelf for a year, it's too old. Throw it out and buy new. You still won't know how fresh it is, but it will be fresher than the stuff you just threw out. Resolve to make chili often enough to where you never have to throw out old chili powder again.
1 teaspoon comino (cumin) same comments as for chili powder!
2 baseball-sized onions
No need to get fancy purple onions or those sweet things. Just use plain ol' onions. Chop the onions by hand. Food processors either produce a puree or leave too many big lumps. A sharp knife is your friend. Use it to convert your onions to quarter-inch or so pieces.
5 large cloves of garlic
That's large cloves of regular garlic, not the elephant garlic you see sometimes. Peel it. The easy way to do this is to lay the garlic clove down and whack it semi-flat with the side of your knife. Do this to all five cloves, then remove the little hard parts. Chop the garlic up fine.
2 poblano chile peppers
Yeah, saying chile peppers is really redundant, like saying round wheels, but some people won't know this. Most big markets carry poblanos in the specialty produce section. These are large, dark green, and the flesh is not quite as thick as a bell pepper. Abuse these peppers by placing them in the broiler of your oven for a few minutes, turning them a time or two, until the skins are blistered and charred lightly. Then hold them under cold water and remove the skins, leaving the flesh. Open up the peppers and remove the seeds. Then chop the remainder finely.
1 tablespoon salt
You might want to start with less and work up. Kosher salt is okay. It is probably closer to authentic.
half teaspoon black pepper (fresh-ground. It really makes a difference)
1 teaspoon oregano
If you got fresh, use it finely chopped. If you use the dry stuff, refer to my comments under chili powder. You can omit this if you wish. Its' authenticity is sort of iffy.
2 teaspoons Louisiana hot sauce
You could also use small amounts of serrano or cayenne or other HOT peppers. This is also an area you might want to start low and work up. When you taste, take a little taste, walk around, and see if, and how far, the heat builds in your mouth. Hot peppers are slow heat. Black pepper is fast. You want to build your chili so that when the final level of heat from the hot pepper is reached, your mouth is happy. This is a different level for different people.
Cooking:
If you don't have a cast iron pot, you need one. But for today, if you don't have one, resolve to get one as soon as possible and learn to use it. Use a heavy pot of about 5 quarts capacity. Put the pot on the fire. If you have an electric stove, you are unfortunate. Man has been cooking over fire since prehistory. It's meant to be that way. Heat the pot and add the fat you trimmed off your meat. Render the grease out of the fat until you have about two tablespoons in the pot. Remove and discard the remainder of the fat. This would make a dog very happy. Add all the chopped meat. You don't want to brown this meat. You want to stir it frequently over high heat until it turns grey. It will typically release a lot of water. This is good.
When all the meat is a uniform grey color, add the chili powder, comino, onions and garlic. Stir into the mass of meat. It should turn a delightful reddish brown, and begin to smell great. You might need to add a bit of water to keep the mass semi-fluid. Stir occasionally and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes.
Add the remainder of the ingredients except for salt and hot sauce or pepper. Add part of these ingredients, stir in, and allow to simmer for a few minutes. Then taste and add more if needed. Simmer for an additional 45 minutes, stirring and adjusting moisture as needed. Serve when you can't stand waiting any more.
Side notes:
There are no tomatoes or tomato products in my chili. I personally feel that these were not part of the historical recipes. Many (a lot, really) great chili cooks add sauce or chopped tomatoes to their recipes. Let your conscience be your guide. I just have a picture in my head of an old trail cook saying, "Hell, boy!! Them thangs is p'isen!"
I do NOT put beans in my chili while it is cooking. I have a pot of beans on the side. Pintos are authentic and recommended. Add a spoonful to your bowl of chili when serving. Other sides and additions include hominy and cornbread.
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