"Not Texas Chili" -- WHAT? Whose blog am I following?

Yep, I am making "Not Texas Chili."  So, you may ask, "Why?  You say you're a TEXAN?"  Well, I will explain below.  The revelation will come during that step.  But, guess what?  It's damn good chili, so chill on my chili.

I am using about 2.5 lbs of ground beef (73% meat, 27% fat) and 2 lbs of stew meat.  The ground beef will cook down to almost half here, people.  Don't freak!  In addition, some of the pieces of stew meat will be larger than the others.  Go ahead and cut it all down to try and get the pieces all the same size. 1 inch cubes works well.  Not everything is going to be perfectly one inch.  Who cares!  Just try and get the bigger pieces down so all your meat will cook evenly.

ONLY season the stew meat with salt and pepper.  If you season the ground beef before it is browned, the salt will cause the water to draw out of it prematurely and it will not brown correctly.  Go ahead and season the stew meat (I use kosher salt and ground pepper).  Why the stew meat and not the ground meat?  The stew meat does not have the water/fat content that the ground beef does.  It needs to be seasoned.

Let the meat chill out of the fridge for a bit while you do the following steps.  You don't want to add super cold meat to a super hot pan.  It will "shock" the meat, cause it to tense up and could result in tough meat.  Let it get the chill off of it and relax.  We all need to relax after being 40 degrees for a day, eh???

Ok, find a heavy-bottom soup pan/dutch oven.  You need a tight fitting lid that accompanies it.  Go ahead and pre-heat it to medium high heat. This will take a bit.  Let it get hot.  Let it get h-o-t.

Ok, meanwhile, grab an onion, green pepper and garlic.  Yes, I use lots of garlic here.  But these cloves in the picture are actually from the center of bunch and they are a tad smaller.  Trust me!  You need this much garlic!  Ok, ok, ok, ok.  I know!  No chilis here???  Yes, well, I am cooking for a family this time, which includes an 8 year old and a 12 year old.  I WILL add fresh jalapeno to my bowl once I am finished, but am not cooking with it.  If you choose, PLEASE finely dice a jalapeno with this, as well.  If you like a little heat, remove the seeds and ribs.  If you are a Texan, dice it all... and whole!

Ok, your pot should be coming to temperature.  Add about two tablespoons of canola oil here.  Add SOME of the ground beef.  You do not want to overcrowd your pan.  It will make the meat "steam" instead of brown.  USE ONE POT HERE.  We are doing this in batches.  It takes more time, but you keep all that flavor in your pot.  Let the meat sit.  Do not turn it.  Do not flip it.  Do not stir it.  LET IT BROWN and caramelize!  See the crust on it?  Then, turn it, stir it, etc and let it cook on the other side just until no longer pink.

Ok, do all the ground beef this way.  If your pot gets too hot, turn it down.  As the beef cooks, drain it in a colander while you are doing the next batch.  In between batches, start chopping veggies.  See?  It ain't that much garlic!

Next, it is the stew meat's turn.  Again, let it sit.  Let it brown.  Let it get a crust.  You might want to turn these pieces with tongs.  Again, don't over crowd your pan.  It will steam the meat instead of browning.  We are still using the SAME pot here!  Yum!

Drain the meat on a paper towel lined plate.

Now, using the same pot ;) , lower to medium and add some butter.  This will keep the oils in there from burning too bad.  If you have burned bits in your pot from the meat, scoop them out.

Add your onions and peppers.  Season again with salt and pepper and let the veggies get a little soft.  

See how the butter and the veggies start picking up all that good meat flavor???  Add your garlic now.  Garlic can burn and taste super bitter if you let it go too much.  Add it after your veggies are soft and cook for another 3 minutes.  After that, make a well (push everything to the side and make a circle in the middle).

Now, I add tomato paste here.  And, yes, I add a lot.  I don't like tomatoes, so I use a lot of paste here to get tomato flavor.  This is one of those small, tiny weeny cans.

LET THE PASTE COOK FOR A BIT.  It really needs to wake up.  It's been dormant for a little bit and needs to get happy again!!!  Stir it around and let it get to know everyone in the pot.

Ok, go to the fridge.  Grab two beers.  One for you and one for the pot.  :)  Go ahead and pour a whole beer into the pot.  Only after you have a few sips of yours.  :)  Let it cook for about a minute and a half.  It will allow the alcohol to cook off and allow the beer to come up to temp.  Add about a half a box of chicken stock and a large can of tomato sauce.  Stir. 

 Grab your spices.  Here we go.  Now, this is how I do mine.  Do what you can here.  If anything, chili powder is a must!  Here is my example of a "palmful."  Sorry, I don't use measurements.  I believe each dish, and each time you make it, is different and should be determined by taste.  But, for blogging purposes, I am using my version of a palmful, illustrated here with my cumin.

Add 2 palmfuls of ground cumin, 3 palmfuls of chili powder, 2 palmfuls of dried oregano, 1 palmful of crushed chili flakes, and 1 palmful of smoked paprika.  Regular paprika will work here.  If you only add chili powder, be prepared to add more than 3 palmfuls.  Just taste it and go from there on how much more to add.  Add one palmful kosher salt and one palmful of ground black pepper here, too.  Stir well.

Add all your meat back to the pot.  Stir well.

Bring to a boil, cover tightly, lower to a simmer and let it go 2 hours.  Only stir it once...about an hour through.

About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve, get your kidney beans.  AHHHHH, HERE'S THE NON-TEXAN PART!  Yep, I add bean to my chili.  People swear that if you add beans to your chili, then it is not Texas chili.  It would then be Bean & Meat Stew.  Well, I like the texture and I like it.  So, I add it.  So, there!  :P  Rinse the beans, people.  Ewww!  If I have to used canned beans (which is the only canned thing I use, then I rinse.  Blah.  Just rinse.)  Now, here is one trick.  I mash half of my can of beans.  Why?  Well, I think it releases some of the starch and thickens the chili a little bit!  Re-cover the pot and let it go at medium low for the last 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, cook some darn cornbread!!!

So, here is my final product.  I top with cheese, sour cream, fresh jalapenos, and scallions (this is my husband's bowl, whom I topped with diced tomatoes, too, since there are no chunks of tomato in the chili).  I put everything around the bowl.  That's just how I prefer it rather than all in the middle.  This way I can choose and pick what my bite is.  :)

Happy football season, y'all.  GO COWBOYS!

Recipe Card:

2-2.5 lbs of ground beef (at the most 80/20)

2 lbs. stew meat

salt & pepper

2 TBSP. canola oil

medium onion

medium green pepper

4-5 average size cloves of garlic

(whole, fresh jalapeno, red bell pepper, anaheim pepper, etc, optional)

2 TBSP. unsalted butter

small can tomato paste (or about a half a tube of paste)

2 beers of your choice (one for the chili, one for you)

1 large can of tomato sauce

1/2 box of chicken stock (not broth...stock)

2 palmfuls ground cumin

3 palmfuls chili powder

2 palmfuls dried oregano

1 palmful red chili flakes

1 palmful smoked paprika

1 can beans of your choice (kidney, black, pinto, RANCH STYLE! -- optional)

garnishes (cheese, sour cream, scallions, jalapeno, etc...do whatever YOU like!)