We know what we’re having for Christmas dinner: The same exact thing [1] we have every Christmas dinner, right down to the salad dressing and the sides. The trouble comes on the nights before and after, when we’ve got family over, friends stopping by, or a bunch of hungry kids sitting around the condo after a day of skiing. On these nights, we’re looking for a one-pot special, something easy to make (and easy to clean up) that everyone will eat. This year, we’ll be busting out some Texas-style chili. If you’ve been reading this blog over the years, you probably know we eat our share of chili, and we have a recipe [2] we like that goes back a couple of generations. But sometimes you need to shake up the ol’ routine. Recently, I was having a conversation with one of my colleagues recently, Kaela, who is the daughter of a man from Texas who takes his chili very seriously, and this is what she told me: Her dad has the best chili recipe. It calls for sirloin instead of ground beef, bacon drippings instead of oil, and no beans. We did a trial batch, and Kaela just might be right. This chili is good. It’s smoky and dark and concentrated and UH-MAZING when eaten on a corn chip, with a little sour cream. They should sell air fresheners that smell like this chili. And make extra, as it’s twice as tasty the next day. — Andy
Texas Chili
Adapted from this Brazos River Chili. [3]
3 pounds top sirloin, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
4 tablespoons bacon drippings
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
10-1/2 ounce can beef broth
13-3/4 ounce can chicken broth
1 cup tomato sauce
1 teaspoon onion powder
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon Hungarian sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 or 2 whole jalapeños, seeded and halved
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
In a Dutch oven, brown the meat in the bacon drippings. Add the garlic and onion and cook until just transparent.
Add the beef broth, the chicken broth and tomato sauce, and bring to a boil. Add the onion powder, chili powder, paprika and white pepper, and stir well. Float the jalapeño halves on surface of chili. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Check occasionally to see that liquid covers the meat. If it begins to look dry, lower the heat and add a little beef broth.
Remove jalapeños from surface and stir in the additional chili powder, ground cumin and onion powder. Return jalapeños to chili, cover, and simmer over very low heat for an additional 1-2 hours.
At the end of the cooking time, you may adjust the taste with additional chili powder, cumin, and onion powder, if desired.
Serve with sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, chopped cilantro, sliced avocado, and corn chips (Kaela insists on Fritos).