Real Texas Chili

How long has it been since you had a big hot steamin' bowl of Real Texas Chili?....Well, that's too long!  

If you're like me you grew up with Wolf Brand Chili as the standard for frito pies, hot dogs and even poured over crunched up crackers and, to this day, as much as I know how bad it is for me; I still love the stuff.  For years I have made a ground beef version of chili and it is quick, good and satisfying, but now and then I want the slow cooked real beef Wolf Brand style.  The kind of chili that makes me think it's been served fresh off the back of a chuck wagon; a beefy chili stew.   Well, here it is all spiffed up and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.  (I adapted this dish from a recipe in the Houston Chronicle that placed as one of the best of the decade at the end of the '90's and I bet you'll never miss the beef suet or the corn flour.) 

3 pounds lean boneless beef chuck roast - cut into 1 inch cubes 

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Cut up the stew meat into 1 inch size pieces and divide into three parts.  Heat 1/3 of the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the beef cubes in the oil for 2 minutes. Do this three times.  This will keep the meat from releasing it's juices into the skillet.  If you crowd the meat and it does lose it's juices you just need to simmer it UNcovered for a few minutes longer to cook the juices back into the meat. 

It took me many years to learn this and my meat (and meat dishes) have had a lot better flavor ever since! 

3 - 6 tablespoons chili powder (I usually use 4)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1-2  teaspoons celtic sea salt (I like 2)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Add the spices to the meat one at a time and toss until it is well mixed.

2 cups beef broth

1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

   Then add 2 cups of the beef broth and the apple cider vinegar to the crock pot.

To the empty meat skillet you can pour in one can of rotel tomatoes and deglaze the skillet by heating and stirring it in the skillet briefly before you transfer the tomatoes to the crockpot (which just means you scrape out all the meat yumminess and make sure that you don't miss any.)

Now the rotel goes on top of the chili fixin's,

and the lid goes on the chili for several hours, till it looks like this.  (I cooked it on low overnight but you could do 4 hours on high or just bake it in the oven for at least a couple of hours). *See note about tomatoes in "real chili".

Once it looks like this you get a slotted spoon and just rake it gently through the chili, breaking it up but not pulverizing it.   When it looks like this except a little drier:

                           

You're in business!

Now you just take 1 cup of the remaining 2 cups of broth and add 1/2 tsp xanthan gum and whisk it thoroughly.  Pour this mixture into the chili once the broth is totally lump-free and take a look at it.  If it is the thickness and juiciness you like you can stop there.  I needed to use the remaining 1 cup of broth to get the juiciness I wanted, but you could just as well add an additional 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum to the last 1 cup of broth if you want it a little thicker.  This is just a matter of preference and even more water can be added if you prefer a thinner chili. 

3 pounds lean boneless beef chuck roast - cut into 1 inch cubes 

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1 quart beef broth (divided)

1 - 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 - 6 tablespoons chili powder (use a good, fresh quality, I use organic)

2 teaspoons ground cumin (the better and fresher the spices the better the chili)

1 tablespoon dried oregano (use the good kind)

2 teaspoon celtic or real sea salt (the kind with the minerals)

1 tsp minced garlic cloves

1 can rotel tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon (or more) teaspoon xanthan gum

1. Cut up the stew meat into 1 inch size pieces and divide into three parts.  Heat 1/3 of the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the beef cubes in the oil for 2 minutes. Do this three times.  This will keep the meat from releasing it's juices into the skillet.  This happens when you crowd the meat and you just need to simmer it UNcovered for a few minutes longer to cook the juices back in if this should occur.  It took me many years to learn this and my meat (and meat dishes) have had a lot better flavor ever since! 
2. As you cook your meat batches put them into your crock pot and keep cooking and adding more meat.
3. Once all the meat is browned and in the crock pot, pour the 2 cups (1/2 qt.)  beef broth over it.  Then stir in the 1 or 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (the vinegar will give it an extra kick and aid in breaking down the meat to chili consistency so I used 2 tablespoons, but just suit yourself).
4. In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, and cumin. Sprinkle over the meat and stir until evenly coated. 
5. Crumble the oregano over the meat and sprinkle the garlic over the top of that and stir again.  You want this to be well mixed so that is why I break it into at least two steps.
6. Next, add the salt and stir together well, then pour the rotel tomatos over the whole thing, put the lid on the crock pot and cook it either overnight or 6 hours on low.  If you would like you can also cook this in the oven in a a covered ovenproof dish for about 2 hours at 350 degrees.  At any rate the meat should be falling apart when it is done.
7. Now, this is important, remove the lid and just rake it around with a slotted spoon.  You don't want this to be exactly shredded, because you still want recognizable chunks but you don't want big chunks either.  Now  sprinkle the 1/2 tsp xanthan gum over the broth and whisk till it is thickened and lump free and pour the thickened beef broth over the whole thing and reheat.  Remember you can add more water if you need to and when you go to reheat it you might find that it has absorbed all the juices and needs a little more water.
8. It should have a good flavor now, but will be even better if you refrigerate and let the flavors blend.

*Note about tomatoes in "Real Texas Chili". I'm pretty sure that the cooks on the chuck wagons did not have access to tomatoes, but my husband just does not like it without them and he's a Real Texan so his Chili has tomatoes :-).