Texico Nights: Texican Chili

To make a good Texican Chili, start with the meat selection.  Prime rib roast is best, but more importantly, it's critical to get it ground correctly.  Ask the butcher for the chili meat cut and get 3 pounds.  It will be lean so that will make quite a bit.  Enough for six to eight.  Mainly with chili, it's about the spices you don't use.  Many will dazzle you with concoctions of ridiculous proportions.  Spices of unknown origin.  Weirdly, usually leaving out the peppers.  Here's the deal, all you need is a bunch of chili power and cumin, perhaps combining whole seeds and cumin powder, in a 2/1 ratio.  You then have the basis of chili.  Salt and pepper at the very end.  I've eaten horrible chili before.  Chili with Kahlua, chili with chocolate, white chili.  Left many full bowls of chili on the table due to violations of personal edible standards.

 

Creativity comes next.  Tomato sauce and diced tomatoes are a given, but here's where you should take note.  Rotel.  Yes, the queso staple.  It will add the proper spice to finish off the pot of Texican Chili.  A chopped whole onion should be added as the meat browns initially, fresh garlic added in the latter stages.  Cook it long, cook it low.  Ideally, it should be cooled and refrigerated overnight to really taste its true potential and experience its perfectly tender texture.  Serve with corn chips, raw onions, cilantro, sharp cheddar, and sliced avocados.  A cold, light English beer goes good.  Ice water, too.  Beans should be eaten at a separate meal.