The Real Texas Chili to beat off the chilly weather

I used to work with a woman who was a wonderful cook.  I stole every recipe I could wrest from her grasp.  I even tracked her down about 5 years after I stopped working with her just so that I could get more recipes from her.  Unfortunately, I've lost contact with Myra over the years but there are a few recipes that I still hadn't tried [and it's been almost 10 years since I last stalked her].

Whenever the weather starts to turn nippy in LA [that would be 68 degrees or below] I start craving a hot bowl of Chili over rice.  I like the recipe I've been using for years [ground beef, tomatoes, onions, beans] but the recipe for thick chunks of chuck steak chili was crying my name.  Luckily, I still had this recipe from Myra that I never tried.

After doing some detective work, I figured out that this recipe was from Craig Claiborne, food editor at the New York Times [published in Family Circle June 1975].  I received a huge crockpot for Christmas so I really wanted to give it a try.  I wanted the meat to fall apart tender. It was wonderful, juicy, and had a great spiciness to it...just comforting enough to ward off the cold [served over a bed of rice, of course].

adapted from Real Texas Chili

by Craig Claiborne

3 pounds boneless chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

4 to 6 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon leaf oregano

2 cans [13 3/4 ounces each] beef broth

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Optional:

1 can [15 ounces] pinto beans

1 cup airy sour cream

1 lime, cut into wedges

1. Heat oil in a 4 quart pot or heavy bottom pan over medium heat.

2. Add beef, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon until meat changes color but does not brown.

3. Lower heat, stir in garlic.

4. Combine chili powder, cumin, and flour. Sprinkle meat with chili mixture, stirring until meat is evenly coated. Crumble oregano over meat.

5. Place beef mixture into crockpot, set on low

6. Add 1 1/2 cans of the broth and stir until liquid is well- blended.  Add salt and pepper [and beans if desired].

7. Cook on low until meat is fork tender [took me about 6 hours]

8. Cool thoroughly, cover and refrigerate overnight to ripen flavor.

Reheat and serve with garnish. [I couldn't wait.  and my garnish was rice.]