The Tilsons

Over the years I have tried to come up with a good recipe for chili. I like it to be thick, without a lot of visible vegetables, but not completely devoid of them. My chilis in the past have been everything but, so I did my research and came up with this wonderful homemade chili recipe. The funny thing about researching Texas Chili, is that all the recipes are a secret. They tend to stay in the family and are never spoken out loud. (For example, I don’t think they use bay leaves in Texas). I digress.

Some tips for a great Texas Chili:

• The secret ingredient is coffee, it adds a smoky flavour and doesn’t dilute the taste.
• Apparently tomatoes ruin chili (funny because that was my main ingredient when working with recipe books) Tomato paste is okay, but definitely no tomato chunks. Resist the urge if it comes up - the recipe is built to be tomato free.
• The corn flour is better than white because it supports the flavour of corn bread - an essential for eating chili (or use tortilla chips instead of a spoon)
• If you want a more authentic heat experience, get those hot red chilis from the store and cook them in a cast iron skillet till they are blackened. (Remove the seeds for medium) Add them to the chili and then pick them out as you eat them (SLIGHTLY LESS HOT), or chop em up and leave them in there (HOT)

Ingredients (MILD):

3 lbs Organic Free Range Bison (beef / buffalo or a combination)
1 T Peanut OIl
3 large onions
5 large cloves garlic, pressed

5 Peppers (any colour, chopped)
1 C Celery (finely chopped)
1 Cob Corn (decorned)

2 Cans Tomato Paste
2 C dry kidney beans (soaked from the morning)
2 C dry pinto beans (soaked from the morning)

3 C double strength coffee
2-4 T flour (preferably corn)

2 bay leaves
6 t salt
5 t chili powder
3 t oregano
5 t cumin
1 T ground pepper
1 T cayenne pepper
4 T Worcestershire sauce
3-4 T Lemon Juice
2 T butter
some hot sauce
some wine

Directions:

1. In the morning, begin soaking the beans in water.
2. When you are nearly ready to cook, drain the beans and begin cooking them in new water (boil, and then let simmer - this takes an hour or so)
3. In a giant pot, fry chopped onions in peanut oil until transluscent, add garlic and meet. Cook until meet is browned and juice runs clear.
4. Add chopped vegetables, tomato paste and beans. If the chili seams dry, add half of the coffee. (do this slowly so that you have control over the flavour.
5. Add the spices,except the cayene pepper, tasting along the way.
6. At the end thicken with the last half of the coffee mixed with flour.
7. The last thing I do before I let it sit is add the cayenne pepper and hot sauce. The flavour should be excellent before you add spice, because a chili that is just spicy, generally just hurts instead of satisfies.
8. Wine is optional - I use Japanese Mirin (not from Texas) which adds body to the sauce.
9. The chili tastes best the next day so make it ahead of time.