Oh, Gee! Chili Cookery over at Dean's World!

Here is the link to Dean Esmey's "authentic Texas Chili" recipe. Dean says, "Chili is a Texas creation, a Texas invention, and a Texas tradition." He also has some hard things to say about the Cincinnati Chili we sometimes make in Ohio.

I spent my glorious graduate school days along the Rio Grande in New Mexico, and, as the last Spanish governor said of the place, "Poor New Mexico! So far from Heaven, so close to Texas!" It is a magnificent land where the chile pepper has been grown and cooked with for centuries longer than more boastful and boisterous neighbors have been around.

I first learned to cook in the good old fashioned way where the ristras of red chile hang from the vigas sticking through the adobe walls and over the breezy portales where you can watch a spectacular sunset over Mt. Taylor to the west, or stroll in the hollyhock-laden cloister garden of the Church of San Felipe de Neri, on the north side of the town plaza.

Here is the chili recipe I learned there. I'm not going to tell you that its the "only authentic" recipe or claim that it is the best recipe or denigrate anyone else's recipe. But I do encourage you to try it and see how much you like it.

Heat two tablespoons of pork lard or olive oil in a cast iron (worthwhile for the flavor) cooking pot. Saute two large coarsely chopped onions and three cloves of minced garlic until golden.

Lightly brown one pound each of floured lean beef and pork cubes, or, even better, lamb and pork cubes, in this mixture. Add 3 to 6 tablespoons of Medium Hot ground chile molido (take the trouble to find this in a specialty store--it's worth it), one tablespoon of fresh or ground oregano, and one teaspoon of salt. Stir constantly until the ingredients are fully melded into a rich even paste.

Add six to eight coarsely chopped fresh tomatoes or, if your local tomatoes aren't at the absolute peak of ripeness and juiciness, substitute two large cans of crushed Italian tomatoes. Stir thoroughly and add 1 or 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil and simmer on as low a heat as possible 4-6 hours. In the last half hour of cooking, add one small can of sliced black olives. Serve, if at all possible, with freshly steamed and buttered flour tortillas, chilled beer or cold milk, with rich coffee and flan (egg custard) for dessert.

Enjoy.