Pedernales River Chili Con Carne v. 2.0

Chili Con Carne (Peppers with Meat) is the Official Dish of Texas and as a natural born Texan I would like to think I have a pretty good handle on what makes a good bowl of red.  I have tried MANY different recipes and I have found this to be the best tasting, easy to prepare chili out there. The list of ingredients is short, the preparation is simple and I guarantee your guests will love it.

By the way, you will notice there are no beans in my recipe. True chili does not contain beans. Beans are great on the side but anyone that says beans go in chili is either misinformed or itching for a whoopin.

Here is the list of ingredients:

4 pounds of lean beef, chili or hamburger grind
2 tablespoons of bacon drippings
1 large white onion, chopped
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
3 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 15 ounce can of tomato paste
2 cups of boiling water
6 tablespoons of chili powder

Step 1: Melt the bacon drippings

Melt the bacon drippings in a large stock pot over medium heat.

Bacon drippings are a staple here in Texas. They make everything better except for maybe coffee and fruit salad. 

If you don't have bacon drippings you can use vegetable oil but your chili won't be as good as it could be.

Comments

[Bas]

Nom nom nom thanks! :)

[gijoebob]

Glad you liked it!

[Bas]

Thanks for the simple recipe. But I have a problem, you see I live in Finland and we don't have much of a chili culture. Where can I use this instead of just sticking my spoon in it and eating all at once? On spaghetti, inside hot dog sandwiches is all I can think of. Any other creative Texan ways?

[gijoebob]

A traditional way to eat chili here in Texas is Frito Pie. You put Fritos in a bowl and cover with chili and grated cheese. It is wonderful!

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/walking_taco_taco_in_a_bag_petros/

[dchall8]

Fritos and cheddar cheese is my style with some sour cream (I'm from California) and scallion onion pieces.

And for reasons unknown to us non-native Texans, that name is pronounced PERD uh NAL us after the river.  As if you were saying Perd 'n Alice.  It is not pronounced like it is spelled. 

[gijoebob]

I'm with you on the onions. My kids like sour cream in theirs to temper the heat a bit. They also like rice in theirs, which appears to be an East Texas/Louisiana practice. I just take mine straight up.

[loricollins]

And of course I forgot to say what I started to say! That recipe looks fantastic and I'm going to give it a try ASAP.

[loricollins]

NW Floridian and we always eat rice with ours too. But, we also always have beans.

[amazinglarry]

Thank you for nixing the beans.

[gijoebob]

Just about all of the chili contests don't allow the use of beans or other "fillers" so I stay away from them. But I love some good chipotle pinto beans on the side.

[cookiemonsterette]

Sounds like your recipe would freeze well and lend itself to making a big batch available for later use.

[gijoebob]

I often freeze it in quart size freezer bags. I almost think it tastes better after a long sit in the deep freeze.

[flynnjohnny]

You had me at "melt the bacon drippings."

[gijoebob]

Thanks! It's a great way to start any savory dish!