Texas-No-Bean-Chili
(Serves 8)

2 lb. chuck (1/2" cubes)
3 T oil
5 T chili powder (see sidebar)
1 lb. Chorizo sausage (see sidebar)
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
24 oz. beer
2 tsp. brown sugar
4 lb. canned whole plum tomatoes (drained and chopped)
6 oz. tomato paste

Marinate beef, covered, overnight in 3 T oil and 2 T chili powder.  (Do not use an aluminum bowl.)

Brown meat—on all sides—in a hot, heavy skillet. Transfer meat to a large pot.  Cut sausage into 1/4" slices, brown, and add to beef in pot. Add more oil if needed.

Reduce heat under the skillet and sauté onions till soft.  Add garlic, remaining chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper.  Stir 3 minutes more.  Then add beer to deglaze the pan, scraping up all the meat bits from the bottom.  Add to the large pot, along with brown sugar, tomatoes, and tomato paste.

On a low heat, bring chili to a simmer, cover, and cook about 3 hours—leaving the lid off during the final 30 minutes to thicken the sauce.

Tips & Glossary: Tex-Mex

Hot, hot, hot!  For many that’s the pleasure of Tex-Mex food. But if you’re sensitive to throat-burning, eye-popping peppers, then turn down the heat. Just reduce the peppers in these dishes. 

• Avocado: use only ripe avocados with dark purplish-brown skins. If you have any unused avocado (why would you? But say you do…), rub the flesh with lemon juice to keep it from browning.

• Chili Powder: dried ground chili peppers typically mixed with cumin, garlic powder, and oregano.  You can make your own blend, adding cinnamon, cloves, coriander, paprika, and nutmeg.  Briefly heat dried peppers in a skillet to release flavors, then grind them into powder.

• Chili Pepper: any small hot pepper, as opposed to larger, milder bell peppers; includes, cayenne (red), chipotle (smoke-dried jalapeños), habanero, jalapeño, paprika, poblano, serrano, and tabasco.

• Chorizo: a cured Spanish sausage, deep red in color due to the use of dried smoked paprika peppers.

• Coriander:  also known as cilantro and Mexican or Chinese parsley. Both fresh leaves and dried ground seeds are used in Mexican, Mid-East, Asian, and Indian cuisines.

• Cumin: an aromatic kin to theparsley and carrot plant; an important ingredient in chili powder.  Used especially in Indian curries, but also in Mexican, Thai and Asian dishes.  It has an earthy, peppery flavor.

• Enchilada:  made using corn tortillas, dipped in a sauce, filled and rolled up.  They are placed in a casserole dish, topped with sauce and cheese, then baked.

• Quesadilla: (kay-sa-dee-ya), literally, “little cheese thing.” In Tex-Mex cooking it has come to mean a sort of grilled cheese sandwich, using two tortillas filled primarily with cheese, grilled in a skillet or griddle, then cut into wedges.