Mom's True Texas Chili

Photo Tutorial of this recipe here.

This is my own version of my Mom's recipe for True Texas Chili. Texas Chili contains Meat. And Spices. That is ALL. No beans. And for God's sake, no tomatoes! Are you making spaghetti sauce, or chili? Anyway. I modified Mom's recipe by adding an onion. Because really, what suffers from the addition of onion? Nothing. And my unorthodox addition (Sorry, Mom) is a bit of brown rice. The original recipe called for a couple tablespoons of flour to thicken it, and in the attempt to go gluten-free, and eventually grain-free (except for rice), I've used different things over the years to thicken it, from ground millet to cornmeal to quinoa. Everything works fine, but the brown rice addition is compliant with the McCombs Plan, which we are currently following. Really, you could just skip the rice and add the water and simmer the chili. It would thicken up just fine, I'm sure. *Update 4/19/10: Trying to be grain-free now, so today I'm making it without rice or any grain. It worked great! 

Anyway, Enjoy a great big bowl of Texas Red! And if you just *want* beans, just add them at serving. But not to the pot. Okay? Oh, and "beans" means PINTOS. Not those big, weird, yucky kidney beans you Yankees think go in chili... **grimace**

Mom's True Texas Chili
(Can be halved easily, but why not make a bunch and freeze half?)

Ingredients:
5 lbs ground chuck, 80/20. (If you know me at all, you know I don't believe in lean.)
2 medium yellow onions (White or 1015 will also do fine.)
2 T garlic powder (or better, a couple cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and chopped)
1 (scant) cup chili powder (I like Fiesta "light in color" Chili Powder, but any will do.)
1/2 cup ground cumin (I like to grind my own, but pre-ground is okay.)
1/4 cup ground turmeric (If you can get this in the bulk section, it will be much cheaper than those tiny jars.)
2 T sea salt
1 cup brown rice (We are partial to Lundberg Organics Short Grain Brown Rice, but any will do.)
4 cups filtered water, plus more if needed.

Method:
Put the ground beef in a big stock pot and crank up the heat to medium-high. As the meat browns, stir and break up chunks with a wooden spoon.

While the meat browns, chop up the onions, and garlic if you are using fresh.

Measure into a bowl: 1 cup chili powder, 1/2 cup ground cumin, 2T garlic powder (if you are not using fresh), 2T salt, and 1/4 cup ground turmeric. Turmeric is supposed to be really good for your brain, and specifically in the prevention of Alzheimer's, which my Mom has, along with all of her siblings. Scare. So whenever the dish allows (chili, rice, potatoes, etc.) I try to remember (heh) to add it. I actually forgot this the last time I made chili, but I have noted it on my original recipe, so I won't forget in future!

Get the beef nice and brown. When it's fully cooked, add the onion (and fresh garlic, if using) and mix it in. Then add the spices and mix them in. Add the brown rice. Add four cups of water, and mix it all up. Turn the heat to low, and simmer this mixture for a good, long while, stirring occasionally . 2 hours is the absolute minimum. I partially cover the pot, by laying the wooden spoon across the top of the pot, and putting the lid on so that it is slightly ajar. At two hours, it's edible, but really needs more. This last batch, after two hours, I added 2 more cups of water and simmered it about another hour and a half.

When it's done - nice and thick - take it off the heat and allow it to cool for a while. Split it between two 2-quart containers. Put one in the fridge for immediate consumption, and one in the freezer for later. Chili freezes really well. And as delicious as it is, one gets tired of eating it by the time you get to the end of one of the containers. Or if you have a friend in need, you have a delicious hot meal on hand that you can take to them.

Enjoy!

Fearless Friday: Muffins

Based on the success of the cupcakes made from the gluten-free cake recipe, I decided to try an experiment to decrease the sugar even more. So based on that recipe, I made up the following one. If it works, I'll have a snack that is free of grain, gluten, dairy, sugar, and fake sugar. The only major allergen it contains is egg. I do have at least one friend who will not be able to eat them because of that. And I guess nuts, but those are quite easily left out.

Carrot Apple Raisin Muffins
(Free of gluten, grain, dairy, sugar, & sugar substitutes)

3/8 cup coconut flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons flax seed, ground
(1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp allspice - suggestions*)
5 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup raisins (used 1/4 cup golden & 1/4 cup regular)
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts**

In a small bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, ground flax, & spices.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, and applesauce.
Add carrots, raisins, and pecans and mix.
Add dry ingredients into large bowl and mix.
Grease 12 cup muffin tin and dust with coconut flour, or line with muffin papers.
Pour batter into cups 2/3 full and bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.
Remove from oven, allow to cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove from pans & cool completely.

*My applesauce was homemade, and was very spicy with ginger, cinnamon, & anise seeds, so I didn't add any extra spices. Therefore these measurements are just suggestions.
**If you know me at all, you know I used pecans. I always say, "A walnut is a Yankee's poor excuse for a pecan!" That being said, I concede that walnuts would work just fine in such a recipe.

I transferred them to a cooling rack, and we each grabbed a warm one on our way out the door - Husband was halfway through his before I bit into mine, so I asked him for an assessment. He said it was, "like cornbread with fruit in it," and he liked it. I bit into mine and found the texture to be fantastic! It was pretty much not sweet at all, except for the raisins. When we got home, we each had a room-temperature one, and found it much sweeter than the warm ones had been. I refrigerated them overnight, and in the morning found them *plenty* sweet for breakfast.

There are a couple of things I will do differently next time:
- I will grease & flour the muffin cups instead of using papers, because I didn't like how much muffin stuck to the papers.
- I will try using 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut in place of the flax seed, just to see how it affects the taste & texture. Perhaps I'll try using both as well.

But all in all, I declare this Fearless Friday a success! I will *definitely* be making it again.

**Update** I made a second batch, and it did not come out anything like as well as the first. They were edible, but soggy. There were a few changes contributing to this: 
1. I used a less-expensive brand of coconut flour, which was milled less finely and had a higher fat content than the Bob's Red Mill that I used before. I now recommend *only* Bob's Red Mill Coconut Flour. It's around $7/lb, but you only use tablespoons of it at a time. My first bag lasted me an entire year.  
2. I eliminated the flax seed, and added 1/4 cup unsweetened, flaked coconut. I loved the flavor of the coconut added, so next time I will try adding both.
3. My applesauce had sort of separated and was a bit runny, and
4. I didn't measure the carrot shreds, but just grated 2 carrots into the bowl. I don't know that this threw it off, but with baking, measuring is usually a good idea.

I'll make a third batch and let you know how they come out!