Chili today.

Making really good Chili, the authentic TexMex variety, is really not too much of a mystery. Like many recipes, it's really just a few basic ingredients. The trouble comes when people try to doll it up with all of their "secret ingredients". It's easy to fuck up a good thing by getting too cute with it.

First off, let me say that if you want to add things to this recipe, feel free. It's a very basic start. I think it's great the way it is, but if you want to be the guy who adds a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a can of pears or beer or whatever, you go right ahead. Good luck at the next chili cook-off. Secondly, I'm not going to get into the "beans vs. no-beans" debate. If you like beans in your chili, go ahead and make it like that. This recipe doesn't have beans. This recipe has no tomatoes or tomato sauce either. You may feel free to add that as well. Thirdly, this chili is hot. Not habenero chili hot, but plenty hot enough that if you aren't into hot food, you're going to want to tone it down some. I hate the "n-alarm chili" bullshit. It's a scale designed by people who find catsup to be spicy (1-alarm), i.e., pussies. If I had to put it on that scale, I'd say it was 4-5 alarm (see, they made me do it any way. God damn I hate that). Fourthly and finally, this is pork chili. You may feel free to use beef, chicken, or even tofu. I don't think it'll matter so damned much.

OK, let's begin...

2 lbs of pork chopped into acorn sized pieces
2 Dried ancho or New Mexico chili peppers (it is chili, after all)
1 large onion, chopped
4 good sized jalepenos (fresh. Canned won't work)
5 cloves of garlic minced finely
2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp dried oregano
A few chicken bones to make stock
some bacon fat or olive oil or beef suet or a combination of any of those.


First things first. Get those Jalepenos into the toaster oven and start roasting them at 450 or so. While that's going on, put the chicken bones in two cups of water on the stove and bring that to a boil. Chop the anchos and remove the stems and add them to the stock as it's heats. Once it boils, bring it down to a simmer and remove the scum from the top. When the jalepenos have blistered (it should take about 20 minutes) drop them into cold water and then remove the celophane-like skins. Cut the stems off and place them into a blender. By now, the stock should be good. Fish the bones out and let the liquid cool. While that's happening, start browning the pork (with the onions). When the pork is almost done, add the garlic and the cumin, stir it well and then remove from the heat. When the stock is cool, pour it into the blender with the ancho chili and the jalepenos that are already in there. Puree it and then pour it back into a large pot. Add the pork and onion from the skillet. Bring this to a simmer and let it cook for an hour. It doesn't need to cook all day, but that wouldn't really hurt.

You can serve it as-is, like a stew, or you can serve it with some hominy. You could put it on rice (my favorite), on corn bread, or over a couple of tamales. It's all good.