The Heart Of Texas

Texas Chili from scratch! Through the years many well meaning folks have tried their level best to define Texas Chili. During the heyday of chili cooking competitions, CASI (Chili Appreciation Society International) required contestants to create a stew of meat and gravy only. Fillers would disqualify you. Some so called purist would be outright mean about the whole bean and chili debate. Those same folks would be the first to open a can of tomato paste or tear into a pre-packaged commercial chili powder. I mean if you are going to claim to know Texas chili then you should know about chili peppers! Right? To this Texan, chili is a stew with a hearty meat and gravy. If you actually read the labels of some of the most popular brands of commercial chili powder they do not even mention the type of chili peppers in the pre-packaged mix. Most of the pre-packaged chili powders have loads of salt and most have MSG and anti-caking agents like sodium aluminosilic...

Beef Stock 4 grass fed beef shanks about 3” thick (beautiful) 2 large yellow onions 6 medium carrots 6 stalks celery 6 large fresh shallots ½ bunch fresh cilantro 8 chipotle peppers 1 tbs sea salt 2 tbs fresh cracked peppercorns 2 tbs coriander 2 whole bulbs fresh garlic Put 2 gallons of water in a pot add ingredients (I rough chop everything) bring to a boil then immediately shut fire down to a very slow simmer for 22 hours. Stir every couple hours, then shut off heat let cool for a short while, strain (I strain 2 times), let cool all the way, then I render the fat.