Texas Red
2 meat of your choice
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 large green bell pepper
1 large Texas yellow onion
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
3 heaping tablespoons Gebhardt chili powder
2 tablespoons fresh garlic, chopped fine
1 green pickled jalapeño pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper
6 cups water
3 ancho chili pods
1 tablespoon ground cumin (comino)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Directions:
Heat the 6 cups of water in a saucepan. While this is heating,
roast the ancho chili pods under a hot broiler for 10 seconds on
each side. Remove the pods and when cool enough to handle,
remove the stem and shake out any seeds inside. Place the
pods in the water that has come to a boil, cover and remove
from the heat. Let ‘steep’ until later in the recipe.
In a large ‘stew’ or ‘chili’ pot, add the oil and butter. When
hot, add one of the meats listed above. Brown the meat on
on a medium high heat, stirring often. While the meat is
cooking, peel the onion and dice into 1/4” pieces and remove
the stem, seeds, and membrane from the bell pepper. Also
dice the remaining outer skin into 1/4” pieces.
When all the pink has disappeared from the meat, add the
onions and bell peppers and stir in well. Add the chili powder,
cumin, salt, garlic and black pepper. Again stir well.
Add the flour, a little at a time and stir to mix well. Reduce the
heat to medium and let cook for 5 minutes. It will be normal
for some of the flour to stick to the bottom of the pan. Add the
broth that has the ancho chili pods in it SLOWLY. Scrape the
bottom of the pot with a spatula and now add the tomato sauce
and the jalapeno pepper (remove seeds for less heat).
Stir to mix well, reduce to medium low and cook uncovered
for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the meat is very tender. Check and
stir every 30 minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom of the
pan with a spatula to keep from burning. Remove and serve
in a large ‘soup’ bowl with crackers and/or jalapeno cornbread.
Optional toppings are finely grated, longhorn cheddar cheese and
fresh, raw, chopped yellow onion.
