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MARK’S CHILI CON CARNE

See Article: The Taste Of Texas

Ingredients

One pound ground beef
One tablespoon olive oil
One tablespoon chile oil
One large onion, chopped
4 fresh hot peppers, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
One 15 oz can Hunts tomato sauce
One tablespoon chili powder
Half teaspoon cayenne powder
A few dashes of hot pepper sauce
One teaspoon cumin
Half teaspoon achiote powder
Half teaspoon coriander
Half teaspoon of paprika
Quarter teaspoon oregano
Quarter teaspoon black pepper
Half teaspoon salt
 

Directions

In a large pot, sauté the ground beef until browned and then remove with a slotted spoon. Drain the fat if you wish. Add the oils and then sauté the onion and peppers until soft.  Add the garlic and sauté one minute. Add all of the remaining ingredients and the meat.  Bring to a boil and simmer for one hour, stirring frequently. Add more salt if necessary.

This recipe will produce a notably hot chili.  But there are plenty of points where you can modify the heat level. You can substitute a bell or poblano pepper for the fresh hot peppers, substitute olive oil for the chile oil, and adjust or eliminate the hot sauce and/or cayenne pepper. I wouldn’t forgo the chili powder though, since this is chili con carne after all.

By the way, there is a difference between chile (with an “e”) powder and chili (with an “i”) powder. Chile (with an “e”) powder is solely ground chile peppers. Chili (with an “i”) powder is a mixture of chile powder and other spices such as cumin, coriander, garlic, etc.  Chili powder can always be found in the spice section of any supermarket.

Achiote are the seeds of the annatto tree and the two names are often used interchangeably. Achiote can be found in the Goya section of your supermarket. Simply grind the seeds in a spice grinder.