This Simple Texas Chili Makes an Incredible Frito Pie
Hello friends and welcome to the first part of Skillet Chili Cook-Off . Let me start by saying that this will probably last longer than I originally planned. I know I said I would pick eight (8) chili recipes to cook, eat, and ponder, but you just sent me too many tempting entries.
Plus, I’m the boss of this corner of the internet and can make as many of your delectable chili recipes as I want! I have no desire to limit myself (or you) to eight, and I will not. Anyway. Let’s take a look at our first plate of meat wonder: plain, honest Texas chili.
I only know two things about Texas: you can’t add beans to their chili, and you can’t joke with spiders. (My family didn’t live long in Texas right after I was born when my dad was testing cattle or something. I was bitten by a spider and this mark didn’t go away until I was a teenager.)
The no-bean rule never made much sense to me. As a bean-loving maximalist, I didn’t understand why the addition of beans upset so many people. But the author of The Notorious HAM changed my mind with his measured, gentle tone and simple no-frills recipe. Was the description of this chili influenced as “rural” and “working class” for me? Of course I’m a communist from Mississippi. Did the words “limited ingredients as needed” dazzle me? You bet it was. I love food that anyone can prepare, regardless of income or location. I also liked that HAM said that we could eat the pinto as a treat, at least as a side dish. This guide demonstrates a flexible yet principled approach to eating and preparing food.
I don’t have to retype the detailed, clear HAM instructions. I’ll just drop them here and meet you on the other side.
I followed HAM’s instructions exactly, right down to adding fish sauce and red wine vinegar, both of which added their own unique flare of subtle characteristic (umami and brightness respectively) in their own way, but the chili was good anyway. without them. I didn’t feel the need to thicken the chili peppers, so I skipped Mas Harina, but I’ve used it in other recipes and can confirm that it works well with chili peppers.
That chili got my ass kicked. It is meaty and full-bodied, but not overly heavy, with just the right amount of acidity and sweetness. It was a little sharper than I expected, but it was good. The heat poured in and out with every bite, never erasing my palate and always making me yearn for another bite.
Just note that I recommend leaving the chili peppers overnight. Tastes really evolve and merge into something even better than a novelty. The wait is really worth it.
Again, I must emphasize how affordable and light this chili is. All of the ingredients can be found at any grocery store, and they are all very reasonably priced (especially if you already have a shelf for decent spices). The dried spices do a lot of work here, and they do it beautifully. The result is something more subtle and evolved than most people would expect, and this is a valuable lesson. I am very much to blame for the “riffs” even before setting the baseline, and this chili reminded me that sometimes it’s just all you need. To be honest, this is some kind of relief.
Oh and you should definitely use this chili for making Frito pie and you should make Frito pie with Whiz. This is indeed the platonic ideal of a sports snack, and I’ll probably eat it every day until I run out of chili.