Texas prison chili got its good reputation
from Sheriff Smoot Schmid's truly fine
recipe for the Dallas County Jail.
Right off the bat there was no way I was going to use suet. I increased the ground beef to 2 1/2 pounds to compensate. It all went downhill from there. My husband came to my rescue and added diced tomatoes, tomato paste, more seasonings, sour cream, and corn chips. He also added light red kidney beans. Since he was bailing me out, I certainly wasn't going to object to the beans.
So, if you want to see one of the MANY recipes for chili that was around in the 1950s, be my guest. Then, go and make your favorite recipe and we'll never speak of this again.
Texas Jail Chili (Circa 1950)
1/2 pound beef suet -- ground
2 pounds coarse ground beef
3 garlic cloves -- minced
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground dried sweet chile pods
3 cups water
Fry suet in a heavy kettle. Add meat, finely diced garlic and seasonings; cover. Cook slowly for four hours, stirring occasionally. Add the water and continue cooking until the chili has thickened slightly, about one hour. Serve plain or mixed with equal portion of cooked pink or red beans.
(I should have opened a can of Hormel...)
3 comments:
Sorry it didn't work out :( vintage recipes just don't translate well to modern cooking sometimes.
Um.... gag. My chili is waaay better, quite possibly just because it doesn't call for SUET!
Have a great time camping,
Trixie
Well, it WAS a sheriff having to feed inmates. Perhaps it was part of their punishment?
I just can't figure out why it was touted as something GOOD.
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