Super Bowl of Red

It may not be traditional to put cheese on Texas chili.

But I have a tendency to observe traditions at my whim. It's good to be the queen.

My husband and I aren’t big partiers during the Super Bowl. We mostly watch to see the commercials. Since it’s an evening game I usually use it as an excuse to make something fun for supper and to try expanding my repertoire. This year it was Texas-style chili and homemade tortillas.

I’m a Colorado native by birth and spent my childhood there until I was in high school. You would think a western state would know better, but the only chili I was ever exposed to had … gasp! beans in it. The spicy bean soup came with me to Texas. It took me over 12 years to take a crack at making “Texas Bowl of Red”. I used a recipe from Food Network Magazine’s most recent issue. This link will take you to it: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/texas-bowl-of-red-recipe/index.html.

I made a few tweaks. Stew meat replaced a 6 lb. chunk of meat. Instead of olive oil, I cut the last 2 pieces of bacon I had into small pieces and browned the meat with the bacon as it was rendering in the dutch oven. The spice measurements stayed the same, but I put in 4 tbsp. chili powder, 1 tbsp. smoked paprika and 1 tbsp. chipotle chili powder. One change I didn’t try was adding Shiner Bock to it. I ran out a while back and just haven’t remembered to buy more. The recipe calls for additional liquid if the chili gets too thick after adding the masa. Seems to me that would be a good time to sneak in a little beer. However you make it, beanless chili is delicious. Dare I say it was a revelation?

Making homemade tortillas was added to my must-do list after I read the ingredients on a package of store-bought. It was an awfully long list of stuff for a flat bread. I’ve been making yeast breads for a while, so I figured tortillas wouldn’t be too hard, plus I needed to use the tortilla press I received for Christmas. I tried a recipe found on Epicurious, www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Homemade-Flour-Tortillas-233305.

I sneak some whole grain in our diet as much as possible, so the flour was ½ all-purpose and ½ whole wheat. I don’t use lard. Shortening or a shortening/butter combo works just fine. When kneading dough with whole wheat, keep a clean spray bottle with water handy. Whole grains generally take a bit more liquid than white. If you have dry flour that doesn’t want to incorporate, give it a spritz or two of water and keep working the dough until it’s smooth. The recipe includes directions for rolling the individual tortillas. It’s much faster to press them. A heavy skillet such as cast iron would work great if you don’t have a press. Instead of 12 pieces I divided my dough into 8 portions. The tortillas came out about 5-6 inches across, not nearly big enough for the taco bowls I planned to make. For that application I will double the recipe and decrease the number of individual dough portions. Here’s another tip for making the process more trouble free. Cut open the sides of a quart size, or larger, ziplock plastic bag. After portioning and rolling the dough into balls, place them one at a time on one side of the bag, fold the other side over the dough and press them. The tortillas will peel easily off the plastic and keep cleanup to a minimum.

No doubt, I’m preaching to the choir when it comes to Texas chili. Some of you are probably wondering what took me so long to try it. I don’t really know the answer to that one. My challenge to you? Try making tortillas. They would actually be a great introduction to bread making, since they don’t contain temperamental yeast. Are they worth some effort? Most definitely. In the event that someone attempts tortillas and has some difficulties, don’t be afraid to leave a question in the comments section. I’ll do my best to help you trouble shoot.

The Project Queen