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I can’t make any claims to the authenticity of this recipe – I’ve been to Texas once, and that was a layover at the Houston airport – but according to my research, a proper Texas chili is meat and chili peppers, spices and maybe a little bit of tomato sauce. There are no beans, and using fresh ingredients such as real onions and garlic is frowned upon (most recipes I’ve seen advocate the use of onion powder and garlic powder).
Actually, the only time I’ve ever had a Texas chili was at Garlic and Shots, a bar in Soho that was established by two brothers from Sweden. Again, no guarantees of authenticity there. I don’t know if the Olsson brothers have ever been anywhere near Texas, but they make a damn good chili – wonderful spicy shredded beef, with very little sauce to speak of.
My research indicates that you can use many different textures of meat – some recipes call for cubed, some for the usual minced or ground beef. The BBQ Pit Boys on YouTube use their shredded beef brisket and mince which looks incredible, but a tiny flat in east London isn’t the place to try out smoking beef, so I’ve had to improvise. Also, a chili is meant to use up leftover meat, so I’ve done this with stewing pork as well as beef and I think I actually prefer it with the pork. It’s even cheaper to make too.
I’ve been trying my hand at making preserves. I haven’t got much of a sweet tooth so I’ve been experimenting more with chutneys, though we’d probably call it a relish in Yanksville. Actually, the word chutney is so little used in the US that (apparently) Donna Summer’s daughter is named Chutney. That’s probably the weirdest one yet in the stakes of celebrity spawn named after foodstuffs. I imagine Peaches Geldof will be well pissed off.
Anyway. Sweet Chili Jam. This is bubbling away on my stove as I type this. Again, it’s not so much a jam as a very thick sweet chili sauce or relish. There’s not enough pectin in peppers to allow this to set like actual jam, though I suppose you could add some storebought pectin if you’re desperate to have a jelly texture. The finished jam is an amazing crimson color, sticky and sweet, with just enough heat to give whatever you’re putting it on a nice little kick. It goes with pretty much any kind of cold meat and it’s great with cheese. It will likely end up on just about every burger, sandwich, chip, and french fry that comes out of this kitchen. Guess what everyone’s getting for Christmas this year?
