How to Cook Pecos Red Chili

One bag, two pounds of meat, about an hour. Here is how we make it at home, and why each step is done the way it is.

All you need

• 1 package Pecos Red Chili Mix
• 2 lbs ground beef (or other meat)
• 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
• 3 cups (24 oz) water

Cooking time: about 1 hour. Makes 1½ quarts (6 hearty cups).

Step 1: Brown the meat

Brown the meat in any pan you own. Cast iron, stainless, non-stick, it does not matter. Then drain off the fat.

Use lean meat if you can. Beef is traditional, and 85/15 or 90/10 is the sweet spot. Bison is leaner still, and we like it for that. Ground venison or elk works great too.

Here is why lean matters. You will hear that fat is flavor, and for a steak that is true. In a pot of chili, though, the flavor comes from the chile, and the fat does not stay mixed in. It rises to the top as that orange slick you have seen on a bowl of diner chili, and it takes some of the color and heat with it. Drain it now and the gravy stays rich and clings to the meat.

Step 2: Build the base with Chili Blend A

Put the meat in a pot. Add the tomato sauce, the water, and Chili Blend A. Lid on, low boil, 45 minutes to an hour.

Use a stainless steel pot or an enameled one like a Le Creuset. Skip bare cast iron here. Tomato sauce is acidic, and an hour of simmering in it will strip the seasoning off your pot and put a metallic taste in your chili.

This long simmer is where the chile cooks into the meat. The pot smells good at ten minutes, but it tastes like chili at forty-five.

Step 3: Finish with Chili Blend B

Take the lid off. Add Chili Blend B and simmer for 15 minutes. Longer is fine. If the pot gets too thick, add a splash of water and keep going.

Most chili mixes give you one packet. We give you two because an hour of simmering cooks off the brightest flavors in the blend: the cumin, the oregano, the garlic. They go up with the steam. Blend B puts them back right before you eat. Competition cooks call this the late dump, and it is the difference between a pot that tastes deep and a pot that tastes deep and alive.

Step 4: The hot pepper packet

The hot pepper packet is optional. Leave it out for a mild pot, or add it to taste for a serious one. You are in control.

Then

Argue about toppings. Shredded cheddar, sour cream, chopped onion, sliced jalapeños, and saltines are the usual suspects at our table.

Pecos Red is at its best the next day, after a night in the fridge. If you are cooking for company, make it the day before. It also freezes well. Portion it into silicone freezer trays and you have lunch for a month.