Powerline’s The Week in Pictures
Popsicles
The 2014 Tailgate Has Gone Missing
No. Wait. I found some photos. No blog posts, though. But then again, it was 2014 so that explains a lot.
Given the evidence, perhaps we can figure this out.
Here’s what we know. The top picture was taken at 6:10pm on October 29. It has the look of a shopping trip for condiments for a tailgate, and that’s confirmed by the zoom in on the shopping list. The assortment of items is suggestive of BBQ sauce, and the presence of the three large gallon jugs support the conjecture. Two meat thermometers and two tongs make me want to think East Carolina pulled pork. If so, there …
I GOT IT!
I already looked to see who we played–Arkansas. So this must be the actual tailgate Mr. Big Food did without me! He smoked a whole pig over a rented charcoal pig cooker. And he got in trouble with the Game Day people because he had a flame too close to the tent or something and they had to move the smoker after the pig was already on it.
Well. I am glad we have solved that.
Where was I? It was the Fall of 2014 which was close on the heels of the Summer of 2014, also known as The Lost Summer.
Tailgating | Last of 2013
We have jumped ahead in our tale of the 2013 shrimp boil tailgate. There are many good photos of the tailgate itself and of preparations taking place in the wee hours. But we must make our way to 2014, and then 2015, because the real fun starts in 2016. This is the last post on the 2013 tailgate. It’s the day after–a Sunday.
Cheat sheet to terms and names:
Mr. mini-Hershey is the ^#*% who showed up at the tailgate with a single small bag of mini-Hershey bars as his contribution to the tailgate. That did not sit well with me and I told him so in the post before this original one. (Not in real life.)
The Piglet is the Piggly Wiggly grocery store in town.
A. Leland is a former colleague of Mr. Big Food who spent part of his sabbatical here on the Farm.
Season 3: It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over & It Ain’t Over Yet
Published on October 7, 2013 by Marica
Mr. mini-Hershey may have had his fill of the shrimp boil and moved on to attend to the details of his worthless life, but those of us worth our salt were still working today.
We went to the Piglet this morning– the giveaway is up to $700!— and arrived home to a most horrific sight.
I won’t bore you with the details of what was involved with trying to get back to normal after several days of being focused on the tailgate. It was just drudge work— completing tasks which must be completed as efficiently as is possible without a functioning dishwasher.
The good news is there was a little bit of shrimp left over. Mr. Big Food turned it into a delightful Sunday Supper.
I’ll wrap up the post-tailgate drudge work tomorrow.
A. Leland has offered to take a look at the dishwasher.
Recipe: Blue Bonnet Café German Chocolate Pie
Interesting twist on an old cake favorite, from the Blue Bonnet Café in Marble Falls, Texas
BLUE BONNET CAFÉ GERMAN CHOCOLATE PIE
9 inch cooked pie shell (preferably homemade—see recipes in this section)
1 C sugar
¼ C corn starch
¼ tsp salt
3 C milk
4 egg yolks
¼ C cocoa
3 Tbsp butter
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 C pecans
1 C coconut flakes
Sweetened whipped cream
Combine sugar, corn starch, salt, milk, and cocoa, blending well. Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles up and thickens. Cook 2 minutes longer. Remove from fire. Beat egg yolks slightly and gradually stir 1 C hot mixture into yolks (being careful not to curdle eggs). Stir egg mixture back into custard, bring to a gentle boil, stirring, and cook 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla, stirring until butter melts. Add ¾ C each of pecans and coconut flakes to pie filling, stirring well. Pour filling into baked pie shell. Cool pie. Combine remaining pecans and coconut flakes and toast lightly in oven. Top cooled pie with whipped cream topping or sweetened whipped cream, and sprinkle with toasted pecans and coconut flakes.
Recipe: Blue Bonnet Café Fudge Pie
Another great pie from the Blue Bonnet Café in Marble Falls, Texas.
BLUE BONNET CAFÉ FUDGE PIE
6 oz butter
3 squares unsweetened baker’s chocolate
½ C flour
3 eggs, beaten
1 ½ C sugar
2 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
Unbaked 9 inch pie shell (preferably homemade—see recipes in this section)
Preheat oven to 325o. Melt together butter and chocolate over low heat. Mix remaining ingredients together in a separate bowl, and gradually pour in butter-chocolate mixture while mixing. After mixture is well beaten, pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake 35-40 minutes or until set.
Recipes: Blue Bonnet Café Pies
Piled HIGH with meringue! From the Blue Bonnet Café in Marble Falls, Texas.
BLUE BONNET CAFÉ’S PIES
COCONUT MERINGUE PIE
1 C sugar
¼ C corn starch
¼ tsp salt
3 C milk
4 eggs, separated
3 Tbsp butter
1 ½ tsp vanilla
3 ½ oz can flaked coconut, a little reserved for topping
Baked 9 inch pie shell (I use Pillsbury)
Combine sugar, corn starch, salt, and milk in saucepan, whisking to blend well. Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles and thickens. Cook and additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Beat egg yolks slightly and gradually stir 1 C hot mixture into yolks (being careful not to curdle yolks). Pour egg mixture back into saucepan and return to heat. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring, 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla (stirring until butter has melted). Fold in coconut and pour into baked pie shell. Preheat oven to 350˚. Top pie with Meringue Frosting, spreading frosting all the way to the sides of the crust to seal, Sprinkle extra coconut on top and bake 12-15 minutes or until meringue is nicely browned. Cool completely before cutting.
MERINGUE FROSTING
4 egg whites, at room temperature
¼ tsp cream of tartar
½ C sugar
½ tsp vanilla
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar at high speed until foamy. Gradually add sugar 1 Tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved (2 to 4 minutes). Beat in vanilla. FOR 3 EGG WHITE MERINGUE: Reduce vanilla to ½ tsp and sugar to 6 Tbsp. Proceed as directed.
CHOCOLATE MERINGUE PIE
Replace coconut in Coconut Meringue Pie recipe with ¼ C cocoa, combing cocoa with sugar, corn starch, salt, and milk. Proceed as directed above.
BANANA CREAM PIE
Replace flaked coconut in Coconut Meringue Pie recipe with 2 ripe bananas, sliced, lining bottom of baked pie shell with banana slices before topping with cooked pudding mixture. (Proceed otherwise as directed above.) Top with either Meringue Frosting or Whipped Cream (reserving egg whites for another use).
WHIPPED CREAM
1 C whipping cream
½ C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Beat cream at high speed. As it starts to thicken, add powdered sugar gradually. Add vanilla. Beat until soft peaks form. Spread on top of cream pies and chill until ready to serve.
LEMON MERINGUE PIE
Proceed as directed for Coconut Meringue Pie above, but increase sugar to 1 ½ C, add 3 Tbsp flour to sugar-corn starch-salt mixture, and replace milk with 1 ½ C water. Reduce eggs to 3 and butter to 2 Tbsp. Add ½ tsp finely grated lemon peel to pudding along with butter and stir in 1/3 C lemon juice into pudding after butter has melted. Top with 3 Egg Meringue Frosting for Lemon Meringue Pie, or with Whipped Cream for Lemon Cream Pie.
More Labor
#LaborDay (3)
Published on September 7, 2020 by Marica
Mr. and Mrs. Luis Avila grow fruit and vegetables and sell them at a roadside stand in Chimayo, New Mexico, thus eliminating the “middleman’s” margin. Farmers get only about 40 cents of the consumer’s food dollar.
The Face of Rural America: The 1976 Yearbook of Agriculture
[Link goes to Amazon. $19.99.]
The book is loaded with photos– really something to see.
Labor Day
#LaborDay (2)
Published on September 7, 2020 by Marica
Ordinary People and Everyday Life: Perspectives on the New Social History (1983)
[Link goes to Amazon. Used from$1.98]
Ordinary People and Everyday Life: Perspectives on the New Social History presents thoughts by ten prominent scholars in American history and material culture on a new way of doing history in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
During those decades, the new social history challenged the ways historians traditionally looked at the American past. Preoccupation with great men and great events gave way to scholarly interest in the everyday lives of ordinary people. This history “from the bottom up” expanded the field of inquiry and introduced new concepts, methods, and sources for historical research and interpretation.
Season 3 | 2013
This would be a good time to explain what was happening, and what will happen.
The College of Arts & Sciences (A&S) hosts several home game tailgates. When we got here, Good and Organized Dean and his wife, together with Good and Very Organized Ass’t Dean and his wife, ran the show. Throughout the season, different A&S departments sponsored a tailgate. Some departments loaded up on Chilk-fil-A, some did the chili cook-off, others did a yearly sausage grilling. Other tailgate goers brought apps, side dishes, and desserts.
As you are starting to appreciate, Mr. Big Food and his department did a thematic tailgate, based on the opponent’s mascot or geographical location. Hence, for the Arkansas Razorbacks (2012), we featured pork.
Good Dean retired and he and his wife moved away. Good and Very Organized Ass’t Dean retired as well, but they didn’t move, and so still went to tailgates but with no official standing other than to be helping hands. Good and Organized Dean was replaced by Good and DISorganized Dean and his wife. This is a very nice couple, friends of a certain sort, who know very well how to entertain small groups. Unfortunately for them, A&S tailgates are not small affairs, but with some help, and continuing the department sponsorships, they managed.
About this time, the Game Day folk–the people who control traffic, road closing, parking, etc.–decided to become less hospitable and more … how shall I say? … jerk-like. It became more and more difficult for people to bring in food in. And at this same time, Good Disorganized Dean moved.
The thing to know about both Deans is that their management style was such that they tried to create an atmosphere in which others could do best what they did well. Good Disorganized Dean was replaced by a person … again, how to say? … who did not share this managerial style. Nor did he and his wife have a flare for hosting tailgates of 100+ people.
As part of the unofficial transfer of of power, in the summer of 2016, Good Disorganized Dean strongly suggested to Helpful but Authoritarian and Somewhat Indecisive Dean that Mr. Big Food take complete control of the tailgate. The whole entire sheebang, not just the cooking. There were plenty of folk who helped, of course. But beginning Fall 2016, it was our show.
Meanwhile, back to 2013…
Time for Another Season of ‘How to Cook for / Feed 150 People’
Published on October 3, 2013 by Marica
Season 3
This is the third year in a row Mr. Big Food & Co. will be hosting a tailgate for a State game. This one’s before the LSU game so he’s doing a shrimp boil– shrimp, potatoes, corn cobs, sausage, seasonings (without shrimp and sausage for the vegans).
Tomorrow, Mr. Big Food and I will go to the Piglet to pick up a few things (!) and A. Leland will travel to Tupelo to pick up the shrimp. We are curious to see what 50 pounds of shrimp looks like. Tomorrow evening we’ll shuck 96 ears of corn.
We anticipate problems– not the least of which might be Karen [an impending tropical storm]– but then, we’d be fools to not. This is not our first rodeo.
Last year we did sandwiches. Sounds easy, right? Wrong and wrong and wrong again. Here’s Part One of Episode 2:
Continue readingLabor
From a couple of years ago.
#LaborDay
Published on September 7, 2020 by Marica
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1939)
[Link goes to Amazon. Audible version of this crappy old book is free.]
That infallible source which has “multiple issues” (I’ll say!):
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is a book with text by American writer James Agee and photographs by American photographer Walker Evans, first published in 1941 in the United States. The work documents the lives of impoverished tenant farmers during the Great Depression. Although it is in keeping with Evans’s work with the Farm Security Administration, the project was initiated not by the FSA, but by Fortune magazine. The title derives from a passage in the Wisdom of Sirach (44:1) that begins, “Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us”.
The last missing part
I am abbreviating this one. There were a lot of photographs of people meant for friends and family who read the blog.
Game Day! We Did It!!
Published on September 8, 2012 by Marica
Company arrived shortly after 8am and the male folk set off for the game.
Meanwhile…
We beat Auburn! Go Dawgs.
Added 9/4/2020 Mike & Lique have moved on from Mississippi but we’ll be seeing Mike soon.
Missing part #2
This part comes the day after the day we smoked all of the meat.
How to Cook… : Part 4? No Rest for the Weary
Published on September 7, 2012 by Marica
Updated as I’m able. Scroll down for parts 1-3.
~~
I am so mother… tired of this. I hope I hear someone complain about the seasonings. So I can go off. There is no end in sight. It’s 8:30 and there is no end in sight. Holy Crap.
~~
Post supper update. Mr. Big Food is so smart. When it dawned on me that we were having steak for supper, I declared I’d have a martini. And now Mr. Big Food has me right where he needs me.
We should be done with all of the cooking before midnight.
~~
5pm update. Today has been a production line. It will continue into the wee hours. Only one brisket fits in the oven at a given time… . Obviously, we need a Viking Range.
How funny is it that I was thinking about volume last evening? This funny. Mr. Big Food got up sometime after midnight and discovered that the volume of dry beans had expanded well beyond the volume of water in which they were soaking. Or more precisely, he discovered that the entire volume of water had moved into the beans. He made some after midnight adjustments– moved some beans to other pots, added water. And so on.
You should see what 40 cups of soaked red beans looks like! I’d show you but the kitchen is a mess. I hope to remember to put the turkey fryer full of red beans on the bathroom scale tomorrow morning. I’m curious how much 40 pounds of beans plus all that onion, etc. weigh.
~~
4pm update. One thing has become obvious. We do not have enough refrigerators. The first batch of red beans is done. Mr. Big Food decided that the turkey fryer pot would be more appropriate for carting and serving those than a tinfoil roasting pan. But now the question is, where are we going to put it tonight? Humm… . We’ll think of something. We always do.
Updated 9/4/2022 We have since corrected the refrigerator shortage problem.
~~
There will be three more batches like this! The food processor is a wonderful invention!
Well, well, well | Missing part #1
I see I have made mistake. I shall correct it. Looks as if I missed several parts of the 2012 tailgate. I certainly did not intend to rob you of the full experience. So I’ll fill you in.
This post should be inserted between this one and the smoking post.
How to Cook For / Feed 150 People: Part Two, The Big Thaw
Published on September 6, 2012 by Marica
Inserted 9/4/2022. The Bunkhouse doesn’t look anything at all like that anymore. Much nicer now.
Two beef briskets, 13 & 15 pounds,
three pig shoulders, 10, 9 & 9 pounds
four turkey breasts, 10, 9, 9, & 7 pounds
thawing overnight on the bar in the Bunkhouse.
And yes. That is earless Fivel siting there next the sewing machine next to to my complete collection of crappy old Zane Grey Western novels.
Also, I have no earthly idea what might have prompted this mini-rant. No idea.
You got a problem with that? Sure you do if you believe you belong to the Government.
~~
I ask you– those of you who read this blog to keep up with Rocky & Missy, or who stumble upon the site on account of a Pintrest recipe post– do you want to belong– do you want to be owned– by someone other than your self?
Tailgating 2012 | Smoking Meat
Geeze. I’m tired just reading this. And it’s only 2012.
How to Cook For / Feed 150 People: Part Three, Smokin’
Published on September 6, 2012 by Marica
Updated throughout the day with newest on top.
The take away message is that Mr. Big Food is very organized!
~~
FINAL UPDATE. Done.
Did I mention that we have company coming?
~~
9:06 PM UPDATE. (Working on over 15 hours of this.)
In about an hour, I’m to put the 9-pound pig shoulder, a.k.a. “Boston Butt,” into the fridge.
And that’s it for today.
So, 36″ * 2.54cm/in = roughly 72 + 18 = 90cm * pi = 270+ centimeters cubed or
270+ ml. Beans are dense b/c 10 pounds of beans weigh way more than 270+ grams.
~~
MATH UPDATE. We are trying to find the volume of a cylinder. (Nothing to do until 8:52.) I don’t remember but I bet I can look it up. And I bet if the lights go out, I could still look it up in some crappy old geometry book.
V =3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510 58209 74944 59230 78164 06286 20899 86280 34825 34211 70679 …[*] * r-squared * h
*Also known as π
where “*” (unless used as in a footnote sense) denotes the function, “times” as in multiply.
So we have
pi = 3.14;
h = 2/3 of 9″ = 6″;
and r = 1/2 diameter = ~6″.
Our answer will be in cubic inches. (π is unit-less, right? That’s irrational!)
Wow. This is deep.
Moreover, π is a transcendental number – a number that is not the root of any nonzero polynomial having rational coefficients.
3.14 times 6-squared equals 113.4 cubic inches of small red beans.
Here’s where it gets tough. Cubic inches is not a common unit of measure.
8:52. Gotta go.
~~
Post-supper update. We pulled the last brisket off the smoker about 30 minutes ago. There’re still things to do. The last of the hunks of meat to come off the smoker-grills are cooling in the Bunkhouse where I turned the A/C way down today. (We’re so green.) They need to be transferred to a refrigerator as soon as they are sufficiently cool.
Mr. Big Food tells me that at 8pm we’ll get the small red beans soaking. I exaggerated earlier. It’s not 20 pounds of beans– only 10. Silly me.
It’s been a challenging day, made all the more so by yesterday’s unfortunate incident. I was inadvertently leg slammed in the pasture by either a 48 pound dynamo or an 85 pound lumbering happy go-lucky doggie running at full speed– or both. I fell. Suffice it to say I was not running at full speed today. (See the lunchtime update for thinking ahead if I’m still not up to speed Saturday.)
Fifteen more minutes and then we do 8pm stuff. Then stuff at 8:52 & maybe later.
Did I mention that Mr. Big Food is getting paid for this?? Hahahahaha. ROFLMAO.
~~
3:45. The first brisket has come out of the oven. This one will go in next.
Fifteen minutes until we get the last pork shoulder off the grill, and the third turkey breast.
Mr. Big Food announced a little while ago that he will not be making supper tonight. I’ll run to The Grill in town and pick us up a catfish po’ boy and a burger.
~~
2 o’clock update. Whew. Mr. Big Food has everything timed to a tee. Another pig shoulder and turkey breast have just gone on the smoker-grills and I’ve lost track of what all else is going on.
I will comment that there’s been a fair amount of cussin’ this last go-’round. And he’s no where near done.
Did I mention that there are 20 pounds of small red beans & a similar quantity of Basmati rice involved? Vegans have to eat, too!
~~
Lunchtime update. All three grills are smoking– one pork, one turkey, one brisket. And there’s a brisket with marinade in a turkey cooking bag in the oven.
I’ve contact Daughter C– who in turn contacted Matt– and both have agreed to help in any way necessary. At issue is the fact that the game’s a morning game and so the tailgate will be after the game. And although the powers that be are working hard on this, there’s no sure way to know for certain if I’ll be able to drive the truck to the tailgate site to unload the food after the game has started. If not, Bruno, Joe and Joseph will help. But that still leaves the truck with no place to park. Enter Daughter C & Matt. It will be an exercise in generating order from chaos, à la Stewart Kaufman.
Oh! Something’s about to happen. Later!
~~
Note the bulge under the skin. It’s lemon, garlic, rosemary and bay leave.
I keep saying grill, but Mr. Big Food is actually using these grills as smokers. Note the water pans sitting in the coals.
Earlier in the morning below.
Tailgating 2012
This was our second tailgate. It was sponsored by Mr. Big Food’s department. If I recall, his colleagues brought side dishes.
This is actually parts 1 & 2. Part 3 coming up. (Also, I was younger then.)
How to Cook For / Feed 150 People: Part 1
Published on September 5, 2012 by Marica
Mr. Big Food & Co. are hosting a tailgate after the MSU / Auburn game which kicks off at 11am central next Saturday.
We expect about 150 people. Here’s what we’ve done so far.
We have procured 28 pounds of beef brisket.
We have procured 28 pounds of pig sholder.
We have procured 35 pounds of turkey breast.
We stored it in the Deep Freezer.
That was Day One. We visited all three of the Big Grocery stores in S’vegas.
On Day Two– this morning– we went to Walmart to procure the rest of the list.
30 Vadalia onions & such.
Stay tuned. There’s some smokin’ comin’ up.
Our First Tailgate
I have posted this before from time to time. Here it is again!
260 pieces of chicken!
Published on September 23, 2011 by Marica | Edit
bar-b-qued 260 pieces of chicken.
This is big BIG food! Let me walk you through the photo. The guy in the white shirt is Mr. Big Food, and the very proud owner of all three grills. Two of the grills– guess which one?– our local welding guy, Jesse, made. We had one drum already, and bought the second from a fellow down the road who specializes in junk. We think they are very redneck, but some at the tailgate didn’t agree– too fancy, what with the wheels and trays.
Zoom in on the photo and you’ll see, on the table to Mr. Big Food’s left, five gallon wine jugs (and in front of them five plastic bowls). Four of them contain different homemade BBQ sauces: horseradish-mustard, beer, teryaki, and dark karo. The fifth jug has the “mop”: green tea with a splash of hot sauce. Mop is the key to BBQed chicken. The chicken goes on skin side down and gets flipped once, as is. Then, every time the chicken is turned, it gets mopped liberally. Here in the South grocery stores sell what really are mini-mops for mopping. The mop keeps the chicken moist while it’s being grilled. BBQ sauce only gets slathered on at the very last couple of chicken flips.
In total, I think we used six 16-pound bags of charcoal, and six small bags of hickory. I’m still smelling it!
Only 258 pieces of chicken got eaten, though. We dropped two.
And how’s this for some Big Life? It was a night game so we had to leave the grills and some other items on campus over night. Next day it was all still there. I love it here. And there’s nothing quite like an SEC tailgate. Here are a two more photos.
Recipe: Margarita Shrimp
This weekend’s appetizer. It’s great! Mr. Big Food hollered to me from the kitchen, “Do we have any coarse salt?”
I laughed and showed him our selection of salts. He settle on kosher.
MARGARITA SHRIMP
Serves 6 as appetizer
5 Tbsp corn oil (or vegetable oil)
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 bunches green onions, white and pale green parts only, sliced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
¼ C tequila
2 Tbsp lime juice
½ tsp coarse salt (or Margarita salt)
Lime wedges
Heat oil in large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat, and add shrimp, green onion, and garlic. Sauté 1 minute or until shrimp just begin to turn pink. Remove skillet from heat and sprinkle in tequila. Return to heat and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from bottom. Transfer to medium bowl and cool. Toss shrimp with lime juice and salt. Garnish with lime wedges.
Or something | TWiP
Let the Tailgating Begin!
As I begin going through the tailgating posts, I’ll serve this up to get started. Unfortunately, and unbelievably, I cannot find the recipe.
[Insert short walk to the Bunkhouse where Mr. Big Food is working. Questions. Indignity. “I would never cook anything but my own recipe for a chili cook off! John’s chili.” With chorizo?” “Yes.” “Oh! You would have had to rename it for blind review.”]
I thought for a moment we had entered an alternate universe where there existed a recipe that wasn’t in the Big Food Manual. Whew.
The recipe for John’s Chili does not have homemade chorizo. But hey. It’s a chili recipe.
Chili Cook-Off Winner: Mr.Big Food.
Published on November 13, 2011 by Marica | Edit
Folks at the tailgate voted “Coosie’s Cowboy Up” chili #1! I attribute this to garden fresh tomatoes and peppers, a creative mix of spices, two cuts of freshly ground beef, and homemade chorizo.
Last year Mr. Big Food’s entry came in second. That just was not going to happen again.
Recipe: John’s Chili
I adapted this one from the published recipe—in Sunset Magazine, I think—of the winning recipe from the Terlingua Chili Cook Off some time in the early 1980s. As a developing Texan cook back then, working on my own Chili recipe was important. It’s been the subject of constant experiment since then. Substitute home made Chorizo (recipe in the Meats section) for the pork in this for an interestingly different effect. Making your own chili powders enhances the uniqueness (as described in Basics).
JOHN’S CHILI
CHILI BASE
2 cups water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup beef consume
2 tsp oregano
2 Tbsp paprika
3 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp celery salt
2 tsp cayenne pepper
7 Tbsp California (or any other moderately hot) chili powder (preferably Pure—see instructions in Basics section)
1 Tbsp mole (paste or powder)
2 tsp garlic powder
In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, add water, sugar, consume, and spices. Simmer over low heat until powders dissolve, stirring constantly. Raise heat to medium until mixture starts to bubble, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer slowly, stirring once in awhile.
MEATS
3 Tbsp vegetable oil (to start)
2 pounds beef chuck, cubed
2 pounds top round, chopped or ground coarse
2 pounds pork butt, cubed
New Mexico (or other hot) chili powder (preferably Pure—see instructions in Basics section)
3 cups chopped yellow onion
10-12 cloves garlic, minced
Cover cubed meat liberally with chili powder. Sauté meats in the hot oil over medium high heat until browned, adding some pot liquor to the chili base (discard the rest; add more oil as necessary). Add meat to stock pot as it browns, leaving enough pot liquor to cook onions and garlic. Sauté onions and garlic until tender and golden but not browned. Add to stock pot.
SIMMERING
1 cup chopped green chilies
20 oz. tomato sauce
1 jalapeno chili, minced (can use pickled)
1 12 oz. can beer
Add green chilies, tomato sauce, and jalapeno to stock pot. Over high heat, bring the mixture to a boil. When boiling, pour in beer. Stir, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 1 ½-2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let stand, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Skim off excess fat and oil from top.
THICKENING
Masa harina
Water
Dissolve masa harina in water (ratio: 1-2). Stir into chili. Cover chili and let stand at least one hour before serving. If necessary, re-heat over low heat.