RENO RED CHILI

Steps:

• Remove stems, membrane and seeds from chili pods, cover with water and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Remove pods and blend into paste.
• Reserve the chili water.
• Chop onions.
• Crack cumin with rolling pin or grind with mortar and pestle.
• Brew 1 teaspoon oregano leaves in 1 cup of water.
• Brown meat in several batches, add black pepper while browning.
• Brown onions with meat then remove with slotted spoon and reserve.
• Combine browned meat and onion with the following: cumin, 8 heaping tablespoons of commercial chili powder, 3 cloves garlic (pressed) and MSG.
• Cook ten minutes, using just enough pepper water to keep from burning.
• Stir constantly.
• This cooks the spices into the meat.
• Add chili paste and half of oregano water.
• Cook slowly, adding pepper water as necessary to prevent scorching.
• Add additional oregano to taste, salt to taste.
• The meat should be tender in around 1-1/2 hours.
• Cooking Variations:.
• Add 1 to 2 cans 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce.
• Hand cut meat to about the size of a navy bean.
• (A lot of contestants now use half chili grind and half hand cut).
• Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar 10 minutes before serving.
• Use white pepper instead of black pepper.
• Use masa/corn flour (not cornstarch) to thicken (mix flour with cold water and whisk until smooth, then pour into hot chili while stirring constantly until thickened).