American cooking is as diverse as America itself. Scores and scores of different nationalities, over recent centuries, have populated our
country and enriched it with their cultures, languages, philosophies --
and food.

Pizza, tacos, and lasagna are now, to invoke a patriotic culinary
clich++, as American as apple pie.

That said, many dishes that we think of as "foreign" do have roots in
other countries. Chile con carne isngCOt Mexican, but Mexican cooks do
stew meat with chiles; garlic bread as we know it isngCOt Italian, but
Italians do rub garlic on bread.

Other preparations whose names suggest that they come from elsewhere are
purely Yankee creations. TheregCOs no Swiss steak in Switzerland; there
are no English muffins in England (well, actually there are, but only
because their popularity has spread back across the Atlantic from their
New York City birthplace).

Some foods that we might think have foreign origins, though, were
actually invented in America, sometimes by people from the countries
they appear to represent but frequently not. Many popular dishes that
appear regularly on Mexican, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese menus have
little or nothing to do with the food traditions of Mexico, Italy,
China, or Japan. Sorry, travelers, but you wongCOt find California roll in Osaka or chicken Alfredo in Rome -- itgCOs one of the many "Italian"
dishes Italians dongCOt really eat.

-- Colman Andrews

CHILLI CON CARNE: Chilli con carne -- which might more correctly be
called "carne con chilies" (meat with chilies) -- as we know it isn't
found in Mexico. It seems to have been concocted first by Texas cowboy
trail cooks on cattle drives -- though another theory holds that it was
devised in the state's prison kitchens as a cheap, filling way to feed prisoners. Chilli first gained fans outside the Lone Star State in 1893,
when Texas set up a San Antonio Chilli Stand at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

Title: Chilli Supper: The Recipe
Categories: Stews, Chilies, Beef, Poultry
Yield: 32 Servings

5 lb Chilli grind beef chuck
8 oz Suet
3 Ribs celery; w/leaves
1 ts Jalapeno powder; + more to
- taste
+=OR=+
1 Fresh jalapeno; stemmed
46 oz Can Red Gold tomato juice
46 oz Can chicken broth
1 tb Minor's or GFS beef base
+=IN=+
16 oz Boiling water
4 oz Baron's # 5640 chilli spice
- mix (chilli powder)
1 1/2 oz Ground cumin
1 1/2 tb Brown sugar
1 1/2 tb Onion granules
1 tb Garlic granules
3/4 tb Salt
1/2 ts Oregano; crumbled
1/2 ts White pepper
1/2 ts Worcestershire powder
1 1/2 ts Vinegar
1/2 ts Prune juice; opt
Cayenne pepper; opt
Finely diced bell pepper;
- opt

MMMMM---------------------------KICKER--------------------------------
2 1/2 tb Mexene chilli mix *
1/2 tb Ground cumin
1/2 tb Garlic granules
1/2 ts Salt; more to taste
96 oz Brooks Chilli Hot beans **

* Or Ray's Chilli Mix

** Not at an ICS cook-off unless entering the new "Home-
style" category. At your home - or restaurant: beans are
fine if you like them. (but NOT kidney beans)

This should produce 2+ gallons of chilli sauce.

Prepare the basic recipe - down to the kicker section.

Render the suet and cook the chuck in it until all the
pink disappears.

While the meat is cooking place the celery, jalapeno,
and tomato juice in a blender and puree.

Make sure all lumps of beef have been broken up. Place
the meat and the celery/chile/tomato juice in an 8 quart
heavy-bottom pot.

Add balance of ingredients to the pot, stirring to mix.
Add in the chicken broth and beef base/water simmering
on a low flame. Stir often enough to keep the chilli
from scorching or sticking.

Taste often and adjust seasonings (especially salt and
garlic) as you go - to your taste.

When sauce is cooked, in your estimation, remove from
heat, and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, re-heat the chilli sauce on a low flame
until heated through and at a nice low simmer. Add the
"kicker" ingredients and cook for at least 15 minutes
to allow flavours to marry and blend. Add the beans and
stir to combine.

With the addition of the beans, there should be 2 1/2
gallons of chilli.

This should serve: 32 Ten-ounce bowls

Recipe adapted from Les Eastep's chilli supper recipe.
I have used this recipe in ICS chilli cook-offs and
have placed higher (ironically) than its originator
in those contests more than once.

MM Format by Dave Drum - 02 February 2004

Uncle Dirty Dave's Kitchen

MMMMM

... I'm so sick of eating the same thing; when are new animals coming out?
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