Feeling Devil May Care

Three young men are coming to La Casa Dulce for the rowdy slugfest that is Texas-OU Weekend in Dallas, or as my Sooner buddies remind me, OU-Texas Weekend. (Please note my little devil in the photo is wearing Sooner Red, not burnt orange. This is a Longhorn household.)

Three college men, to be exact. My son, plus two of his guarda from the "Pride of the Southland Marching Band" at Tennessee. That means they will be hungry, thirsty and stopping at Whataburger on the way to the house. I have one week to prepare for them before I do as the horserati in Louisville do for Derby Week - they skiddoo. How shall I begin my mad, feverish stocking of the fridge?

With chili, baby. This is Texas, and that means get the grill going, crush the onions and shout "Ole!" as you douse the pot with big heat - splashes of fiery red peppers. Jeanne and I teamed up years ago to create a great "pot of red," and that's where I'll start for my Texas-OU victuals. They COULD get chili at the State Fair of Texas, where the annual gridiron clash is in the Cotton Bowl, but not like this - and no fried food was used in the preparation of this dish.

Chili for Three Young Men

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped onion (about 1 large)
3 tablespoons cooking oil
2 14 1/2-ounce cans tomatoes
1 12-ounce can of beer, like Shiner
1 cup water
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
3 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon toasted cumin seed*
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 19-ounce cans cannellini or white kidney beans
1/ 1/2 cups chopped squash, fresh or frozen
1/2 teaspoon dried, crushed chipotle chili peppers, or a little adobe sauce from the canned peppers (for added heat; this is OPTIONAL)
4 patties of ground beef, which has been grilled

Topping:
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, cilantro or chives

1. In a 4-quart pot, heat oil and cook garlic and onion over medium heat until tender. Stir in the undrained tomatoes, beer, water, tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, salt, sugar and beans. Bring to boil, then reduce heat.

2. Stir in squash. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour or more (to intensify flavor). If the mixture is too tame, add a little dried chipotle pepper or adobe sauce, but go slow. Once the heat is in, there's not much you can do to reduce it, so be careful when adding peppers or adobe sauce; a little goes a long way.)

3. While the pot of red is doing its deviltry, go outside and grill the ground beef as you listen to "March Grandioso". When the meat is grilled, bring inside and stir into the pot. This will give your chili a smoky flavor.

*To toast cumin seed, place seeds in a skillet over low heat. Cook, stirring often, until seeds begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Avoid overcooking seeds, which can make them bitter. Remove from heat, grind a little with a mortar and pestle, and toss into the pot. No mortar, no pestle? Just say a few incantations over them like "strawberry shortcake, gooseberry pie, V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!" and throw them into the pot.

Topping:

Mix together the sour cream, the lime juice and a fresh herb such as parsley, cilantro or chives.

Serving:

Give the guys a bag of Fritos, and let the chips fall where they may. They can fill their bowls with chips, add their chili, then the topping, and toss on a few chopped siders, like fresh tomatoes, chives, cilantro, green onions, what have you.

If age is not an issue, leave them some Shiner or Hefferveisen.

One dish down, queso to go!