I have made three pots of chili over the last three weekends. This weekend and last weekend I made the chili on Friday night so it could sit for a day and be better for Saturday and/or Sunday.

The one I made tonight is my best one yet. The first batch I made three weeks ago was from Carol Shelby’s kit. The next weekend I used one pack of regular McCormick's chili seasoning, and one pack of hot, but instead of ground beef I got two pounds of round steak and diced it very very small by hand. I liked the texture using the diced steak gave the chili, but not enough to dice two pounds of steak every time I want to make chili.

Tonight I used a medium hot chili powder from the only place I will buy spices anymore, Penzey's.

Here is how I made tonight's batch:
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2 pounds lean ground sirloin
1 large onion, finely diced
1 green pepper finely diced
1 tablespoon butter
1 eight ounce can of no salt added tomato sauce
2 cups chicken stock
5 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
3 bay leaves

Brown the ground beef in your chili pot, drain and set aside.

Add the butter and diced onion and green pepper to the pot. Stir to until the butter is melted and the vegetables are evenly coated. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pot and sweat the vegetables until they are very very soft. Almost mushy. Do not brown them.

Add the chili powder to the vegetables and sauté for a couple minutes. I think cooking the chili powder like this for a bit brings out more of its taste.

Add the ground beef back to the pot and stir.

Add the tomato sauce and chicken stock, cinnamon, cocoa powder and stir well. Cook on medium to medium high for 5 to 10 minutes while stirring frequently to avoid burning.

Put the corn starch and water into a plastic container with an air tight lid and shake vigorously until all of the starch is completely dissolved. Add four or five tablespoons of the hot liquid from the chili to the starch mixture a tablespoon at a time and stir after you add each spoon. This is to slowly increase the temperature of the starch. If you dump the starch directly into the hot chili you risk getting little starch gel balls. Pour the warm starch mixture into the chili pot and stir. This will give your chili a nice smooth texture and body.

Add the bay leaves, reduce the heat to low and cover. Stir occasionally while it simmers for an hour or so.
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That's it. Do NOT be tempted to add additional tomato products or beans. This is traditional Texas style chili and once you try it you won't go back.

It has almost zero carbohydrates. Very low fat. High protein. Delicious.

We have been getting about three meals per pot for the both of us. Let me know if you give it a try.