Margo Knudson's Chili

This is a serious, no-shortcuts beef chili built on three different chili powders, Gebhardt’s, a regular blend, and New Mexico, layered in at different stages so each one has time to bloom properly in the fat.

The move that sets this apart from most homemade chili: oregano tea. You steep dried oregano in hot water, strain it, and add the liquid to the pot. It sounds fussy but it delivers the herb’s flavor without the coarse texture of dried leaves in every spoonful.

Brown three pounds of cubed beef in batches with white pepper, add bulk sausage and green pepper, then let the whole pot simmer low and slow for two hours until the beef turns fork-tender. Salt, cayenne, and Tabasco go in at the end so you can dial the heat to where you want it.

Pro Tips

• Brown the beef a pound at a time. Crowding the pan steams instead of browns
• Add salt and heat near the end only. The broth concentrates as it cooks, and early seasoning can over-salt the finished pot
• Suet is traditional here and adds depth. Rendered beef tallow works as a substitute