From classic cars at the Barrett-Jackson Auction sites to feasting on the best damn chili, Carroll Shelby knows his pleasures. Although distributed by Reily Foods Company in New Orleans Louisiana, American and international fares know this man is famous for the ’just right not too sweet and not too hot (unless you want it that way) all in one meal‘.

His recipe serves the foundation for your own creations.

The ground chili peppers and cumin and garlic and salt and cayenne and oregano and onion and paprika are siphoned together for the spice packet while the other three packets found inside are just staple necessary ingredients for a hearty 4 quart pot of chili.

That’s right folks just eight simple and easy to pronounce ingredients plus the best mesa flour ground to perfection is ALL you get in here. Carroll don’t mess around. He has no desire for dyes, artificial or FD&C nothing cause heck paprika is very red when boiled and really very tasty.

The package calls for using 2 pounds of ground beef. Well around here at the ‘household of improvisation‘, no chili is quite the same as we vary the meat from stew pieces braised and then slow-cooked for six hours with or without some very fine ground turkey and/or 90% lean beef.

As many of my W.O.T.‘s and dear readers know I am very open about my concern for foods and cosmetics using artificial coloring and flavoring when the FD&C dyes that are used are made from bituminous coal. Thankfully Carroll Shelby sets my mind, body and spirit at ease because he and the company he oversees to deliver quality does not stand for that nonsense and this product is a NO-NONSENSE ALL NATURAL 100% brand of goodness.

On with the review of Carroll Shelby’s Original Texas Brand Chili Fixing . . .

The Box Contents:

4 oz or 113grams of 4 cellophane and sealed individual packets. It is combined in a 4 quart pot as a preparation to make meat or poultry and legumes of course (which are beans-kidney or chili) hearty.

1 Spice Packet: ground chili peppers, garlic, cumin, oregano, onion and paprika

1 Cayenne pepper packet offered separately sealed in its own cellophane wrap to give the chef flexibility in achieving the desired ‘hotness’. Now dad will use the entire packet and a ‘special ingredient’ to Carroll Shelby’s ‘fix it hot’ thermometer found on the side of the box. That special ingredient is here.

1 Salt packet also separately sealed in its own cellophane wrap to give the chef flexibility in how much sodium will be used. It is course ground table salt, not specified if iodine is added or not. Sea salt, not sure but I think so. The great thing in this household, is nobody likes salt. YEY !

1 Mesa Flour packet that is so finely ground you think desert sand was running through your fingers, its that fine is also included. Also it is very ‘taco-ish’ meaning I can see it blended to thicken but I can also taste it making this stock of beans and meat and sauce hearty.

DIRECTIONS for simple no fuss Chili: (boring but palatable)

Step 1) Brown 2 pounds of choice meat (you can use turkey, chicken, stew meat, sausage, venison, bison, or whatever else your culture recommends for this stock ingredient) in a large skillet. Drain the fat.

Step 2) Add tomato sauce, sliced Romas, water, the Spice contents package and salt (if desired but not required !) . For a ‘hotter fix’, stir the entire contents of the cayenne pepper packet in and really folks it is not THAT hot. I am a sensitive person to extreme spiciness and no flames have not shot out of my mouth on Cayenne, but it will no longer be a MILD version (which is omitting the Cayenne entirely) by any stretch of the imagination. Stir the contents thoroughly beginning from bottom and working up and out to sides and back into center again for a collaborative flavoring effect.

Step 3) Cover and simmer for 15 minutes and this is obviously on the stove without the addition of any Mesa flour which will result in runny, liquid chili instead of the hearty ‘stick to your ribs’ meal most are after. We add the entire Mesa Flour packet slowly because as much liquid from beans (we add Bush’s Chili Beans, 2 cans right away with the tomatoes and in the slow cooker takes about seven hours from prepping to serving and eating).

No fuss Chili Prep Time: 5 minutes
No fuss Chili Cook Time: 30 minutes
No fuss Chili Serves: six people at 8 ounce portion

What does not come in the box:

One 8 ounce can of tomato sauce.

Around here we add four sliced in half Roma tomatoes PLUS 2 cans of stewed tomatoes in addition to 2 more cans of regular tomato sauce.
Plus two 8 ounce cans of water. (we use reverse osmosis cause fluoride alters everything in a negative way).

Creative inspiration . . . Here is the fun part.

MY PERSONAL JOYS of Chili Making:

I LOVE chili and my webmaster in the house known as sync_ron_icity on the web makes the best chili on the planet. No exaggeration as each time perhaps contents are similar but more of one ingredient, less of another and something ‘special’ always makes a bowl of it, worth it to wait all day for. Carroll Shelby and the staff at Reilly Foods offer some nifty suggestions on the back of the box regarding what you might add to your favorite steaming cup or bowl of Carroll Shelby‘s Original Texas Brand Chili.

Chopped onion or green peppers, (we used two small onions quartered and then just thrown into sauce) while browning the meat. They suggest if adding any beans such as chili or pinto that these be added in the very last five minutes of cooking. Now way ! We add them about an hour in of a slow-cooked version cooking on low for about the six hours minus prep time.

Toppings: usually include but are not limited to shredded cheese, sour cream, parsley, ground garlic or even ground black pepper.

Variations and other uses for chili: How about propelling yourself into the ‘coney island’ scenario where a hotdog loaded with chili, onions, a sesame bun is awaiting your palette. It can be tossed into eggs, served inside taco shells, rolled up in flour tortillas sprinkled over a salad, served on a bed of spaghetti or lettuce or even sitting on top of a 1/3 pound of fresh beef in a hamburger bun !

| Sync_ron_icity’s Version |

3- to 3 and ½ pounds of meat (ground AND stew pieces)
Three 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce
1 8 ounce can of tomato paste
3 sliced in half Roma tomatoes
5 full garlic cloves whole and peeled
2 small onions cut in quarters
Two 8 ounce cans of diced or stewed tomatoes
1 knife-tip drop of ‘special ingredient’ (review here)
1 box of Carroll Shelby’s Original Texas Chili

*patience, skill and an extreme regard for the digestive tracts of loved ones

There is a secret to his chili being the best and without giving away his ‘million-dollar’ idea, I will advise use your best judgment about absorbability and the use of fresh versus canned items. There are ways to ruin a great pot of chili if one of the ingredients is added to early or one is added too late. So with that said sync_ron_icity just advises you tenderize first if individuals with sensitive gums and teeth want to appreciate their meal without frustration. Stew meat is difficult to purchase without having used it in several other preparations before. Learn what works best for you.

In your ceramic 6 quart casserole insert that fits inside a metal slow-cooker element, you can place the cloves of garlic peeled and whole with the onion pieces and fresh spices besides what is in here. He is not pleased about the oregano because this is NOT spaghetti sauce so the added ‘special ingredient’ replaces the distate and accentuates, I mean really accentuates a certain heat . . .

*If any of you wishing to marinate the stew meat in some spices and oil to tenderize can, we do not and sync_ron_icity only braises whatever meat or poultry he will use.

For this slow-cooker preparation, he braised the stew meat in a little canola oil for about 8 minutes flipping once. The pieces were small but for tenderizing, whack with mallet along the grain and pulverize if need be.

He drains the fat from this pours the meat into awaiting vegetables of the slow-cooker now filled halfway to the top with the 3 cans (24 ounces of sauce), 2 cans of water, 3 sliced romas, 8 ounces of paste and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. About thirty minutes later the beans which are 32 ounces (2 16 ounce cans with the chili sauce in there) of chili beans by Bush are followed with browning in cumin or paprika the ground meat of whatever choice you have, we had lean 90% ground round and then adding this to the slow-cooker.

The rest of the creative inspiration is slowly and deliciously congealed by heat and cooking properties that occur in the marriage of vegetables, sauce, meat and beans. As with any marriage the appreciation of this one is not only it the satisfaction it delivers but the process in which it was performed, consumer-driven to succeed in fulfilling the hunger drive ! For about $3.50 you can feed your family of four for at least three days as a cup goes a very long way.

Packaging of all material inside and out are recyclable so go ahead stock for winter cold and make it hot, inside !

Thank you for reading and

Enjoy !

http://www.carrollshelbyschili.com

Recommended: Yes