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By Root 640 0

with an airtight seal and a pressure-control device. Noisy first-generation or jiggle-top cookers are reasonably priced but are problematic in that they lose a good deal of moisture via steam and require skillful handling. In modified first-generation cookers, instead of a weight there’s a sophisticated spring-loaded valve, which means less moisture loss and a quieter ride. The second-generation cookers have a spring-loaded rod that maintains the pressure. They’re quiet and work well, but are often expensive.

When you’re out there shopping, look for a 6-quart cooker with double handles for safe moving. And pick it up—heavy is good. Remember that the first steam engine was based on a pressure cooker: it’s a complex system, so be sure to read the manual.

The Chili Bet

Folks fuss over chili. True “red”-heads spend hours coaxing buckets of pricey and sometimes exotic groceries into alchemaic stews, which they give names like “mouth of hell” and then enter into chili contests.

Some friends and I were sitting around a buddy’s porch one afternoon bemoaning the silly seriousness of such endeavors and contemplating where it could lead (picture Texans on the set of Iron Chef, Colts drawn). Anyway, we sank into philosophy and came to the no-doubt accurate conclusion that the dish properly known as chili con carne is essentially a utilitarian field dish most likely concocted by chuck masters on the Chisolm Trail, who needed to make use of really lousy cuts of beef. Another buddy put forth that if this were indeed the case, the criteria for judging a “true” chili would have to include grocery receipts, for economy would have to be a factor.

There was a moment’s silence as we all considered what must be done. We had to hold a cheap-chili cook-off. I looked at my watch: 2:30 in the afternoon. We agreed to meet back on the very same porch at 7:00 P.M., which meant there wasn’t a moment to lose.

3:00 P.M.

I ran home and checked the pantry and fridge. Not a shred of meat in the house that wasn’t frozen into blocks—no time for even a speed thaw (you’d be surprised what you can do with a frozen chuck in the shower). I made sure that I had a small can of tomato paste, checked my supply of chili powder and ground cumin (my very most favoritest spice in the whole wide world) and headed to the market.25

3:17 P.M.

The cheapest stew meat I could find was $1.59 a pound. From the looks of the hunks, I’d guess it was chuck mixed with a little round, which was fine. There was also some lamb stew meat (unidentifiable, with lots of bone and connective tissue—shoulder, I’d bet) at $1.29 a pound. I bought 2 pounds of the first and 1 pound of the latter. (I could have gone with all beef, but why?) I wandered the market, pondering the next move and settled on a small can of chipotles in adobo sauce at $1.29.26 Total so far: $5.76.

3:39 P.M.

On the way home I stopped by my favorite Mexican restaurant and ordered the cheapest beer they had, a tapped item called “Los . . . something.” The beer came, along with a small basket of corn chips and a healthy bowl of hot salsa.

I poured the beer into my insulated coffee mug (hey, it was in the car) and the salsa into a zip-top bag that had previously housed an emergency supply of graham crackers for my daughter. Avoiding the suspicious gaze of the cantina keep, I made for home. Total spent: $1.00.

3:57 P.M.

Back at the house, I heavily seasoned the meaty cubes with kosher salt and placed my large cast-iron skillet over high heat. Two minutes later, I started adding the meat in small batches, turning the pieces every now and then with tongs to get as much surface browning as possible as quickly as possible.27 As the meat browned, I set it into a bowl so that I could capture all the meat’s juices.

When all of the meat had browned, I deglazed the bottom of the pan with ½ cup of the beer. It immediately came to a boil and I scraped the pan with a wooden spatula for a few moments until all of the stuck-on bits had dissolved. Everything left in the pan was added to the bowl holding the meat.