Saveur Cooks Authentic American - Editors Of Cook's Illustrated Magazine [14]
4. Whisk together the reserved chicken fat, club soda, dried dill, and eggs in a bowl. Pour in the matzo meal while whisking. Cover and chill the matzo mixture for 15 minutes.
5. Bring 2½ qts. salted water to a boil over high heat. With wet hands, form the matzo mixture into 1-inch balls. Reduce the heat to medium and drop in the matzo balls. Cook, covered, for about 15 minutes. Stir the matzo balls gently and simmer, covered, until fluffy, about 10 minutes more.
6. Meanwhile, transfer the reserved shredded chicken, vegetables, and broth to a large pot and heat over medium heat. Transfer the matzo balls to the broth. Serve the soup garnished with chopped parsley, if you like.
Woody DeSilva’s Championship Chili
In Texas, chili is practically a religion—and by chili Texans mean cubed beef chuck simmered for hours with tomatoes and chili powder and then thickened with masa harina (corn flour). Don’t even think about adding beans. Each year, scores of the faithful converge in the town of Terlingua, Texas, for the mother of all chili cook-offs; this recipe, created by home cook Woody DeSilva, took first prize in 1968.
4 lbs. beef chuck, trimmed and cut into ½ -inch cubes Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 tbsp. canola oil
5 medium onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 6-oz. cans tomato paste
4 tbsp. dried oregano
3 tbsp. chili powder
4 tsp. ground chile pequín or cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. sweet paprika
1 tbsp. Tabasco
1 tsp. ground cumin
4 tbsp. masa harina
Serves 6
1. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 6-qt. pot over high heat. Working in 4 batches, brown the beef, about 3 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a plate.
2. Add the onions and garlic to the pot, reserving a few tablespoonfuls of chopped onion for garnish. Cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Return the beef to the pot, stir in the tomato paste, and cook, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, until the tomato paste is caramelized, 10–12 minutes. Add the oregano, chili powder, chile pequín, paprika, Tabasco, and cumin; cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute.
3. Add 5 cups water to the chili and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender, about 2 hours.
4. Stir the masa harina into the chili, season with salt, and simmer, stirring, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with the reserved onions, if you like.
Hot Stuff
Chili powder is to Texas what peanut butter is to jelly: you can’t think of one without the other. With its deep red color and robust aroma, chili powder is the very essence of Tex-Mex food, seasoning everything from the meat for chilies and tacos to the sauce for enchiladas. The powder is made from seemingly mundane ingredients—dried chiles (usually ancho), oregano, cumin, garlic, and, sometimes, salt—that, when processed together, make a substance whose properties are nothing short of magical. Chili powder disperses its color and potent flavor when fried in oil or grease, melding with the beef and tomatoes in a pot of chili to create its distinctive taste and look. Rubbed onto a steak before grilling, it lends a striking hue and char. Chili powder was invented in Texas; by whom is a matter of some dispute. The chili historian Joe Cooper maintains that a German immigrant named William Gebhardt invented the first chili powder in 1896 in the town of New Braunfels, which lies between Austin and San Antonio. Gebhardt operated a café in the back of a place called Miller’s Saloon and devised a way of pulverizing Mexican dried chiles using a meat grinder (probably in an adaptation of the Hungarian method for making paprika). He sold his new product as “Tampico Dust” but later changed the name to Gebhardt’s Eagle Chili Powder, as it is still called today.
Thai Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup
Tom Yum Goong
Fragrant with lime juice and lemongrass, this hot and sour soup is served throughout Thailand, with subtle