At the store, buy a 3 lb chuck roast, some onions, some chili powder, some ground cumin, some garlic, a 4 oz. can of green chile peppers, some masa flour and some beer.
Brew up a pot of good, strong coffee.
Cut the roast into cubes about 2” square. (Yes, I know, you can buy pre-cut stew meat, but trust me, this is better.)
After you’ve got it all cut up, brown the meat thoroughly in a 3 quart Dutch oven, using a quarter-cup of bacon fat (better) or vegtable oil (OK), one pound at a time. Remove each batch with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the juice and drippings in the Dutch oven.
Chop up an onion, and sauté a cup of the chopped onion in the meat juices until it’s tender – maybe 5 minutes. Add two cloves of chopped garlic and sauté that with the onion another minute or so. To this add three tablespoons of chili powder, a tablespoon of ground cumin, two teaspoons of salt, and a tablespoon or two of Tabasco sauce. Stir all this together and cook over medium high heat for another minute or so.
Return the beef to the pot. In a 4-cup measuring cup, pour in a bottle of beer. When the foam subsides add enough of the coffee that’s been sitting on the coffee maker warming plate to bring the liquid level in the measuring cup to three cups. Pour that into the pot along with the drained can of green chiles.
Bring this to a rolling boil, stirring it up while boiling for a minute, then reduce the heat to simmer and let it cook uncovered for two or three hours, or until the beef is very tender.
Now take a couple of tablespoons of the masa flour and mix it with hot water to form a watery paste. Pour that into the chili pot and stir till it thickens. Repeat this with more masa flour and water until it gets to the thickness that you like.
Serve with chopped onion and sour cream on the side, if you like.
Notice, there are NO beans, and NO tomato paste/sauce in this recipe!
If you make your own chili powder, so much the better!