Ingredients:

    This chili recipe came from President Lyndon Johnson's cook. Johnson never felt he could get the real stuff in the White House, but when he got home to Texas he right away sat down to "a bowl of red."

Ingredients and Method:

4 lbs. lean beef or venison
1 large chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin*
2 or more tablespoons chili powder
2 16-oz. cans tomatoes
2 cups hot water

    Sear meat, onion, and garlic in oil or use suet for fat. (Johnson's original bowl of red called for suet instead of oil, which undoubtedly added flavor. His doctor made him cut it out.)

    Add other ingredients, bring to boil, lower heat, and simmer an hour with cover on. Skim off fat.

    Serves 12.

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*Another Texas version calls for whole cumin seeds parched briefly in a hot ungreased frying pan, being careful not to burn the cumin. Mash the parched cumin with a pestle and mortar.

    The quality of chili depends largely on the quality of the chili powder. That is why this recipe is followed by one for "Chili Robert Capon," which tells how to make a high-quality chili powder yourself.

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