"Dallas County Jail Chili" or "Texas Prison Chili" (1976)

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If anybody has access to the Dallas Morning News (or maybe it can wait  until 
I check it at the UT-Austin library), try to search for "Sheriff Smoot  
Schmidt" or "Dallas County Jail Chili/Chile" or "Texas Prison  Chili/Chile."
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>From the article "Just Another Bowl of Texas Red" by John  Thorne
in the September/October 1990 issue of Chile Pepper Magazine.
    
<a href="_http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/chiliconcarne2.asp">THe_ 
(http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/chiliconcarne2.asp">THe)   Great Chili Project</a>
 
 
Dallas County Jail  Chili 
Chili philosopher John Thorne  comments: "Texas prison chili got its good 
reputation from Sheriff Smoot  Schmidt’s truly fine recipe for the Dallas County 
Jail. Recently, however, a  Texas prison chili contest was won by the 
Huntsville Penitentiary with a  godawful recipe that called for twice as much cumin as 
chili powder and ‘2  handfuls’ of monosodium glutamate. In Texas, this is 
called crime  deterrence." 
    *   ½ pound beef suet, ground  
    *   2 pounds coarsely ground beef   
    *   3 garlic cloves, minced  
    *   1½ tablespoons paprika  
    *   3 tablespoons chili powder  
    *   1 tablespoon cumin seeds  
    *   1 tablespoon salt  
    *   1 teaspoon white pepper  
    *   1½ teaspoons dried sweet (mild)  chile pods (or paprika)  
    *   3 cups water 
Fry the suet in a heavy kettle.  Add the meat, garlic, and seasonings; cover. 
Cook slowly for 4 hours, stirring  occasionally. Add the water and continue 
cooking until the chili has thickened  slightly, about 1 hour. Serve plain or 
mixed with an equal portion of cooked  pink or red beans. 
Yield: 6 servings 
Heat Scale: Medium 
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30 September 1976, Chicago  <i>Tribune</i>, pg. D3: 
For a bit of nostalgia, try the  famous Dallas County Jail Chili, that was 
supposed to have originated during the  Depression. It's said that the chili was 
so well known, it was a pleasure to go  to jail. It's a mild chili that could 
easily be heated up with chilles or a  bottle or two of hot pepper sauce. 
(Long recipe follows -- ed.) 
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6 November 1984, Washington  <i>Post</i>, pg. B4: 
As for his current infirmity,  Rather says he will get through it not thanks 
to chicken soup but with "some of  Jean Rather's famous Texas-prison chili" 
and several cups of "her very strong  coffee, which is strong enough to float 
buckshot in." 
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7 November 1984, New York  <i>Times</i>, "Dan Rather Battles Sore Throat With 
Chili," pg.  C25: 
"He was fighting it with his  wife's 'Texas prison chile.' It's very hot."

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