Satan's Fantasy Chili

This is competition-style Tex-Mex chili with no beans and a deeply layered meat profile. Coarsely ground sirloin handles the chili’s body while ground lamb adds a wild, slightly funky depth that you can’t get from beef alone. The combination is what serious chili cookoff cooks have been doing for decades.

The sneaky ingredient here is a teaspoon of sesame oil. It’s an unconventional move that adds a roasted, nutty undertone you wouldn’t expect, working alongside the cumin and Mexican oregano to deepen the spice profile beyond standard chili powder territory.

The long, slow two-hour simmer is what marries the meat fat with the tomatoes, peppers, and spices. Tomato paste goes in for the final 30 minutes only, which keeps it from scorching against the bottom of the pot during the longer cook and lets it concentrate the chili into a thick, glossy finish.

Chef Tips

• Use coarsely ground meat, not fine. Fine grind turns to mush in a long simmer; coarse keeps a meaty bite.
• Brown the meat well before adding liquids. Skipping the sear loses the Maillard depth that defines a good chili.
• Use Mexican oregano, not Italian. The two are different plants with different flavor profiles. Mexican leans citrusy and earthy; Italian leans minty.
• Make this the day before serving. Like all chilis, this gets dramatically better overnight.

Variations

• Stir in dark beer with the tomatoes (the directions reference beer) for a smoother, slightly bitter complexity.
• Swap one of the jalapeños for a chopped chipotle in adobo for smoke.
• Add 2 squares of dark chocolate near the end for a Texas-style mole edge.