Wick Fowler's Famous Texas Style 2 Alarm Chili Kit

For two decades I've made Wick Fowler's Famous 2 Alarm Chili. I'm not sticking to that spelling: chili. By all rights it should be: chile. Due to differences in whether chile is or is not made with beans, I will not be going into details of my finished product. Or why I spell as I do.

I'm here to talk about those ingredients. As I said for 2 decades . . . and then the maker, Reilly Foods removed the salt from the package. And idiot that I was (or am), made a batch of chile and forgot the salt. I know that everyone has rising costs. As I type this in July of 2022, gasoline is over $6 a gallon, up from less a gallon only a short time ago. So I forgive Reilly Foods for removing the salt packet. But I'm unhappy that they did this and I would have paid more for the original recipe box. (I'm also the guy who wants to hear the sounds of the baseball game, but not the sportscasters.)

Some while ago, I got out my small electronic scale that can resolve to .1 grams. I weighed each of the Fowler spices packets in their bags, as the weight of those bags isn't much. And I did weigh the empty packets and it is an insignificant amount by comparison with the ingredient inside it.

I went to my nearest Hispanic market. They carry a large wall of spices. There I purchased, all Chulada brand of spices.

Ingredient List

96 grams Chile Pasilla Molido -- This is finely powdered chile pasilla (dark brown)

9 grams onion powder

9 grams garlic powder

6 grams cumin powder

7 grams oregano (I have flakes or dried leaves)

10 grams salt

7 grams paprika

6 grams Chile Arbol (labeled Red Pepper on the packet)

The above list is a your-mileage-may-vary scenario. Please don't leave snarky comments about how this doesn't taste like 2 Alarm. I would agree it does not. But it gets pretty close and the above list is what I used. As the recipe requires 96 grams of pasilla, you will have leftover spice mixture. My first attempt at this is in July of 2022, so it's a work in progress. 

Before I go any further, you will not be saving money making your own "kit". Fowler's is about $3.50 per box and I bought all fresh spices and that came to pennies under $7. But if you have read this far, perhaps you are foodie enough to try it yourself.

I did not weigh the packet of masa corn meal. I don't generally use it. I apologize. By law, ingredients listed on packages of food sold in the USA, must be by weight. From the 2 Alarm box:

Chile pepper

Corn Masa Flour (my guess is 2 ozs.)

Salt

Onion

Cumin,

Paprika

Red Pepper

Oregano

Garlic

If you read my list of ingredients and compare with the list above, it is inconsistent. I can only suggest you play around with the quantities. Who doesn't love making chile anyway?

The cumin and oregano are both in one packet in Fowler's. I guesstimate that it is equal parts of each. I can say that I like the flavor of this mixture I made. It's spicy enough to my taste. However, I used no Red Pepper (I believe this is Cayenne pepper or chile, as it is the most abundant commercially and therefore the least expensive to use.)

I weighed all the ingredients into a 2 cup jar; tightened the lid and gave it all a good shake. It stood on the kitchen counter for a few hours before being used. The aromas melded nicely together.

My one serious problem with Fowler's is that their packaging line has started to make improperly sealed packets. I see some onion flakes on the cardboard box I've retained. One box the onion/garlic packet was almost empty and the contents in the cardboard box itself. 

Lastly, next batch I'm going to use a mild New Mexico red powder or a California powder. It's got to have some chile taste, so I won't use paprika.

I made the standard Fowler's recipe. 2 lbs. of ground beef, 8 oz can of tomato sauce, 2 cups of water. The beef was browned and drained of excess fat. I added the tomato sauce and water and then the spices. Covered the skillet simmered for 30 minutes. The batch threw a good amount of liquid, which colored beautifully.

It's important to understand that the ingredients that Reilly Foods buys to make the 2 Alarm Chili is based on science and I cannot buy, at a market, the same ingredients with the same specific gravity or weigh by volume. My recipe is an approximation. Their onion flakes or garlic powder have food properties I cannot replicate (as much as I wish I could). The onion powder I have is not going to be the literally same thing as Fowler's. But I believe I have a good start and am narrowing the focus until that day of heavenly chile perfection arriving.

If you ever read: A Bowl of Red by Francis X. Tolbert, you will learn that in Texas, the spices are toasted to bring out their individual flavors. Whether Reilly Foods does that I cannot determine. I tried toasting cumin seeds for a batch of chile one time. I think I cooked the flavor out. And oregano leaves are almost impossible to toast without burning them.

Serious comments appreciated.

January 20, 2023. The price of Fowler's mix has gone up a bit. I tried another idea. I used All California Chiles with the seeds. It took two (or more) minutes in the blender getting the pods into powder. I should have removed the seeds. The first eating the dish was sort-of gritty. Not good. The next day, the grit was entirely gone. I think it is the seeds not being ground well enough. The all California chiles proved to be too mild, too. Next batch, I'm going to mix half California and half Pasilla. The flavor was good on the 2nd and succeeding days. Man! oh Man! I do love a bowl of red.

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing - Hidden Valley Style

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing from Scratch

Some while ago, I put on this 'blog, a copy of Campbell's Book. That 1929 edition gives several recipes needed to make homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing. I like the commercial version, but I think my homemade version is better flavored. This is not a recipe for beginning cooks. You must make your own spiced vinegar, then your own mayonnaise and buttermilk, too. It take some time. And you should not be concerned or afraid of raw eggs, either. If these ideas are serious to you, stop reading here and now.

First, I had to make buttermilk, as the only buttermilk for sale here in Los Angeles at the markets I shop at is fat free. That's a no NO! From the Farmer's Market, I purchased a pint of raw (unpasteurized) whole milk.  I removed about 1 fluid ounce of it from it's container and added about 4 tbs. of storebought unflavored yogurt. That sat on the counter at room temperate for 48 hours. I say that I have some concerns about that. I thought the whole milk could go bad, but it didn't. The end result is a buttermilk (such used to be called, in old recipe books, sour milk), a flavor that is creamy, and tangy. But there are not solids in it, such as come in storebought buttermilks.

 After the buttermilk was made, I move on to the spiced vinegar recipe. As I cannot buy garlic oleoresin, I decided to make garlic flavored vinegar. 

Garlic Vinegar for Homemade Mayonnaise

As this quantity would make a lot of mayo, I give quantities for about 4 cups of finished dressing.

15 grams of peeled, crushed and diced garlic

1 scant cup of vinegar. (I used malt vinegar. Campbell's says: cider or malt)

Put the garlic and vinegar in a pot, heat to a boil, uncovered. Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer, cover and continue simmering 10 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. Strain liquid of solids. Package and label.

Now that the garlic flavor is added to the vinegar, the spices can be added next. This recipe, adjusted for the above amount of garlic flavored vinegar is from Campbell's book (1929 edition). I believe that this recipe was not new or made up by the author. But as to how old it is, I cannot guess.

2.30 grams Ground coriander
2.30 grams Ground clove
2.30 grams Ground mustard
1.53 grams Ground ginger
1.15 grams Ground cayenne
0.38 grams Ground cardamon
0.38 grams Ground mace
0.53 grams garlic, chopped
0.16 grams Ground caraway
0.07 grams Ground bay leaves
127.82 milliliters vinegar, white 10%
108.69 milliliters water

I did not go to the Korean market and but 25% vinegar to adjust the above to 10% strength from 5%. I made a ration and proportion of the vinegar and water to make less water and more vinegar. The outcome is it tastes good to me. YMMV.

I did not have ground caraway. I ground it myself and sifted out the coarse remains and ground more until I had a powder. As I had previously made a garlic flavored vinegar, that is omitted from my recipe, but given here for clarity.

The spices and vinegar sit for 7 days at room temperature, being agitated daily. At the end of that time, the spiced vinegar is filtered through a paper coffee filter. It took the better part of a day to obtain the filtered liquid.

Making the Homemade Mayonnaise

This gives a delicious mayo, unobtainable from the markets. I used canola oil, as I'm cheap, but any neutral flavored oil is sufficient.

Below are the percentages by weight. You can scale up as you like, based on these.

Oil                             82.00%
Spices                         9.24%
Eggs                           6.85 %
Vinegar                      6.66%
Water                         1.87%
Salt                            0.98%
Mustard                     0.76 %
Sugar                         0.64%

I cannot get the decimal points to align. If anyone reading this knows how to make blogger.com align columns, drop a comment below.

I decided to make about a quart of mayo because I was down to near the bottom of my current jar.

 The following are what weights I used in this specific recipes.

907± grams total weight, so weight below yield a typical quart±.

    Liquids
725.00± grams of oil
62.140± grams of egg yolk
60.420± grams of vinegar
16.960± grams of water
    Dry
83.83± grams of spices
6.890± grams of salt
6.790± grams of mustard powder
5.700± grams of sugar

I have a scale capable of resolving tenths of a gram, and I have given accurate measures.

I used a stick blender to emulsify the oil. I had to use 3 eggs for their yolks to 62 grams. As the rule-of-thumb is 1 egg yolk (or whole egg, if you prefer) will emulsify 1 cup of oil, I used more egg, as I like it that way. The eggs were brought to room temperature before being used for the mayo.

This mayo came out thinner than storebought. But it spreads evenly and isn't soggy.

I have in my herb garden, fresh dill and chives, so that's what I used. And more precisely, I had only fresh, yellow dill seeds so that is the source of my dill for this recipe. 

Guarded by Gnomes

To the buttermilk, add the mayo. Then the dill and chives. Stand overnight and then refrigerate. As I made mine but a few days ago, I cannot give a sense of how long it will stay fresh.

All I had growing

Lastly, as I like salad dressing to taste tangier than the commercial dressings, I added about 15 mL of lactic acid to the jar. That product is available in small quantites from the Woodland Hills Home Beer, Wine and Cheesemaking Shop.

Finished Buttermilk Dressing