Texas-style chili con carne

Break down a chuck roast, trim silver skin and excess fat and cut into half-inch bite-size cubes.

Lay the meat out in a single layer, salt generously with kosher salt, leave at room temperature about 10 minutes, then blot as dry as you can. Moisture means steam, which means no browning.

Heat vegetable oil over medium-high until it just gives off wisps of smoke and brown about half the meat on each side. Browning half is enough; the flavour arrives as fond on the bottom of the pot.

Add roughly chopped onions to the fond, fat and flavour in the pot and sweat over medium heat until soft and golden.

Crush in about six cloves of garlic and saute with the onions about one minute until fragrant.

Deglaze with four cups of chicken stock, scraping up everything on the bottom.

Add all the meat, seared and unseared, and about a cup and a half of chili paste.

Bring to a simmer and add shakes of cinnamon, allspice, ground coriander seed and a very generous shake of oregano, plus two to three tablespoons of tomato paste if you want it.

Partially cover and simmer until the beef is tender and the stew has thickened, one and a half to three hours, tasting and tweaking as it goes.

Thicken with two to three tablespoons of masa harina and the juice of two limes, stir and cook five more minutes.

Serve with freshly grated pepper jack and lime wedges. Cornbread, sour cream, tortilla chips and avocado are all fair game.