Lady Bird Johnson's Pedernales River Chili — The Original LBJ Ranch Recipe

Few chilis come with a better story. This is the chili of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Texas ranch, named for the Pedernales River that runs through it and created by Zephyr Wright, the Johnsons' longtime cook, whose cooking LBJ loved so much that the White House ended up mailing recipe cards to the flood of people who wrote in asking for it. It's classic Hill Country Texas red — coarse-ground beef (or venison, LBJ's preference), no beans, and its one "secret" a can of Rotel tomatoes with green chilies for a little Southwestern lift. Simple, historic, and genuinely good: a presidential recipe that earns the title.

LBJ liked it with saltines and a glass of buttermilk; raw onion and cheddar are natural too.

Venison in place of beef is the authentic Hill Country move if you can get it. It's a lean, no-beans Texas red — resist the urge to add beans and keep it true to the ranch original. Makes a big, historic pot; it reheats beautifully.