Chili

[munga]

your best chili recipe

that's what i'm looking for. i did a search and didn't come up with much, and have had an urge to create some great chili for a while. i have a recipe that i use religously, only because i haven't found anything better: Six-Pack Chili

i wanna see what ya got, beans, texas style, hot or mild.

p.s. - this is my first post, i have been lurking for quite some time and finally decided to show my face.

[zilla369]

Welcome, munga! Looking forward to your posts and input.

Chili is such a big topic, beginning with: beans or no beans? Cincinnati-style or otherwise? Every time i make chili, it seems to be different. I lean towards dark red kidney beans, big chunks of ground meat (beef and sausage) and green pepper. No pasta! Cheese and chopped scallions as garnishes. Tons of cayenne. A combination of fresh and canned tomato products. Your favorite hot sauce. Sometimes corn, sometimes chickpeas.

Anyone? Everyone?

[Jason Perlow]

Theres some good chili recipes on recipegullet:

http://recipes.egullet.com/dosearch.php?PH...um_quick_cats=2

[bloviatrix]

In my home, we make a lot of black bean chili. We make huge pots and freeze it in quart containers. There's nothing better than coming home on a cold winter night, defrosting some chili, boiling up some rice and voila - dinner. Depending on our mood we go with either ground beef or ground bison. Some green pepper, onion, and garlic. A combination of chili powder, cumin and cayenne. Sometimes chipotles in adobo for the smokey taste. And diced tomatoes. And don't forget the black beans.

Edited August 14, 2003 by bloviatrix (log)

[Basilgirl]

James Beard's chili is my favorite. NO BEANS. You would be shot in Texas if you put beans in your chili. My Texan daddy told me so.

Wick Fowler's chili mix is also good, if you're in a hurry.

[guajolote]

lots more chili here

[hotle]

non-traditional, but this one's what i use:

2 large onions, chopped

8 cloves of garlic, pureed

1 pound of bacon, chopped

mix of dried chiles (ancho, pasilla, etc.) roasted and ground, as much as you want

cumin seed, pan-roasted and ground to taste

2-3 jalepenos, roasted, peeled, and seeded

2-3 poblanos, roasted, peeled and seeded

4-5 lbs sirloin or chuck, trimmed and diced (i don't dice uniformly.....i like the different textures)

1 large can tomato sauce

1 large can tomato puree

jack daniels (about a cup? don't know....i'm usually drinking it, too!)

red wine (a half cup, and i don't drink this with the jack.......)

beef stock to thin, if necessary

salt to taste, but with the bacon, not much is needed

i don't leave the bacon in......i just use the fat to brown the meat/aromatics. that way, my son and i get to eat the bacon. i usually chop the two roasted green peppers together and use them to adjust heat/taste during the 2-hour cooking process. and, i add my ground chiles in 3 stages, the last of which is usually about 30 minutes before serving.

like i said, non-traditional, but pretty tasty!

matt

[fifi]

Check out this site... Chile Pepper Magazine. They even had some articles not long ago about award winning chili.

http://www.chilepepper.com/index.cfm?fusea...ction=frontpage

The family standard is a simple form of beef chili from the Texas the Beautiful cook book. It is called Pedernales Chili and is supposed to be what was served on the LBJ ranch. You may find it somewhere using google, but my only copy is copyrighted.

The other VERY non-traditional recipe that I have to make several times a year is one from Southern Living several years ago. It has the most amazing list of spices (cocoa powder and cardamom?) and even garbanzo beans! It was so weird that I just had to try it. Everyone fell in love with it. I later found out that it was probably kin to a Cincinnati chili. But then, I am a Texan and didn't know such blasphemy existed.

(I checked the Southern Living site and it is only open to subscribers. Sorry.)

[vengroff]

It may not be traditional, but one of the first things I'm going to try to recreate once I have a working kitchen is Michel Richard's black bean and duck confit chili. It's like a cross between chili and cassoulet.

[adp1906]

Hello everyone.

I was wondering if anybody had a really good recipe for

some chili?

[Jason Perlow]

Theres a few good ones in recipegullet.com.

http://recipes.egullet.com/dosearch.php?PH...um_quick_cats=2

[CathyL]

Kit Anderson's Bad Attitude Chili.

(Ha! I beat =Mark to it.)

[Bond Girl]

I think Jaymes posted some pretty good ones in another thread.

[memesuze]

Here's one thumbs-way-up vote for Bad Attitude Chili....

[fifi]

Chili fanatic here. There are some awesome recipes and a lot of talk about technique here:

http://www.chilepepper.com/

You just need to search around. Some of the articles from the chili cook offs have good info.

I just snagged that Bad Attitude recipe. I can't wait to try it. I have a very weird recipe that I got out of Southern Living a few years ago and it had cocoa powder in it. Chocolate in chili is not that weird. That combination was around before Columbus.

[Jinmyo]

Chiles. Steak.

That's it.

[Stone]

Kit Anderson's Bad Attitude Chili.

(Ha!  I beat =Mark to it.)

Kit requires "1/2 cup GOOD chile powder -- (Your local supermarket brand tastes like cardboard.) "

Is he suggesting that I find a spice mixture and mix my own? Or just something other than McCormicks. Are there decent comercial chili powder brands that folks recommend?

And what's with the 4 beef boullioin cubes? I assume the equal amount of "Better than Boullion" or greatly reduced beef stock would be better?

[fifi]

Kit Anderson's Bad Attitude Chili.

(Ha!  I beat =Mark to it.)

Kit requires "1/2 cup GOOD chile powder -- (Your local supermarket brand tastes like cardboard.) "

Is he suggesting that I find a spice mixture and mix my own? Or just something other than McCormicks. Are there decent comercial chili powder brands that folks recommend?

And what's with the 4 beef boullioin cubes? I assume the equal amount of "Better than Boullion" or greatly reduced beef stock would be better?

The "chili powder" that you buy at the supermarket is a blend that already includes the cumin etc. Look at the ingredients list. I am going to assume that he means true chile powder basis his comments about it tasting like cardboard and the fact that he is calling for cumin separately. (That may be wrong.) I buy pure chile powders. My current supply includes ancho (the main one for chili), arbol, and cascabel. I get them at my main Latin market, Fiesta in Houston because they have a high turn over and are likely to be fresh. Occasionally, I make my own by toasting the dried chiles and running them through the spice grinder. I store the powder in glass jars in the freezer.

(Note that I am using the spelling with the "i" for the dish and the "e" for the pepper. I have no idea if that is correct. It has been the subject of violent debate.)

edit to add: Bouillon cubes and powders are very common in Northern Mexican cuisine so it is not unexpected here. Some of the chili cook off winners also include those little cubes. Don't knock it. I don't think going upscale on that element will make a bit of difference.

Edited August 24, 2003 by fifi (log)

[NVNVGirl]

I have made the chile from the March/April issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine several times. It's excellent basic chili billed as "supermarket ingredients, deep flavor" and it's right on. My husband loves it and he's a chili eating machine...said it's the best he's ever had. Very basic, but very good. Would be happy to post the recipe if it's permissable or provide the link to it if it's online.

[claire797]

I second the vote for the Cook's Illustrated Chili.

Edited August 24, 2003 by claire797 (log)

[Jaymes]

I have made the chile from the March/April issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine several times.

According to what I interpret the mods having said regarding this issue - as long as you change the phrasing - put the instructions in your own words for example - but you can list the exact ingredients - it's okay. Perhaps one of them will arrive here and clarify, just to be sure.

BUT, my real question is do you know if the chili recipe from the March/April issue is the same one in the Cook's Illustrated "The Best Recipe" cookbook?

[fifi]

The March/April 2003 is not the same at all. The Best Recipes version looks more "authentic" if a bit fussy. This one looks like a very basic, dumbed down version of chili. And that is how it is billed... simple to make with basic ingredients. At least the BR version is specific as to what is meant by chile powder.

[mnebergall]

There are many chili recipes availabe on the web. One example is:

http://www.mega-zine.com/kitchen/chili/

A good source for different chili powders is:

http://www.mexgrocer.com/catagories-spices...rbs-ground.html

And, Gebhardt's Chili Pwwder appears to be a brand preferred over the commercial brands such as McCormick's.

[Andy Lynes]

My chili was improved beyond recognition by this thread.

[KNorthrup]

For the most part, I don't dare deviate from my mother's recipe (which is as unauthentic as you can get but it's what my tastebuds expect) but I do now replace some of the beef with chorizo. Quick way of getting all sorts of extra flavours.

Andy -- How common is chili over there? I was really surprised to see you weigh in.