Chili – Cook-Off 15

[Katie Meadow]

Chile paste lasts very well in the freezer. I have cup containers and freeze about 3/4 cup per container. That amount works for a pot of beans or posole, depending on how hot it turns out, or for a Bayless tamale casserole. I adore chile paste made from dried whole chiles, but truthfully it isn't my favorite dirty job, so I try to make a substantial batch when I do it.

[Ader1]

I think the Chilli that I make is quite similar to many on here although I just include some mild chilli powder so that family members can eat and I add a little cayenne. However, what I haven't seen is the inclusion of cloves. I always add around 5 of these to my 1kg mince mixture along with cocoa powder which is essential and a little vinegar and some sugar. I may use oregano or mixed herbs. Last week I was reading Heston Blumenthal's (sp?) and Gordon Ramsey's Chilli recipes. One of them (I'll have to check) put a couple of star aniseeds into their chilli. I wonder if that would work in addition to my cloves? Anyway, I'm very happy with my Chilli and would consider a tweak or two but nothing drastic.

[Jaymes]

I think the Chilli that I make is quite similar to many on here although I just include some mild chilli powder so that family members can eat and I add a little cayenne. However, what I haven't seen is the inclusion of cloves. I always add around 5 of these to my 1kg mince mixture along with cocoa powder which is essential and a little vinegar and some sugar. I may use oregano or mixed herbs. Last week I was reading Heston Blumenthal's (sp?) and Gordon Ramsey's Chilli recipes. One of them (I'll have to check) put a couple of star aniseeds into their chilli. I wonder if that would work in addition to my cloves? Anyway, I'm very happy with my Chilli and would consider a tweak or two but nothing drastic.

I add a bit of the Mexican chocolate. It usually has cinnamon, so that's a bit of spice.

[LindaK]

I think the Chilli that I make is quite similar to many on here although I just include some mild chilli powder so that family members can eat and I add a little cayenne. However, what I haven't seen is the inclusion of cloves. I always add around 5 of these to my 1kg mince mixture along with cocoa powder which is essential and a little vinegar and some sugar. I may use oregano or mixed herbs. Last week I was reading Heston Blumenthal's (sp?) and Gordon Ramsey's Chilli recipes. One of them (I'll have to check) put a couple of star aniseeds into their chilli. I wonder if that would work in addition to my cloves? Anyway, I'm very happy with my Chilli and would consider a tweak or two but nothing drastic.

The recipe for chile paste that I used (from Rick Bayless) included a scant tsp of ground cloves. I don't know if this is typical. Overall it was a nicely balanced flavor that worked well with the meat and beans. Better the next day, too!

[lindag]

Now that the weather is cooling (weekend forecast for highs of about 50F), I'm dreaming of Chili and I'm thinking of this recipe that was in my  files.  Haven't made it yet but it looks very good.

 

 

2 lbs 85 percent lean ground beef
2 Tbs plus 2 cups water
Salt and pepper
¾ tsp baking soda
6 dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 1-inch pieces
1 oz tortilla chips, crushed (1/4 cup)
2 Tbs ground cumin
1 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs ground coriander
2 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried thyme
1 (14.5-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped fine
3 garlic cloves, minced
1—2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans
2 tsp sugar
2 Tbs cider vinegar
 

Heat oven to 275 degrees. Toss beef with 2 tablespoons water, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and baking soda in bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, place anchos in Dutch oven set over medium-high heat; toast, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 4 to 6 minutes, reducing heat if anchos begin to smoke. Transfer to food processor and let cool.

Add tortilla chips, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, coriander, oregano, thyme, and 2 teaspoons pepper to food processor with anchos and process until finely ground, about 2 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl. Process tomatoes and their juice in now-empty workbowl until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Heat oil in now-empty pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add beef and cook, stirring with wooden spoon to break meat up into 1/4-inch pieces, until beef is browned and fond begins to form on pot bottom, 12 to 14 minutes. Add ancho mixture and chipotle; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add remaining 2 cups water, beans and their liquid, sugar, and tomato puree. Bring to boil, scraping bottom of pot to loosen any browned bits. Cover, transfer to oven, and cook until meat is tender and chili is slightly thickened, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Remove chili from oven and let stand, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir in any fat that has risen to top of chili, then add vinegar and season with salt to taste. Serve, passing lime wedges, cilantro, and chopped onion separately. (Chili can be made up to 3 days in advance.)

 

 

 

Edited September 28, 2017 by lindag (log)

[nickrey]

A dash of Worcestershire Sauce would potentially add to the dish in the middle palate.

 

Mexican Chocolate or cocoa powder?

 

Some form of smoke flavour?

[Alex]

2 minutes ago, nickrey said:

A dash of Worcestershire Sauce would potentially add to the dish in the middle palate.

 

Mexican Chocolate or cocoa powder?

 

Some form of smoke flavour?

 

The chipotles in adobo would add some smoke flavor; I don't think I'd want any more. The anchos could add a chocolate undertone, so no need for extra chocolate, imo. A bit of Worcestershire might be nice, though. I've fallen in love with the Col. Pabst brand. (We're eloping to Vegas next week. Don't tell anyone.)

[Toliver]

I stumbled across a new-to-me brand of Worcestershire Sauce made by Colgin. It was hickory smoked flavored. I never added a lot of it to anything, but it did have a nice smokiness to it.

 

In regards to chili, I think Worcestershire Sauce would add a little "umami" to the chili, which is always a good thing in my book.

[Norm Matthews]

Needs a bottle of beer instead of water and a tablespoon of cocoa powder added.

 

[Katie Meadow]

There must be a dedicated thread for chili and/or chile, but I don't see it. Growing up in NY no one I knew ever made either. When I moved to New Mexico in the late sixties I discovered CHILE. You got either a bowl of green or a bowl of red. Both used chunks of pork, never ground, and rarely beef. Neither used tomatoes. The red in red chile came from a paste made from ripened, dried, rehydrated long chiles. Although pinto beans are ubiquitous in all kinds of New Mexican dishes or as a side dish, they didn't appear in a bowl of chile. Very often potatoes were included in the bowl, which have a wonderful way of absorbing the flavor. The accompaniment was typically flour tortillas.

 

When you say "chile" you could also mean a type of hot pepper: ancho chiles, Chipotle chiles, Hatch chiles, etc.

 

CHILI with an I is an American adaptation. If you are making a Texas-style dish it would be called "Chili." And by the way, in the New World there is no such thing as Chilli, with two L's; that is a British twist, or massacre if you prefer.

 

Ingredients that typically go into Texas style chili are beef (ground or not), tomatoes and beer. Often CHILE powder is used. As for beans, well, it's just one of those things people have strong opinions about. I recently made a Texas style chili using short ribs (I'm not a fan of ground beef), a bottle of beer and fresh tomatoes, which I happened to have a lot of and needed to use up. The short ribs made a very nice beefy broth and were fall off the bone tender. I used some ancho chile powder, RG Indio oregano  and a little bit of cocoa powder. I had a modest amount of leftover beans, so, yep, I included them. I served a vinegary hot sauce on the side. I served it over rice, but warm corn bread would be a great go-with. For inspiration I used a recipe from David Leibovitz called Chili with Chocolate. As for chocolate, of course Mexico had it first, but any Texan must admit that, like bacon, a little chocolate is usually a very good thing.

 

I don't believe I've ever knowingly used Ro-Tel canned tomatoes. I know that some Texans swear by them for a variety of dishes. I am guessing that if a Texan had a surplus of home grown tomatoes he or she wouldn't hesitate to use them instead, and it would not make their chili any less Texan. Lisa Fain, of the Homesick Texan cookbooks, clearly had them growing up, but she never fails to acknowledge that Velveeta and Ro-Tel are heavily nostalgic ingredients and that updating those old tried and true recipes like Queso is in no way criminal.

 

Note: I posted this originally in the dinner thread. I searched for the chili cook-off thread but couldn't find it. Why? That's obvious. I spell it Chile. 

 

[ElsieD]

I have a pot of it bubbling away right now in my Instant Pot.  No beans.  Spouse hates beans.  I 

[lindag]

9 hours ago, Alex said:

 

The chipotles in adobo would add some smoke flavor; I don't think I'd want any more. The anchos could add a chocolate undertone, so no need for extra chocolate, imo. A bit of Worcestershire might be nice, though. I've fallen in love with the Col. Pabst brand. (We're eloping to Vegas next week. Don't tell anyone.)

 

Have you you tried it in your Bloody Mary's?

[Alex]

3 hours ago, lindag said:

 

Have you you tried it in your Bloody Mary's?

 

Funny you should mention that. I haven't made a Bloody Mary in at least a year (I was going to save nine keystrokes and write BM, but I quickly realized what that would look like), but the topic came up just last week when someone told me about a mix they liked. (I never use one.) So no, I haven't tried it, but yes, it's on the agenda.

[lindag]

10 hours ago, Alex said:

Funny you should mention that. I haven't made a Bloody Mary in at least a year (I was going to save nine keystrokes and write BM, but I quickly realized what that would look like), but the topic came up just last week when someone told me about a mix they liked. (I never use one.) So no, I haven't tried it, but yes, it's on the agenda.

 

 

That would be painful at best.

I like to use a combo of Mr and Mrs T bloody mary mix along with Clamato.

Edited September 29, 2017 by lindag (log)

[FeChef]

looks like a good recipe for tortilla bean soup.

[lindag]

I couldn’t find the brands of Worcestershire mentioned above but I did find This one.

Haven't tried it yet, but how bad could it be when it has Bourbon in it?  And it is rated very highly.

[Norm Matthews]

I think it's aged in used bourbon barrels rather than actually having bourbon in it.  Bourbon must be aged in new charred oak barrels.  After they have been used once, they are sold for other uses. Scotland uses them for aging Scotch, for one example.  The charred wood will be saturated with bourbon smell and flavor when used for the first few times with the Worcestershire sauce though.

Edited October 3, 2017 by Norm Matthews (log)

[lindag]

1 hour ago, Norm Matthews said:

I think it's aged in used bourbon barrels rather than actually having bourbon in it.  Bourbon must be aged in new charred oak barrels.  After they have been used once, they are sold for other uses. Scotland uses them for aging Scotch, for one example.  The charred wood will be saturated with bourbon smell and flavor when used for the first few times with the Worcestershire sauce though.

 

Ahh, yes, a bit of clever marketing, it insinuates the Bourbon as an ingredient to lure the foolhardy (me).

But I'll use it anyway, it still should be good.

[Norm Matthews]

I have bookmarked the page to order some too.

[weedy]

Let us know what you think.

 

My feeling is it's almost, but not really, as good as Lea and Perrins.

[lindag]

I'm wondering if L&P is really the Tabasco of Worcestershire sauces; by that I mean that for me Tabasco is at the bottom of the heap and popular only because of its longevity to the market.

I'll see when I have an opportunity to try my new brand.

[weedy]

Fwiw I don't like Tabasco much at all. 

It tastes like flavoured vinegar rather than like chiles. 

 

But, like Heinz Ketchup, I don't think anyone has "improved" upon L&P Worcester 

[lindag]

55 minutes ago, weedy said:

Fwiw I don't like Tabasco much at all. 

It tastes like flavoured vinegar rather than like chiles. 

 

But, like Heinz Ketchup, I don't think anyone has "improved" upon L&P Worcester 

 

I'm amazed that anyone uses Tabasco anymore since there are zillions of brands that are way better.

Tabasco tastes much  too vinegary for my tastes...My current favorite is Inner Beauty Hot Sauce.

I also like Dirty Dick's hot sauce. 

Edited October 4, 2017 by lindag (log)

[weedy]

I had my own brand for a while (it was a mango habanero sauce) but we are no longer doing it. 

 

http://www.pepperheads-hotsauces.com/shop/loud-orange-sunshine-8-oz/

 

I tend to like sauces that taste like something. Whether that's just the chile (if it's a flavourful one) or fruit or mustard or whatever. 

I don't like any of the 'flavoured vinegar' sauces or the 'it's just heat' sauces. 

 

I know some people love Tabasco or Cholula or Jack's. 

But it's inexplicable to me. 

 

 

[chileheadmike]

I like Tabasco. It has a unique flavor that goes well with cajun food. I use a lot of other hot sauces as well, and make my own. I keep a bottle on hand.