The Chili Thread

[existentialcrisis]

I have never been a frequent eater of chili, nor do I have much experience making it, but lately I can't seem to help myself from collecting chili recipes. I've also been reading this wondering blog, with its well-written entries on Texas chili-making:

homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2006/1....art-one_15.html

homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2006/1....art-two_18.html

I had been discussing this with Bixa in the Requested Recipes thread, and figured I might as well make a whole thread dedicated to chili. So here is a place to post your own favorite chili recipes, as well as chili philosophy and method. What do you think: does true chili have beans in it? Tomatoes? Ground beef or cubed? Do you put seemingly strange ingredients in your chili, like chocolate or beer?

Let's see some thoughts and recipes!

[Deleted]

First of all, I am obliged to admit that I have generally found the packages of "chili mix" powder adequate for my unrefined palate. If I want to up the ante, I will add extra Cayenne during the simmering process.

My own method is to brown some ground beef and drain off most of the juice, then add chopped onions and continue cooking until they become translucent. Then I put in some tomato pulp and red or kidney beans, mix it up to see what it looks like. If I think it needs some extra tomato sauce or tomato paste, that goes in the pot. Then I let the chili look after itself.

Other additions may be chopped garlic and a bay leaf. I have also sometimes mixed cubed beef heart with the ground beef.

Canned French chili is very strange -- it generally has come corn mixed in.

[imec]

Feb 18, 2010 13:11:44 GMT kerouac2 said:

First of all, I am obliged to admit that I have generally found the packages of "chili mix" powder adequate for my unrefined palate.

I used to think that way too - but having looked at bixa's recipe where she chooses specific types of chiles I'm starting to think there's more to it. I'll have to check in the local Latin American store to see if they have those varieties.

I'm also wondering whether the controversy over ground meat or cubed meat will arise in this thread. Also the contention over whether real chili has beans or not...

Here are some cool quotes I found about chili:

"Wish I had time for just one more bowl of chili."

– Alleged last words of Kit Carson, frontiersman.


"My feeling about chili is this: Along in November, when the first northern strikes, and the skies are gray, along about five o'clock in the afternoon, I get to thinking how good chili would taste for supper. It always lives up to expectations. In fact, you don't even mind the cold November winds."

– Lady Bird Johnson, U.S. First Lady


"Next to jazz music, there is nothing that lifts the spirit and strengthens the soul more than a good bowl of chili. Congress should pass a law making it mandatory for all restaurants serving chili to follow a Texas recipe."

– Harry James, trumpet player


"Put a pot of chili on the back of the stove to simmer. Let it keep simmering. Meanwhile, broil a good sirloin steak. Eat the steak. Let the chili continue to simmer. Then ignore it."

– Allan Shivers, Governor of Texas.

[spaceneedle]

I discovered an amazing canned chili recently. It's probably the best I've ever tried out of a can. Of course it's not the same as home made, but it's pretty close. I found it at Costco of all places and it's called CATTLE DRIVE CHICKEN CHILI. It's really good.

[Deleted]

Chicken is actually quite good in chili, although I would have to say that it makes it non authentic.

[spaceneedle]

Feb 18, 2010 22:14:15 GMT kerouac2 said:

Chicken is actually quite good in chili, although I would have to say that it makes it non authentic.

You are probably right!

I have four cans of this stuff, if you want some, shoot me your address in PM and I'll send some over!

[bixaorellana]

I've already posted my recipe over in Requested Recipes, but am posting it again here as a talking point.

To address the OP: I feel both bean & non-bean chili are true chilis, although I prefer it with beans. You'll see that I include very plain, thin tomato sauce in mine. I do that instead of tomatoes because every chili I've ever eaten that used tomatoes was either too acid and/or did not have the right texture. Chili should have a nice thick texture and not be soupy in any way.

I use ground beef because cutting up meat into cubes small enough for chili is too tedious, plus ground beef seems to give more consistent results. And I do think chili is a beef dish. Sure, you can add some ground turkey or some tvp, but it should announce itself as beef when you eat it.

HT says that it should taste "deep, peppery and rich" and that's an excellent description of how and why chili is satisfying.

As for the "seemingly strange ingredients" ~~ HT uses masa in her chili, which would thicken and mellow it. I use the canned chili beans for the same reason. I've used beer in chili and frankly believe it's a waste of something that would be better poured down my gullet. Bitter chocolate would probably work well in chili, both for taste and texture. I've used the Mexican tablets to make drinking chocolate, but sparingly because they contain sugar. A little sugar is not a bad thing in something containing tomatoes, but with caution. A little cinnamon doesn't go amiss as a slight sweetener either.

I haven't made HomesickTexan's version, but it should render a great pot of chili. I note that her "more precise Texas chili recipe" is somewhat different from the two links of hers in the OP. For one thing, in the recipe she does not use bell pepper. I concur on that count! I see she's also changed from unsweetened chocolate to the Mexican disc I refer to above. On the chiles, I feel she's using some of them just because she can, and that all that variety is just so much lily gilding. She has drastically reduced the amount of coffee called for, thank goodness.

Well, I've blathered on enough. Here is my recipe, which can be used as a jump-off point, although it will render a fine, fine pot of chili with no embellishment whatsoever.

CHILI ~ Bixa’s recipe

Ground Beef
Onion, chopped
Garlic, minced (al gusto)
Tomato Sauce
Chili-style canned beans (yes, you really want to use these)
Chili Powder
(can also add freshly ground black pepper at the end)

Figure about 3 lbs. ground beef to one large onion.
Brown beef in deep pot along with onion. When onion is well-wilted, add garlic.
Sprinkle chili powder to lightly cover mixture and stir in.
Add 4 to 8 oz. of tomato sauce per 3 lbs. beef. Stir in and cook down
slightly.
Put in beans along with some water to rinse out the can. Use at least
one can per 3 lbs. beef.
Add salt to taste and water (enough so that the chili will reduce to the desired consistency in @ 20 min.).
Taste chili at this point & adjust seasonings. You may want to add more
chili powder, oregano, &/or cumin.
Allow chili to simmer uncovered for at least 20 minutes.

Note on tomato sauce: it’s best to use the cheap, very lightly seasoned sauce that comes in 4 oz. cans or long-life boxes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chili Powder by Bixa

Chiles Ancho
Chiles de Arbol (can use whole dried cayenne)
Cumin (whole)
Orégano (dried)

Begin by toasting the anchos whole on a dry skillet or griddle, being careful not to let them burn. Remove them, let them cool slightly, then remove stems and seeds, leaving chiles in two or three pieces. Toast the exposed insides of the chiles & set them aside to cool.
Toast the de arboles whole, cool them slightly, then remove the seeds.
Toast the cumin on the hot griddle. As soon as it begins to emit its smell, turn off the fire & sprinkle the oregano onto the hot griddle with the cumin. You will see and smell that it’s ready very quickly. Remove them from the griddle.
Now all the ingredients need to be ground together, using a coffee/spice grinder. If you make this in big batches, you can first whirl everything in a food processor, then finely grind it bit by bit in the coffee/spice grinder. When it’s all finely ground, put all the batches together into the food processor and mix well. The grinding can also be done in a molcajete.
Taste a pinch of powder. “Hotten” it with more arboles. It can be mellowed &/or sweetened with the addition of teensy amounts of cinnamon and coriander seed.

[Deleted]

Recently, I started making chili and when I got to the bean part, I discovered that I did not have the proper beans. So I put in some flageolets instead. This turned it into something totally different from chili in my opinion, but it wasn't bad.



Oh, but you can imagine how totally WRONG the color was!

[existentialcrisis]

Part of the reason I've become fascinated with chili recently, is because of all the possible variations. I could eat it with just beans, no beans, beans and beef - or even chicken. Purists, of course, would disagree ... but I'm all about breaking the rules. I wonder, then, what characteristic of chili unifies all chilies under one identity? Or is that just the philosopher in me talking? Oh, and as for soy options... I use vegetarian ground beef, which i guess is TVP.


I love this quote from Homesick Texan's chili page:
"It can only truly be Texas red if it walks the thin line just this side of indigestibility: Damning the mouth that eats it and defying the stomach to digest it, the ingredients are hardly willing to lie in the same pot together." - John Thorne, Simple Cooking

Probably on Monday night I will post a few of the interesting recipes I have found...

[bixaorellana]

Feb 20, 2010 14:11:16 GMT existentialcrisis said:

what characteristic of chili unifies all chilies under one identity?

My feeling is that the unifying factor is the basic seasoning. Basic chili powder is dried red pepper + cumin + oregano. The combination gives the characteristic chili taste regardless of variation in the rest of the ingredients.

[Don Cuevas]

We'll have Chili Cheesburgers for lunch today. The chili has both beans and tomato sauce. I also like Texas Purist Chili, but for me, it's more demanding to make. I have Uncle Jack's San Antonio Chili recipe filed away on the hrad drive (also backed up), and I would make it on special occasions.

"Git yer hands off thet can o beans, Bud!"
EDIT: Well, I'll be! I didn't find it, so here's a link to the TT Get Stuffed Chili Thread of several years ago.
www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1404131&messageID=12346380#12346380
Scroll to Reply # 9 for the Uncle Jack's recipe.

[existentialcrisis]

Thanks for the link DC! What is epazote?

[bixaorellana]

It's an excellent discussion on chili, yes indeed.

Epazote is a weed widely used as a culinary herb in Mexico. It really doesn't taste or smell like anything else -- sort of roundly turpentine-ish, and pretty much an acquired taste. It is sold with other herbs in plant nurseries in the US, so I imagine you could find it in Canada also. Seeds are also available.

It's an essential ingredient in the delicious flor de calabaza quesadillas. (nothing but squash flowers, string cheese, and epazote on an enormous tortilla, folded over on the dry griddle and cooked through)

[existentialcrisis]

Okay, I will share a couple of my chili recipes. This first one I got out of a cookbook called "Eat, Shrink and be Merry" ... it's a low-fat and very corny cookbook but it's got a few good recipes. They call this "Silly Greek Chili" ... I just call it Greek Chili:

Greek Chili

1 cup chopped red onions
1 cup diced zucchini
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp each ground cumin and dried oregano
1 can diced tomatoes (with sun-dried tomatoes)
1 1/2 cups pasta sauce (I used one with sun-dried tomatoes since I could only find regular diced tomatoes)
1 can chickpeas
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

*the recipe also calls for diced chicken breast, but I didn't use it.

Saute onions, zucchini, red pepper, and garlic in olive oil until they begin to soften.
Stir in spices. Add tomatoes, pasta sauce, chickpeas, brown sugar, and pepper.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Remove from heat. Stir in cilantro. Ladle into serving bowls and top with feta cheese.

Wow... 15 minutes? That's a fast chili....

[existentialcrisis]

I found this one online somewhere, but it was a couple years ago and I don't remember where. I like to make it around Thanksgiving/Halloween.

Pumpkin Turkey Chili

1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup each, red and green or yellow bell peppers
1 clove minced garlic
1 lb ground turkey
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cups pumpkin puree (no spices)
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
salt and pepper

Saute onion, peppers and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the turkey and cook until evenly brown.
Drain and mix in tomatoes and pumpkin. Add spices. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

[bixaorellana]

Have you tried the Greek chili? It's an interesting recipe. I'm having a terrible time trying to imagine the taste and look of the Pumpkin Turkey Chili. My mind is not rendering pretty images.

It occurs to me that something I posted in What's for Dinner (#2227) might explain a great deal about chili as we know it. What I made was just one variation on a Mexican cooking technique that is the basis for any number of dishes. You can see how it could be the inspiration for chili and why many aficionados insist that chili should never have beans it. None of the foods I know using that technique contain beans.

[existentialcrisis]

Yes, I have made both. I remember the Greek chili being quite tasty! I have a whole bunch of untested chili recipes, and I will finally have some time to cook this week... think I will try your method first, since I think I have a can of chili style baked beans on hand... or maybe they're BBQ?

I am also really interested in trying out GREEN CHILI: homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007/10/adios-october-but-first-some-green.html

WHITE CHILI: www.recipezaar.com/Great-White-Chili-supposed-to-Be-by-Willie-Nelson-110076

[bixaorellana]

That green chili is a serious recipe! If I were to make it, I think I'd boil & blenderize the tomatillos first, the "fry" them in the oil that was used for the onion, garlic, & pork. Then I'd add the other stuff. Also, I think I'd add the cilantro later in the cooking process.

I've always wanted to eat at Ninfa's. That green sauce sounds good.

I'd definitely give the white chili a try. Wish it had a different name!

[Deleted]

I don't think that chili should be an overly complicated dish. One of its attractions is that anybody can make it, like a hamburger or mashed potatoes.

[bixaorellana]

This is where I need to go (she said modestly). When I look at the winning entry for this year, I KNOW mine is better. Garlic powder, my Aunt Fanny!
www.chili.org/recipes.html

[lola]

Chili, Latest Version

brown:
minced garlic
chopped onions
red and/or green peppers
add:
chicken meat, chopped, and brown that
add:
canned small diced tomatoes, with liquid
canned chili beans
chili powder
a little curry powder
Maybe a Tbsp of Hayden's BBQ sauce, purchased or imported from the drive-in in Poplar Bluff MO (optional, and depending on whether you have had a chance to get down there recently)
a little salt maybe, but all those cans have salt
let it simmer for maybe 30 min
serve with saltines

[Deleted]

Indeed, I do believe that I should start making chili with chicken.

[existentialcrisis]

k2, the thing about Green Chili is that it is authentic to New Mexico. To them it may be as common as mashed potatoes, but I can't be sure. Part of the problem is that ingredients that are commonly found in the mid-west are not available to the rest of us. But in Texas they really eat Texas Red and in New Mexico they really eat green chili... and this region is the birthplace of chili.

bixa, why do you wish "White Chili" was called something else?

[bixaorellana]

Lola's new version would be quite toothsome, I think.

I dunno, Existentia -- that name just sounds icky to me for some reason.

[cristina]

I haven't made chili in ages. There was a chili restaurant that I used to go to long ago in Washington, DC that served a variety of chili styles. One, my favorite, was called Cincinnati chili. Rather than being hot-spicy, it was seasoned with cinnamon, cloves and other less traditional seasonings. Always served chili-mac style (my favorite way to eat chili).

Reading this thread has made me think that I need to research a recipe for this style of chili...

[lola]

In NM red or green chile (not chili) is a sauce made primarily from dried red or fresh green chile peppers. You can get a bowl of say, vegetarian green with cheese and beans added that will make everything seem all right again. Or you can make enchiladas with it, or pour it over your breakfast omelette.

[bixaorellana]

That's an important distinction, Lola. One of my sisters lived in Colorado for a long time. She gave me a recipe from a friend's mother that's similar to what you describe. They just called it green chile, too. It's good stuff, but I agree with you -- it is not chili.

I don't know if I can dig out the recipe from my sister, but this is very similar:
www.pepperfool.com/recipes/mexican/green_chilestew3.html

[existentialcrisis]

Okay, I'm confused. Is there no such thing as green chili? I know there is also green chile... which is a sauce. And there is "Green Chili Stew", popular in New Mexico and including potatoes. And Colorado has a green chile, which is different. Green chile or chili is commonly used as a sauce on top of burritos and such, but it also seems to be eaten as a stew, with tortillas. Every recipe I've found has listed cubed pork as the first ingredient, which makes this plausible. Also, Homesick Texan seems to have been served Green Chili as a stew by her New Mexican friends, which led her to come up with her own version based on her beloved Texas Red. I still think there is such thing as green chili, but there seems to be some confusion...

[Deleted]

I think my next chili is going to be a tex-mex-thai chili of my own invention -- with chicken and steamed rice! Cubed pork could be good, too.

[bixaorellana]

Because I am broad-minded and flexible ( ;D), and we are having a civilized, adult discussion, I am sorta, kinda going along with the notion that chili could have garbanzos or be any other color than reddish brown. But in my heart of hearts ...........

Green chile aka green chile stew is exactly that -- a dish featuring green chiles. Chili is a specific dish with a basis of (red) meat seasoned with cumin and dried red chiles.