Learn Me: making good Chili

It's not chili without beans.

That said, you can make something mighty tastey with a couple pounds of meat - doesn't matter what you choose. Beef is good. Chicken is good too. I usually brown it and then add a chopped onion and a crushed clove of garlic.

Add fresh chopped hot peppers - not powdered. Fresh has a lot more flavor beyond just heat. I usually use 3 Jalapenos and one habenero per 2 pounds of meat.

3 bell peppers - 1 green - 2 yellow

1 jar medium black bean and corn salsa. I like Newman's Own.

2 tbs tomato paste

1 big can crushed tomatoes

Oregano and black pepper to taste.

Throw it all in a slow cooker on low for 3-4 hours to get friendly.

Usually I add a big can of kidney beans, a small can of Navy beans and a small can of Pinto beans too. I like beans.

I've been considering cubing up potatoes and throwing it in there too. Haven't done it yet.

I'm firmly in the beans camp as well, my wife is not, I refer to what she gets as spicy bolognese. But to each their own.

Quick and easy for me 1 lb ground beef 1 lb cubed beef 1 lb Italian sausage

Brown those in a pot.

Add tomato sauce and paste (big damn can, I dont measure stuff) A jar of good salsa garlic and chili powder to taste (I like it hot) Randomly throw other things at it while it's cooking, like sirracha, franks red hot, etc Add beans late in the cooking (I like on can of light, one can of dark) or they cook away to nothing.

My grandma used to add carrots while cooking and then remove them before serving. She swore it made it less acidic, YMMV

I like to get some pulled pork from the local BBQ joint and use that as my meat. No beans. Lots of spices.

Alternatively: go to Wendy's

Beer.

Not in the chili just drink lots of beer.

Aaaannd. I jsut started tonights chili batch.

Thanks guys

RossD wrote: Here's question: Who adds noodles or rice to their chili? Or serves their chili over noodles or rice? It's very common to have macaroni noodles in the chili in this area of Wisconsin. My wife, being from ... all over the country, can't wrap her head around putting such things in Chili. I mentioned this to my Grandma and she said it was just a way to make the chili last longer in big Catholic/farm families.

For me, there's nothing like a bowl of Red. Just good chili.

But, if you like to stretch the chili, put it over rice, noodles, or whatever. Frito Pie(chili over Fritos, often with cheese, onion, and jalapenos)is common here. You can even serve chili over beans. But beans are NOT part of the chili, thank you.

Beans started getting mixed in in during one of the depressions as a way to make the meat go farther. I like poor folk food as much as anyone, but adding beans is responsible for a lot of the bad reputation chili has in some quarters.

Good chili gets better overnight. Beans don't.

Dig this article for "The Best Chili Ever." And yes, that's obviously a loaded title. But it covers all the bases, from your flavor base (dried chilies, no powders), to your meat (short ribs for flavor and fat), to your umami builders (Marmite, tomato paste, anchovies, fish sauce, etc) and a few more "secret" ingredients (chocolate, whisky) to make a pot of chili that's LOADED with flavor. Seriously, give it a shot.

slantvaliant wrote:

RossD wrote: Here's question: Who adds noodles or rice to their chili? Or serves their chili over noodles or rice? It's very common to have macaroni noodles in the chili in this area of Wisconsin. My wife, being from ... all over the country, can't wrap her head around putting such things in Chili. I mentioned this to my Grandma and she said it was just a way to make the chili last longer in big Catholic/farm families.

For me, there's nothing like a bowl of Red. Just good chili. But, if you like to stretch the chili, put it over rice, noodles, or whatever. Frito Pie(chili over Fritos, often with cheese, onion, and jalapenos)is common here. You can even serve chili over beans. But beans are NOT part of the chili, thank you. Beans started getting mixed in in during one of the depressions as a way to make the meat go farther. I like poor folk food as much as anyone, but adding beans is responsible for a lot of the bad reputation chili has in some quarters. Good chili gets better overnight. Beans don't.

Frito pie... I'm glad that I forget that it exists. I could eat a giant platter on my own.

In reply to alex:

If I get the whisky out, I'm going to forget all about making chili.

Well, now. Out here in or near the Four Corners states, the first thing you gotta decide is Red or Green (the official New Mexico State Question). Let's hear a few good green chile recipes. Pretty much sauté lots of onion and fresh garlic, brown some chunks of roast pork, add some chicken broth, toss in a couple of chopped jalapenos and some tomatillos (not red things, these are green with a husk. The bottled stuff from Herdez is pretty good) and simmer for a good long while. A slow cooker works great. Add several roasted, peeled and chopped green chiles (type depends on how hot you want it - Big Jims or Anaheims are good, or you can get away with canned Hatch). You may want to thicken a bit with corn starch dissolved in a bit of cold water. Some people like to add cut up potatoes. Try a mixture of yellow squash, green chile and sautéed onion and garlic as a side dish.

These are just basics off the top of my head, a real recipe would vary a bit. You can use beef, too, but the flavor's better with pork. But if you haven't tried it, go over to the green side. Makes outstanding huevos rancheros and burritos, too.

For good red, the Shelby-type recipe listed early in the thread is pretty authentic and tasty.

Coriander and Chili 9000 from Penzey's. I put that E36 M3 on everything.

My father in law, may God rest his soul, made a hell of a pot of chili. It was based on the Shelby recipe, and like Jim mentioned above, it's a great place to start. It varied from batch to batch based on what was on sale and what looked good at the market, so there was always some variation.

If there was any secret, though, it's that it was always better after it had been frozen for at least a couple weeks. It was great out of the pot, but it was never as good as the bags we'd take out of the freezer from a previous batch and throw in the crockpot. Maybe freezing did something with the moisture levels, or something, but man that stuff was tasty after it had been thawed out.

Swank Force One wrote: Basically... just throw a bunch of E36 M3 you like in a pot and let it roll.

This, some combination of meat, beans, tomato products, whatever else you want(corn, onions, garlic, etc.), various spices to taste including chili powder, brown the meat, stir everything in, spice it, simmer for a an hour or two, readjust spicing, eat. This is not something you need to think very hard about.

I just made this recipe tonight.

1) open can of Nally turkey chili

Delicious, especially with onions, sour cream and cheese

At first you might think this is a waste of a good beer... It isn't... I have been doing variations of this for some time now.. Simply perfect every time..

"Breakfast Chili"

Beer as previously mentioned. I prefer darker beers, like a scotch or burbon stout. Something like New Holland Dragon's Milk. Gives it a nice bite. Founder's Breakfast or Kentucky Breakfast Stout works really well.

1 lb. Ground beef.
1 lb. Chorizo.
1 lb. Spicy breakfast sausage.
1 lb. Thick-cut bacon (prefer peppered)

The Carroll Shelby seasoning actually works pretty damn well. However, with the bacon, chorizo, and sausage, you don't necessarily need it. I can cook the above meats just throwing in chili powder, a few splashes of my favorite hot sauce, salt, and pepper.

I usually throw a can of black beans and a can of chili beans. Just enough for texture.

Chop up an onion to throw in. Top if all off with diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, etc.

I like my chili spicy and thick, and this always does it for me.

Growing up there were two types of chili: hot dog chili(without beans) and regular chili(with beans). Those two recipes evolved into my chile recipe which is lean ground beef based at a 2:1 ratio with ground hot sausage(here in E Tenn I use Wamplers). I start out with two pans browning the ground beef and sausage together in one and building my broth in the crock pot. I generally use the same spices but will add or delete based upon the contents of the refrigerator. After about two hours, I blend the two pans into the crock pot and let it all simmer for approx 6 hours. You can eat it then but as stated before, chili is actually better the second day. I think that the broth thickens up. At various competitions, I have been told that my chili is like a spaghetti sauce but I like it and I do it for myself. I have won prizes with it.
The broth contains tomato sauce, yellow mustard, tobasco, worchestershire sauce, red pepper and black pepper. The meat is basted in red pepper, Mexene chili pepper and a McCormicks chili packet. All the flavors blend together in the crock pot. I dont like veggies in my chili as you can tell. YMMV While fritos seem to be a preferred add to chili, if you go to Cincinnati, chili is poured over noodles; I prefer a pan of cornbread myself made using the aged black cast iron skillet.

Beans in chili goes back a lot further than the Great Depression. Story I've been told was that before a cattle drive, they'd slaughter a cow and have a big feast, then grind up the rest of the meat and store it in a barrel of jalapeño juice to keep it from turning on the trail. When they started out it would just be the meat and spices, but as they'd go along, the cook would add beans and carrots and other stuff to make it go further. This is why beans and other fillers in chili is supposedly more common in the north. That said, I think it's more a matter of taste nowadays.

I usually make the Shelby chili as it's damn good as the box says to make it, and it doesn't take all day to do as I'm usually making it for dinner after work. I use ground beef but don't just pick up a pack of meat off the shelf, ask at the meat counter to grind you some chili grind either 80/20 or 90/10. Remember, fat is flavor, and that ultra lean stuff just doesn't have the right kind. Last time I did I sliced a jalapeño and tossed it in with good results. I'll try some of the suggestions on here next time as I've been wanting to experiment with it.

Personally, McCormick slow cooker seasoning. Directions call for 2# meat, 2 cans kidney bean, 2 cans diced tomatoes, can tomato paste+ 8 hours.

I change up the beans, pintos and whatever else. Add a mess of onions, peppers, and garlic. 1can chipotle and a beer.

Put it together in the morning and it's ready when you get home. Most work is a toss up between browning up 2 pounds of meat or cutting the veggies.

Here is what I ended up doing: 1# spicy pork sausage 1# ground pork 1.5# sirloin steak cubes

I cooked up the meat with an onion, 3 jalapenos, a bunch of diced mushrooms, 4 garlic clove thingys, and 4 bell peppers.

I let my "sauce" simmer in the crockpot while the meat was cooking. The sauce was made from 16 oz Chocolate Stout, 12 oz of beef broth, 2 tbs brown sugar, 2 small pieces of bakers chocolate, 4 cans of tomato paste, 1 mashed up tomato.

When the sauce was fully simmered, it tasted a bit like a mole sauce. It was pretty good!

When I added the meat and vegatables, it completed the wonderous transition to chili.

I added a small amount of cumin, crushed red cayenne pepper, and a small amount of chili powder.

The flavor is mild, but builds the heat after a little while. Nothing obnoxious.

I am really liking this concoction! You can taste all the individual flavors without anything punching you in the face.

I appreciate all the input. I ended up putting a bunch of things in that I would never have thought of without the boards input.

I will let everybody know how the family cookoff goes. This stuff is good enough to win!

Thanks again,

Rob R.

I start by sauteing half of a large white onion (chopped), as many garlic cloves as you want (sliced), 8 serrano peppers (chopped), 4 jalepeno peppers (chopped), and 2 habenero peppers (chopped.)

ONLY sautee until just barely starting to get soft. This is important.

Add 1.5 cups of beef or chicken broth/stock. Small can of tomato paste. Large can crushed tomatoes. Tons of chili powder, some cumin, white, black, cayenne,and crushed red pepper, touch of cinnamon. Mix.

Add your beans (I like a mix. Black, red kidney, etc.. whatever i've got laying around) and any canned veggies you might add. (I drain and rinse a can of hominy and throw it in. Sometimes a small can of sliced black olives if i'm feeling sassy.)

Once everything is up to temp, very light simmer, i then add 4-5lbs of cubed beef that i previously browned. Whatever cut is on sale/cheap that day. It's going to cook forever, i don't care about putting prime rib or whatever in my chili. Usually just a bulk pack of stew beef, because that's all chili really is: Garbage Stew. At this point, i also crumble and dump in about 5-6 slices of bacon i cooked earlier for some smokey-ness.

Stir. Return to slow simmer. At this point, add any other fresh veggies you might want/need. (I get fancy and weird and will sautee portabello mushroom chunks in red wine, then throw them in.)

Let it cook forever. I usually cook on low heat for a good 4-5 hours minimum. Makes a huge amount, it's great heated up, it's good on cornmeal waffles topped with cheese and thrown under the broiler for a minute, it's damn near good cold. Eat 3/4ths of it, throw the remaining 1/4 in the freezer for when you need a chili fix down the road.

Random pics from last batch. I actually make a "His" and a "Hers" batch because SWMBO doesn't like hers quite as spicy and prefers ground beef and beans, none of the weird stuff.

Random ingredients:

The "Holy Trinity" with a twist:

Adding stock and tomato paste:

Browning beef. The stew meat is usually a little fatty so i tend to brown in 1 pound "batches" now.

Sauteing/steaming portebellos in red wine:

All together now (pre-beans):

mmmm. Black olives. Why didn't I think of that?

I am sooo hungry right now!

Rob R.

Jim Pettengill wrote: Well, now. Out here in or near the Four Corners states, the first thing you gotta decide is Red or Green (the official New Mexico State Question). Let's hear a few good green chile recipes. Pretty much sauté lots of onion and fresh garlic, brown some chunks of roast pork, add some chicken broth, toss in a couple of chopped jalapenos and some tomatillos (not red things, these are green with a husk. The bottled stuff from Herdez is pretty good) and simmer for a good long while. A slow cooker works great. Add several roasted, peeled and chopped green chiles (type depends on how hot you want it - Big Jims or Anaheims are good, or you can get away with canned Hatch). You may want to thicken a bit with corn starch dissolved in a bit of cold water. Some people like to add cut up potatoes. Try a mixture of yellow squash, green chile and sautéed onion and garlic as a side dish. These are just basics off the top of my head, a real recipe would vary a bit. You can use beef, too, but the flavor's better with pork. But if you haven't tried it, go over to the green side. Makes outstanding huevos rancheros and burritos, too. For good red, the Shelby-type recipe listed early in the thread is pretty authentic and tasty.

My return question is, who only uses one type of chili?

Our chili typically has chipotle (and some of the adobo sauce), Anaheim, and Serrano or habanero.

wvumtnbkr wrote: mmmm. Black olives. Why didn't I think of that? I am sooo hungry right now! Rob R.

I like my chili to be "toothy." More textures the better. Black olives are AWESOME for this.

z31: Oh, yeah, I was just keeping it simple. There are a zillion ways to make great chili, I was just waving the flag for green as another way. We also use chipotles and serranos on occasion, as well as poblanos for some things.

Big plus for hominy. When I get around to it, may post the wife's recipe for carne adovada or posole. Yum!