Cincinnati Chili
I like all kinds of chili except that water stuff I got from Wendy’s
It’s “Chile”, not “Chili” and it comes in either red or green.
I’ve been served chili over lettuce (very strange) and a politician I know gives an annual “Floating taco party” which this author describes as “walking tacos”. State Rep XXX’s “Floating Tacos” are delish!
Have none of you ever had the BEST....SKYLINE CHILI from CINCINNATI???? OMG!! The BEST!!
I make a mean chili. And I put beans in it. I don’t care what the Texans may say.
I have always liked chili but it is hard to get it just right.
Around a month ago, I made a large pot and it was one of the better batches I have ever made.
A couple of weeks later I made another thinking I was doing it the same way but it was very mediocre. It seems you have to get it just right.
I’ve had it with beans and without. Without is better. De gustibus non est disputandum.
Cthulu?
I have an old checkout-counter recipe book that featured six former winners of an all-meat (no beans allowed) Chili cook-off. What struck me were four things: several recipes used both chicken and beef bouillon granules, several used both beef and pork, none used ground beef, and all used what seemed very high doses of chili powder. But all used the same basic ingredients with what seemed like minor variations, so I ended up wondering what made those recipes stand out.
Chili comes from Texas (red) or New Mexico (green).
I am fine with the many varieties of chili, it is part of the wonderful texture of life. But, if it doesn’t contain beef, it’s some other concoction, that ought to have another name. Beef chili made from chunks of some cut of roast is generally better than any ground beef version, but I’ve had very good ground beef chili and did not complain.
I buy most of my beef by the cow and know both the farmer and the butcher. Those wrapped chunks of beef in the freezer speak to me: Chili, Chili
Buzzard’s Breath Chili .... pretty good stuff!
The best chili comes from chili-powder made from ground campfire flames frozen solid by a Blue Norther.
30+ posts and not a single recipe?!?!
Cincinnati Chili
There’s a few variants to chili that I am looking forward to.
To start with, the use of Sous-Vide beef. With Sous-Vide you vacuum pack your raw meat, then immerse the pack in water that is the perfect temperature for cooking beef, 130-135F.
“The meat has begun to turn pink, and is significantly firmer. Moisture loss is still minimal, at around 4%. Intramuscular fat has begun to render, which not only lubricates the meat, making it taste juicier and more tender, but it also delivers fat-soluble flavor compounds to the tongue and palate—beef at this temperature tastes significantly “beefier” than beef at 120F. When tasted blind, even self-proclaimed rare meat lovers preferred this one, making it the most popular selection. It also avoids the ‘sawdust’ texture that begins at 140F.”
Importantly, none of the odor or flavor is lost, which is obvious when it is cooked and you open the vacuum pack to give the meat a quick sear. You get “beefed” right in the face with a delicious “beefy” odor.
When cooked Sous-Vide, this beef is quite tender and close to perfectly cooked. I would then add it to the chili with just enough time to warm it, before serving. It is far less important that its flavors have blended with the chili flavors than it not get any additional cooking.
Next, some chili makers are using spices that are “bloomed” and roasted. “Blooming” means briefly sauteing spices in oil to bring out their flavors, whereas roasted spices have a different character altogether. Some cooks think of the two as the same thing, but I distinguish them as different techniques.
Third, while some chili makers use roux in their chili, roux is so versatile that it should not be an afterthought.
Roux comes in colors: white, blond, light brown (or caramel colored), brown, and dark brown (called chocolate). While the dark brown is most flavorful, it does not thicken much at all. While the lighter ones thicken, they are less flavorful.
Unless they are made into sauces. And while these would likely not be blended into the chili, they could be drizzled on top of it. For instance, a white cream roux sauce, Béchamel sauce, can become Mornay sauce by adding cheese; or a Nantua sauce, with crayfish, butter and cream, etc.
They wouldn’t make the chili. They would make the chili better.
I have 20 hot peppers and 28 sweet peppers started to be ready to go out into the garden come spring. Of course, by then I won’t be able to afford beef.
Beans ARE “filler.” Feh. Don’t belong in chili. And I’m not even from Texas.
I go to the original one in Alexandria, VA