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If It’s Chili, It’s Personal
New York Times ^ | FEB. 10, 2014 | JENNIFER STEINHAUER

Posted on 02/13/2014 4:00:26 PM PST by nickcarraway

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To: afraidfortherepublic
I’ve been served chili over lettuce (very strange)...

Funny you should say that. In the rural area where I grew up, it is somewhat customary to serve chili with "lettuce sandwiches." White bread, lettuce, Miracle Whip or Mayo on one side, and butter on the other.

I love it; drives my husband crazy...LOL!

101 posted on 02/14/2014 3:38:24 AM PST by garandgal
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To: colorado tanker
I make a mean chili. And I put beans in it. I don’t care what the Texans may say.

Yep - and I think the cumin has to be just right for base flavor - once it's right, it can be spiced to taste.

102 posted on 02/14/2014 3:39:06 AM PST by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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To: nickcarraway

It has to be in a vacuum bag, which doesn’t transmit any taste to the meat at all, as far as I can tell. Vacuum bags have to withstand both freezing and hot water temperatures without breaking down or even losing their seal, so are both thicker gauge and chemically tougher than most plastics.

More info:

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/12463202060/cooking-sous-vide-plastic-safety

“...there are some bags on the market that are indeed safe for sous vide purposes, and pose no problems from a BPA or EA perspective. The key is to stick with vacuum bags that are free of BPA, phthalates, and other plasticizers. It’s the plasticizers — chemical additives like phthalates that increase the pliability and fluidity of the plastic — that contain EA.

“I was able to confirm, for example, that Jarden’s FoodSaver bags are made from polyethylene glycol and nylon, and don’t contain BPA, phthalates, or other plasticizers with EA-leaching additives.

“The temperatures of sous vide are also low (polyethylene doesn’t begin softening until 195F), although I would imagine that a very small amount of polyethylene would still make it onto the surface of your food through diffusion. Polyethylene, however, is considered biologically inert, and scientists have been unable to detect any toxicity in animal tests (unlike BPA). It passes the Ames test and other studies of damage to DNA, and doesn’t have a similarity to estrogen.”

(The article continues with some debate.)


103 posted on 02/14/2014 5:12:53 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy (WoT News: Rantburg.com)
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To: Deek

This calls for experiment. It might also help to bloom your spices first.

However, the part about adding the cooked and seared meat to the chili just to warm it before serving still holds. I imagine it like cooked shrimp dishes where you do the same, to avoid overcooking and toughening the shrimp.

My own unusual experience was in using Sous-Vide for cooking a large amount of stew beef, that wasn’t then seared, and using it in recipes where before I had pressure cooked or browned it, specifically beef goulash, Stroganoff and bœuf Bourguignon.

It is true that restaurant cut steaks are actually less flavorful than are the cheaper cuts, that really shine with Sous-Vide.

And now that I’m thinking about it, I wonder how the exotic spice blends would work with Sous-Vide:

Adobo
Argentinian Chimichurri
Berbere
Indonesian Bumbu
Chipotle Seasoning
(various) citrus peppers
Greek Seasoning

etc.


104 posted on 02/14/2014 5:48:21 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy (WoT News: Rantburg.com)
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To: Jane Long

Chile is a country: Chili is a food. Simple, yes?


105 posted on 02/14/2014 6:00:12 AM PST by Monkey Face (Absinthe makes the heart grow fondue. ~~ Darksheare and NoCmpromiz)
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To: Monkey Face

Yes, simple ;) Except, in New Mexico they call the chile that they grow, cook and hang by their doors *chiles*.


106 posted on 02/14/2014 6:56:12 AM PST by Jane Long (While Marxists continue the fundamental transformation of the USA, progressive RINOs assist!)
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To: Jane Long

Then shame on them! LOL! Chileans won’t like that and for sure won’t understand it!


107 posted on 02/14/2014 7:02:57 AM PST by Monkey Face (Absinthe makes the heart grow fondue. ~~ Darksheare and NoCmpromiz)
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To: Monkey Face

“Then shame on them! LOL!”

New Mexicans have been hanging chiles a lot longer than Chileans have existed. Chilis so good, they copied our name.


108 posted on 02/14/2014 10:30:13 AM PST by Owl558 (Those who remember George Santayana are doomed to repeat him)
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To: Owl558

Well. I stand corrected...It’s still Chile and chili to me, since some of my folks are from Old Mexico... ;o]

There was a time when immigration when south from here instead of north from there.


109 posted on 02/14/2014 10:33:38 AM PST by Monkey Face (Absinthe makes the heart grow fondue. ~~ Darksheare and NoCmpromiz)
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To: trebb

I sure agree with that! Lots of folks focus exclusively on the chilies and powder, but getting the cumin right is the key.


110 posted on 02/14/2014 10:36:54 AM PST by colorado tanker
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To: okie01

“My favorite are the Chimayo chilis.”

Wow, you brought a tear to my eye and memories of home. My family has been chili farming in the Rio Grande Valley as far back as anyone remembers. We hail from the Los Lunas area near Isleta. I agree that Chimayo chilis are among the best in the world (it must be all that sacred dirt from the Santuario). With all due respect to Texas and their 2nd best chilis, New Mexican chilis in general have a distinctive flavor and uniqueness that is the taste of the southwest. If it ain’t New Mexican, it ain’t chit. lol


111 posted on 02/14/2014 10:45:15 AM PST by Owl558 (Those who remember George Santayana are doomed to repeat him)
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To: Steve_Seattle
... so I ended up wondering what made those recipes stand out.

The chauvinism of the judges - nothing more, nothing less. How can you really tell if it's good chili ? It tastes good when you eat it, and doesn't give you gas.

And as a 31 year naturalized Texan, I use both ground meat and two kinds of beans.

112 posted on 02/14/2014 12:21:18 PM PST by jimt (Fear is the darkroom where negatives are developed.)
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To: Steve_Seattle
It was supposed to be "genuine" Texas chili.

Horsepuckey. There ain't no such thing. And you CAN win cookoffs using ground meat. I've won two using a combination of ground beef, turkey burger and pork sausage.

Of course, if it's a cookoff with rules thought up by an "eggspurt", or a consensus of officious clowns, there may be all kinds of idiotic requirements.

113 posted on 02/14/2014 12:26:53 PM PST by jimt (Fear is the darkroom where negatives are developed.)
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To: Jane Long
Texans never have understood chile.

That's why they come to New Mexico to see a mountain.

114 posted on 02/14/2014 3:46:34 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: Fiji Hill

Yup.


115 posted on 02/14/2014 3:48:26 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: Mears
My daughter in law makes incredible turkey chili. Yum!

Blasphemy.

You make chile from porcines or bovines.

No exceptions.

116 posted on 02/14/2014 3:56:15 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: elkfersupper

Love it! Only, this native Texan loves chili/chile and was born on the side of the mountain where the sun rises ;p


117 posted on 02/14/2014 3:57:25 PM PST by Jane Long (While Marxists continue the fundamental transformation of the USA, progressive RINOs assist!)
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To: Owl558
My family has been chili farming in the Rio Grande Valley as far back as anyone remembers. We hail from the Los Lunas area near Isleta.

Call one of them and ask them how to spell it.

It's "chile".

118 posted on 02/14/2014 4:00:40 PM PST by elkfersupper
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To: jimt
"Horsepuckey. There ain't no such thing."

That's why I put "genuine" in quotes. I know the rules of the contest prohibited beans, but I'm not sure if ground meat was allowed. I think it was, but most recipes started with cubed beef.
119 posted on 02/14/2014 4:32:50 PM PST by Steve_Seattle
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To: elkfersupper

I checked, it’s spelt, D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!

I mean, really, all you got is one mispelled word as your contribution?


120 posted on 02/14/2014 4:44:05 PM PST by Owl558 (Those who remember George Santayana are doomed to repeat him)
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