The best chili ever

The Detroit Free Press ^ | October 2, 2001 | SUSAN SELASKY

[ET(end tyranny)]

Your #55 is pretty good! Macaroni or rice! lol

I think the beans get added to help defray costs and stretch it further. And I agree, leave the big chunks and whole tomatoes OUT!

One recipe I used years ago, called for adding the spices to the base gravy when or while it was cool. It helped to keep the spices IN the chili and not sticking to the upper rim of the cooking pot.

There are tons of good spices and seasoning that could be used. I was wondering if anyone tried using Mombassa Chipotle (SP) sauce in chili before?

[spectre]

THANK YOU! I've always used a Dry package Mix for base...then improvise to suit our tastes. In the end, my favorite part of the Chili is to put the bowl in the microwave and melt some cheddar cheese over the top....:~)

sw

[B-Chan]

"Cincinnati chili" sounds about as appetizing as "Alabama champagne". Whatever slop it is y'all are serving up there, it ain't chili.

[Don Joe]

"There are always several jars of Dave's Insanity products in my larder."

Everyone who loves hot stuff owes it to themselves to try out Huy Fong's Tuong Ot Sriracha. (The main website gives recipies, and more info on their history and products.)

Warning -- this stuff is as addictive as it is deadly.

[makoman]

Anyone who knows beans about chili, knows chili ain't got no beans. "That is double doo buy chill eye!" "All that stuff needs is a little of this!" (tabasco) Tex Scoffield 1977

[TXBubba]

No offense but my comment wasn't from a health standpoint. Vegies in chili equals stew. I did re-read the recipe and found appropriate ingredients but the title implies vegies (carrots, corn, etc.). That's what I meant.

This thread is really getting to me as I'm pregnant at the moment. On the one hand it is making me hungry and on the other the thought of TUMS all night is a turn off. I'll have to add chili to my "after pregnancy pig out" list.

[jdub]

Yep, nothing but a couple of beers. I guess you really cant blame her, its a large, flightless bird running along near a road. I just had never told her a roadrunner is only about 18 inches high. I had told her about armadillos and she thought I was lying until she saw one.

[ET(end tyranny)]

No offense taken! I was merely pointng out the joys of chili, and how nobody needs to give it up (except perhaps temporarily, like yourself!) because of dietary restrictions. Some obviously are better than others, but hey when the craving calls, they work in a pinch! lol

[secondamendmentkid]

Where is Santiago's Chili? BTW, Terlingua and San Marcos is where REAL chili is prepared. Those other places are like New York City chili.

[dtel]

BTTT

[GOPJ]

I add one piece of Dove Dark chocolate to my chili. It adds complexity to the gravy.

[gjenkins]

You know the place?

[B-Chan]

Beer is fine... as an accompaniment to chili. (Shiner goes best.) Putting beer in chili itself is verboten.

[GnL]

As a non-Texan, I appreciate your advice. However, how can you rattle all of this off and fail to provide us unenlightened ones with a proper recipe?!? Help us out here--give us something to work with.

[TheRightGuy]

Since I just got back from the store with a truckload of ingredients for a batch of my own version of Texas chili to take on a camping trip next week, I just had to get on this thread. My aim was to develop a hot chili -- not one that burns the mouth, but one that exudes an overwhelming, unrelenting, unstoppable warmth from within -- that will have even the coldest diner breaking a profuse sweat after just one bowl. Here's my bulk recipe:

10 lbs. beef chuck (chop suey cut, or a bit smaller)
5 lbs. yellow onions (coarsely chopped)
6 cloves garlic

Brown meat, garlic and onions in batches in a large cast iron skillet, seasoning with salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin. Drain and empty into a large kettle (I use an 18 qt. "Nesco" electric cooker).

Then add:
6 - 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes
6 - 10 oz cans of "Rotel" diced green (hot) chilis and tomatoes
3 - bags Carroll Shelby's chili seasoning (save the masa for thickening later)
2 - bottles of beer (dark is best, but its also a good way to get rid any old budweiser that may be poisoning your pantry)

Then get creative, this time I'm adding:
4- fresh jalopenas (chopped fine)
6- fresh hot red chilis (chopped fine)
2- fresh anaheim chilis (chopped fine)
2- fresh poblano chilis (chopped fine
4- "Thai Dragon" red chilis (chopped fine)*
*these were a new addition to my garden this year, and I haven't been able to get a scoville rating on them, but they are real burners.

Simmer at least 4 hours.
Thicken with masa from seasoning mix

Serve over fritos and top with shredded jack/cheddar mix. Makes about 3.5 gallons. Feeds about 25.

FRgds,
TRG

[S.O.S121.500]

b

[B-Chan]

Chili con carne aka chili is, by law, the official State Dish of Texas. (HCR 18, 65th Leg. R.S., 1977, p. 3252.)

ORIGINAL TEXAS-STYLE CHILI
from A Bowl of Red by Frank X. Tolbert

3 lbs. lean beef, preferably stewing meat 2 oz. beef suet (or substitute vegetable oil)
3-6 Ancho chile pods, boiled 5 minutes, cooled, stemmed, seeded and chopped, cooking water reserved. (or 3-6 Tbsp. chili powder or ground chilis)
1 tsp. oregano
1 Tbsp. crushed cumin seed
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. Tabasco sauce
2-4 minced garlic cloves, to taste
2-4 extra Ancho chile pods
2 Tbsp. Masa Harina or cornmeal

Cook suet until fat is rendered. Remove suet. Sear meat in fat in 2 or 3 batches. (Use oil for low cholesterol, less grease.) Place meat in large pot with pepper pods and as much of the pepper liquid as you think you'll need to keep the meat from burning. About two inches of water rising above the meat is usually right. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Add rest of ingredients except Masa and extra Anchos. Simmer 45 minutes more, covered. Stir only occasionally. Skim off grease. Taste and adjust seasonings. If not hot enough to suit you, add extra Ancho pods which have been stemmed and seeded, but not chopped. Add Masa Harina to thicken liquid. Simmer for another 30 minutes until the meat is tender.

Please note that the late Mr. Tolbert, who literally wrote the book on chili, did use Tabasco in the recipe. Tabasco should not be added to chili after the cooking is done because A) it is too sweet and B) properly made chili will already be nice and spicy.

If one wishes to experience a fairly accurate bowl of Texas chili without going to the trouble of making it from scratch as above, the Wick Fowler's "Four Alarm" brand chili kit (available at supermarkets nationwide) is an acceptable substitute.

Remember: NO BEANS