Chili time.....

[bilgerat]

It's getting that time of year. How do you guys do up yours ?

I use stew cubes cut into bite size pieces instead of ground beef. I cook up a pound of bacon, then brown the stew cube chunks in the bacon fat, then everything I can get my hands on goes into the crock pots (plural, I make a huge batch) the cooked bacon, celery, tons of fresh garlic, hot sauce, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, a couple of jalepenos, a bag of rinsed (but not soaked) beans. Cook low and slow for about twelve hours- the beans will start to get tender by then, then I throw in pearl onions for the last few hours. A bowl of that and some fresh Italian bread- now your'e eating !

[roadwarrior]

1 lb ground beef

1 lb chorizo (pork sausage may be substituted)

1 medium Spanish (yellow) onion

Brown meat and onions, drain grease.

Add 1 can beef broth

Mix 2 packages of Williams Chili Seasoning

Stir until throughly mixed

1 large can, diced tomatoes

1/2 cup pickled jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced or diced

1 Campbell's Beefy Mushroom Soup

1 soup can of water

1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbls minced garlic

2 tbls black pepper

1 tbls cumin

1 tbls paprika

1 tbls cayenne pepper

Cook on low heat for an hour, covered, stirring occasionally

After 1 hour, add

1 can red beans

1 can kidney beans

Salt to taste

Continue to simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally

Add water if necessary, otherwise simmer to desired consistancy.

Remove from heat and set aside, covered, for at least an hour,

overnight is better.

Re-heat on low to serve.

Top chili with grated sharp cheddar cheese and a dab of sour

cream; saltine crackers and pickles on the side. Tabasco sauce

and/or a spash of vinegar is optional, but experiment with your

own bowl, not the entire pot!

8-)

[slomoe]

;D I thought I was the only one to use chorizos.

[bilgerat]

Nice.

Is chorizo Mexican sausage ?

What does the corn meal do -is it for flavor or consistency ?

[slomoe]

Its a spicy sausage. I prefer Salvadorian

[roadwarrior]

Nice.

Is chorizo Mexican sausage ?

What does the corn meal do -is it for flavor or consistency ?

Chrizo is a spicy, but not hot, Mexican saugage.

The cornmeal absorbs gease and sweetens the chili.

I use paper towels to skim grease that accumulates

on top of the mix while cooking.

8-)

[tyrius.]

I usually cook this in 2 lb batches, but below is the base "recipe".

1 lb ground beef

2 cans hot chili beans

2 cans tomato sauce (if non-spiced I'll add my own)

serrano peppers (I prefer these to jalapeno's.  There isn't enough heat in a jalapeno pepper)

chili powder

garlic

onion (1/2 of a medium onion)

cayenne pepper

salt

pepper

Cook in a crock pot on the lowest setting for a long time.

I pretty much cook it to taste and don't really have any set measurements on any of the spices.

Substituting 1 lb of chorizos for 1 lb of ground beef is good.  Using ground turkey instead of ground beef is bad.

[CFFF 1.5]

1 lb. ground beef

1 cup onion

brown beef and onion in pot

add

28oz crushed tomatoes

1 T garlic

chili powder to taste

1 can kidney beans

1 can corn

1.5 cups of beef buillon

heat to a boil then reduce heat until it thickens.

I made a double batch of this last night. It is awesome, and easy to make.

[.ghoti.]

1lb lean ground beef

1lb hot italian sausage

1lb chorizo

cook slowly, not to brown, but just to render out the fat. drain grease.

add two chopped red onions and four seeded, chopped Anaheim chilis

cook until veggies are tender.

add six peeled, seeded, chopped fresh tomato

1 can beer

2 cups beef broth

6 cloves garlic, minced

add the following seasonings, to taste

the numbers in () are guesses. I don't measure

cumin (3T)

hungarian hot paprika (1t)

oregano (2T)

cocao (1T)

fresh ground black pepper (1T)

aleppo pepper flakes (1t)

ground ancho chili (1t)

salt (2T)

molasses (3T)

bring to boil, then reduce to simmer.

Stir and strain fat from top often.

Add a little liquid if/when necessary.

Stir often, don't let it burn. Low heat is the key.

Never tried the paper towels for absorbing fat. Thanks for the tip Kent.

It's done when the tomato has mostly vanished. Doesn't take long.

At this point raise the heat a bit and add a little corn flour (2T) mixed with a little water. Stir well while boiling to thicken.

Put the lid on it, remove from heat and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

Stir and serve.

My wife likes grated cheese and sour cream, with oyster crakers.

I like chopped green onions and chopped fresh seranos, with corn chips on the side.

[RobbyZ5001]

So a lot of you guys don't even add beans of any kind?

[roadwarrior]

So a lot of you guys don't even add beans of any kind?

No beans is the "authentic recipe". I like different beans (red and kidney) for texture, but add them late in the game to maintain firmness. By sitting overnight, all flavors tend to blend rather than standing out individually.

8-)

[atx_newbie]

My chili is as follows (I don't use any measurements, I just cook by taste).

Bake a roux for about 30 minutes until reddish brown, then throw in two diced onions, quite a few minced garlic cloves, and several chopped up celery stalks, and sweat for a few minutes.  Then add in some chopped chicken thighs and andouille sausage, and some chopped okra, and simmer for about 45 minutes.  Season to taste with cayenne pepper and serve over rice.

Okay, so I suppose thats a gumbo and not chili, but seriously, why would anyone eat chili when you could have gumbo  

[Muddy]

Because, as good as gumbo is, sometimes a bowl of chili does wonders for the soul  BAKE A ROUX? How dies that work ATX? I always make mine in a frying pan, I am curious. sounds interesting. 8-)

[atx_newbie]

Baking it takes all the difficulty out of it.  When you cook a roux on the stove top, with all that direct heat, it is really easy to burn it, and you have to spend about twenty minutes of non-stop stirring in order to not burn it.

But if you bake it at about 350, it's much less likely to burn, since the heat is indirect.  You still have to stir about once every 5 minutes, and it takes about 15 minutes longer, but it is virtually foolproof.  It may not be the accepted, cajun method, but it's the easiest way that I've found to get a good brick colored roux without burning that day's four previous attempts  

[DEISWERTH]

I'm gonna try them all!! Thanks

[cart7t]

So a lot of you guys don't even add beans of any kind?

Technically, true chili has no beans in it.  When you add beans the mixture becomes Chili-con-Carne.