My ex-wife's mother is Spanish. They both make chili in a frying pan, and the beans are separate, in a pot. The "chili" is not thick. It has bits of pork in it and a small bit of stewed tomato, but it's mostly a clear sauce. You mix some of that into a bowl of beans and eat it with thick, homemade flour tortillas. The chili is almost always made with fresh, green jalapenos. Sometimes powdered red chili is used. Both are VERY spicy. The red chili is not necessarily spicier than the green, but it will do a number on your stomach if you're not careful. I don't miss much from that marriage, but I definitely miss this food.

Craig - it has worked out well, eliminating the tomato. The sweetness from the tomato could be missed, but I balance that by loading up on the pasilla chiles. They basically taste like a lightly smoked raisin, if that makes any sense.

Can you tell me more about removing the skins? I usually just hydrate the entire chile (after coring and seeding) in hot water, then throw them in the blender whole without skinning.

Ted - it'd be impossible (as far as I know) to fire-roast a dried chili. They're too fragile. However, I definitely fire roast all the fresh chilis that go in my chili. A given batch of my chili usually has 4-6 different types of chilis in it (ancho, pasilla, chipotle, jalapeno, serrano, habanero). Fresh ones including jalapeno, serrano, and habanero get roasted. Actually, I've never had the stones to fire habaneros. They require extreme caution when handling.

Man I have worked up an appetite on this thread. I bet with a little arm-twisting I could be convinced to bring a big pot of chili to RR3...

Good chili can't be made in a "night" imo...slow is much more gooder :)

please send samples.......

Dave, what i do is just cut the stems off of a dried chili pepper with a scissors, cut the chili down one side, remove the seeds, and throw the whole chili into a sauce pan with simmering chicken broth.

Then, after about five minutes, you end up with a pulpy mass on one side of the skin. you lay the chili flat and carefully scrap the pulp off with the back side of a butter knife. It's basically a way to eliminate the skin, which i believe is slightly bitter.

That pulp is what contains the flavor and capsaicin oil (the "hot").

wow this thread is an eye opener!

i had no idea beans weren't supposed to be in chili. of course you TX guys think brisket (sp?) is good meat so who knows;)

can you guys post some pics of your chili if you have any handy? it seems there are some massive differences between chili i'm used to and chili from other parts of the country.

Mmmmm, chili.

Red chili powder, cumin, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, chopped tomatos (canned is fine), no beans, 1 lb each of hot italian ground sausage, chunk stew meat, and ground beef, A couple of large sweet onions and lots of fresh chilis (depends on what is available at the time). I usually just chop the chilis but maybe I'll try fire roasting next time.

Brown the meat in a big heavy pot, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer at least 6-8 hours, stiring occasionally.

Top your bowl with some shredded cheddar and a dolp of sour cream and enjoy with a cold beer and some corn bread with honey butter.

There are some on this board who've had my chili.

They say the ring sting is worth it though.

This is my base recipe, I play with it a little adding chili powder, and more cayenne pepper. I also add hot peppers to it too. I am always messing with the ingredients but this is where I start. The best part is that its lowfat.


5 Alarm Chili - Lowfat

1 lb lean ground turkey (chicken or Beef will work too)
1 onion chopped
1 clove garlic minced
1 Green Pepper seeded and chopped
14 oz pinto beans drained
28 oz dices tomatos (sodium free)
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper


1. Brown ground beef in non stick dutch oven or large pot
along with onion, garlic and green pepper over medium heat
until meat is fully cooked. Drain off excess oil.

2. Add spices and beans. Stir together for 1 minute.

3. Add tomatoes and bring to boil. Lower heat and let simmer
on low for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Brisket, if prepared correctly, is better than prime rib. All you have to do is smoke it for 12 hours, all the while tending the fire and making sure your rub, or mop or whatever you're putting on it is applied at the proper intervals.

Basically smoking a brisket amounts to just another reason to get together and do nothing but drink and watch football all day!!

But that's another thread!!

Thanks Craig. I really need to start taking down some notes, so far my technique is all in my head. But, I'll definitely try that next time.

One thing that was really good at VIR - was that we heated the chili pot on a charcoal barbecue. Closing the pot inside the barbecue all afternoon imparted some amazing flavors!

[QUOTE=dtw;3547724]

Ted - it'd be impossible (as far as I know) to fire-roast a dried chili. They're too fragile. However, I definitely fire roast all the fresh chilis that go in my chili. A given batch of my chili usually has 4-6 different types of chilis in it (ancho, pasilla, chipotle, jalapeno, serrano, habanero). Fresh ones including jalapeno, serrano, and habanero get roasted. Actually, I've never had the stones to fire habaneros. They require extreme caution when handling.

QUOTE]


opps forgot about yours being dried

i usually use fresh peppers in mine and add NM Chile powder to get the flavor i am looking for. ancho,serrano, jalapeno, and hatch are the ones i use for fresh. grill a couple minutes each side till they start to blister, then it off to the zip lock in a towel for a few minutes. never have tried dried Chiles.

Jim- 5 alarm chili in 15mins? you rely on cayenne for your heat?
you need to let it stew for awhile to get all the flavors to meld together. IMO

Drago's "ring sting" is worth it most of the time. but two weekends ago it was too much. of course it could have been the way the hawks were playing that Sunday that made me sick Monday morning.

Take the chili recipe you like best, then substitute a good robust beer for the other boring liquids (water, chicken stock, whatever, OUT!). No beans, of course. NOW you got yourself some chili!!

Ted - That is the recipe I start with and yes, I discovered that letting it simmer about 4-5 hours creates the best results.

The whole cooking portion of that recipe takes over an hour if done right. One of my variations is to cook all the veggies in one pan and the turkey in another. Once the turkey is cooked I drain the oil then add the veggies with their juice. It adds a lot more flavor to it.

That sounds like what do Ted - but my dried ancho and pasilla chiles take the place of the chili powder. Zero powdered spices in my chili (well, other than salt...guess I could replace that too). Try it sometime, I'll bet you'll convert and ditch the chili powder.

I have also received feedback that my chili 'is as hot going out as it was going in'. The most questionable feedback was "the house was uninhabitable for two days after eating your chili". Copious amounts of fresh-ground spices and piles of lean protein...heh...go figure.

I use elk as the meat, fresh chilis (no chili powder), brown sugar, cinnamon and cocoa powder...

I cook really well, but couldn't give you recipes because I never measure anything....

Now for the entertainment in the Pelican Chile Cookout...

http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/6/30/99314/Tommy%20Alverson%20-%20No%20Beans%20Chilihead.mp3

Well I can give you one but don't tell anyone it's a secret;) Go to the store and buy some fresh large jalapeno's slice them down the center and remove all of their seeds. (Yes it's time consuming but worth it) Rinse them off in cool water.

In a large bowl add the following ingredients:


1 box Stove Top Stuffing Mix

1 Large softened cream cheese.

1 regular size bag of shredded colby jack cheese

1 jar of real bacon bits (the ones for salads)

1 small bag of salad shrimp

then mix it up and add salt to where you are happy with it.

stuff this into the jalapenos and put a toothpick through them to keep them
from falling open. Bake them in the oven at 300 for a half hour or so, really just till the peppers get soft. grab a cold beer and enjoy. can be made on the grill also. We call them Ratones or "Rats". Another favorite of mine is grilled cactus leaves. Skin them and dust them with regular fajita seasoning and grill them like you would a steak. Tryem you might like em.....SmileWavy

This is my recipe for what I consider a more traditional Texas Chili (and actually has won a couple of awards) :

2 # chili grind beef
1# ground pork
1 Med. Onion chopped
5-6 garlic cloves chopped
20 oz. Tomato sauce
6 red chili peppers
¼ C. chili powder
1 t. salt
1 t. cayenne pepper
1 t. Louisiana tobasco sauce
1 T. oregano
1 T. Cumin
1 T. Paprika

Brown meat, onion, garlic. Add tomato sauce and ¼ C water and stir. Add
Everything else and stir well. Add water to cover and simmer 2 hours.

Blend 2 T. flour and ¼ cup water. When well blended stir in slowly and cook until slightly thickened.

Note: this makes a fairly good sized pot. You can probably cut in half easily. If you can’t find ground pork (NOT sausage), just substitute more chili grind beef or hamburger grind.

Served best with good flour tortillas and ice cold coke (or beer). Some like to top the bowl off with shredded cheddar cheese.