Chili - The True Stuff...
 

There are many opinions on what makes great Chili. The true Chiliofficinado will tell you that if it has beans then it ain't Chili. OK, I won't argue. I have had great Chili both with and without beans. My Wife is just starting to make decent Chili which she calls Chili Soup - her's has beans and is a bit thin but she has lost her fear of spice and salt so it is starting to taste like a second bowl. (just needs some Jack Cheese and crackers tossed in it to build the consistancy!)

Now Chili can be a stand alone dish, a side dish, a dip for chips and a condiment on burgers and hotdogs. Not many foods can make that claim!

Should Chilli be sans legume? Have a hot zest? be smooth and savory? Only be used as a mian dish? Only have ground beef?

What do you think? And if you have a killer recipe, please share!

My only two rules about making chili:
1. No beans added during cooking, as the starch in the beans mucks up the flavor of the chili. I serve it over a small helping of beans warmed seperately.
2. Never use ground beef, always use cubed Angus chuck. When chili was first made, there certainly wasn't a supply of ground beef on the chuck wagon.

I use chili spice "kits" available from various spice vendors, such as Penzey's or Pendery's, and go from there. I add beer, chicken broth, tomato sauce, canned stewed tomatoes (after a shot in the blender), chipotles in adobo, various hot sauces, red & green pepper, onions, and habanero pepper. I usually cook it for 2 1/2 - 3 hours, and the meat is super tender.
It always gets rave reviews from our guests.
YMMV.

hey mike... Did you get my PM? Fixing to hit the road.....

There is another thread or two here that are a couple of years old that have some really great sounding recipes.

Here's one

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/566044-chili.html

Here's another

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/373590-its-getting-chili.html

The chili itself is unimportant. What matters is that it be served over Fritos.

My wife bought some REALLY tuff steak that I grilled over oak coals.

The steak was like chewing a shoe! I used that steak in chili the next day crockpotted for about 6 hours! best chili I ever had and the steak was tender from all of the acid in the chili.

My mom made chili that won the Blue ribbon at the State Fair of OK. It was declared the best chili in the state. It was not for the faint hearted and it had no beans. It had a lot of chili peppers. I grew up on the stuff but by the time I hit 35 I could not handle the heat without some Maalox as a chaser. It really did not burn your mouth. The burn started in the back of your throat and went all the way through to the end.

I add Tequila to my chili. Seriously.

My wife makes a "red sauce" by boiling the dried red/purple peppers with garlic. This is then ground and strained. The red sauce can be mixed with potatos, served over corn tortillas with cheese (Enchiladas) or cooked with beef to make a basic chili. The stuff is great! I take her sauce and make chili by adding beef and pressure cooking, and then throwing in a bit of beef rib flavor (think bullion powder, but a lot less salt).

My "quick" chili involves ground beef, garlic, onions, tons of chili powder and cumin and beef bullion and a bit of tomato paste. My better chili is cubed beef cooked with the onions and garlic, then beer, chili powder and cumin and pressure cooking (for quick) or a long slow simmer. The flavor is adjusted with a bit of the beef rib flavor, bullion and, depending on the color, a bit of the tomato paste.

I've been considering using my wife's sauce with some cumin for my chili...

Yes! I meant to get back to you. I will give you a call on your cell phone. If you are driving from Dallas to Corinth you will drive right by us! My son used to ride horses in Corinth. I will call you and we will try to figuer it all out.