Posted on 11/10/2022 11:25:30 AM PST by simpson96
If you’re traveling to a cook-off, be aware of the flavor profiles that work best in that region.(snip)
“Florida likes a sweet chili, so I might use grape jelly,” she said. “Dallas likes spicy chili, but central Texas likes a milder chili. And in Arkansas, they like chili with ketchup.”
Jennifer Billock is a journalist and author who has competed in the Medinah, Illinois, Shriners’ annual chili cook-off. “My team won three years in a row, including a People’s Choice award,” she said. “I don’t have a recipe,” she said. “We called it Garden Chili and threw in a ton of veggies. Don’t tell chili purists, but it included canned beans, along with the liquid from the can,” she said. “The beans give the chili a really earthy flavor. There’s also chocolate in my chili, because I find it makes the finished product taste both more robust and smoother.”
And then there are some ingredients that champions just won’t consider. Tom Dozier has won more than 10 major chili cook-offs, (snip) “I don’t use oregano, because it imparts a spaghetti sauce flavor,” he said. “I also avoid cinnamon, which tends to overshadow all of the other spices, and I follow a strict ‘no beans’ policy, since I make Texas chili.”(snip)
Sam Merritt, a food blogger for Sugar Spun Run, reported that readers have used her recipe to win more than 100 chili cook-offs (and counting). “I’m especially thrilled when they send me photos of the trophies or ribbons they’ve won,” she said. For her, timing is critical. “I always add spices early, before the meat is fully browned,” she said. “This allows the beef to absorb a ton of flavor and helps the spices really bloom.”
(Excerpt) Read more at huffpost.com ...
“Looks good. If chili doesn’t have beans and onions as well, then it’s useless.”
I am pro-beans too. I like to see half beans and half meat. They go along well together. I understand how some (Texans?) are very anti-beans. To each his own.
I've got nothing against Texans but I really don't care what their opinion is on chili, the only one that matters is mine. I'm the same with their mediocre BBQ, it really doesn't matter what they think about it. Much better BBQ comes off my smoker than anything I've tasted from Texas.
Without beans it’s beef and tomato soup.
*** Makes me fart like a plow mule.***
You sound pretty proud of yourself there, pardner!
“My secret to homemade chili is to cheat and put a canned chili in it.”
Aldis has some very good canned chili beans. 70 cents a can. Buy some cans of this and then add the meat (beef) as you see fit. Add other items too. Onions, peppers, spices and so on.
I’ll very heartily vouch for the Merritt’s Chili recipe. I’ve made it about a half dozen times now.
Best damned chili I’ve ever had. It’s bursting with flavor. Everyone who’s had any of mine loves it.
Now I am sitting here angry; looking at the skinless chicken breast for dinner. I would prefer chili, but nooooooo.
About 99% of Cincinnati-ans. I prefer the original. Skyline Chili.
Its good to know how to do to spice up a can of chili into something better.
Yeah, I think they’re crazy. Nastiest stuff ever. No offense.
You can cook that tomorrow if you want. Go run out and get you some chili fixins! Fast!
Takes about one or two handfuls of raisins for a typical chili pot. YMMV on amount. The raisins dissolve during simmering. If they don’t then simmer longer.
You have to be raised on it as I was.
Dixie on Monmouth in Newport. After bar after burner. 6 way with onion and garlic. My wife asks no questions cause she can’t stand the smell of the answers.
I make really good pinto beans. My wife makes really good chili (beef, not ground, and dries and grinds her own chilies). But beans and chili are two separate things. She also doesn’t put chocolate or pineapple or spaghetti or any other nonsense in it.
Really nicely done article.
Colorado Pork Green Chili
19 lbs deboned pork shoulder, cut into 5/8 cubes
5 quarts freshly roasted/de-skined/de-seeded Big Jim green peppers
5 quarts crushed tomatoes and juice
2 quarts chicken stock or chicken broth
7 large white onions
18 medium shallots
1/2 cup minced garlic
Small amount of hot Pablano or other hot peppers to add extra heat
~2 TBS (slightly rounded) fresh ground Tellicherry blackpepper
~1 TBS (level) unrefined sea salt (if salt is needed)
Slice pork shoulder into 5/8” cubes and heavily brown. Deglaze pan with a bit of the chicken stock.
While pork is browning, use food processor S-blade to mince peppers, shallots, garlic and onion. Then stir that plus canned tomatoes and chicken stock into large stock pot, bring to boil and then cook in preheated oven at 325 degrees for one hour.
Then stir in cubed pork and cook in oven for 45 minutes, stir, cook for another 45 minutes, stir and then cook for 30 more minutes. Pork should be cooked but still a bit firm to chew, so total cooking time will vary.
Remove from oven and cool stock pot with ice water. Water and ice will have to be changed a few times if kitchen sink is used for cooling.
Once cooled, chili can be packaged for freezing.
Yes..and that includes a lot of foods. My specialty
Colorado pork chili looks like pea soup, green and hot. Useful for some things, but not actual chili. And not as useful as New Mexico style chopped green.
NM Chili is better.
But neither are in the “bowl of chili” class....
Start at the beginning. Red chili has wildly different characteristics depending on where the field is located. New Mexico red chili is the best IMHO. The largest growing region is around Hatch, NM then extends from Hatch south to Las Cruces. The second region is around Albuquerque. Both of these are irrigated lands along the Rio Grande river. They each have distinctively different flavors but both are good.
Hit these valleys in the fall harvest season and buy your years supply by the pound. Roadside vendors setup chili roasters for the harvest season. A marvelous chili is grown in the Chimayo valley north of Santa Fe. About the only way to get this chili is to by farmer run roadside stand or more likely the back of a pickup truck. Farmer grown and roasted. Very dark red color and a smokey flavor.
My recipe was learned from my grandmother. Simple and good. Hamburger, tomato sauce, white onion, garlic and red chili. Pinto beans are cooked on the side and added to the pot about an hour before serving or at serving time directly into the bowl. Drain and rinse the beans and ladle into the chili. BTW, you can brighten up the flavor by adding a small amount of diced green chili while cooking.
For the liquid, I didn't figger this out until I was older and in college. Towards high school age, curiosity hit me on why was there often beer in the refrigerator and neither of my grand parents drank the stuff. Finally I caught grandmother and my aunt putting Coors in the chili, no water! Now I knew the secret ingredient.
Using roasted red chili is not a simple thing of just adding a fixed amount. You can tailor the heat level by how much is added but keep in mind that the heat level varies from one crop year to another and one field to another. When your adding chili to the pot, avoid adding to a level that is “hot”. As the chili simmers, it's going to get hotter and you run the risk of going nuclear. Add chili until there's a small bite then stop. Calibrate your next pot of chili to add a little more or less roasted chili to get perfection. Lol…
Back to the beer - This is important. First, you don't want to run out of beer. When topping the stew pot or crockpot with liquid, only use beer. Be sure to reserve some beer for yourself and any nosey helper. Later when the liquid needs topping up, it's always one for the pot and one for the cook. Can't go wrong. From start to table ready, I budget 5-6 hours. This length of time lets the flavor bloom nicely.
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