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Make better chili

Big Burruss

Travel Squad
5 Year Member
I love the fall and winter months if only for the opportunity to make my culinary specialty: chili.

I wrote a short article providing some general tips to make your chili taste better and I thought I'd share it with you all:

http://voices.yahoo.com/easy-tips-delicious-chili-12301241.html

If you have any more tips, I'm open to them. There's many right ways to cook great food, and I find that guidelines are better than recipes for most man foods.
 
Well timed my friend. I was just kicking around my work-in-progress chili recipe at the grocery store yesterday. I always lean toward the 5-alarm variety.

Will try your sauce suggestion. In the past, I've found that V8 makes a tasty base, with a can or so of canned pureed tomatos for texture. Will try the fresh route and see how it goes.

Good call on the meat suggestion too. I typically use some chopped stew beef with a bit of ground pork. May add some shredded chicken too now that I know I'm not the only one who likes a variety of meat in the bowl.
 
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I stay away from grocery store's stew beef-it's cut too big and dries out really easy. I get a sirloin and make 1/4" cubes and cook it with chorizo and lean ground beef. I'll throw pork in there if I'm feeling it too. I haven't tried it yet, but I think Andouille sausage would be good too.

Never used V8 because it's too runny, but I bet the flavor is good if you take the time to cook off the water.
 
I've heard adding some unsweetened cocoa to the pot makes things interesting. Need to try that sometime this fall/winter.

You're bang on about chili that tastes like ketchup and overloading with toppings.
 



I've heard adding some unsweetened cocoa to the pot makes things interesting. Need to try that sometime this fall/winter.

You're bang on about chili that tastes like ketchup and overloading with toppings.

Just made some awesome chili today and I used some of that Lindt 70% cocoa in the pot with the andouille sausage. It turned out great and it made a lot of people happy.

Best part is, I have half a pot left for the week ahead. Worst part is that the gas has already come on :stirthepot:
 
I really need to know the recipes everyone uses for their chili. My chili concoction needs changed up.
 
Did you read the article?

I'm not a recipe person, especially when it comes to soups and stuff. Keep it thick, keep the crazy ingredients under control (cinnamon, chocolate, etc.), and load up on the meat and the chili. Chipotle chili is worth the extra few dollars. Fresh garlic and onion is worth the extra time. Minimum 3 hours to simmer.
 



I use garden tomatoes that we can ourselves, which I think makes all the difference. My grandma put a couple T. of sugar in her chili, which always seemed to give it a different pop.
 
That's a great start. I need a "basic" recipe then I can experiment from there.

Anyone else care to post their basic chili recipe?

1-1.5 lbs lean ground beef (93% or better)
.75 lbs of lean steak cut into 1/2"-ish cubes
.5 lb sausage (I change it up all the time, but chorizo is my go to)
1 sweet onion chopped
about a TBSP of minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes
lots of chili
lots of cumin
salt
oregano
pepper
Mix all together and brown the meat (cooking the spices into the meat is important). After it's browned, add a can of beer, a can of crushed tomatoes and beans. Simmer for at least three hours stirring every 15-20 minutes. Serve with fritos and cheese.

That's as basic as I would dare to be.
 



Big Burruss that is a good start but it needs celery, green peppers, jalapenos, and some beans, cook it for a day and let it rest overnight and simmer the next day.
 
Big Burruss that is a good start but it needs celery, green peppers, jalapenos, and some beans, cook it for a day and let it rest overnight and simmer the next day.

I had beans on there but I don't know what you're talking about with the celery- not trying to make beef stew.
Also, green peppers only go in chili if you're making it for a girl scout meeting. Nothing milder than jalapeños goes in mine.
 

I had beans on there but I don't know what you're talking about with the celery- not trying to make beef stew.
Also, green peppers only go in chili if you're making it for a girl scout meeting. Nothing milder than jalapeños goes in mine.

I put a habanero in my chili once. It was quite nice.

Can't say the same thing for my eyes, because I was a total dummy and didn't handle the damn thing with gloves. Then I went to rub my eyes, and that's when the party started... :cry:
 
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