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Chili

Risky Thicket said:
And see? There is the art as opposed to the skill. There is a definite difference. IMHO true chefs, true artists, can see and thus create what the rest of us cannot.
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Cooks follow recipes. Chefs make them.
 
Risky Thicket said:
And see? There is the art as opposed to the skill. There is a definite difference. IMHO true chefs, true artists, can see and thus create what the rest of us cannot.
Click to expand...

Seems I must concede the point, because a great chef is an artist not a craftsman.....

There have been a few guys who are known as great chefs who will not accept the shingle, they swear up and down that they are cooks.... maybe this is what they were getting at.
 
Lutherf said:
Chili is an art, not a science.

The basics are:

Beef. You can use ground beef, cubed beef, shredded beef or a combo.
Salt & Pepper.
Chili powder. Don't be shy, it's called Chili for a reason.
Paprika. Smoked paprika is a nice touch.
Cumin. This is a must.
Diced onion.
Beans. Totally optional but if you use them then use kidney beans or black beans.
Hatch green chilis. You can use green and red peppers but it's not the same. Peppers from Hatch are far and away the best bet.
Cayenne
Some kind of hot pepper. Habanero is a good option but ghost pepper or scorpion pepper also works. Use gloves.
Beer. It's kind of optional but on the upper end of recommendations
Crushed tomatoes. Don't go crazy with tomato because you're making chili, not tomato sauce.

Start it on medium high just to get the meat browned but turn it to low and just let it go for at least 5 hours. Don't be afraid to turn it off overnight and then reheat it for another few hours.

Chili MUST be served with shredded cheddar cheese and diced onion.
Click to expand...

Don't listen him!! Pinto beans are great in chili.
 
Oooo, a chili thread!! haha...

I have a pretty decent one. No recipe, but I know the flavor I'm looking for, and roughly the ratio of ingredients I need to get there, and I just do the majority of it by taste. I do a beef / pork / bacon meat mix, lots of meat, I use black beans instead of kidney beans, because I like a bit of bean on the spoon but no too much. I do the whole celery, onion, garlic saute thing - I tend to build, so I'll start the bacon first, then brown the meat in the bacon drippings, put that in the pot, then do the onion, celery, garlic in the meat drippings, transfer that to the pot - I don't take the oil, but everything cooks in it, so it compounds the flavor. I just use chili powder, cumin, onion powder, bay leaves, salt and pepper for the seasoning, and for heat and flavor I put in whole jalapenos that I score in the pot while the chili cooks, and chipotle peppers (canned, with the adobo sauce). I also put in a mix of white and crimini mushrooms...if I'm feeling high budget I'll throw portabello mushrooms in there too, I love mushrooms. And then for liquid I'll pick a good beer that I like...though any will work, I like to go with dark or red beers that you can pick out the flavor while eating it...but a Bud will work just fine. I cook that for ... oh, I dunno, 8 - 12 hours on low, I guess, in a big stock pot - I don't really know how to make this "small", this is usually headed for a big gathering pot luck, I'm probably making 6 - 10 quarts. At the end I toss in some sugar...it really brings out the smokiness of the bacon and chipotle...nom... Sometimes I'll also throw in a jar of salsa, if I find it needs more moisture after cooking so long... Then, I take the whole thing, let it sit over night, and bring it back up to heat the next day in a slow cooker prior to serving. Some people like to drop some shredded cheddar in there, some people like some sour cream in it, others like it straight up, I'm good with all three. Final touch, make sure you've got some of the beer you cooked with to serve it with, garnish with tortilla chips. I shoot for a 7.5/10 for heat - I get the sweats, but not the hiccups...lol...

And now I'm staying up all night to make my chili.....lol..........good thing the grocery store is closed out here, or I would be...haha... Don't mind me, I get very braggy with my chili, I make it exactly the way I like it, and if you agree, awesome, if not, the McDonalds is down the street... ;) lol
 
PirateMk1 said:
Don't listen him!! Pinto beans are great in chili.
Click to expand...

I'm not as big a fan of pinto beans. They don't seem to hold up as well as kidney beans or black beans. Then again, I generally don't put beans in my chili so what do I care!
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Seems I must concede the point, because a great chef is an artist not a craftsman.....

There have been a few guys who are known as great chefs who will not accept the shingle, they swear up and down that they are cooks.... maybe this is what they were getting at.
Click to expand...

I don't know, man. I can follow a recipe to the letter and I remain less than a cook. Some people are born with it and the rest of us wait, often in awe, for dinner to be served.
 
Lutherf said:
I'm not as big a fan of pinto beans. They don't seem to hold up as well as kidney beans or black beans. Then again, I generally don't put beans in my chili so what do I care!
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I grew up on a very tomatoey low flavor chili with kidney beans, and I do do that and when I do I get good ones canned and dont drain them, and I just used Pinto last week, but I tend to use Pink.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
I know right.....this goes along with this need of mine to have fun that I display here.....if we are not enjoying our days of life then surely we are letting our chances slip by....surely we are failing......

Sex, Food, Learning.....these are the thrills that endure a lifetime if we do it right.

Cooking by recipe is not any better than sex by recipe.
Click to expand...


You knew my first wife then?

The longer I am retired the less I find importance in the concept of time and the more important the simple things become. Had a procedure to fix atrial fibrilation where they stop your heart and then reboot with paddles, kind of the human version of Windows 10. But it makes you think. What if it doesn't restart?
My heart is fine, steady at 72 per minute resting. In that alone there is a lot of gratitude...and simple things like making chili becomes art, a walk an expedition, an adventure of discovery in the same place you've walked for 30 years.

First though, you have to burn your television and remove all forms of advertising from your life. If anyone appears to be approaching to sell you anything, pretend to have a very serious case of PTSD and they leave you alone.

Oh and another fun game is to start talking to an imaginary friend in an elevator. The things you can get away with when you're old
 
Fearandloathing said:
You knew my first wife then?

The longer I am retired the less I find importance in the concept of time and the more important the simple things become. Had a procedure to fix atrial fibrilation where they stop your heart and then reboot with paddles, kind of the human version of Windows 10. But it makes you think. What if it doesn't restart?
My heart is fine, steady at 72 per minute resting. In that alone there is a lot of gratitude...and simple things like making chili becomes art, a walk an expedition, an adventure of discovery in the same place you've walked for 30 years.

First though, you have to burn your television and remove all forms of advertising from your life. If anyone appears to be approaching to sell you anything, pretend to have a very serious case of PTSD and they leave you alone.

Oh and another fun game is to start talking to an imaginary friend in an elevator. The things you can get away with when you're old
Click to expand...

Pretty much though with practice we can largely tune out the clutter, but I must admit that I very much value my sanctuary called Home.
 
MaggieD said:
I'm one of those cooks who never makes chilinthe samw way twice. Same with stew. What do I have on hand? How spices do Imwant it. And by the time Imget it all put together, I've spent 45 minutes and then cook it (chili) for a couple of hours.

I just decided to try McCormick seasoning packets. One packet per 1# ground beef, 14 oz diced tomatoes, can of kidney beans with juice. I added chopped onion, green pepper and celery. Plus some hot paprika. Cooked it about a half hour after I browned the veggies and meat. I made a double batch.

Best chili I ever made. Yummy!

And nice thing is? It will taste the exact same way next time. Yay!

Do you have a secret recipe?
Click to expand...

I really don't make chili for eating straight out of bowl. If I do make chili it's for 3-way or for coney sauce.

chili for 3-way.
Cincinnati Chili.jpg

chili for coney sauce
http://www.twentymile.com/Cookbook/cidog1.htm
Sauce 1 Ingredients : (Joyce S. - Recipes Online)

1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon prepared regular mustard



1 6-ounce can tomato sauce
6 ounces water
2 tablespoons chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
4 or 5 wieners

Procedure

Combine everything except wieners and simmer until thick. Do not brown ground beef first.
Grind the wieners and add to sauce. Cook 15 minutes longer.
Now, some chefs, if the sauce is too thin, added a few crumbled soda crackers to the sauce. Put over hot dogs in a bun.

Sauce 2 Ingredients 2: (Charlotte Lewis - Recipes Online)

1/4 pound lean ground beef
6 ounces tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup pickle relish



1 tablespoon instant minced onion
1 tablespoon mustard
3 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon sugar

Procedure

In a medium saucepan, cook meat, crumbling with a fork, until it loses its red color.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Serve over hot dogs in buns.

Preparation: 30 minutes Life Experience Recipe
About a dozen Coney Island Dogs

I have experimented with several chili sauce recipes. Some of them similar to the above recipes. I keep the cooked sauce in a jar in the fridge so that I can grab a quickie Coney Island dog whenever the urge strikes.

A lot of the recipes I found seem to treat the Coney Island as a mundane chili dog. The sauce is a major ingredient and not a condiment to add flavor. They also seem to neglect the other traditional garnishes - the raw chopped onions and the mustard. After looking at the recipes that I found on the internet and remembering the taste tests of the real Coney Island hot dogs, I came up with the following recipe that does a nice job of mimicing the "secret" Coney Island sauce. I hope that you like it.
Sauce 3Ingredients: (Larry Andersen)

1 pound lean ground beef
1 large white onion diced fine
1/4 cup barbecue sauce (I use Bull's Eye Original Western)
1/4 cup tomato sauce



2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 clove garlic, minced fine

Procedure

In frying pan, brown meat until no longer red. Break up into very small pieces. Skim off most of the fat.
Add onions and garlic, cook until onions are transparent. Add other ingredients and simmer while stirring.
May add a little water if sauce too thick when cooking but the finished sauce should be almost dry.
Taste sauce. Chili pungemncy should be present but not too hot. The finished sauce need to have a bit of a bite but mostly flavor to meld with the mustard, onions and grilled hot dog.
Assemble you Coney Island following the directions for the Traditional Coney Island at the top of this page.
Sauce will keep for a week in a covered container in the refrigerator. Good eating!
 
jamesrage said:
I really don't make chili for eating straight out of bowl. If I do make chili it's for 3-way or for coney sauce.

chili for 3-way.
View attachment 67222387

chili for coney sauce
http://www.twentymile.com/Cookbook/cidog1.htm
Sauce 1 Ingredients : (Joyce S. - Recipes Online)

1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon prepared regular mustard



1 6-ounce can tomato sauce
6 ounces water
2 tablespoons chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
4 or 5 wieners

Procedure

Combine everything except wieners and simmer until thick. Do not brown ground beef first.
Grind the wieners and add to sauce. Cook 15 minutes longer.
Now, some chefs, if the sauce is too thin, added a few crumbled soda crackers to the sauce. Put over hot dogs in a bun.

Sauce 2 Ingredients 2: (Charlotte Lewis - Recipes Online)

1/4 pound lean ground beef
6 ounces tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup pickle relish



1 tablespoon instant minced onion
1 tablespoon mustard
3 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon sugar

Procedure

In a medium saucepan, cook meat, crumbling with a fork, until it loses its red color.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Serve over hot dogs in buns.

Preparation: 30 minutes Life Experience Recipe
About a dozen Coney Island Dogs

I have experimented with several chili sauce recipes. Some of them similar to the above recipes. I keep the cooked sauce in a jar in the fridge so that I can grab a quickie Coney Island dog whenever the urge strikes.

A lot of the recipes I found seem to treat the Coney Island as a mundane chili dog. The sauce is a major ingredient and not a condiment to add flavor. They also seem to neglect the other traditional garnishes - the raw chopped onions and the mustard. After looking at the recipes that I found on the internet and remembering the taste tests of the real Coney Island hot dogs, I came up with the following recipe that does a nice job of mimicing the "secret" Coney Island sauce. I hope that you like it.
Sauce 3Ingredients: (Larry Andersen)

1 pound lean ground beef
1 large white onion diced fine
1/4 cup barbecue sauce (I use Bull's Eye Original Western)
1/4 cup tomato sauce



2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 clove garlic, minced fine

Procedure

In frying pan, brown meat until no longer red. Break up into very small pieces. Skim off most of the fat.
Add onions and garlic, cook until onions are transparent. Add other ingredients and simmer while stirring.
May add a little water if sauce too thick when cooking but the finished sauce should be almost dry.
Taste sauce. Chili pungemncy should be present but not too hot. The finished sauce need to have a bit of a bite but mostly flavor to meld with the mustard, onions and grilled hot dog.
Assemble you Coney Island following the directions for the Traditional Coney Island at the top of this page.
Sauce will keep for a week in a covered container in the refrigerator. Good eating!
Click to expand...

You have inspired me! I love! Cincinnati chili. Haven't thought about it in way too long. Yum!
 
Lutherf said:
Chili is an art, not a science.

The basics are:

Beef. You can use ground beef, cubed beef, shredded beef or a combo.
Salt & Pepper.
Chili powder. Don't be shy, it's called Chili for a reason.
Paprika. Smoked paprika is a nice touch.
Cumin. This is a must.
Diced onion.
Beans. Totally optional but if you use them then use kidney beans or black beans.
Hatch green chilis. You can use green and red peppers but it's not the same. Peppers from Hatch are far and away the best bet.
Cayenne
Some kind of hot pepper. Habanero is a good option but ghost pepper or scorpion pepper also works. Use gloves.
Beer. It's kind of optional but on the upper end of recommendations
Crushed tomatoes. Don't go crazy with tomato because you're making chili, not tomato sauce.

Start it on medium high just to get the meat browned but turn it to low and just let it go for at least 5 hours. Don't be afraid to turn it off overnight and then reheat it for another few hours.

Chili MUST be served with shredded cheddar cheese and diced onion.
Click to expand...
For the most part, this matches my "recipe". A few exceptions...

- Do you use dry or canned beans? I use dry, soaked overnight, which increases my cooking time.

- I use pinto beans. Not a fan of kidney beans, though I will eat them in some one elses chili.

- I do not put hot peppers in during the cooking process. One, my wife hates hot peppers, two it overwhelms the chili, IMO, anyway. I do add them when I eat it, though.

- I would add cornbread as a side dish to your cheddar cheese and onion condiment list, too. My family likes to add sour cream, and I think that's ok, but I normally don't.
 
Last edited:
Winchester said:
No, I'm like you kinda throw things in. I've hit the holy grail of chili a time or two, but for the life of me can't recreate it. :(
Click to expand...

This is me. Never comes out the same twice. If it's spectacularly awesome, I better savor it, because I know I'll never have it again. :lol:
 
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