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By ness31
#14869862
I sense PoFo has a neat gang of Latin posters and I’d like to pick your brains for an authentic chilli recipe.

My mission is to use what I have in the fridge (did you read that colliric, the fridge!) and pantry and not head out for supplies. This is what we have to work with:

Beef mince
Tinned tomato
Onion
Garlic
Red Kidney beans
Black eye beans
Sour cream
Cheese
Avocado

The negative is that I have no other veg to speak of. No lettuce :hmm:
The positive is that I have every spice known to man

Ok, let me have your ideas.

*edit* I just found 3 potatos :D
#14869956
It's not a Latin food. That being said, the exact ingredients of chili will differ widely among any two people, and people mostly argue about whether you should put beans or not into your chili. I prefer beans in my chili, and I have a recipe in a box here (I just moved, so I can't get to my recipe stash) that I always make. The ingredients you list are sufficient to make chili. You could even add potatoes if you want to. From memory, what I generally do is have a whole lot of onion and bell peppers (green or red are the most common in chili, and usually green), dice them (but not too diced: I like my onion in chili diced coarsely and broadly so they're not minced, which would suck) and basically stir-fry them in the same pot I make my chili in. Once they're sauteed to the point I want them, I add in a couple pounds of ground beef. The key is to have your meat's meat/fat ratio to be about 80/20 if you want a flavorful, memorable chili. The fat adds flavor. You could go with lean ground beef, but it will not taste as good or as authentic. With the onions and peppers, you just brown the beef, and I'm very picky about keeping the beef finely minced, so I constantly use a spatula to break up the chunks into smaller and smaller pieces.

I don't remember the exact combination of spices I use, but my key ingredients are chili powder (not red cayenne powder, but the dark brown kind I'll post here; I'm not sure what kind of chili it is) and cumin:

Image

If you plan to make chili, make sure you have cumin and that dark brown chili powder (I'm really not sure what kind of chili pepper it is, as it isn't spicy, but it is one of the key flavor ingredients to making chili; I'm using a new computer, and running updates, and having trouble using search engines so I'm not sure what it's called, maybe ancho?). It's pretty essential to a good tasting chili.

After I brown the beef, I add the spices and then I add tomato paste, diced tomatoes with their juices, and a couple cans of beans. Kidney beans are a great choice, as I usually use 1 can of those, plus 1 can of pinto beans. Black beans are a good alternative.

After that point, just let it slow cook for several hours, the longer the better. I find that chili tastes better the day after it's finished and put in the fridge, because all the flavors really meld together at that point.

As long as you have meat, onions/peppers, cumin/chili powder, tomatoes/tomato paste, and beans (optional), you can basically do whatever you want.

EDIT: found my recipe

Spoiler: show
Ingredients:
~ 3 Tbsp veg. oil
2 medium/large yellow onions, medium dice
2-3 medium/large red/green bell peppers, medium dice
~ 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 c. chili powder
1/4 c. oregano
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 pounds ground beef (lean will not taste as good/flavorful)
2 tsp. salt
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes or fresh (no difference here)
1 (14 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 (15 oz.) can beans (I use kidney & pinto beans), drained/rinsed
(optional) 1/4 c. coarsely chopped pickled jalapenos or green chiles, drained
(optional) cayenne powder/whole cayenne peppers ~ 1+ Tbsp

For serving:
Shredded cheddar cheese, crackers, avocado slices, sour cream, etc (whatever you prefer; I sometimes add shredded cheese on occasion, but usually I add nothing)

1. Heat oil in a large pot or large frying pan over medium heat. Add onions and bell pepper, season with salt, stir occasionally until softened.
2. Add garlic, chili powder, oregano, cumin, and stir to coat the vegetables for about 1 minute. Add ground beef and use spatula to break into smaller pieces as desired until browned.
3. If using large frying pan, transfer to a slow cooker, add tomatoes with their juices, tomato sauce, jalapenos, and beans, stirring to combine. Cover/cook until chili thickens, about 8 hours on low or 6 on high.
By ness31
#14869963
It's not a Latin food.


Really? I coulda sworn chilli con carne was Mexican or some shit. :?:

Anyway, it doesn’t really matter. I made it and it was ok. A bit on the bland side without the bell peppers and the actual proper chillis. I was substituting with smoked paprika and a mish mash of all the chilli powders I possess.

I wish I had read your recipe earlier Bulaba as your method calls for a much longer cooking time. The 6 cloves of garlic would have helped too.
I read some use Mexican chocolate as an ingredient and I thought, what the hey. I had some 70% dark choc lying around and chucked it in. I think that was probably the thing that saved me. It gave the gravy a nice texture and a deep burgundy colour.

By this point Bulaba, you’re probably cringing at the mess I’ve made to an old classic, but assure you, it was quite edible. :D

PS I wilfully tried to keep my beef clumpy and chunky. You’d have been mortified :lol:
User avatar
By Jethro Bodine
#14870491
Chili con carne - what we think of as chili - is more of an American thing. Chile colorado, however, is a traditional Mexican stew but uses better cuts of meat and usually doesn't have tomatoes or beans in it. Apparently purist, Texas-style chili is somewhat similar to chile colorado. But I'm no expert. I do make chili (con carne) fairly often though and am pretty happy with the results. It's good enough that I've stopped tweaking the recipe. I use ground beef, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chipotle powder, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, black beans, red kidney beans, a cup of coffee, cocoa powder and brown sugar. I've tried adding onion to this recipe but it doesn't really seem to add to or detract from the finished chili so I usually don't use it. Might have to try sweetened chocolate in place of cocoa powder and brown sugar though.
#14870505
Jethro, that's interesting you add coffee and dark chocolate to yours. I've had some delicious mole sauces which use dark chocolate, and I can imagine a chili recipe calling for some. And about chili Colorado yeah, the Aztecs used to do something that later became known as chili Colorado AFAIK, basically just meat and chili in a sauce.

Ness, I highly recommend you try your hand at this again. Use chili powder (not cayenne, although adding cayenne is good) and let it stew for hours and hours, the longer the better, and remember that it will always taste good a day after it's been in the fridge.
User avatar
By Jethro Bodine
#14870520
I've always liked drinking coffee with my chili and figured what the hell - I'll just mix it in. Mole is actually what inspired me to add cocoa powder. I don't use much (I should try adding more) but that and the coffee certainly give the chili more depth of flavor.
By ness31
#14870582
Bulaba Jones wrote:Ness, I highly recommend you try your hand at this again. Use chili powder (not cayenne, although adding cayenne is good) and let it stew for hours and hours, the longer the better, and remember that it will always taste good a day after it's been in the fridge.


I’m going to. And I might tweak it with a different cut of meat, although I’m not sure which; and also add some coffee. It did cross my mind when I was cooking the other day but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself lol.

I just had a thought! Imagine chilli made with beef cheeks :eek:
User avatar
By Wellsy
#14870790
Be curious to hear how it goes.

I'm having my first try at cooking some chili with some left over brisket from my mother-in-law.
By ness31
#14870791
Oooh, brisket and it’s already cooked. That should be nice Wellsy :)
By ness31
#14873080
So I’m doing chilli again. I wanted beef cheeks but no dice, brisket it is.

I still couldn’t source the proper chillis which is disappointing but I will just have to make do. My hands smell of smokey chipotle ..yummmmy.

I’ve never done brisket before..lord knows how long it’s going to take before it starts to fall apart. I didn’t have Wellys luxury of it being pre cooked..

Also, I want to make a side of mashed up pinto beans. My last go was a bit boring, so if anyone has any ideas on how you jazz em up, let me know.

And I want to make a salsa..

So much to do and so little wine *sigh*

Edit- I just tasted the sauce which has been cooking for about an hour now and it’s obvious that it can only develop into something worth getting excited about!
I think the addition of the coffee was a great thing. I’ve used chilli chocolate this time which is also adding depth. And I know this is probably not to everyone’s liking but I added the water from the tin of the kidney beans. It’s nice and thick and gave me that bit of extra liquid I needed.
#14873096
Just let it keep stewing. Low simmer for at least 4-8 hours, and keep in mind that tomorrow it should taste even better! Smoky chipotle should work just fine. I've never used it in my own chili, but plenty of people use chipotle in theirs.

Personally, I never go for a side dish when I've made chili because it's basically an all-contained stew dish. I know people who like to serve rice on the side (and some like to add rice to their chili, or pour chili on top of some rice.
By ness31
#14873098
There’s a Mexican food joint that makes these bowl things with a little bits of everything in them and whilst I love it, it’s also expensive. My solution was to plagiarise their idea and upsize it :p
So, it’s a protein of your choice (in my case chilli) then the mashed pinto beans, glorious black rice that I can’t replicate so I’m using rice and quinoa, shredded lettuce, a tomato salsa with black beans, corn and cilantro; guacamole, sour cream, cheese and jalapeños. It’s so light that you feel great after eating it and then the next day you make burritos or enchiladas out of it.

It’s stewing away. I just checked it...need to lower it a bit more so it’s a gentle bubble...
By ness31
#14873937
I’ve waited so patiently for you to ask, but someone’s been busy :roll:


It was a hit. Everyone’s still going on about it! I am pleasantly surprised with brisket, it’s a lovey cut for slow cooking and not necessarily on a bbq. I honestly dont know how I can improve it from here on in. I think I’ve reached peak chilli :D
#14873939
No need to improve it if it turned out well, IMO! That's cool you liked it (and that others liked it). I assume you used a cut of brisket that had a decent amount of fat/connective tissue? I've never considered using brisket, but it sounds like a very delicious choice. You're kind of an honorary 'Murican now that you've done your own spin on chili and done it well.

So you did use dark chocolate and some coffee?

@Jethro Bodine How much chocolate do you add to yours? I'd like to experiment next time with coffee and chocolate.
By ness31
#14873943
Bulaba Jones wrote:No need to improve it if it turned out well, IMO! That's cool you liked it (and that others liked it). I assume you used a cut of brisket that had a decent amount of fat/connective tissue? I've never considered using brisket, but it sounds like a very delicious choice. You're kind of an honorary 'Murican now that you've done your own spin on chili and done it well.

So you did use dark chocolate and some coffee?


I don’t know if it’s in the least bit authentic, but whatever it was, it was delicious. Purists might have me hung, drawn and quartered but these are risks we take in the culinary world :excited:

I used chilli chocolate and a good shot of espresso coffee. The flavour of the choc was more intense this time but I didn’t get the same velvet texture as the last batch. A thicker chocolate maybe, dunno..
#14873945
"Chili purists" are kind of funny people. You don't really encounter them outside of Texas or certain places on the internet. In any case, I prefer chili with beans as do many other Americans. Judging from most chili recipes I see, canned/freeze-dried/dry chili, prepared chili at different restaurants or cafeterias, etc, chili with beans is a bit more common than chili without. But there are people who are really weird and consider themselves chili purists. My only response is: it's just food, guy!

Espresso sounds like the way to go. I'll have to try that out.
By ness31
#14873949
Why wouldn’t you add beans? It just goes..
#14873954
Some people say they think beans have no flavor (?). Chili purists insist on no beans, and the "original" style of chili omits beans. So although there's a lot of people who don't, I'd say most people do. It's just a weird thing I guess.
User avatar
By Jethro Bodine
#14874393
ness31 wrote:Also, I want to make a side of mashed up pinto beans. My last go was a bit boring, so if anyone has any ideas on how you jazz em up, let me know


I would recommend a dish called Frijoles Charros. The pinto beans are whole rather than mashed up - it's kind of soupy, usually with bacon and/or ham, onion, tomatoes, garlic and peppers. Sometimes chorizo too. It can make a great side dish (not sure about having it with chili though) or even an entire meal when served with tortillas. Definitely worth checking out!

Bulaba Jones wrote:@ Jethro Bodine How much chocolate do you add to yours? I'd like to experiment with coffee and chocolate next time.


Not much - usually a 1/4 tsp. or so. Even that small an amount seems to make a difference. I think more would be good but I just haven't gotten around to experimenting with it. Been thinking about trying different coffees too. I've just been using plain old Folgers.

I'm also intrigued by using beef cheeks. That's not a cut normally seen around here (ironically, since this is an agricultural region) but it sounds like an interesting choice.

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