JID's post reminded me of a few things.

Living in Austin, I have frequented the Texas Chili Parlor a few times. Their chili is definitely in the old school vein of Texas chili, cooked 1 inch chunks of beef (meaning raw it was probably 1 1/2 inch chunks), in a thick stew dominated by spice and beef flavor and very little if any tomato flavor. Imagine a pot roast or beef stew except without any noticeable veggies and a much stronger spice kick.

As an aside, the Texas Chili Parlor is the setting for most of the first half of Tarantino's Death Proof.

This thread confuses me.

I am really disappointed at all the gray meat. I guess I can understand the difficulty with the ground meat but the cubed meat really should be browned. I use a cast iron skillet flaming hot to get a good browning on the cubes, and don't really worry about cooking them all the way -- I let the time in the pot with everything else finish them off.

I am a big fan of using cocoa/dark chocolate in the recipe.

The key to good browning when cooking a big pot of chili is to not brown the meat all at once but instead in batches so all of the meat has contact with a hot surface.

Sif,

Thanks for your gray meat comment. I agree and fixing that is a priority for my next batch.

One problem with the cuisinart grinder/sausage attachments, is that they get way hot, and make the meat a little too paste like due to the fat softening (I have one myself); I would suggest, depending on how much meat you typically do for chilli, getting a countertop hand grinder, even with a hand grinder + half moon die, its going to be cheaper then getting the cuisin art etc (and the clean up is easier);

a plate like this is probably what you are looking for, or even try out a stuffing plate:

http://www.onestopjerkyshop.com/images/19mm_plate.jpg

I saw this recipe for Espresso Black Bean Chili on Mark Bittman's blog a few days ago and decided to try it: http://markbittman.com/espresso-black-bean-chili . It has some unique ingredients like brown sugar, espresso and cinnamon, so I thought that those of you interested in experimenting with your chili might be interested. And it's vegetarian if anyone's looking for that.

I used 4 cans of black beans instead of dried because I always **** up dried beans somehow

Anyway, I really enjoyed it and would recommend it. I used a full cup of freshly brewed espresso and the caffeine definitely comes through. Like the 4Loko of chili. On the second day I had some extra ground beef, so I browned that and mixed it in. Made it even better imo (obv).

Sorry for the pic, my real camera is broken:

I'm good friends with mark bittman's daughter. I'm gonna have to challenge that fool to a chili cookoff next time I'm over there

Yeah, the plate with those size holes is what I'm after. Unfortunately that plate (19mm) does not fit a KitchenAid stand mixer meat grinder attachment.

You mentioned the Cuisinart grinder attachments getting too hot ... I have a KitchenAid mixer not a Cuisinart, any idea if the same heat problem is present? The attachment connects to the output shaft and that area of the machine doesn't get very warm, although perhaps the friction itself creates the heat.

Here's my mixer and the attachment I'm considering (notice how the holes are way too small):
http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-FGA.../dp/B00004SGFH

And if it does indeed get too warm, I suppose that could be counteracted by chilling the meat chunks first which I think is standard for things like salami where you want to retain integrity of meat/fat separation.

I'd get a dedicated grinder but I have way too much junk in my kitchen already.

Chilling the meat is def a must, I dont have direct experience with anything other than cuisinart, but Im under the impression that all kitchen grinders produce too much heat due to working to hard, but I may be wrong. This isnt really a big deal, and I doubt most would notice, but I def like the consistency of meat from my hand grinder, or my industrial grinder compared to the countertop one because of the somewhat "pastey" nature it produces.

Instead of sugar, add in some dark chocolate, it gives it a nice taste

My Extremely Detailed Organic Chili Trip Report

So I’ve known that Georgia Tech was playing Air Force in a bowl game today at 2pm for a long time, and invited a few friends over.



I’ve been lurking in this chili thread for a while, and was planning on taking all the advice, doing some research of my own and pushing the chili envelope since I’d have a bunch of independent tasters. Well, I had some stuff to do this morning and found myself with no ingredients, no research and no recipe with 1.5 hrs to kickoff. So I copy/pasted El Diablo’s first two recipes, grabbed my Canon point-and-shoot (for this trip report duh) and headed for the door.

It wasn’t raining in SF for the first time in 3 weeks so I walked down a few blocks to my local organic grocery store and got this photo off.



Then my camera died. So the rest of the shots are with my BB 9700. So I’m sorry for the crappy photos but I tried!!!

First stop is the meat counter where I told the nice meat counter guys my chili trip report plans and asked for any additional advice. They immediately said I was an idiot for mixing ground beef and chopped steak and I should change that and focus on one. I bluntly told them that a world renowned internet poaster had recommended this recipe and he probably knew more about chili meat than someone working at a meat counter in a high-end grocery store. They were not convinced (sorry El D!) Anyway, I got the fattiest ground beef they had, 25% fat if I remember correctly.



Then the guy made a STRONG suggestion that I go with “Cross Rib Kobe Steak” for the chopped meat. I didn’t have the heart to tell him no (I remember reading that cheaper cuts were better?!?!) so went with his advice, since I had asked or it after all! He also pulled out the huge piece of beef so I could take a picture of it so that was cool.



I then remembered I wanted to add a THIRD meat so I got 4 strips of bacon and got the hell out of dodge.

I went with the most expensive brand of organic fire roasted crushed tomatoes, and basically closed my eyes and picked the first organic chocolate that I could find here in the ridiculously large chocolate section. I’m short on time remember!


Got the rest of my ingredients (organic of course) and ran.


$47 and some change...

Had like 30 minutes left now so no time to think, just had to start cooking. Bacon goes in one pan and the big chili pot goes on the burner with some olive oil. I just got a new pocketknife from Amazon so I got a chance to test it out on the beef.


Lethal!


I brown the cubes, remove them and then put in the ground beef. The bacon has been slow cooking and has melted off a good amount of fat so I take it out.


Veggies go into the bacon fat and the bacon (now chopped) and steak cubes go into the drained ground beef.


We’ve got a kegerator in our pad (to keep it classy)


So in goes some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale


The veggies run out of cooking time at 2pm...


So in they go and the game starts. Guests declare that the Chili “looks” good so far.


The first quarter is done before you know it (GT and AF were both running the ball every down) so in goes the dark chocolate


and 10 tortilla chips precision ground.


One more quick quarter of simmering and it’s time to serve! Put some shredded mild cheddar on top and some sour cream.

BOOM!


A guests interpretation...


And there was much rejoicing



Until we fumbled two punt returns in the 3rd quarter and lost the game.

NOTES:
Lots of praise for the chili, and surprise that I could produce something of that caliber. The general quality of the meat was loved, and beans were not missed at all. Just the right amount of spice for non-sadomasochists like myself. Majority thought that lime juice would have been an excellent addition, but not more vinegar.

Two of the guys don’t eat pork, and were very surprised to find out there was bacon in it. I felt bad for forgetting to tell them but they said it tasted great and had more. I think bacon was a KEY ingredient, but somehow disappeared in the matrix of flavors.

Also, someone saw my print out and noticed that I forgot the bourbon, so we poured a shot in after every ones first serving and let it simmer the rest of the game. I think it got worse, but I’m not sure if it’s from the bourbon or the chili getting too hot and the bottom getting overcooked from all the water evaporating, but I’m not going to add bourbon in the future.



OFFICIAL RECIPE (back calculated)

1.5 lbs ground beef
1 lb kobe steak (cubed)
4 strips of bacon
2 bell peppers, green and red
2 white onions
5 cloves of garlic, pressed into the veggies
1 Serrano pepper
3 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 can fire roasted crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
1 can tomato paste (small, 8oz maybe?)
8 oz chicken broth
6 oz Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
splash of Balsamic vinegar
1.5 oz Espresso Dark Chocolate
10 corn tortilla chips (crushed)

NEXT TIME

More ground beef, more chocolate, shallots instead of onions, lime juice, maybe cilantro and cook slower and lower in a crock pot.

Fantastic post.

looks great...but what a waste of a beautiful piece of steak.

million,

Thanks for the fantastic post, awesome job.

"I bluntly told them that a world renowned internet poaster had recommended this recipe and he probably knew more about chili meat than someone working at a meat counter in a high-end grocery store."

<3

I'm from Texas, son. I know nothing compared to anyone who knows anything about meat and chili in Texas. But compared to a fancy organic grocery store meat guy in SF? Yeah, I'll put my money on me.

"Then the guy made a STRONG suggestion that I go with “Cross Rib Kobe Steak” for the chopped meat"

LOL, WTF @ this suggestion. Definitely doesn't know about chili.

"I didn’t have the heart to tell him no (I remember reading that cheaper cuts were better?!?!) so went with his advice"

Oh no! Man, that steak looks great. I want to get one of those for the OOT steak thread.

Re: the bourbon, I really like what it adds to the chili, but adding it in when you are at the low simmer point maybe left some of the alcohol taste as opposed to adding it earlier when it's hot and the alcohol can burn off. Just my guess, someone else can confirm.