chorizo chili tho

+1!

El D there are no beans in your chili? When I make chili it's pretty much bean soup w/beef and veggies and spices. I have a feeling I'm doing it wrong, but damn I love me a bean

EL D,

Two suggestions;

1. Caramelize the veggies in bacon fat. Bacon fat in chili adds a nice smokiness and bacon flavor that you don't pick up as bacon fat, but it is there. Caramelizing the veggies instead of "sweating" them will also add more flavor.

2. Molasses instead of brown sugar. If you know your sugars, you know that brown sugar has the same flavor profile as molasses, but brown sugar is sweeter and less flavorful. In my chili, I WANT that dirty smoky flavor more than I want to make it sweeter. I use enough crushed tomatoes and petite diced tomatoes for sweetness that it only needs to be kicked up in sweetness a little bit.

Finally, 2t of salt for all that chili seems really light. I might think closer to 2-3T, but it will depend on the sodium content of the stock and crushed tomatoes that you use.

As for the meat, buy the cheapest cut of meat you can find (chuck, round, shoulder, etc), sear it separately and add it 45min to an hour before serving for maximum tenderness. But don't worry about over cooking it. This, I sear in the fat that I've trimmed away from the cut of meat.

I'm sure a man of the world like you knows this, but if you want to use a tender cut of meat like a tenderloin, that needs to be added like 10 min before serving or it WILL toughen up on you. With chili, use the cheap stuff as long slow cooking tenderizes cheap stuff, but toughens expensive stuff and chili is so wonderful reheated.

Also, use beans, LDO.

You are doing it wrong. I'm a bean loving man, but there should be more meat than beans. You'll find the higher the meat to bean ratio, the more fans your chili will have. At least, that's what I've found.

Also copied El D's second recipe fairly closely. Found a Chipotle Ale made by Rogue for the beer and also used a spicy habanero bloody mary mix.

CSC: Thanks for the tips, will incorporate some of them (not the beans, obv!) into my next batch. I definitely added more salt (and a bunch of other spices as well) when tasting with about an hour to go. As for meat, yeah, def wouldn't waste expensive meat in chili - for this I used some cheap top round.

db: wow, that looks delicious. The only thing I found about my second batch that needed improvement was the addition of the tomato paste added a little too much sweetness. When reheating I added a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt and that made it perfect for me.

Made my second batch last night. Caramelized veggies in Bacon fat, and used mixture of chuck and ground beef. The only other changes I made were using Sam smith oatmeal stout, and using 6 chipotles. Also used fresh bay leaves. I have a picture of the finished product that I will try adding later.

Next time I make chili I am going to try some bourbon. How much should I use?

In the batch I made yesterday, I threw about a shots worth in to deglaze the pan before I threw my beer in. Not sure how much of a difference it really makes tbh, I can't really taste any bourbon in the chili.

EL D,

Agree with bacon grease suggestion above, I have also come to the conclusion that sam smith oatmeal stout is the nut beer to use in chili making. It is also fantastic to drink with your chili once it is made, especially if you're putting dark chocolate in.

Also, A GREAT WAY TO USE YOUR CHILI FOR BREAKFAST

Make a hash with diced up potatoes (dice them pretty small so they will cook in frying pan), onions, and bacon. Depending on the thickness of your bacon, you can do one of two things. With thick bacon, I cut strips into lardons, with thinner strips I leave them whole.

Step 1: cook bacon, render out fat, remove bacon and put aside until later, pour off most of the fat but save enough to cook your potatoes and onions.

Step 2: add potatoes and onions (and salt+pepper ldo), and saute over medium heat until potatoes are done, and onions are sort of caramelized. If you like your onions really caramelized add some butter to your pan as well during the cooking process.

Step 3: when potatoes are done, add lardons or crumble up your bacon strips and throw them in.

Step 4: PUT IN BOWL, TOP WITH CHILI, TOP THAT WITH A SUNNY SIDE UP EGG

Step 5: NOM NOM NOM NOM



Also, I should add that this is a somewhat time consuming breakfast, but what I do is make a huge batch of the hash, and throw what I don't use in the fridge, and use it all week. You don't have to top it with chili either....it's great on it's own as a side, or you can top with salsa, avocados, cheese, and an egg (this is what I usually do ).

AA: Great posts. I love SS Oatmeal Stout, btw.

Love: I used about 2 shots, maybe a little more, and def have a delicious hint of bourbon taste in there.

Surprised nobody has mentioned Cocoa Power or Chocolate as an ingredient in Chili. I dont eat veggies so my chili has none besides ground chili peppers(is that a veggie? lol)

1.5 lbs ground buffalo
0.5 lb ground chorizo sausage
32oz tomato puree
couple cans of drained and rinsed kidney beans
Dried ground chipotle, habenero, and other types of chili peppers
Franks hot sauce
red pepper
black pepper
a couple teaspoons of cocoa powder or crushed chocolate
whatever else I have laying around and just season to taste

I know chili purists dont use beans but personally I love kidney beans

People definitely mentioned chocolate itt, and I'm pretty sure El D even used it in his second batch.

Never made my own chili before, but I'm gonna give this a whirl tomorrow. I stocked up on ingredients today, but now after rereading the thread I'm thinking I might need more heat. I only got 2 jalapenos and 2 serranos. Considering going back and getting a habanero and maybe some poblanos as well.

This thread has made me make Chili 3 weekends in a row now
The first batch i made 2 weeks ago with just a basic recipe was decent but not good enough that i wanted to do it again. Then Diablo made this thread and i had to reconsider after the delicious pictures and indeed the 2nd try turned out very good and much better than the first one but with still a very basic recipe.
Tomorrow i'll get a bit fancy and try the dark chocolate.

-

Why has no one used fresh tomatoes so far? I guess it wont make much difference after hours of simmering but still, fresh > canned. Or is it a seasonal cooking thing?

fresh tomatoes is not better than canned especially in applications such as chili or tomato sauce, etc...

Its not tomato season and fresh tomatoes will require much longer cooking time along with more work deseeding/deskinning. Your end product won't be better than an end product using a high end canned tomato like San Marzanos anyways.

does anyone else find themselves chuckling every time someone uses the word "deglaze" after the most recent south park?

great thread. i have concluded i prefer chilli made with sieved tomato to chilli made with chopped tomato. i dont think lumps of tomato flesh add to chilli at all.

"fresh" tomatoes are usually no fresher than canned tomatoes anyway in practise unless you got them from the garden. and putting tomatoes from the garden in a chilli would be a massive waste.

Diablo,

How much chili did your recipe make? Like approximately how many people would it serve?

Since I make a 15 litre pot I'm guessing I need more like 5 shots of bourbon?

Is purist chili really bean free? I love beans, my chili has more beans than everything else put together.

I've read this before re. tomatoes, that you gotta peel them and take the seeds out - why? I never bother whenever I put tomatoes in something like tomato sauce or chili or WE, I can't even imagine going through the bother. Does it really make much difference, tastes fine as it is to me.

I never tried sour cream with chili before, it tastes great!

I think I'm going to try a cup of strong coffee instead of chocolate next time, sounds interesting.

I just made a 15 litre pot of chicken curry. Can't wait for the curry thread.

I disagree with this. The product will almost always be better if you're competent. It just may be a poor use of time. If you're buying regular grocery store tomatoes and attempting this, dark times... dark times.

Even if you are using organic hothouse heirlooms and going through all the work, whatever taste advantage you get will be super marginal as chili isn't a dish where you really need the fresh notes of tomato. There is just so much spice, herb, beefiness, beer, etc in chili that you really won't taste the freshness.

Rather, much like how chili tastes better the 2nd or 3rd day, the canned tomato has had time to meld and develop flavors while stewing in its own juice during the canning process.

Claunchy,

~10 hearty servings.

So I basically made Diablo's first recipe with some added heat (a habanero and an extra jalapeno) today, and it turned out very well I think. I used Sierra Nevada stout for the beer, and I dumped the remainder of the adobo sauce that was left in the can into the pot which was a good move imo. Sorry I didn't take any pics during the prep/cooking phase, but I did get a ****** iPhone pic of the finished product.



Yeah it ended up being plenty. I had a few friends over for football watching (lol @ having people in my home, right) and was worried at first that it might not be enough food. Turns out I have leftovers!

I'll probably do this again soon and maybe get a bit more adventurous with my ingredients, but I figured I should see if I can make a good basic chili first.