Chili.

[Bertha Venation]

Poll question: Chili.

* name your favorite canned chili

* give your best chili recipe

* got any secret ingredients you're willing to divulge?

* how often do you eat chili?

[HopeHoops]

1. DEFINITELY beans - no dead animal parts.

Usually three kinds of beans - kidney, black, navy make a good combination. Sometimes we add TVP, usually not. Always onion and fresh chili peppers and fresh tomatoes. Diced carrots make an excellent addition. Whatever goes in, the crock pot is the best way to cook it to blend all of the flavors.

We eat it more during the winter months than the summer, but that's probably because we're too busy with fresh veggies from the garden and homemade salsa fills in for it.

[Bertha Venation]

2. well, duh, bertha

I hadn't even thought of our Veg. folks.

Yours sounds good. I've never made it with fresh tomatoes. Hmm...

[HopeHoops]

5. Well, you can't always find good ones in the winter and that creates a serious dilemma....

Do I make something else or am I desperate enough to use canned tomatoes?

If you DO use canned tomatoes, I would recommend Furmano's brand (yellow label) - easily the best quality I've ever found.

OH! Something REALLY important I forgot - mushrooms! Just regular button will work, but crimini are better. I just quarter the small ones, sixth the larger ones and in they go. They soak up extra moisture along with the flavors and give it texture as well.

On Edit: Hard Times Cafe makes a wonderful vegetarian chili with an ingredient I personally have never tried in my own chili - peanuts. I keep meaning to try it but forget. I'll wait a bit longer now - my youngest is still in railroad track braces.

[muffin1]

7. What is TVP? n/t

[Bertha Venation]

8. textured vegetable protein

It kinda feels like ground beef when you're chewing. Has no flavor, adds protein.

[HopeHoops]

11. Thanks BV. It DOES however absorb flavor. My brother-in-law thought it WAS beef.

I find the chewy beef consistency to be completely unnecessary but acceptable when preparing dishes for those who expect it (chili, lasagne, etc.) or just to get the protein boost. I used it a lot more 20 years ago when I first became vegetarian than I do now. My brother-in-law is a meat-hound. He knows we're vegetarian and I guess he thought we'd made that just for him and his family because he was shocked to see us eating it also. He had no clue until then. It wasn't an effort to trick him but rather to appeal to his expectations for consistency. I was just as shocked to find out he thought it was beef!

[GoCubsGo]

3. No beans. They don't belong in chili verde.

I prefer the green over the red.

[Kali]

16. same here for Mexican chili

verde

(although a nice garlicky red won't get rejected

[GoCubsGo]

24. Won't get rejected here, either.

I like my red without beans, and cubed, rather than ground meat.

[Kali]

35. yeah

real chili colorado is a totally different dish than American chili (with beans or not) and to me it is chunks of beef in a smooth red sauce - best eaten with fresh hot flour tortillas (or as a burrito)

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Canned chili is to chili like...

Spam is to Virginia ham. I have no favorite canned chili, and will eat the stuff only to fend off starvation.

I prefer no beans, but when people expect beans I will throw a can of garbanzos in there to teach them a lesson.

Vegetarian chili? I have had it and it can be tasty, but please call it something else. It is not chili.

Recipe? I shred a big hunk of beef, maybe some pork, and brown it before it goes into the crockpot. Tomato-ey red stuff goes in (homemade if I got it) and chicken stock. Usual spices and hot stuff, and peppers of varying hotness go in. Roasted red peppers are a nice touch. Then, anything else I can think of goes in. Maybe even a bean or two if I'm feeling frisky.

[muffin1]

6. Beans - three kinds.

Also beef, diced tomatoes, onion, green peppers, mushrooms, tomato puree, tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, and 1 square of unsweetened chocolate (it adds depth - I think I saw Ina do that once).

Serve with chopped jalapenos, onions, grated sharp cheese and sour cream. Sometimes served over rice. Cornbread on the side.

We eat chili at least 10 times per winter.

I've yet to find a canned chili that tastes like chili.

[Bertha Venation]

9. that sounds so good

Do you have an actual recipe you follow, or do you eyeball the whole thing? If it's a recipe, would you mind sending it to me in a PM? If not an actual recipe, would you mind telling me how much beef, what kinds of beans, what kinds of mushrooms? I can do the rest.

Sounds SO good.

[muffin1]

10. An old friend had a recipe that his mother had given him,

and I took it and modified it. I totally eyeball everything. I usually saute a chopped green pepper, a diced whole medium onion, and nearly a pound of chopped button mushrooms. I use ground beef - a pound to a pound and a half. After browning and draining the beef, I add the diced tomatoes, puree, and sauce, all the spices and the chocolate. Oh, and a few shakes of hot sauce. I confess I DO use canned tomato products. Often, I add in a packet of pre-mixed 'chili powder' - I enjoy trying different ones. Then three cans of beans - usually black, kidney, and some kind of white bean (navy or great northern) - drained, of course.

Then I just let it simmer for awhile, then I 'play' with it a little - add a little more spices or tomato sauce. Or a little paste if it's too thin. I like a good, thick, 'tomatoey' chili.

If you make it, let me know how it turns out!

[Dr Morbius]

12. There's no such thing as good canned chili.

My recipes are my own. I do use canned chili beans. Cutting up round steak when it's partly frozen allows one to slice it very thin prior to cooking it, and then marinating it in red wine with some diced chilies (for perhaps 45 minutes) ensures the steak will be tender and quite tasty in your finished pot of chili. I rarely make real chili (with the steak and the actual dried chili), but I'll toss some cheap approximation together once every two months. I always serve it with freshly made macaroni, and it kicks ass. My wife won't touch it but my daughter and I really enjoy it.

[alphafemale]

26. +++++++++

[Gormy Cuss]

13. I make my own, and have too many favorite variations to list

but I can recommend Jane Butel's Chili Madness for anyone with the same obsession.

The secret to good chili is to use powdered mild red chilies in great quantity and add your own oregano, cumin, whatever rather than using a chili powder. The chili should be added to the pan just after browning the meat and cooked on for a few minutes before adding other ingredients. With a vegetarian chili, the powdered chiles should be added at the end of sauteing the onions, garlic and bell peppers.

Powdered chiles are usually found in the Latino section of the grocery.

The other keys to good chili are long, slow cooking and if using beans adding them only in the last hour.

[caitxrawks]

14. i guess i'm boring.

I don't eat canned chili. Blech.

I make it pretty simple when I do make it at home. It doesn't have to have ground turkey or beef but it's a nice touch.

It's just kidney beans, onions, diced tomatoes, some curry powder for a nice flavor kick, water, some green peppers...then you just let it sit and simmer I guess, lmao.

Nothing fancy. It's cheap as hell! And it gets the job done.

[Kaleva]

15. My recipe

2 cans of red beans
2 cans of kidney beans
2 cans of chili beans
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans of mushrooms

(use juices in can)

2 cans of tomato soup
1 medium onion diced up
2 lbs of browned hamburger-drained
1/2 green pepper diced
1/2 red pepper diced

season to taste with chili powder, salt and pepper

[Swede]

17. I like it with and without beans.

There are so many great recipes out there.

[Kali]

18. well I'm a freak

I like canned chili just fine - with beans Hormel Hot is probably best but I buy the store brand too. I make regular pinto beans just about every week, so canned chili is the only time I buy canned beans. For homemade chili I would brown some quantity of ground beef, a chopped onion for each lb of beef, some garlic. I would add chopped canned tomatoes and start the simmer. fresh chopped chilis could go in there, but I usually just use chili powder and add a little oregano and a lot of cumin. add in the beans and some of their juice - just keep tasting it until you get it right or you are full.

the best chili I can remember was after some big party my parents had once, when for some reason there were a bunch of leftover T bone steaks and they took all the bones and simmered for broth then made chili out of the meat - added beans too. it had a nice grilled smokiness. I tried to duplicate it once with grilled hamburgers, but I didn't make it fresh and so the burgers had been refrigerated so the flavor wasn't quite as good as I had hoped, but still pretty good. I bet a chopped up grilled london broil would make some good chili and would be nice and lean too.

[msanthrope]

19. I will give you my vegan chili recipe that even meat-eaters adore.

One can of black beans.

One can of kidney beans.

One can of cannnelli beans.

One can of pinto beans.

One can of refried beans--get the vegan kind.

One large can of tomato paste. (or two small.)

One can of chipotle chilies in adobo sauce. (Goya product)--you may use 1/4 to all of the can. THESE ARE HOT!

One can of jalapenos.

Three cans of Ro-Tel with cilantro and lime. (or the regular)

One bag of frozen corn. (trader Joes has a fire-roasted corn...it's good.)

6 Italian fryer peppers. These are light green.

2 red peppers.

2 onions.

8 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup chili powder.

1 to 2 tablespoons of cumin.

1 to 2 tablespoons of coriander.

Salt--I use kosher, about a teaspoon or two.

Fresh ground black pepper.

Bunch of cilantro.



Start with your onions. Chop it fine or put it in a cuisinart. Then, fry it up in a really big pan until starting to brown. Take them out and put them in the bowl of a crockpot, or, if you are doing this stove top, a big bowl.

Next, chop your peppers. Saute and give them some color--don't worry about cooking them. They go in the bowl.

Now, take the tomato paste and put it in the pan. Stir it around and cook it a bit. Then add the cumin, coriander, chili power and keep stirring, toasting the spices for a minute. Then mix in the chilies in adobo--stirring to break them up. Then the jalapenos. Then the rotel...mix it all really well as you bring it up to a boil. It should be wet.

Mix in the refried beans, carefully. Then, mix in all the cans of beans (you have rinsed and drained them!) Finally, mix in the corn, (no need to defrost) and the onion and peppers.

You can cook this stove top, but I prefer 3-4 hours in the crockpot on high (watch and taste after three hours.)

Put the garlic in after three hours. Add the salt and pepper then, too, after tasting. (Your chili powder might be salty. Be careful.)

Stir in the chopped cilantro when you are done.


The refried beans give this chili thick texture without the use of meat or TVP. You can add water if this is too thick for you. You can cut down on the chilies in adobo--they are HOT. You can use green peppers. You can adjust the cumin/coriander ratios. You can add salt, or not.

I take this to pot-lucks and I NEVER have any to take home.

I serve it with rice and avocado.

[Systematic Chaos]

20. That recipe sounds like art.

Wife and I are going to try this no later than when my next check comes in, whenever we can afford all the ingredients. YUM!

[msanthrope]

21. Thank you--I hope you enjoy it. n/t

[Bertha Venation]

22. Thanks, ms, that sounds great!

[TheCentepedeShoes]

23. I use the Carroll Shelby mix with

2 lbs browned ground beef
thick slices of onion and fresh tomato (I like chunky chili)
tomato sauce
2 small cans of chopped green chilies
extra water if needed
Throw it in the crock pot for a few hours and later add
1 can pinto beans and thicken it with the masa that comes with the mix

I fix it 4 or 5 times during the colder months

Edit: left something out

[femmocrat]

25. No canned chili for me either.

I make chili with ground turkey breast and white cannelloni beans, celery, onion, fresh tomatoes, and some spices. I cook it in the slow-cooker. Makes the house smell wonderful! I serve it over rice.

[JTG of the PRB]

27. I'm going to enter this in a chili cook-off next year, so I'll be tweaking this a bit...

...but here is my (current) chili recipe:

In a large stock pot (8 quarts) brown two pounds of ground beef (80/20 tastes best I've found) with a whole chopped onion and a whole diced green pepper. Sprinkle in ground cumin, garlic salt, fresh cracked black pepper, and chili powder. Do this when you first turn the heat on, then do it halfway through. Also add my SECRET INGREDIENT, Cholula hot sauce. Apply liberally.

Continue browning the ground beef until it is thoroughly cooked, then drain the excess grease. Add two cans (or one large can) of petite diced tomatoes and a can each of light red kidney beans, dark red kidney beans, and pinto beans. Add water so that it comes up about an inch above the ingredients in the stock pot.

From there, bring the heat to low-medium (about a 4 on numeric stove) and continue to apply fresh pepper, ground cumin, garlic salt, chili powder, and Cholula every ten minutes or so. Season it to taste, basically. Allow 1 hour to 1 and a half hours for cooking, stirring and seasoning as you see fit every ten minutes or so. Serve fresh and piping hot with saltine crackers and shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

With this recipe you'll have lots of leftovers, so there will be plenty for the next month or so!

I usually make chili every couple of months or so, having a helping maybe once every ten days for either lunch or dinner.

[alphafemale]

28. Ban the Can

Start with dry kidney beans. Soak overnight. Drain. Add fresh water bring to boil and less roll at least ten minutes. (Kidney beans have a toxin that causes digestion distress. These steps get rid of it) Turn off heat and set aside. (Or allow to cool and store in fridge)

Slice Poblano pepper in thick wedges. (And no matter how bad it itches....Do NOT Rub your eye!) Coat with olive oil and roast in oven until there is some charring. Chop and set aside.

Brown ground beef in a quick pan swish of olive oil that you've heated and it's beginning to look wavy, with bay leaf, a tsp or so fresh ground cumin, a healthy top coat of chili powder and garlic powder (or a clove or two chopped garlic browned before adding the meat in that wavering oil to the point of making the sides of your tongue quiver) If you want to go purist and don't mind stinky fingers for a couple hours. A little salt and a couple turns of the pepper mill never hurt any dish. Set meat aside.

In a bigger pot than you think you'll need, pour in one can of tomato puree, one can of crushed tomatoes, and a can or two of tomatoes and chilies. (If you can get the home-canned varieties of any of these so much the better.)
Add a bay leaf, chopped yellow onion, another healthy dose of chili powder and garlic powder, some splashes of Tabasco and that chopped roasted pepper. Simmer this until onions are tender and then add cooked ground beef. Continue to simmer until the dog is about to go crazy. About one half hour before you're ready to eat add the beans. Turn up to a very slow boil. It's ready when the beans are tender.

I serve with a choice of sour cream, chopped green onion, shredded cheddar and more Tabasco to top.

And a bowl of steaming chili longs to be touched by warm, fresh cornbread.

[LWolf]

29. Beans. Or no beans. It's different every time.

Sometimes some kind of meat, sometimes not. Always tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, onion.

Sometimes sea salt; sometimes not.

Sometimes peppers and/or other veggies. Sometimes not. Sometimes a sweetener; sometimes not.

Sometimes the onions and peppers cook with the chili. Sometimes I add them after.

Sometimes cheese or sour cream added; sometimes not.

Beans? Black beans, white beans, pinto beans, any beans.

Sometimes corn.

Meat? Beef, ground or not. Or buffalo. Or elk. Or chicken or turkey. Or not.

Sometimes served with tortillas, sometimes cornbread, sometimes toast sticks, sometimes biscuits.

Sometimes served over salad.

I'm a completely casual, informal cook. If it takes a recipe, I'm not likely to cook it. If I cook it, I'll use whatever I'm in the mood for, or whatever happens to be on hand, or both.

[merh]

30. ground turkey chili with beans and after it has been cooked

down - serve with cottage cheese (and mix the two)

yummmmmmmmmy!

I eat it like this all the time. Very tasty and very filling.

[ccharles000]

31. I vote beans

[old mark]

32. Dark red kidney and chili beans, canned whole tomatos and beef chunks

sauteed till they are very tender. Lots of chili powder and a little nutmeg...no other vegies, no hamburger.
A little adobo, too.


mark

[MrsMatt]

33. The recipe I use

I used to bring it to the annual chili fundraiser at my daughter's elementary school, and everyone raved about it. I wish it was my recipe, but it's from a cookbook, with a couple of modifications of my own. It's too bad my children don't like it, but they don't like anything tomato based!

2 c. freshly brewed coffee
2 c. vegetable broth
2 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (with juice)
1 med diced yellow onion
4 garlic cloves
4 15 oz cans black beans (rinsed and drained) or 6-8 c. cooked black beans
1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar (light or dark)
2 T. chili powder
1 T. ground cumin
1 T. cinnamon (optional)
1 T. dark cocoa (optional)
1 whole canned chipotle chile, chopped (optional)
3-4 cloves, to taste
1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
salt to taste

cook all ingredients (except cilantro & salt) in covered slow cooker 8-12 hours on low (stir occasionally). Add cilantro & salt during the last hour of cooking.

Serve with chunky mango & tomato salsa (I usually make my own), cubed avocado (or guacamole), sour cream & Montery Jack or Cheddar Cheese.



The only canned chili I've ever had was Hormel, so I'm not much of a judge.

My "secret" ingredient(s) I add to almost any recipe is dark cocoa and cinnamon.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

34. no beans on my hot dog/ beans in my bowl.

[KamaAina]

36. Stagg (Stockton, CA)

no-beans chili is useful as a hot dog topping only.

Believe it or not, chili is also a very big deal in Hawai'i (as are other mainland-style comfort foods such as beef stew). The O'ahu-wide chain of Zippy's family-style restaurants is famous for it; the twist is a) it's most often served over rice, and b) the seasonings include ginger!