Chili

mjd

mjd

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Joined
4 Sep 2020
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Location
Chicago, IL - Midwest USA
How do you make your chili?

With beans or no beans?
With pasta (chili mac) or rice?
Have you ever added chocolate?
Serve with crackers or cornbread?

It's getting cold here in the Midwest. It's time for making yummy chili to warm the soul.

Tell me how you do it!
 
I make chili every whichaway (I don't think that's a word).

My mom used to make "chili soup," which is much thinner than chili, more like the consistency of a vegetable soup, but with the standard chili ingredients. She never orders chili in restaurants because she says it's too thick.

I'll be making chili, probably tomorrow, and I'm going to throw some squash in it, just to use up some squash I have. I definitely add beans, and the more the better, including a good variety. The next chili I make will have butter beans in it, because that's what I have on hand.

MrsT likes it with rice or elbow macaroni with it, and growing up, Mom always served it with peanut butter on the side, meaning we'd either put putter butter on saltines or on a single piece of bread folded over, and have that alongside the soup.

Today, when I have it, I put a couple of saltines in the bottom of the bowl, along with a bit of shredded cheese, then on with the soup, and cheese, raw onion, and maybe sour cream on top, and saltines on the side. MrsT always wants cornbread on the side.
 
Chili (usually con carne) isn't an everyday dish in our family. My recipe: no fresh chilies..., minced low-fat beef, few slices of shredded bacon, onion, garlic, a big jar of Mutti tomato passata, white beans in garlic or chili tomato sauce (or canned Pinto beans and possibly canned lentils), lime juice or lemon juice, maple syrup or sugar, salt & black pepper, red Tabasco sauce, a pinch of chili powder, sour cream and maybe a pinch of powdered paprika aka bell pepper. Served with jasmine or basmati rice, chopped cilantro or parsley and sour cream. Tastes best the next day when mixed with rice.
 
the debate over what should be allowed in "chili" is long and can get ueber heated....
my take is: do what you like!

I've become a megafan of using dried beans (for a bunch! of dishes....)
the texture of beans that have been processed to death and sat in a can for months . . . .
no thanks - "fresh made" beans are seriously better eats.

the usual debate in our house is ground beef or chunk beef. I prefer to chunk up a steak, brown it, and base the chili on that. DW prefers browned ground beef, so we take turns. no one has lost any weight over that issue . . . .
we don't eat all that much red meat anymore, so I've got no qualms to buying a prime grade steak and chunking it up for chili.....

it's definitely a dish we make 24 hrs in advance - chill over night - reheat gently...
basic recipe - add stuff to preference - heat: dried pepper flakes work well; or fresh hot peppers

for two:
soak 200g dry kidney beans overnight
need: serve with saltines (this is a shopping reminder....)

==============
1 lb ground beef - salt & brown the beef
or
1+ lb chuck/steak - nothing lean, trim big fat globs but leave some fat for flavor
you can lose up to 30% of weight in the fat/gristle trim
==============

then add:
1 medium chopped yellow onion
3/4 cup green pepper chopped - alt banana pepper

=====
1 lb = 2 cups tomato chunks
or
2 cans dice/whole/chili canned tomato
2 small fresh tomato hand diced added near end of cooking
===
note on tomato: summer, use garden tomato.
do not use winter wooden tomatoes - use canned whole/chopped
=======

8 ounces tomato sauce

add:
1 to 2 teaspoon chili powder - up to 3 tsp to taste
1+ bay leaf
================
dark red kidney beans - 200g dry weight soaked overnight
or, if you must....
1 lb = 2 cups dark red kidney beans, drained
(reserve juice to adjust consistency)
================

check for salt - add as needed; 1 tsp salt approx total
 
Here in Texas, I make mine with beans, but only with Ranch Style pinto beans. I use very course grind ground beef, which has a similar mouth feel to diced beef. I prefer to serve it over crumbled cornbread, but rice is okay. NEVER pasta. I've never added chocolate -- don't plan to try it. Crackers on the side are good, if I don't want to make cornbread.

CD
 
CookieMonster said:
I got pinto beans. I like'em
what makes them "ranch style?"
Click to expand...

Ranch Style is a brand name. They are not plain pinto beans. They have some seasoning -- and the seasoning is a very good fit with chili.

Unknown-1.jpeg



CD
 
Last edited:
Dad always made his chili with meat, no beans. I followed suit.

BUT three years back, I had a Cinco de Mayo party with vegetarians in attendance. And a lot of people had a lot of food restrictions, few of which actually dovetailed with restrictions other folk had. (So I set up a taco bar where people could mix and match as they chose.)

Decided I needed some Chili, too - so I made just one large pot - of a vegetarian chili - only one person was allergic to beans, so he could fill himself at the taco bar.

I made it again recently this summer at a Social Distancing get together with about a third of the number of people - the photo below:

Served with rice for under, and the toppings you see to the right. Sour cream, two shredded cheeses, a hot sauce for the folks who like some heat, scallions/green onions, and cilantro. My vegetarian chili (which in itself is vegan if you don't use the sour cream or cheeses) has three types of beans, and some butternut squash in there.


chili-served-.jpg


I will probably continue to make my omnivore chili without beans, but I probably will have less need to make that, than I want to make the vegetarian one. PS, that was WAY too much rice there!

I should really post this recipe here...

Adding - the beans I used: black beans, pinto beans, black eyed peas, all in this case from cans.

I always have rice available, and I have never used chocolate - but this sounds like a great idea! NO crackers, NO pasta. I could be talked into cornbread.
 
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