Dish of the month (March 2022): Chilli/chili (including plant based)

Growing up, Dad loved making chili - and he liked what he called a good 2 or 3 alarm chili - he'd make it 1-alarm for the rest of us, and add more hot chili powder to his at the table. He was strongly in the No Bean Camp of chili making - in fact, when I first found beans in my chili I was startled. Chili meant meat chili recipes.

We never cooked rice in it, and indeed I've never had it that way to this date, vegetarian, vegan or omnivore. Bread or rice would be a side, growing up. Usually bread.

I made a huge huge pot of vegan chili back in 2018, for my first party at my new house. Obviously, that contained beans! May Day / Beltane coincided with Cinco de Mayo so I made everything Tex Mex for the 15-16 of us. We numbered vegetarians, gluten-free folk, and lactose intolerant, as well as a couple confirmed carnivore-leaning omnivores. As well as one person who could eat SOME nightshades but not much of that. (She chowed down on the make it yourself taco bar.... I can't picture chili - at least not NAMED chili - without tomatoes and peppers!) And another whom at that point I didn't know was allergic to beans - he had fun at that taco bar, too.

That vegan chili was so good that one avowed "vegetables are what food eats" person asked to take some of the leftovers home with her! I've tried to re-create what I did, and have come close - but there's one extra nudge in there that my vegan chili needs.



(Hmmm, surprised I hadn't posted this here already - will rectify soon!)
 
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One thing I'd like to play with this month is using beef that is NOT ground/minced. I have almost always eaten it ground/minced. If not always to date. I have not made any meat-based chili for decades - probably did it when first starting out on my own (and Dad's way, without the beans, as then chili did not seem at all right WITH beans). Then, no chili being made here until that party in 2018.

I will include beans in my current incarnation of a beefy chili, though. And the meat won't be ground/minced - an interesting experiment.
 
Mountain Cat said:
I will include beans in my current incarnation of a beefy chili, though. And the meat won't be ground/minced - an interesting experiment.
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In the past 35 years I've almost always used minced/ground beef for chilli-con-carne. However, I bought some whole beef fillets a while ago and was left with the pointy bits at the extremities. I cubed these (about 5mm) and the result was very good (albeit a tad expensive).

Beef fillet raw 3 s.jpg

Beef fillet raw 3 s.jpg

 
Yorky said:
In the past 35 years I've almost always used minced/ground beef for chilli-con-carne. However, I bought some whole beef fillets a while ago and was left with the pointy bits at the extremities. I cubed these (about 5mm) and the result was very good (albeit a tad expensive).

Beef fillet raw 3 s.jpg

Beef fillet raw 3 s.jpg

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Back in the 80's I had a greasy spoon diner beside my apartment and they used to have tenderloin tips and eggs on the menu..ever since then, I save my ends and bits and fry them up quickly to have with fried eggs and home fried potatoes..
 
This is our house "Classic" Chile con Carne. The kids would invite loads of their friends over for a Friday/Saturday night party, then tell me that everyone wanted Chile so could I please make enough for 20.:hyper::hyper::hyper: There was never any left and. to be honest, it meant that at least the kids had something inside them that did not include rum.
So here it is.
Chile con Carne
81689
 
Morning Glory said:
That's what I'm doing too and I'm going to marinate the chunks of beef in.... actually I'm not quite sure, yet!
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A typical cut of beef for chunky chili (as opposed to ground/mince) is Chuck. Buy a roast, and dice it up. That is a tough meat, unless you cook it a long time. I've never tried a marinade. I just brown my chuck cubes, and then simmer the chili for about three hours.

The key to a marinade will be to choose ingredients that will not clash with the chili ingredients.

CD
 
Mountain Cat said:
We never cooked rice in it, and indeed I've never had it that way to this date, vegetarian, vegan or omnivore. Bread or rice would be a side, growing up. Usually bread.

I made a huge huge pot of vegan chili back in 2018, for my first party at my new house. Obviously, that contained beans! May Day / Beltane coincided with Cinco de Mayo so I made everything Tex Mex for the 15-16 of us. We numbered vegetarians, gluten-free folk, and lactose intolerant, as well as a couple confirmed carnivore-leaning omnivores. As well as one person who could eat SOME nightshades but not much of that. (She chowed down on the make it yourself taco bar.... I can't picture chili - at least not NAMED chili - without tomatoes and peppers!) And another whom at that point I didn't know was allergic to beans - he had fun at that taco bar, too.
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No, no...you misunderstood! No one cooks rice in the chili. You put a small scoop of rice in the bowl and put the chili on top. Very common not only in SE Texas but many other places in tthe US as well, with corn bread on top or on the side.

Edited to add i don't always do rice and cornbread as the side, sometimes I like corn chips, cheddar, and sour cream on top.

Here's an old photo from January of 2021 with my chili, chips, cheddar and sour cream:
81711
 
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Mountain Cat said:
I can't picture chili - at least not NAMED chili - without tomatoes and peppers!)
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Tomatoes are optional, chili peppers are not. I've made it with and without tomatoes, and like both of them. They're just different. If you don't use tomatoes, be sure to use good, dried chili peppers. Supermarket jarred chili powder won't have enough flavor.

CD
 
I don't want to stop member's posting recipes and photos of chilli they made in the past but the concept of the thread is for people to join in and cook a chilli during March. In fact a similar thing happened last month with 'meatloaf'. Maybe it doesn't matter... 🤷‍♀️
 
Morning Glory said:
I don't want to stop member's posting recipes and photos of chilli they made in the past but the concept of the thread is for people to join in and cook a chilli during March. In fact a similar thing happened last month with 'meatloaf'. Maybe it doesn't matter... 🤷‍♀️
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The last chilli-con-carne that I cooked was 26th January this year. I cooked 8 portions and 6 are in the freezer. I won't be cooking any more until those 6 portions are almost depleted. a) There is no point and b) I don't have sufficient freezer space.
 
Yorky said:
The last chilli-con-carne that I cooked was 26th January this year. I cooked 8 portions and 6 are in the freezer. I won't be cooking any more until those 6 portions are almost depleted. a) There is no point and b) I don't have sufficient freezer space.
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Fair enough!
 
Morning Glory said:
I don't want to stop member's posting recipes and photos of chilli they made in the past but the concept of the thread is for people to join in and cook a chilli during March. In fact a similar thing happened last month with 'meatloaf'. Maybe it doesn't matter... 🤷‍♀️
Click to expand...
Yeah, I only make beef chili. The price of beef has skyrocketed here. Doubtful I'll be making any chili in the near future.

And I thought my bowl of chili was pretty, particularly because I'm not much of a food stylist.
 
Chicken Chili

IMG_1330.JPG


Just a small bowl to taste test.
This will be better with age ... I'll leave it sit in the `fridge for a day or two and then serve it up with a scoop of steamed White Rice and Diamond Bakery Soda Crackers, a Hawaii thing :wink:
 
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