CHILI recipes for Super Bowl?

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
1

I spent 4 years in Texas at college and ate a fair amount of chili when I was down there (I think of Chile as a country in South America) – and it always had beans in it at the diners and cafes. Of course I have also heard that “real Texas chili” has nothing but beef in it.

So I am pretty eclectic when I make chili, ranging from an all vegetarian version that uses tempeh to simulate the texture of meat to a pretty wild all meat recipe. On Super Bowl weekend I go to a friend’s house and I am expected to bring the all meat version.

How do you make Chili? Are you fussy about the source of the peppers? I am crazy about Chimayo chili from New Mexico, Chimayo and Ancho are the mainstays, with some Chipotle thrown in sometimes.

Back more than 30 years ago, when Esquire was a truly interesting magazine, they published a recipe for “Alaskan Mad Dog” chili which I believe was intended as a prank. It includes such ingredients as woodruff, which is the stuff the Germans sometimes use to make “May wine.” I took it seriously and I have made it several times, to the acclaim of the diners. Recently I have seen it online, same recipe more or less, described as “Dallas Chili”

http://www.yumyum.com/recipe.htm?ID=14310" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Gordo's Mad Dog Chili" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think this time I may use the recipe in “best soups and stews” from “Cook’s Illustrated.”

For the meat I often just buy a tray of “flap meat” from Costco. Wonderful beefy flavor and when you cook it to that nearly-falling-apart texture it tastes quite good.

What are your suggestions?

BTW below is the closest I can find online to the original Esquire article. I have no idea why Woodruff is considered so important. It smells a little like vanilla.

12 lb. leanish brisket
1 c. bacon drippings
12 oz. beer
1 Tbsp. paprika
10 Tbsp. ground cumin
12 minced garlic cloves
8 crushed bay leaves
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire
3 Tbsp. gumbo file
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
5 tsp. Masa Harina**
1 to 2 small cans tomato paste
2 small jars well chopped
“roasted” sweet peppers
2 Tbsp. chicken fat
1 tsp. Tabasco
8 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
10 Tbsp. oregano
6 Tbsp. Woodruff*
3 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. cayenne
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

How to Prepare :
*Woodruff may be hard to come by, but is worth the effort. **Masa Harina is Spanish corn meal. Regular corn meal may be substituted. Trim fat from brisket. Using a large cast-iron pot, sear brisket in bacon drippings until meat is brownish, NOT greyish. Turn heat down to simmer and add beer (about 1-inch to 2-inches). Add all other ingredients except tomato paste and 2 tablespoons Masa Harina. Heat at just below simmer for 8 to 12 hours, stirring every hour. KEEP LID ON AT ALL TIMES. Add remaining 2 tablespoons Masa Harina and the tomato paste. Cook for 2 more hours. Allow to cool and freeze.

2

This is my go-to recipe, which I find hard to beat. It takes a long to make by the book, but it’s worth it if you have the time.

Pink's Grill Chili Recipe | CDKitchen.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

3

Thanks for the recipe Kent. I have never seen that chili-scraping step before.

It is great just to have really good chili peppers already ground.

Article, with source information:

4

As with most stuff that I do, this leans towards the unorthodox especially when I use poultry.

1# black beans (picked over and soaked)

Chile Powder:
6 Ancho chilies
8 Chipotle chilies
6 Guajillo chilies

all above toasted and split and seeded
3 Tbsp whole cumin seed toasted

Grind all the above in a coffee grinder and mix to taste

2# Beef Chuck or Turkey thighs boned, cleaned, and cubed
2# 80/20 ground beef or turkey
1 large or 2 medium spanish onions diced (about 2 cups net)
2 red + 2 green bell peppers seeded and diced large (about 2-3 cups net)

1/2 cup oil (I use EVOO out of habit)
Sea salt
1 28oz can diced tomato (personal choice is Muir Glen Fire Roasted)

1/4 cp Masa Harina

Sear off the cubed meat with the oil in an 8qt. dutch oven and season lightly with the salt
Simultaneously put the beans in a separate pot, cover with cold water and bring to a simmer. Simmer the beans for approximately an hour until they are fully cooked and allow them to cool in their cooking liquid.

When browned, remove the cubed meat from the pot drain it. Put the ground meat in the pot adding more oil if necessary and brown it. When it is browned remove it and drain as well.

Add the diced vegetables to the pot and saute’ them until they start to turn translucent, seasoning lightly with more salt. Return the meat to the pot and add the chile powder to taste. Add the tomatoes and their liquid. If necessary rinse the tomato cans and add enough cold water to cover the meat with liquid. Bring the pot to a simmer and cook for about 90 mins. or until the meat is tender. Drain the beans, reserving about 1 cup cooking liquid and add the drained beans to the pot. If desired add bean cooking liquid to the chili to give it desired body. If the chili is too loose sprinkle the masa into the pot and stir in gradually taking care to leave the mixture loose enough to simmer for another 30 minutes or so. Check seasoning.

5

I knew it. The minute I saw Stink’s name in a chili thread, I had only one thought.

6

Geography?
World History??

newhere

7

In Tejas, he’d be hung by the cojones. IF he had any. neener

I recommend watching this show.

Stan feels so strongly about the cause of saving the calves that he becomes fully vegetarian, and eats only apples. Cartman makes fun of this, saying “if you don’t eat meat, you become a pussy.” Stan comes down with a strange illness, and develops sores on his face.

Stan has to go to the hospital, it turns out Cartman was correct about the results of not eating meat when Stan’s doctor explains that the sores on his face were actually vaginas.

8

I have a sure fire recipe for trouser chili.

9

10

Frank,

A suggestion is for those who wish to eat well but, unlike you, are not willing to be totally committed.*

This stuff makes a mighty fine bowl of red, and is available in supermarkets nationwide:

Bob




*

11

So, Bob, can I use that kit with turkey??

12

I have done so, with good results. But you might prefer this one:

13

I used to run a kitchen that produced tons of chicken scraps which we made into chili. Green chiles, white beans, a little bit of tomato. It was damn good stuff.

I’ve never done the straight Texas no beans style. I don’t know what I’m waiting for.

14

I make the no bean chili from the New Best Recipe cookbook. I also throw in a bit of chocolate, and sometimes just a dash of peanut butter. It’s awesome.

15

Gotta try that, sounds nice.

16

The last time I made chili it occurred to me that I had a tub of pulled pork in the freezer. I didn’t really have the time to cook the beef to falling-apart texture so I put in about 3/4 cup of the pulled pork and it gave it that same mouth-feel. I think it’s a good “trick” to remember… This stuff I have is from Costco.

17

So I am making a new recipe. About 4 pounds of flap meat. You take six tablespoons of chili powder, mix it with oregano and cumin, and moisten into a paste. The paste sits while you are cutting up the meat and salting it and browning it. I suppose it helps to solubilize some of the flavor ingredients?

At any rate now it is all together. The broth (still a bit dilute, it will cook down) tastes very hot but has a little bitter flavor. I have cooked other recipes from “Best Soups and Stews” and they have come out very well so I trust that this will smooth out. Still it is slightly worrying to have 4 pounds of meat in a liquid that I’m iffy about.

It is not pure beef and chili powder – there is one minced onion, a cup of crushed tomato, some garlic and minced fresh Jalapeño. That proportion is of course way down from “normal” chili. But it’s probably enough to DQ this chili as “real Texas all beef…”

18

This one is from a book I’ve long since lost track of. I remember the chili being incredibly good but a bit on the hot side. Fine for me, but the wife and kids declined seconds (see note at bottom of recipe).

"Tolbert’s Original Bowl of Red

3 pounds lean beef
1/8 pound rendered beef kidney suet (if you want to go for it)
1 teaspoon each oregano, cumin powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and Tabasco
3 tablespoons chile powder (optional)
4 hot chile peppers
At least two chopped cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons masa harina, cornmeal, or flour (optional)*

  • The masa adds a subtle, tamale-like taste, but it also thickens the chili.

Sear beef in a large soup pot or cast-iron Dutch oven. You may need a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. When the meat is all gray, add suet and chile peppers and about two inches of liquid (you can use water, I use beer). Simmer for 30 minutes.

Add spices and garlic, bring just to boil; lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes. NOTE: Add more liquid only to keep the mix from burning. Skim off as much grease as you can, and add masa harina. Simmer for another 30 minutes. Taste and adjust spices if necessary.

This is a spicy chili, so leave out some of the spicy stuff in the beginning if you have a tender tongue. At this point, I refrigerate the chili overnight which allows the chili to mellow and you can skim off all the grease."

19

The thing I like about the New Best Recipe Chili Con Carne is that they suggest you make your own chili powder from dried ancho and New Mexico chilis. Making that fresh makes a huge difference, IMO. And the bacon doesn’t hurt either. [dance-clap.gif]

20

Linda, SOME day I am going to do that. Certainly the directions are clear enough. I kind of went back and forth trying to decide if I wanted to sacrifice a coffee grinder or buy a dedicated spice grinder. And at the moment I have some much-better-than-usual powdered chilis, but the only dried chilis I have are Cascabels. So I wasn’t in a position to do it right within my time frame. When you say it makes a big difference, I am hearing you. I just need to get the right kind of whole peppers…

I have the impression that what the Mexicans do is basically just tear up the peppers and throw them in, and then fish them out at the end like bay leaves. Producing a fine-grained even powder is a pretty high tech way to approach the problem.