Frank,
I don’t have the New Best Recipe cookbook, so I don’t know. But when you get around to it, if the recipe doesn’t call for toasting the peppers (in a dry pan, until very fragrant) do it anyway.
Cheers,
Bob
They have you do that step on a cookie sheet in the oven Bob.
The whole procedure is clearly something I can and should do, I just need the raw materials.
I’m unable to get fancy due to a lack of time and/or talent, so I usually do a “kit” type chili similar to the one below.
Some of you might recognize the most important tool required:
What’s a chili recipe without a bit of Marmite…
The Best Chili Ever Recipe" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I left my chili out in the snow overnight, and took off the layer of solid (dark red) fat this morning before bringing it back to the simmer. There is a lot of bacon fat in this recipe.
At any rate this morning I brought it to the simmer and made some adjustments. A little woodruff, for old times’ sake, a can of beef broth, a dab of that frozen pulled pork. Salt and pepper. Thickened with 5 TB of corn meal (I could get masa harina at the Mexican grocery in New Brunswick but it’s not worth the trip, I’ve used corn meal before and it works great).
I was frankly worried about this stuff yesterday. Too hot for my palate, and watery. A touch of bitterness in the aftertaste. But skimming it probably removed a fair amount of the capsaicin, and adding the corn meal smoothed everything out. It tasted so good when I got done that I had a bowl for breakfast.
It is supposed to rest after the thickening so I think I’ll just put the pot back out in the snow for a few hours.
“Best Soups and Stews” scores again, and I am impressed. NEXT time I’ll use the whole peppers.
I use dried chiles, but I don’t grind them. Instead I tear them open, shake out most of the seeds, cook in water (usually with some tomatillos and a clove of garlic) until the flesh is rehydrated, then puree in a blender. The resulting sauce is smooth and works in chili or as a general condiment. When using chipotles it is easier to let the pepper partly rehydrate, then slit open to remove most of the seeds.
I made the recipe I posted above and a little more than doubled the proportions. Did it in the 13.5 qt Le Creuset and just about filled it.
I have an old blade coffee grinder that I use to pulverize the toasted chile peppers and I make more that I need so I have it on hand. Try putting on fresh pineapple with a little flake sea salt. Usually I have chipotles in adobo on hand but I like the effect the chile powder has on the braising liquid. The ground anchos give it nice color
Btw Senor Madera, we used all beef this time, just under 5# of chuck that I trimmed and diced myself and the same weight of 80/20 ground beef.
Holy tamales!!! That’s gotta look impressive. Next time take a picture of the Le C just to see what the heck a 13.5 qt. looks like.
Wow, ten pounds of beef!!
My four pounds pretty much went away – we had about a dozen people including a couple of vegetarians, and the “first course” was a really hearty Gumbo prepared by the host, otherwise this would not have been enough chili.
Impressive, Mark.
Chili is a good thing to have in the freezer.
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btw, I edited the original recipe slightly. Two 28oz cans of tomato was enough for the quantity I made Sunday, so 1 should be sufficient for the posted quantity.
The original (Neanderthal) Texas Chili has no “junk” in it whatever, it’s pretty much chili peppers and beef. The recipe I used was from faux-Texan Christopher Kimball (America’s Test Kitchen) who wanted to approximate the real Texas stuff while adding enough other ingredients to optimize the flavor. So for 4 pounds of meat I used one cup of crushed tomatoes (8 oz rather than 28 oz) and one medium onion, diced. The concept of “enough” tomatoes can get controversial if you are discussing it with a real Chili-head.
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
*
[/quote]
Forgot about this thread.
This: Fork and Gobble It: Edition #2 Can a Yankee boy make Texas Chili?
Wow, Mark, that looks great! And re-reading I think we learned from the discussion in this thread.
Since my last post here I have bought a good “spice and nut” grinder, and I have accumulated an assortment of dried chilis, and have gotten pretty sophisticated with the toasting and grinding. I’ve also done what may be the original method in Mexico, putting the whole (opened) dried chilis into the broth of a soup and then eventually taking them out for scraping – you get the flavorful part of the skin without the “cellophane.”
Home toasted and ground Ancho chilis yield a powder very dark in color, and with a rich sweet flavor, but mild. I like to mix it with the brighter sharper flavor of New Mexico reds (like Chimayo).
Haven’t made Chili for a while but the weather might call for some soon.
Thanks for resurrecting this Robert!
snip – picture of Carroll Shelby chili kit.
Robert, after some thought I have decided I have to say that I disagree – not to be disagreeable, I am only saying this here because I think it will be helpful. At some point I bought a box of the Shelby stuff and made it up. I am pretty sure that was what it was, there may be other boxed chili kits. And the problem was the quality of the chili powder. I have ruined my palate for the cheap ordinary chili powder and going back to it was just boring, it was like spending some time drinking good Bordeaux and Burgundy and then drinking Yellow Tail.
For anyone who hasn’t made the stretch yet for top quality chili powder – the 2 I have on hand now are Rancho de Chimayo and Chile Addict Chimayo. I got both on the internet. You want Chimayo or New Mexico Red – AND you want Ancho, which has a strongly contrasting flavor. I use both in my chili these days.
There is a story about what brought this to mind. Yesterday Louise went shopping (I have to stop letting her do the grocery shopping!) and came back with a pound of ground turkey and said she wanted some chili. I groaned and complained but today I made it up. And with top quality chili powders, Mexican oregano, a little bacon, a can of beef broth, plus the usual onions and tomatoes etc. it is really pretty nice stuff. And I thought – you can’t wreck a chili made with great chili powder!
And then I thought – probably I should tell Robert about this. Even though I never disagree with him and I kind of don’t want to now…
http://www.chimayotogo.com/pc-67-7-rancho-de-chimayo-red-chile-powder.aspx
Of course these days it’s pretty easy to find dried Ancho chilis and toasting and grinding them – it’s like coffee, it is better if you just toasted and ground them at home instead of letting some factory do it.
My guess is that it wasn’t Shelby bought, but another brand; the chili powder in the Shelby kit is pretty high quality. Can you make better chili? I don’t doubt it. But again, Frank, my suggestion was for those who - unlike you - aren’t totally committed.
Quite possible it was some other brand.
BUT while looking at those online sites I was also thinking – it’s not often that you can “strain your finances” and buy the very best of something for $5 plus shipping. It’s not THAT much of a commitment.
It’s more of a commitment to get a good grinder and shop for the dried chills but where I live there are Taquerias and a large hispanic population so once again, not that difficult.
And not necessary. After toasting your anchos, guajillos, etc. put them in a blender or food processor with a bit of water, then use the slurry as you would ground chiles.
Good idea!!