The annual chili debate

[Tryharder62]

I put beans in mine. Yum!!!

 

[rae121452]

i put beans in mine. and chickpeas. and chocolate. and ginger. occasionally beer.

 

[butters]

can't have good chili without red beans, nope

 

[Tryharder62]

i put beans in mine. and chickpeas. and chocolate. and ginger. occasionally beer.

Ok, sounds good. Chocolate? I know sugar takes away some of the acid but not sure about Chocolate.

 

[silver gurl]

Ok, sounds good. Chocolate? I know sugar takes away some of the acid but not sure about Chocolate.

Beans and a can of beer.

“So what does unsweetened chocolate do for a pot of chili? It adds richness, deeper flavor, and umami. The chocolate makes the ground chiles and other spices perk up and taste more like themselves”

 

[rae121452]

Ok, sounds good. Chocolate? I know sugar takes away some of the acid but not sure about Chocolate.

unsweetened chocolate, but not too much. in s. america chocolate winds up in a lot of dishes and when i saw a chili recipe that called for it, i tried it. i was already in love with chocolate mole', so it wasn't much of a stretch for me. hershey's unsweetened cocoa works great.

 

[LukSkyFokker]

True story...

A local dive bar was having a chili cook-off pot-luck contest. I was new to the bar. For the contest, I went to Wendy's and grabbed a few cartons of chili, took it home, tossed it the Crock-Pot with a few more spices, onions, and cheese.

I won the contest.

 

[adrina]

Beef - ground and chuck. Black beans. And an ounce of unsweetened chocolate.

 

[BrightShinyGirl]

Start with chunks of flank steak
Brown with onion, garlic, cumin, chili power, and chipotle
Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and a bottle of beer
Simmer for 3-4 hours until the meat turns into a slurry
Add pinto beans to finish if you want

 

[pink]

Any kind of beans I have in the cupboard, goes in.
Sometimes instead of simply ground beef, I'll add a bit of sausage in to.


Chocolate in chili???

 

[Tryharder62]

Beans and a can of beer.

“So what does unsweetened chocolate do for a pot of chili? It adds richness, deeper flavor, and umami. The chocolate makes the ground chiles and other spices perk up and taste more like themselves”

unsweetened chocolate, but not too much. in s. america chocolate winds up in a lot of dishes and when i saw a chili recipe that called for it, i tried it. i was already in love with chocolate mole', so it wasn't much of a stretch for me. hershey's unsweetened cocoa works great.

Really interesting. How much is too much? Do you just do it to taste?

 

[rae121452]

Really interesting. How much is too much? Do you just do it to taste?

to taste. you need enough to have an undertaste of chocolate, not an actual flavor. i use a tablespoon of powder in my big chili pot and it is exactly right for me.

 

[thør]

Off subject, but this Texican spice (with cocoa) is pretty damn good.

 

[pecksniff]

Recently saw a recipe online with espresso powder. Haven't tried it. The recipe says it doesn't taste like coffee, it just makes it smoky.

 

[pecksniff]

Chocolate is a standard ingredient in Cincinnati-style chili -- but that's the Skyline kind, intended as a spaghetti sauce, so maybe it doesn't really count.

 

[pecksniff]

For the meat, I like lamb. But it's hard to get it in ground form, and always more expensive than beef.

 

[pecksniff]

For the meat, I like lamb. But it's hard to get it in ground form, and always more expensive than beef.

Mutton you can't get at all. Apparently, the carcass of every mature sheep slaughtered in the U.S. is exported to the Middle East.

 

[pecksniff]

Try chili with corn! It's great!

 

[pink]

My mom always said if the chili was too salty, peel a potato and cook it in the chili.

 

[Dribble]

The key to any chili is the layering of the spices. Use one set during the browning of the meat. One set when you add the tomatoes. And the final set 10 minutes before serving. I don't want to sweat from it...but I like it spicy

 

[JohnnySavage]

Beans... Red and black.

I also like chunks of meat. Like a cut up cube steak or pork chop, depending on what I have a taste for.

The last pot was ground venison and Mexican chorizo.

 

[bellisarius]

Beans and a can of beer.

“So what does unsweetened chocolate do for a pot of chili? It adds richness, deeper flavor, and umami. The chocolate makes the ground chiles and other spices perk up and taste more like themselves”

Hmm, a mole' style chili. I'll have to try that. I doubt it would work with green chile though.

 

[Tryharder62]

Recently saw a recipe online with espresso powder. Haven't tried it. The recipe says it doesn't taste like coffee, it just makes it smoky.

Do we want our chili to be smokey??

 

[thør]

Do we want our chili to be smokey??

Why not?

 

[32aa]

I've eliminated all tomatoes and tomato paste and use Ancho chilies that i steep in hot beef bouillon then put through a blender and use the paste for most of the spices plus i add Italian sausage. Additional Chili powder to increase the heat a bit.