Chili The Right Way!

originally posted by: kosmicjack

originally posted by: TheKnightofDoom
You forgot a bar of very dark chocolate melted in. You will thank me when you try it.

Whaaaat!?

Chocolate and chile have been married for a looooong time. In Texas we mostly only use it in the western part of the state, where we have a somewhat steady flow of immigrants (legal and otherwise) from Mexico. And then down into the valley (San Antonio, etc). Somewhere along the way, we picked up mole. I've not seen much mole from the Louisiana side of the state.

When you hear folks mention their "secret ingredient" at chili cookoffs....they may likely be talking about 100% cacao. You should try it....the bitter makes the sweetness of the chiles in the sauce balance.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Well, I have heard of people rubbing cocoa powder into their steaks. I tried it once, with a recommended concoction. It tasted like ass. I guess I did it wrong. It ruined my very expensive cuts.

a reply to: kosmicjack

Steak, to me, should be nothing more than salt and pepper. maybe finish it with butter or garlic butter. But salt and pepper.

originally posted by: kosmicjack
Well, I have heard of people rubbing cocoa powder into their steaks. I tried it once, with a recommended concoction. It tasted like ass.

That sounds repulsive.

It reminds me of this fancy restaurant I went to where the rubbed coffee grinds on the duck. Friggin nasty.

In my chili I usually add a cup of tequila and one Mexican beer.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Yep salt and pepper only on a good ribeye. Preferably over half aged apple wood on a well seasoned cast iron grill.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Meat should be meat. However i just recently had a farm to table pate on sour dough crustini with dried cranberry and shaved chocolate that blew me away

originally posted by: BlueJacket
Meat should be meat. However i just recently had a farm to table pate on sour dough crustini with dried cranberry and shaved chocolate that blew me away

I would try that. Pate is a different situation since it is prepared and seasoned. Beef should taste like beef and needs nothing more than salt and pepper. I will finish it with some herb butter but usually even leave that out.

a reply to: Nickn3

Or a stout. Any dark beer really. Why just settle for water when you can add more flavor with beef stock, chicken stock, any good beer.

OP, agree with a few others... EGGS? If you need a thickener use lentils or split peas.

I also use a mixture of bell peppers: red, yellow, and orange. My dried chili mixture is my own mix and consists of: ghost, habanero, jalapeno, chipotle, red pepper flakes, cayenne, paprika, and chili powder all in what ever mood I feel like mixing that batch in. I whir it together in a coffee grinder (pods first, then, while still chunky, add some of the powdered to combine) Stored in air tight container and ready for use. On everything! Including eggs!

I'm still curious as to what you think the eggs add? Are you using them as a binder or is it more of a textural component? And if you think your eggs are essential have you thought about not using chicken eggs and going with a different egg all together?

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

chile powder will thicken. thats the way you should do it.

some folks add flour to the chili powder to cut the heat of the sauce while still allowing thickness. I think you should just use puree tomato and onion instead.

ETA: this is a chile base (ancho, guajillo, and new mexico chiles simmered in beef stock with onion and garlic, then pureed). Using this, all i need is the meat, some tomato, onion, garlic, cumin, and oregano to make a fantastic batch of chili. The sauce is very thick (sticks to a spoon like gravy), and after simmering with tomato, onion and garlic becomes a nice, thick sauce for your cornbread to swim in.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

I do something similar with soups. Like creamy soups. I make a butternut squash and zucchini soup that will be blended at the end so in goes a potato that adds thickness without having to add a ton cream.

I have been known to add refried beans into my chili as well! I agree with OP that multiple beans are needed. Just trying to help out with an kinda odd ball suggestion and am still wondering about the eggs.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

as an accountant, i am anything but a chef. i've figured out how to make things that people tell me is good. So ill share them here. Or on Facebook for the family and friends.

i need to make some butternut squash soup.....that is sounding really good. Tomorrow its leftovers, but maybe Friday. Butternut soup with sandwiches of some sort.

a reply to: TheAlleghenyGentleman

Just something I like to do when I make sauce or chili sometimes. I like to get a bite of yolk. Just a thing.

a reply to: TechniXcality

Not tech savvy enough, but trust me it happens, all the time! I will have a bowl just for you. I do make a huge helping of rice to go along with it also!

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
while i would eat your chili, i find it hard to believe you are texan cooking like that.

Eggs?

Where are the dried chiles?

Beans?

Eggs?!?!?

But you bailed it out totally with the jalapeno sweet cornbread. I like to fry 1 part corn, 1 part jalapeno, and 1 part onion until it starts to carmelize, then throw into the batter. Also, using cream of corn for your liquid makes it taste more corny than corn should taste. Great cornbread.

The 100% dark chocolate recommendation....sinful by a purists standards. But its a nice "secret" ingredient for sure. I also recommend using ancho's in the chili, since it pairs perfectly with the chocolate.

What? No Beans? Cowboys love beans! The eggs are a quirk, I just like them! Cowboys like eggs too! Maybe not in their chili but still! Like your cornbread recipe, but I use bacon fat in mine, I will try your cream of corn, only I will be sure and use my own instead of the can stuff.

My chili's are right there in the pepper category.

a reply to: TheAlleghenyGentleman

Yeah, nothing says Texas like putting chocolate in chili, LOL! Eggs and beans make more sense, at least the beans do, but I will take my eggs over chocolate every time when making any kind of chili, sauce or stew! Chocolate, EWWW!

a reply to: Tucket

Normally, I would have, but chili gets made so many different ways, most people have their own idea about portions of ingredients and my batch is so big you would just have to scale it down anyway.

All the meats I listed, I use about 1/2 lb each. I use about 40 tomatoes. I use anywhere from 10-15 peppers.

If you look, I did give specifics about some of them.

a reply to: searcherfortruth

Ok, I think understand about the eggs

I'm a cook by profession, French trained.

I love all the foods. I was thinking you were separating the yolks and mixing them in with meats before the liquids were added.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Ughh, roadkill? Those meats are so gamy, I have tried them because I had a buddy that used to go hunting with his dad and they would always force me to taste different things, NONE would go anywhere near my chili unless they were alive and wandered into my kitchen to take a taste after the smell made it's way down the dirt path to their noses.