How To Make Chili
April 26, 2010
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Posted by Randydeluxe
For several months, I’ve been documenting good recipes in private Google Docs. I’m a big fan of Google Docs for this sort of purpose, and I’ve gotten to the point where everything that I want access to – from pretty much anywhere in the world – is up in the cloud. I would never use such a thing for information that deserves security, such as your list of URLs, usernames, passwords and instructions that you should make available to your next-of-kin in case of your untimely demise. You have done that, right? Consider just printing out things like that with good ink and putting them in a safe or bank deposit box.
Anyhow, we had a cool snap the other day and I got a craving for real homemade Texas red chili, and I noticed that we’ve not yet saved my recipe. The reason for that is pretty much that I don’t work from a recipe when I make chili. I really should, but the upside of not measuring or timing when it comes to chili, is that there is an element of surprise when things come out well.
A. This is a beef chili. It doesn’t have beans. If you want to make a bean soup, pick some beans you like and have at it. This is chili, so I start with several pounds of lean ground beef. In this example, I browned just over 4 pounds (2 kg) of 90% lean beef in a cast iron skillet, drained it and dumped it into a large slow-cooker.
B. Good chili is a tomato soup of sorts. I don’t think it makes much of a difference to use canned tomatoes vs. fresh tomatoes, but know that if you enter into the faith that fresh tomatoes are best, you’re going to be cutting up a lot of tomatoes. In this example, I used about twice (by weight) as much tomato as meat. That’s three large cans of diced tomatoes. Get the diced tomatoes. The whole ones make no sense (since you would have to cut them up), and tomato sauce just doesn’t work out the same. If you use enough canned, diced tomatoes, you’ll get enough tomato water to constitute all the broth you need.
C. Several tablespoons of chili powder (I used 6-10 and wasn’t really counting), a tablespoon of cumin, a heaping teaspoon of basil, several cloves of garlic, and a couple of squares of unsweetened bakers chocolate constituted the flavor-makers.
D. Believe it or not, it is possible to put too much onion in this chili. For this batch – which turned out really well if I do say so myself – I added one large red onion as you can see here:
E. Salt. I’ve always felt like the phrase “salt to taste” is a cop out, so here I’ll actually be specific. I added exactly one teaspoon of salt to the pot early on. A lot of chili that you might encounter at a chili cook-off in Texas actually has five times as much salt. It is certainly possible to leave the added salt right out, if you want to. I see my chili as one of the three things in my life that I actually add salt to, with the other two being potatoes and corn.
F. You’ve got to simmer this thing with a lid on for a long time. I don’t think it really blends until the crock pot has been working on it for at least four hours. Assuming that you’re not loosing much steam, you can cook this chili in a crock pot indefinitely, and every couple of hours it tastes a bit different. It is very important to stir the chili every 20-30 minutes while it’s cooking.
Options. I’ve had good results with all of the following: adding one can of beer to the mix at the start, leaving out the chocolate, adding a half-cup or so of brown sugar, adding one or two chopped fresh jalapeños to bring up the spice factor (red chili powder is pretty tame), using smoked cumin, using leaner or fattier beef, and topping the served chili with fresh diced onion and/or fresh shredded cheddar cheese.
Enjoy!
Categories: Randydeluxe
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Red Onion is a sign of the devil.
Other than that, looks great.
Nice, Deluxe.
I, too, used to experiment with chili recipes. Then I tried this one:
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/login.asp?docid=4655
Mmm, bacon. Try it, you’ll like it!
-Jon
p.s. Scott never heard of chorizo. WTF?
Chocolate in a savoury dish? You Americans are crazy.
Chocolate is a very South American/Central American thing to use in a savory dish. I’ve had pulled pork with an amazing chocolate mole (mo-lay) sauce on it, and it was fantastic. Unsweetened chocolate works amazingly well with things like chili.
And is it any different than the Moroccans putting cinnamon on meat? (Which is also awesome.)
Point taken. My wife is Sri Lankan and I was intrigued when I discovered they used cinammon, cloves and sultanas in their curries.
I guess if it works…!
I use a very similar recipe (sans chocolate, WTF?) And half and half the beef with Chorizo. Mmmmm….chorizo….
Yo Randy,
If you’re in Salt Lake for Nerdtacular, make Scott come with you to “Red Iguana – home of killer Mexican food’. They do some really good traditional moles (chocolate, etc). They just opened a second location and the wait is much shorter. For Salt Lake, the margaritas are pretty good.
Oh, and cook that boy some eggs with chorizo.
-Jon
Having lived in Tucson most of my life, I must admit that this is the first I have heard of chocolate in chili. Mole yes, but never chili. This sounds awesome and plan to give your recipe a try. Thanks.
Love the recipe! Have you ever tried putting a good sharp cheddar in the chili? It is really good.
Looks like a great recipe. i will definitely be following this blog.
I have heard of chocolate in chili. have you ever heard of spicy peppers in chocolates?
I just started making this recipe today, and my house smells amazing right now. All my roommates are envious!
I decided not to use the chocolate, more onions (but white and yellow ones), 1 bottle of Sierra Nevada pale ale, some fried bacon, and 4 scotch bonnet peppers (I’m a spice fiend). While all the flavors haven’t quite fused together yet (only 1 hour in at time of writing), it tastes great.
Glad to finally be using individual spices too, and not some “flavor” packet. I’m never going back.
Good call with the tomato ratio. I never went so plentiful on them before, but my past chili always lacked that smooth savory fruitiness.
I’m cooking with the lid off right for reduction now because it seems a bit too watery. I like my chili thick. Maybe I should add a tad bit of tomato paste or sauce?
Thanks Scott! Great inspiration. Heard about this from your mention in The Instance. Keep the recipes coming!
Gosh, what website am i at? O yea….Randy! Not Scott. Thanks Randy.