The Chili thread.

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I love Chili. I love cooking it, I love eating it and I love reading about cooking and eating it. So I've started this thread so I can indulge in my passion for the ultimate Tex-Mex dish. So please, share your recipes, tips, tricks and ideas/philosophies for Chili.

My top tips are-

1. Fresh Scotch Bonnet/Habanero chillies. Nothing is quite like their fruity heat in a Chili.
2. Fresh Lime juice and zest gives a Chili a fragrant zing that really lifts the dish.
3. Chicken and Beef stock. I got this tip from looking at recipes for World Champion Chili recipes. Almost every single recipe uses both Chicken and Beef stock cubes. I use fresh stock (Waitrose essential stock is very good) and gentle stew the Chili.
4. Chipotle paste adds sublte heat and smokey depth... I can see why Cartman loves it so much.
5. Brown about half the meat as quickly as possible in a very hot non non-stick pan, doing it in batches so as to not crowd the pan. Add the rest of the meat to the Chili when it is still raw. I find doing this adds a lot of flavour.
6. Go really easy on the Tomatoes. I have an 8.4 litre Le Creuset that I use for Chili. I cook enough so that the Chili is about an inch from the top and for all that, I only use one 400g tin of Tomatoes.

[MadduckUK]

No mention of beer?

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No mention of beer?

It's not a comprehensive list by any means. I do use beer sometimes but most of the time I put it to better use.

[Ceefer]

I presume you mean chilli con carne?

After trying a wide variety of recipes this one is currently my favourite:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3...illi-con-carne

It probably isn't terribly 'authentic' but when I cooked this for a recent gathering (for 16 - I multiplied the quantities by 4) people were raving about it and asking for the recipe. Look at the ratings.

I serve this with plain rice, sour cream and guacamole. I like this very simple recipe for guacamole:

Finely chop 1 small onion and marinate in the juice of 1 lime for 2 hours.
Seed and finely chop 2 red chillies.
Mash 2 ripe avocadoes with a fork, add the chillies, onion and lime juice.
Finely chop 1 or 2 very ripe tomatoes and add to the mixture. A handful of sweet cherry tomatoes, finely chopped, works very well.
Finely chop some fresh coriander and fold in.
Add salt to taste.

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Just cooked another Chili and there's a few things I learned-

1. Waitrose cooks essentials stock is far supperior to Tesco Finest stock.
2. If you use beer in your Chili, make usre it's fresh... I won't be using Guinness that's out of date agian.

[g8ina]

What ? No cumin ???? Essential !

[mallwood]

An unusual taste, but I quite like a bit of cinnamon added to my chilli

Have also seen a shot of espresso being recommended. Wasn't to my taste when I tried it, but I could see why people would like it.

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What ? No cumin ???? Essential !

A Chili without Cumin is like a salad without ketchup... plane wrong (1x internet for whoever gets that).

When I'm looking at Chili recipes to find new ingredients and techniques, if the recipe doesn't have Cumin. I'll totally dismiss it.

An unusual taste, but I quite like a bit of cinnamon added to my chilli

Have also seen a shot of espresso being recommended. Wasn't to my taste when I tried it, but I could see why people would like it.

Mexican Chili's tend to have Cinnamon. It can be nice but I think even the slightest bit too much ruins the whole thing. I think coffee does add something good but it also adds something bad (to my tastes). I think the best solution is to use a dark stout with hints of coffee flavour.

[Butcher]

No chocolate? A nice bit of 70/85% dark chocolate is awesome in chilli.

[fusioned]

Just tried Heston's version from Waitrose, which I thought was pretty tasty, but you might be a better judge of that being a passionate chilli con carnephile.

You should really rename the title of this thread, as I was about to describe visions of the Sichaun food I had recently with half their weight in chillis and sichaun peppers (amazingly delicious and aromatic, but definitely tough on the stomach with visions of stars, and almost addictive with those flavours)

[laptop1967]

No matter what Chilli i eat, it burns the hell out of my mouth, i dont know many different types, but i tend to stay away from chilli

[TeePee]

The US is a nation divided. Should Chilli have Beans in it?

[malfunction]

The US is a nation divided. Should Chilli have Beans in it?

Yup, though I tend to vary mine these days. Those little aduki / azuki beans are nice in it.

*cough*

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hotpot...con-carne.html

*cough*

(2004?!?! ... 2004?!? ... I think I'm getting old, doesn't seem that long ago)

[format]

The US is a nation divided. Should Chilli have Beans in it?

Yes, absolutely. I think they add a different texture, consistency and flavour to a chilli which, with 'just meat' in it, would be delicious still but a little bland.

[format]

Anyway, here's my method/recipe.

Ingredients : Kilo of either Pork Shoulder or Brisket

4 tablespoons plain flour
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 Tablespoon salt (I use Maldon, it's the best )
20 turns black pepper

Halve the meat, then dust both bits all over with the above ingredients tossed together.

Meanwhile, heat up your pan. Ideally this should have a large surface area and should also be quite tall, to allow for enough liquid.

Heat up some vegetable oil (not olive oil - it smokes at too low a temperature) then brown your meat on all sides one piece at at time. You want a nice dark brown crust on all sides of the meat. When the first piece is done let it rest on a plate, the continue to the second bit.

Meanwhile, dice one large onion and 8 bulbs of garlic. Set aside.

Once your meat is done, keep the heat on the pan. Consider adding a little extra oil or even some butter if there isn't much left in the pan, then toss in some chilli powder and cumin. Stir it quickly for 15 seconds then add chicken stock (beef stock will be fine too). The better the stock, the better your chilli will taste. Deglaze the pan just now.


Then add

1 large can chopped tomatoes
1/4 of a cup of strong coffee.
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
4 anchovies, finely minced
1 cup red wine
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1/4 cup molasses (brown sugar will substitute here just fine)
1 tin of chipotle peppers (remove the actual chillis if you don't want too spicy a chilli)

1 tin Pinto beans (kidney beans will also be fine)

Cook this on a low temperature (oven or hob is fine) for around 4 hours.

After 4 hours, your meat will be falling apart. Use a fork to pull the meat apart, then add

1/2 a can of Guiness
Dash of Apple Cider Vinegar
Juice and zest of 1 lemon.


If it's still a bit thin, use the rest of the flourmix from the start to combined first with some cool water to thicken it.

Adjust salt if needed.


Crush some tortilla chips over the chilli before serving.

Serve with rice, sour cream, and some pitta bread or tortillas.

[flearider]

you want to use Bird's eye chili .. better than scotch bonnet ..nice bit of minced silverside plum toms fresh and tinned.. rough cut red onions..sea salt crushed black pepper cumin,Coriander,mint ..and kidney beans ..cover with a very mature Red Leicester Cloth Bound grill cheese befor serving slightly