Homemade Chili

[Caspian]

Caspian,

Go muck up someone elses thread. Post a recipe you like or move along. Don't need your dribble in mine.

Wow, was that really necessary? All I have done is post links to official a chili contest regulating body and tried to educate everyone (including myself - I had to go do some reading) on why "real chili" does not have beans. Both of which are central to any discussion about chili recipes. My attempts at humor were probably a bit weak I admit but I tried, at least as much as I can on the internet.

And I did share my general recipe on how I prepare the meat for my chili. I do not follow a specific recipe for my chili - this drives my wife nuts she tries to get me to write it down but that is too much work and not as much fun. She actually followed me around trying to write everything down but ended up giving up. Cooking by the seat of your pants (and really by taste) is just too much fun for me. I use what I have in the fridge and the spice cabinet. Who I am cooking it for and how many people will also affect how I make it. But, since you asked, this is how I make chili even though it is not really a recipe.

Meat -
I will use one or more of the following
ground beef
ground chuck
round steak chopped to ~ 1/2 cubes
stew meat
tried ribeye once - it was no better then the other steak - I would have rather just cooked it and eaten by itself
ground turkey (only when combined with one of the beefs)
chili meat - coarse ground beef
I have also added spicey itilian sausage as an extra - just browned no extra seasoning/maranaide
I also added some leftover somked brisket - also good and better then just a chopped beef sandwhich.
smoked salmon - just kidding

Season and marinate the meat.
Typically I will use a combination of the following
salt
seasoned salt
garlic salt
garlic powder
fresh garlic
cayenne pepper powder
chili powder
Hot chili powder (this is imported from India so not sure what type of chili it really is, it is hot)
Black pepper
Various pepper blends I find and try on the spice aisle
Sriracha Hot sauce
Worcester sauce
I have also experimented with chili oil (like found at some Asian restaurants) but normally do not like it mixed with the meat.
Anything else I find in the house that suits my fancy at the time.

I will add the items one at a time to the meat and mix it up differently depending on which meat used.
Steak and chili meat - does not get as much of the dry things just toss everything in an airtight container and shake
Ground meats - lay meat out and make a volcano - dump things into the volcano then mix it together by hand - place in an airtight container
Your hands will get very cold - just a heads up. You will also want to wash the hell out of your hands, make sure to get under your fingernails.It is best to have someone else available to turn the faucet on for you.
Put the container in the fridge. Try to let it set for at least 2 hours.

Now for the liquid part
I start with a beef broth in a pot on the stove. I use bullion - I would like to use the leftovers from cooking something but never have.
Add about half a can to 1 can of tomato paste - the little cans
Get that boiling to thicken it up.
The rest is all season to taste I will use some combination of the spices listed above for the meat as well as
Fresh diced tomatoes
Canned rotel tomatoes with green chili
Diced onion yellow, white, green or purple are all tasty
Fresh chilies/hot peppers
Peppers (red, green or yellow) - I personally hate actually eating peppers (chili or anything else) but I do like the flavor they add to some foods so I might chop some up in big pieces but fish them out before eating
Bacon (just cooked alone in the pan like normal) and chopped up
Cinnamon - don't over do this, I did once by accident and it royally screwed that batch
sesame oil
brown sugar
A little spicy mustard has been know to sneak in
cumin
nutmeg
ginger
I have experimented with adding various chili and hot sauces.
more chili powder - even with all of the other things, it has to taste like chili
Anything else I find in the house that suits my fancy at the time.

You want to keep the sauce at a pretty constant boil stirring frequently. This is to get it to thicken up.

Pull the meat out and brown it
If you have a real cast iron skillet, use it with little to no oil - we want it to burn a little
If you have no stick it will still be ok but harder to get the full flavor
So like I said brown the meat at a high temperature allowing it get to the point it sticks to the pan a little
When you are happy pull it off the heat and let it cool a little then add a little bit of your liquid to the pan.
Scrape everything loose and mix it together then dump it into the still boiling liquid slowly.
Stir it up and get it back to a boil and keep stirring. Keep this going until it is just a little more liquidy then you want it to end up.
You can also take this time to adjust any of the flavor by adding more spices or removing them. If it looks like your sauce is not getting thick enough, will take to long to thicken or, there will not be enough left when it does get thick enough you can add corn starch to thicken it up, just follow the instructions on the box. Be careful and don't over do it. If you do it will be like jelly when it cools.I had this happen with a BBQ sauce once when i was in a hurry and it was gross.

Remove spices?!??!! How do you do that you might ask. It is actually pretty easy and creates a nice little cooking snack. Potato. Wash off a medium sized potato and slice it into 1/4 -1/2 inch "chips". Toss the chips into your chili and let them sit in there boiling for 5-10 minutes. Fish them out and put them on a plate. Taste you chili - if it is still to hot or salty or to anything really toss the taters back in for a bit. Repeat until you are happy with it. If it goes too long you can always add more spices in.
Once your chips are out for good let them cool for a few minutes and then you can eat them. They may be both temperature and/or flavor hot so take just a little nibble at first to test it. Usually, for me, they turn out pretty tasty and make a great mid cooking snack. I have been know to make it to spicy on purpose just to get a little potato snack.

OK back on track - the chili is now just a little juicer then you want it to end up but the taste is where you want it. You now want to transfer it to the crock pot for the final step. So dump it into the crock pot. I also fish out my pepper chunks if I used them at this point.
Set your crock pot to high (mine has high medium and low) for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Then switch to medium if you want to eat soon or low if it will be more then 3 hours until it is eaten. Stir it when you feel like it. If you transition to low late at night it will be fine while you sleep if you want to take it somewhere the next day.
It should end up with mostly meat in a somewhat thick sauce.

Eat and enjoy.

In Texas they eat something called a Frito Pie. I personally don't really like it. But, generally, they are made, individually, as follows
Place a bed of Fritos in a bowl - maybe 20-25 chips I guess.
Put chili on top of Frito bed
Sometimes you will get shredded lettuce, diced onions and sour cream
Top it off with shredded cheese -usually cheddar
Some versions are baked until the cheese melts, I don't think that makes it any better.

I like my chili with just chili and cheese. Sometimes onions. If it is too spicy for someone you can cut it with sour cream, mix it in a spoonful at a time. It is actually pretty good and I will eat it this way too. I do not like my chili with rice.

So that is my "recipe" for chili. It only took an hour and a half to type. It usually takes 3-4 or so hours to make.