T1B

I don't make chili the exact same way each time, so I won't be posting a recipe with exact amounts. I always use the same basic ingredients, but sort of go with what I have available and adjust things as I go along. I went to the grocery store today to pick up ingredients that I knew I would need. Some things I already have. Here's what I came home with:

3 lb stewing beef (not extra lean)
2 lb stir fry pork (just pork cut up like stewing beef)
3 ea large sweet onions
3 ea fresh pasilla chiles
4 ea anaheim chiles
2 ea green bell peppers
2 ea 28 oz cans of Progresso whole peeled tomatoes
2 ea 27 oz cans of kidney beans (I may or may not use any beans)
1 ea 15 oz can of tomato sauce
2 ea 1 oz packets of ground California (mild red) chiles
2 ea 1 oz packets of ground New Mexico chiles
2 ea 1 oz packets of whole cumin (I'll be grinding this and using just a little)
1 bag of corn masa flour
1 ea six pack of Modelo Especial

I already have some garlic and dried oregano. I also have some fresh organo growing in the yard, and some jalapeno's in case I need some more heat. I also picked a few ripe avos to serve on the side.

I'll check back in later once I get started cooking.

Brown the meat in a large pot with some EVOO, salt, pepper and garlic. If the meat is too chunky, cut it first into smaller (about 1 in.) pieces.

While the meat is browning, use this time to cut up the veggies. I sliced all three onions into thick rounds and then quartered them. When you get to the fresh chiles, you might want to consider donning some rubber gloves (if you’re planning on GYJO at all in the next day or so) and a gas mask. Cut ‘em in half, de-seed (or is it just seed), and cut into about 1 in. pieces. I didn’t cut up the bell peppers, but I might add them later.

Once the onions and peppers are all cut up dump ‘em in with the meat. Let it cook like that for 10 or 15 minutes, mixing them up occasionally.

Add the canned tomatoes, juice and all. Since I’m using whole tomatoes, I take a knife and sort of quarter them after I’ve dumped them in the pot. Add the tomato sauce (optional), and a bottle of beer (not optional). It doesn’t have to be Modelo Especial, but it does have to be Mexican beer.

At this point you can also start adding spices. I started out with two packets of California chile, one packet of New Mexico chile, one tsp dried oregano and about 2 tbs of ground cumin. I’ll be adding more, but I have to get ready for a 3:30 conference call.

Simmer on low heat uncovered until the meat is very tender, at least 1 ½ to 2 hours, maybe even more. You can check and adjust the heat (the spice kind of heat) as it cooks. If you like it hotter add some more New Mexico Chile. Remember you can always add more but you can’t take any out. Also, it seems like the longer it simmers, the less spicy it becomes, up to a point. If you need more liquid, add some more beer.

At about 4:45, after your 3:30 conference call, go out to the kitchen and check the pot to see if it’s boiled down to a dry mess. When you see that your daughter is trying to sneak some out of the pot tell her that it’s not ready yet, but that she can have some in a few minutes before she has to go to the football game. Take about ½ cup of the masa flour, slowly add water while mixing to get a thin, smooth paste. Add it gradually to the pot until you have about the right consistency. Add your kidney beans if you’re going to use them. Adjust the salt.

At this point mine still needs to cook a bit more, but it’s ready enough to feed to hungry kids who are in a hurry to leave.

Serve with any, all, or none of:
cilantro
grated cheddar and/or jack
sliced avocados
minced onions
sour cream
lime slices
crackers
tortilla chips

I hope you're not disappointed.

Make sure that it's not lumpy after you add water to it, and make sure that it's not too thick before adding to the chili or it will make lumps. Stir the chili as you add it so that it thickens evenly. Good luck.

Mikey, maybe this is me, but your chili looks like it would be hot, mang. How am I going to get the rest of the family to have a bowl if their lips are going to numb and they'll are sweating like JTR during a CITI bank commercial?

Plus, how many servings is your recipe? I would think that 5 lbs of assorted meat is hinting toward some Tupperware bowls and a workable freezer, yes?

I'm still a little Gomer Pyle with this masa thing. So explain how mixing the masa with a little water until it is "thin" will make a chili "thicker" ?

I'm willing to try your chili, but if it leaves a little sting to the palette then it means I'll be eating chili all by myself for weeks on end.

Rip City

This chili isn’t as hot as it might sound. My wife doesn’t like hot food at all – she never uses salsa on anything unless it’s the extra mild type – but she ate a whole bowl and loved it. She said you could tell there was some spice to it but she had not problem handling it at all.

Here’s the thing. Anaheim chiles have basically no heat at all. They’re those long green ones, about the color of a bell pepper, that they use for chile rellenos. Pasilla chiles look sort of like a dark green bell pepper and don’t have much heat either. All chiles, even ones that aren’t hot, contain at least a little capsaicin (the hot ingredient), and most of it is concentrated in the seeds. Some of that stuff seems to get airborne while you’re cutting them up and seeding them and, at least to me, it sort of makes me choke up. Something like slicing onions, but different. Also, if it gets on your hands don’t touch your eyes or any other sensitive areas for a while, even after washing with soap.

The batch I made yesterday filled an 8 quart pot almost to the top by the time it was done. While it might seem like I added a lot of ground chilis, 3 oz isn’t really all that much compared to the volume. You have to have a good amount in the sauce or it doesn’t get any of that rich chili flavor. The California chile is very mild, not much more heat than paprika if that much. The New Mexico chile is probably medium, not anything like cayenne, for instance. And like I said the heat, at least from the fresh chiles, seems to decrease as it cooks down.

The masa is a thickener, sort of like flour or corn starch. When you make gravy from scratch you make a “roux” out of flour and butter or fat, which you cook and then add to the gravy. It’s sort of like that. As you add the masa and mix it into the chili it cooks and thickens the sauce. You need to make sort of a “thin” paste because if you make it too thick and plop blobs of it in there it won’t disperse well and will make a bunch of little lumps.

Like I said, I ended up with probably 7 quarts with this batch. I put about 2/3 of it into three gallon ziplock bags to freeze for later, and had enough for the four of us for dinner. It’s really great reheated and makes a nice quick emergency meal or snack.

One thing about chili is that you can hardly fuck it up if you just use the basic ingredients. If you want to start out a little less ambitious, try this:

• Use 1 to 1 ½ lb of stewing meat or ground beef. I’ve used boneless chicken before too. If you use ground beef you don’t have to cook it for hours – it will be ready as soon as the onions and peppers are cooked enough.
• One onion
• One green bell pepper
• One 15 oz or so can of cut up stewed tomatoes
• Skip the tomato sauce
• Get a jar of “chile powder” from the spice rack section of the grocery store. This is usually a mixture of very mild chile pepper, oregano, cumin and garlic (I think). It’s a lot more expensive than using the separate ingredients but probably easier too. Start with a tablespoon or two and gradually add more until you get it to where you want it.
• You can add lots of beans, or no beans or however many you want. I personally like it with very few if any beans. It is after all chili con carne, not chili con frijoles.

I started out years ago using a store bought mix called “Carol Shelby’s Texas Style Chili”, which came in a small paper bag and consisted of small packets of the dry ingredients – the spice mixture, the masa, a small packet of salt and a very small packet of cayenne to make it hot if you want it that way. I think it called for 1 lb of meat, and had several recipes depending on if you wanted “quick” chili (using ground beef and no fresh onions or chiles) or “gourmet chili” (more like mine). When I find something like that that like I usually end up experimenting, trying to make it better and buying ingredients separately so it ends up cheaper by the pound. Once you get a feel for the ingredients you can vary it a little each time you make it just experiment until you find what you like. I don’t think that Shelby’s mix is available any longer but I’ve seen some similar products around.

Hey Mikey,
Ever try using a pressure cooker for starting your chili? Works wonder for tenderizing and infusing flavor.

Mikey wrote:I put about 2/3 of it into three gallon ziplock bags to freeze for later, and had enough for the four of us for dinner.

I've never seen a three gallon ziplock. Why not just use a trash bag?

Mikeyt, a question? Why the use of packets of Chiles instead of fresh Chiles. I know you can get your hands on fresh, right?

Goober McTuber wrote:

Mikey wrote:I put about 2/3 of it into three gallon ziplock bags to freeze for later, and had enough for the four of us for dinner.

I've never seen a three gallon ziplock. Why not just use a trash bag?

I should have said 3 one gallon ziplock bags.

Headhunter wrote:Mikeyt, a question? Why the use of packets of Chiles instead of fresh Chiles. I know you can get your hands on fresh, right?

I did use fresh chiles (the green chiles and the pasilla chiles) cut into pieces. But you also have to use the dried, ground chiles to add flavor and substance to the sauce.

Toddowen wrote:I think I might have add the masa/corn meal too early.

Occasionally, I'll get almost a burned taste to this latest batch.


I added the masa/corn meal right after I added the tomatoes. Maybe with the additional thickness, the pot needs to be stirred more often?

Anyway, I won't try this again without some authentic masa. Not that the chilli is going to waste, but my first batch was better

The masa should be added at the very end. It's really mostly a thickener that adds a little bit of flavor too. Once it's in there you should have the stove turned as low as possible or it can burn on the bottom. Stirring definitely won't hurt.

The Whistle Is Screaming wrote:Hey Mikey,
Ever try using a pressure cooker for starting your chili? Works wonder for tenderizing and infusing flavor.

Don't have one, but it sounds like a good idea.

Don't worry. My feelings won't be hurt if you never get the "wow".

I'll just know that your senses are not as refined as mine are.

:wink:

Mikey wrote:

Headhunter wrote:Mikeyt, a question? Why the use of packets of Chiles instead of fresh Chiles. I know you can get your hands on fresh, right?

I did use fresh chiles (the green chiles and the pasilla chiles) cut into pieces. But you also have to use the dried, ground chiles to add flavor and substance to the sauce.

I guess I should have been more specific. See, down here our chiles (Dried or fresh) are in the veggie section and you pick just what you need. Not loaded with preservatives like the dried ones you find in the spice section.

I figured Mexifornia would have the same type of set-up.

I asked the question because I noticed the use of fresh chiles, and the packets, so I wondered if there was a method behind your madness.

Headhunter wrote:

Mikey wrote:

Headhunter wrote:Mikeyt, a question? Why the use of packets of Chiles instead of fresh Chiles. I know you can get your hands on fresh, right?

I did use fresh chiles (the green chiles and the pasilla chiles) cut into pieces. But you also have to use the dried, ground chiles to add flavor and substance to the sauce.

I guess I should have been more specific. See, down here our chiles (Dried or fresh) are in the veggie section and you pick just what you need. Not loaded with preservatives like the dried ones you find in the spice section.

I figured Mexifornia would have the same type of set-up.

I asked the question because I noticed the use of fresh chiles, and the packets, so I wondered if there was a method behind your madness.

Oh yeah, we've got the dried whole ones too. The packets that I get are in the "Mexican" section, not the spice section and come from the same source as the whole ones. No preservatives or chemicals, just ground chiles.

You can make your own by grinding the whole ones in a spice grinder. I might just try that next time.

OK, now were getting somewhere. You're using packets of "ground" chiles. It's all coming together now. Sorry for the disconnect. One of these days I'm gonna trying that whole "reading comprehension" thing. I'm thinking of English as a second language, because as a first I don't do so well sometimes!

I'm usually a "from scratch" kind of guy.

My wife kids me that someday I'm gonna get a cow and make my own butter and milk. And have chickens and a field of wheat just to make some bread for a sammich.

She's not too far off base with that!

Looking out my backdoor I see the head of Prime's dick.

Looking out the backdoor of my house I see many peppers that need a chili to simmer in. Ten banana peppers just turned and will add their minute bit of heat. Jalepenos are kickin'

Mikey, Mikey, Mikey ......... Where is the bacon?

Fry up 3 or 4 slices, chop, and add along with the grease. Its a must, to perfect your near brilliant recipe. Thank me later.

One other thing. Seems some of the peeps are hung up on the masa thing. I have it used it a number of times, but I find its normally better to just use corn starch. Heres why .... dunno if you have the same problem, but masa seems to have a very low shelf life. Use it one week, its good, use it the next, and its bitter, almost at the point of being sour. No matter what, it seems to slightly change the flavor of what ever you are making. Corn starch on the other hand, just thickens, does not change the flavor in any way, and seems to produce the same results time after time.

Thoughts?

kcdave wrote:Mikey, Mikey, Mikey ......... Where is the bacon?

Fry up 3 or 4 slices, chop, and add along with the grease. Its a must, to perfect your near brilliant recipe. Thank me later.

One other thing. Seems some of the peeps are hung up on the masa thing. I have it used it a number of times, but I find its normally better to just use corn starch. Heres why .... dunno if you have the same problem, but masa seems to have a very low shelf life. Use it one week, its good, use it the next, and its bitter, almost at the point of being sour. No matter what, it seems to slightly change the flavor of what ever you are making. Corn starch on the other hand, just thickens, does not change the flavor in any way, and seems to produce the same results time after time.

Thoughts?

The bacon sounds like it might be a good idea. The cool thing about chili is that you can make infinite variations. Try different things and see what works, it's hard to ruin it if you start with the right basics. I do have 2 lb of pork in this batch, but I can see how some bacon might add a nice smoky flavor. Might just try it next time.

Corn starch could work as a thickener, but I'll stick with the masa flour. I like the flavor that it adds and I think that it also adds to the color and texture in a way that corn starch wouldn't. It does seem a little ridiculous to buy a 2 lb bag of masa flour so you can use a cup or so in a batch of chili, but what the hell it's only a couple of bucks. Besides, if you've got some extra time you can make some homemade tortillas or tamales with the rest.

Mikey-

Trying your recipe now with a few neccesary subsitutions (since where I live doesn't have the same chili's- I had to substitute) But so far- tastes great! Its simmering now and I'll add the Masa in about 1/2 hour...

Thanks for the great recipe man!!!!

BBMarley wrote:Mikey-

Trying your recipe now with a few neccesary subsitutions (since where I live doesn't have the same chili's- I had to substitute) But so far- tastes great! Its simmering now and I'll add the Masa in about 1/2 hour...

Thanks for the great recipe man!!!!

Cool. What did you substitute? How did it come out?

Mikey wrote:

BBMarley wrote:Mikey-

Trying your recipe now with a few neccesary subsitutions (since where I live doesn't have the same chili's- I had to substitute) But so far- tastes great! Its simmering now and I'll add the Masa in about 1/2 hour...

Thanks for the great recipe man!!!!

Cool. What did you substitute? How did it come out?

Pretty damn good- here's what I substituted (from what I can remember)

- Used Chicken and Ground turkey as my wife does not eat red meat or pork
- Used Negro Modelo as the liquor store was out of Espiciale
- Couldn't find the right Chiles... so I got some Cubanelle and Jalapenos. Cut em real small and put em in- helped alot.

And you were so right of the Masa. Really added that special something!

I've used chicken before, usually chunks of boneless breast meat, and it worked fine. I'm surprised that using jalapenos didn't add too much heat, the fresh peppers I use are very mild in comparison. I guess if you use just a few it wouldn't affect it too much.

It was definitely a little spicier, but it was still good. (I like spicey- but my wife and mother-in-law don't). They all liked it...

Sounds like good stuff, Mikey. I also use fresh pasillas and anaheims in mine, but like to add ancho chile powder in addition to new mexico and california because I like the smokiness that it adds.

That sounds really good. I'm going to try some ancho in mine next time.