Good Chile Recipe

[Grubbs]

I need a good chile recipe.....anyone got one?

[Ramrod]

Sorry Grubbs, chili is like religion or politics, too hot a topic!    

[Don Fischer]

Ramrod's right but I'll bite. I take the meat along with Chopped up onion's, chopped,,,,,,you know those hot pepper's spelled jala???, maybe a haber????pepper, chili powder, anything else that sound's good at the time, couple can's LaVictoria salsa and pinto bean's.

Boil the meat until it falls apart.
soak the beans over night and dump the water the next day.
add the other stuff to the chili meat and water the meat cooked in.
cook for a little while and add the beans, cook until the beans are done.
make sure you cook on low after that until juice is thick.

Wish I could tell you what the correct measure for this stuff is, but I don't know. I've never made it the same way twice and there's never any left.
Making chili is not a science, it's art!

[Mikey]

Grubbs:  Here's a recipe I use that works pretty well for me:

equal parts meat (chopped or ground) and kidney beans, pound for pound (at least 2 lbs each).
chopped large onion and a large green pepper or two.
one can whole peeled tomatoes that ya crush up yourself.
one can of chopped tomatoes and green chilis or jalapenos (hotter).
couple of chopped garlic cloves.
large glass of red wine (finish the rest of the bottle yourself).
small can of chopped jalapenos (can make the chili or stew too hot, so be careful).  I use about half the small can of chopped jalapenos - I don't usually use the liquid, it makes the chili far to hot.
Three bunches of cilantro - chop the stalks of two bunches into 1/2 -3/4" lengths and toss the leaves.

Put it all together in a crock pot or slow cooker and cook on high heat until bubbling and then turn down to low heat and cook for the day.  About one or two hours before getting ready to sit down and eat, chop up the last bunch of cilantro and another garlic clove and add to the mix.  Two hours later you are ready to eat.

The only concern is for the amount of fluid that builds up - you will have to remove some.  I usually wait for about 5-6 hours after beginning the stew before I do that, then I just put some in a bowl or glass and knock it down - let's ya know real quick how hot (spicy) it's gonna be and you may need to open another bottle of wine to tone it down if ya want.

HTH.  Enjoy.  Mikey.

[hardertr]

One of the secrets to a good consistency in chili is to add cornmeal.  DON'T "REMOVE" the liquid.  The cornmeal will thicken it up and give it a nice texture and also knock down the "bite" of the peppers.  You may need to add a little more salt if you use cornmeal.  Add the cornmeal about an hour before it's done.

About the ONLY thing I seen put in chili that will ruin it is tomato paste or sauce.

I like my chili with no tomatoes in it at all.  Lots of onion, garlic, cilantro, peppers (green chilis and jalepenos), chili powder, CUMIN, and a stick of REAL BUTTER.  It's even better if you do a 75/25 mix of beef/pork.

[Swamp Fox]

Try masa flour instead of cornmeal to thickener.

This recipe doesn't need thickener and is easy to make.


Brown 3 lbs cubed (1/2"-3/4") chili meat in the chili pot. (so you don't loose the drippings)
Add 1 tbs crushed or minced garlic and sautee with the meat.

Add 2 cans each of kidney beans, red beans and pinto beans. Save empty can to measure salsa...

Add three cans of Pace Chuncky Medium Salsa.

I season with about 4 tbs chili powder, 3 tbs ganulated beef bulion(for salt) and 1 tbs medium grind black pepper.

Slow simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

This gets some complaints for being too hot. The Pace  Med has a little bite. I think these people don't really want chili.

I also add other peppers, as available, when I don't have to feed the "sensitive".

[rockbilly]

    How did dat yankey get to San Angelo?  Cornmeal in chili?  OK, it will work to thicken it up, but the real Texans and Mexicans use masa harina.  Close, but not quite cornmeal, finer ground, used to make tortillas, tamales, etc.

Now  true Texas chile DOES NOT contain beans.  If cooked with beans, we call it SOB stew.  Following is an excellent recipe for chili.  you can use venison or beef (I have even used ground turkey for the ladies), and you won't need any thickener for this one. This recipe has take several first place ribbons in chili cook offs.  

5 pounds of meat
1 cup of Pendery's chili blend
2 large onions
5 cloves of garlic (chopped fine, or through garlic press)
2 tbsp of Mexican Cilantro
1 1/2 tspn of ground habenero pepper (Can sub chipotle pepper.  The chipotle is extremely hot, so be cautious of how much you add.  You may want to do this to taste.)
1 1/2 tspn salt
1 1/2 tspn  cumin
2 15oz cans tomato sauce
1 tbsp cooking oil


Run onions through blender until almost liquid.

Heat oil and add onion mixture, cook until onion is clear.  Add meat, brown well.  Add minced garlic, cilantro, habenero and salt.  Add tomato sauce, stir well and stir in chili blend.  Simmer for 10 minutes, add cumin and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

Cook a pot of rice and pinto beans on the side.  Add a little rice and beans to bowl and top with chili if you like.  For me it's just the chili.

This is also good for chili pie, or over hot dogs.  It keeps well and can ber frozen without loosing the flavor.  Enjoy.