Calling all cooks!

[MBony]

So I am entering a chili contest where I work and I need a kick-ass recipe to blow the doors down (on multiple fronts). I don't want anything too spicy, but something tasty and different, maybe even sweet (if that is possible).

Does anyone here have a special recipe they use for their chili that they'd care to share?

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

First off, use steak.

Sirloin works well. Cut it into cubes.

Secondly, is this "real" chili or "northerners" chili?

Third, brown sugar will help to sweeten it.

 

[MBony]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
First off, use steak.

Sirloin works well. Cut it into cubes.

Secondly, is this "real" chili or "northerners" chili?

Third, brown sugar will help to sweeten it.

Not sure what you mean by real chili and northerners. We are in the NW, but I've got co-workers flying in spices from TX so nothing is off limits.

 

[vi edit]

If your office contest is anything like mine then only two types get votes.

1) The hotest, most painful thing you can possibly make. Doesn't matter what is in it or if it tastes good. As long as it hurts people will drop in votes.

2) Gimmicky oddball stuff that isn't really chili at all. The last winner at my company had "Italian" chili which was basically an italian soup with noodles and a little bit of salsa verde in it it for a slight bit of heat.

If you want to win, you make something unique and attention drawing.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: MBony
I don't want anything too spicy, but something tasty and different, maybe even sweet (if that is possible).

It's possible, but it isn't chili.

 

[shocksyde]

Put Old Bay in it. Winnar!

 

[Bibble]

My grandmother sometimes makes a tasty and unique 'chili" using kielbasa. The sauce is orange. Sorry I don't have more details for you.

 

[weirdichi]

Look up some white chicken chili recipes. I had a college roommate's girlfriend make it once and it was orgasmic.

 

[KeithTalent]

My is far from award winning. I do make a decent turkey chili, but it's just to my taste and not something I would share with the rest of the world.

Let us know what you come up with.

KT

 

[effowe]

I made this chili a few months back, it's called the Boilermaker Tailgate Chili, and it's the #1 Chili recipe on Allrecipes.com. You are going to have chili purists stepping in telling you this isn't real chili, and it may not be, but dammit it sure is good. I added a super dark chocolate bar near the end for extra flavor.

INGREDIENTS

* 5 pounds ground beef chuck
* 2-1/2 pounds bulk Italian sausage
* 7-1/2 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
* 2-1/2 (15 ounce) cans chili beans in spicy sauce
* 5 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
* 2-1/2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
* 2-1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
* 7-1/2 stalks celery, chopped
* 2-1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
* 2-1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
* 5 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
* 2 tablespoons and 1-1/2 teaspoons bacon bits
* 10 cubes beef bouillon
* 1-1/4 cups beer
* 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 2 tablespoons and 1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
* 2 tablespoons and 1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
* 2 tablespoons and 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
* 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco?)
* 2-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
* 2-1/2 teaspoons salt
* 2-1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
* 2-1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
* 2-1/2 teaspoons paprika
* 2-1/2 teaspoons white sugar
* 2-1/2 (10.5 ounce) bags corn chips such as Fritos®
* 2-1/2 (8 ounce) packages shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
2. Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.
4. To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Edit: The serving sizes may look weird because I modified the servings down from the original 75. You can go to the original recipe and enter the serving size you want to alter the number of ingredients.

 

[ElFenix]

that's spaghetti sauce with beans

 

[PepePeru]

you are not the pope of chili town.

 

[torpid]

If you can figure out how to make hot pepper sauce without the hotness but with all the flavor similar to the hot pepper jam at Alinea then you probably are really close to making the perfect chili recipe.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: MBony

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
First off, use steak.

Sirloin works well. Cut it into cubes.

Secondly, is this "real" chili or "northerners" chili?

Third, brown sugar will help to sweeten it.

Not sure what you mean by real chili and northerners. We are in the NW, but I've got co-workers flying in spices from TX so nothing is off limits.

what he means is :

are you making chili con carne

or

real chili (it ain't got beans).

some recipes call for a chunk of chocolate to be added.

EDIT: 4528 chili recipes

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

____Chilli Con Carne____
I don't care for the purist bull shit. If it tastes good, it is something I will eat. Quite frankly, I think "CHILLI" tastes like shit.

can of green chillis (4 oz or so and this is optional)
2.5 pounds of ground beef (or do a beef/turkey mix)
1 green pepper (diced)
1 onion (diced)
1 can red kidney beens
1 can of dices tomatoes (just one can)

Add some spices. Just a little of everything like chilli powder and black pepper. But the secret spice to use is crushed red pepper. Use as much crushed red pepper as you like to give it the right amount of spice.

box of saltines to add as you eat.

How to prepare:
1) cook meat on a pan till no longer red. When done, drain the fat as to not ass it to large pot.
2) Add everything to the large pot.
3) mix contents and add spices (you can always add more crushed red pepper later)
4) Under LOW HEAT, start cooking everything in the pot.
5) Mix every ten minutes or so, being sure to pack everything together tightly at the bottom.
6) 75 minutes later it is done.

You might think you need more liquid when you first put it all together. YOU DO NOT! By the time you are done, everything will be "under liquid" for lack of a better phrase.

Serve in bowls and add saltines as you eat it. Just break them up into quarters and toss on top of the food and have some cracker with each bite.

DELICIOUS!

And the best part is that you can get many dinners out of this. Just store it in the fridge. I've kept it in the fridge for up to a week while finishing it off.

I should say that this is a very simple recipe. Takes about 15 minutes to do all the work. And the end product is delicious.

My mom used to make this with celery. I do not.

 

[CountZero]

I don't have a recipe to follow really but some things make a big difference.

1. Start off with bacon chopped finely cooked until it is crispy and then start the onions (and garlic if you like) in that. Then start the meat. Once the meat is brown the bottom of your pan will be a hot mess but just deglaze it and you'll pull in some great flavors.

2. Avoid using chili powder and instead get a set of different ground chiles, or whole dried chiles and grind them yourself (try them so you know what kind of flavors they bring). Also pick up ground cumin and coriander. Mix up the various chiles in a proportion that seems right (I don't measure so can't tell you how much) and then toast it in a hot pan. If you do the spices seperately (not a bad idea if you aren't sure how much of each you want) you'll notice a difference in color and texture in the cumin and coriander fairly quickly. The pan has to be dry and you want to remove the spices if you see any wisps of smoke.

3. If you are doing beans the three main options are black, pinto and red kidney. I usually do all three though sometimes if I want less bean I'll omit the kidney beans.

4. For the meat I personally like ground more than chunks but the best is if you have a place that does ground chili meat, its a coarser ground meat and it is great. I just read about using chunks of meat but doing two different sizes, one big stew meat size and one about a quarter that size. You could also mix a variety of meats instead of just beef.

5. Instead of salt use beef bouillon.

6. Use a variety of fresh peppers and roast some of them. Try the peppers so you know how hot they are, and what kind of flavor they have. If you want more heat keep the membranes intact if you want less remove them.

7. I would think brown sugar would be a way to make it sweeter if you want but it will work against it being hot. You can achieve hot and sweet but it'll take much more effort. Also if you use tomatoes they will bring some sweetness to the mix.

 

[mcurphy]

Thick, hearty and sweet chili. Coffee and beer give this chili a unique and dynamite flavor.
You can leave out the peppers for a mild taste.


Serves: 8

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 pounds cubed beef sirloin (may substitute 2lbs ground beef)
1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle dark beer?Guiness is recommended
1 cup strong brewed coffee
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
3 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans
4 fresh hot chile peppers, seeded and chopped, can also use Jalapeños




Directions:

1-- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onions, garlic, and cubed sirloin (ground beef) in oil for 10 minutes, or until the meat is well browned and the onions are tender. Drain.
2?In 4Qt sauce pan mix meat in with diced tomatoes with juice, dark beer, coffee, tomato paste, and beef broth. Season with brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder, oregano, cayenne pepper, coriander and salt. Stir in 2 cans of the kidney beans and hot chile peppers. Cover and simmer on low for 2 hours.
3-- Stir in the remaining cans of beans, and simmer for another 30 minutes.