Your secret ingredient for your chili?

[Kaido]

Won a chili contest this week with my "clean out my pantry" Instant Pot + Sous Vide chili. It's a big list of ingredients, but it literally just boiled down to:

1. SV the steak (automatic)
2. Saute & sear a few ingredients (onions, ground beef, and steak)
3. Dump all of the ingredients in (5 minutes of opening jars & cans)
4. IP the chili (automatic)

Ingredients:

* SV steak (sirloin steak tips, 3 hours @ 130F, mayo-seared with Kosher salt & black pepper crust, cubed & cooked with the chili)
* IP chili (18 minutes high pressure with QPR...put a layer of oil on the bottom, then layer the ingredients to avoid the burn/overheat notice)
* Meat (entire pack of bacon - chopped up with scissors & sauteed, steak, ground beef sauteed in the IP)
* Beans (canned dark red kidney beans & canned black beans...usually I do dry, but I had some cans on hand to use up)
* White onion (cubed & sauteed)
* Sauces (Newman's Own black bean & corn salsa, tomato paste, tomato puree, beef broth, masa harina, Red Boat fish sauce)
* Spices (cocoa powder - in the vein of a mole sauce - adds a bit of an earthy flavor, Trader Joe's mushroom umami powder, roasted garlic powder, fresh chopped garlic in the squeezy tube because I am lazy, Kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne powder, chili powder, Flatiron's hatch valley greens dried pepper blend, and Flatiron's dark & smoky dried pepper blend - I used dried peppers in this case to add more flavor than heat)

Also did mini cornbread loaves in this pan with Mike's Hot Honey (sooooo good) & whipped cinnamon honey butter (it's basically a Texas Roadhouse copycat). tbh, I haven't found the perfect chili or cornbread yet. I would say I'm at like 25% completed on my project of making the ultimate chili...there's such a broad scope of variations out there that no pot ever comes out the same way twice. I know I definitely like:

* Beans & meat
* Bacon in it
* Soft but chewy chunks of meat in it (ex. steak)
* A mild burn, but one that has flavor, not just heat
* A lot of depth, especially from umami flavors
* Hot peppers (plain, roasted, or sauteed seedless chunks, and/or dried flakes, and/or powder)

Stuff I'm on the fence on:

* Tomatoes (I did fire-roasted tomatoes in my last batch & they were pretty good)
* Bell peppers (sweet is flavorful)
* Smoke (liquid or actual)

I think the closest thing I've had to the ideal chili is this place by one of my clients, which makes this to-die-for Brunswick stew using their in-house smoked BBQ meats. Wasn't true chili per se, but had the right idea! As far as cornbread goes, I dunno. I definitely like a fine texture better than coarse (corn flour vs. cornmeal, I guess), and I definitely like it more cakey than dry. Big fan of corncakes as well (cornbread pancakes, but still floppy).

 

[ponyo]

Kaido, that chili sounds awesome! Love the ingredients.

 

[ElFenix]

 

[Kaido]

Kaido, that chili sounds awesome! Love the ingredients.

It was pretty dang good lol. One of the things I've been experimenting with lately is quality pepper flakes. I like heat, but I like flavor-heat, not heat-heat that just burns your mouth & overrides any flavors, which is one of the reasons I really love Indian food, as well as authentic Mexican shops. I just got a multi-pack of the Flatiron peppers:

Flatiron Pepper Co

You'll never go back to red pepper flakes! Flatiron Pepper creates unique pepper flake blends that showcase a variety of peppers, such as Jalapeno, Habanero, Ghost Pepper, Chipotle, Hatch Green Chile, Ancho, Carolina Reaper, Moruga Scorpion, Scotch Bonnet, and many more.

www.flatironpepper.com

They have 5 blends out now:

1. Four pepper blend: Jalepeno, Ghost, Arbol, Habanero (Scoville 80-100k)
2. Hatch Valley Green: Jalapeno, Sandia, Big Jim, Habanero (Scoville 30-40k)
3. Dark and Smoky: Chipotle, Ancho, Habanero (Scoville 40-50k)
4. Sweet Heat: Scotch Bonnet, Ancho, Red Bell (Scoville 30-50k)
5. I can't feel my face: Carolina Reaper, Moruga Scorpion, Ghost Pepper, Habanero Pepper (Scoville 750k+)

I bought the 4-pack of the first four, decided I don't need a 750k+ blend in my life lol...I ate waaaaay too much hot stuff growing up & have much lower tolerance, pretty sure I melted off part of my stomach lining due to years of abuse haha. While I do like using fresh chilis, or making a paste or dehydrating & grinding them myself, these were pretty good for a low-key burn & also for flavor. I'm doing a lot of tasting research into how burning works. So far I have:

1. Immediate burn at the front of your mouth (lips & tongue)
2. Mouth interior burn
3. Back of your mouth & throat burn
4. Time-release burn

I did the green mix and dark & smoky mix and it had a nice time-delay burn, where you got to enjoy the meat & the umami flavors (mushroom powder, cocoa powder, flavors from the corn salsa etc.) & then get the heat, but not terrible heat, just a nice burn. Like I said, I'm nowhere near having the perfect (for me) chili recipe ready, but I'm on the right path now!

 

[Midwayman]

This won the critic's choice at my work's chili contest.
Devil’s Colon Punch Chili

2x rolls pork sausage

28 oz Pork and beef little smokies (2 packs)

2 lbs boneless pork chops

2 tablespoons dried and powdered Carolina Reaper

1 tablespoon knorr powder beef boullion

1 tablespoon knorr powder chicken boullion

2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon Cayenne Pepper

6 dried morita chilies (whole)

2x 24oz jars Herdez salsa verde

Prep-

Dice smokies and chops

Brown pork sausage, rinse with hot water and drain. (degrease)

Brown chops

Pour it all in a crock pot and cook overnight. I give it about 5hrs on high and let it simmer the rest.

 

[ElFenix]

I'd have never thought to troll my co-workers with hot dog stew

 

[snoopy7548]

I'd have never thought to troll my co-workers with hot dog stew

For you Canadians, I think he's referring to "pepperettes."

 

[renz20003]

My recipe

1lb ground beef
1 large sweet onion
1 green pepper
salt, pepper and garlic powder
1 16 ounce can of hunts tomato sauce
1 large can of brooks chili beans 36 ounce I think
1 can of rotel chilis and tomatos

finely chop onion and green pepper, add spices and cook with ground beef till brown and soft veg/drain.

Add canned ingredients and bring to a boil stirring to avoid burning on the bottom, boil 5 mintues.

reduce to simmer for 10 min and let cool

enjoy

 

[Midwayman]

For you Canadians, I think he's referring to "pepperettes."

The sausage is ground pork sausage, nothing special, but not cased

The 'hotdogs" are these

productdetailpage | Hillshire Farm® Brand

www.hillshirefarm.com

I don't know about trolling co-workers though. Its probably a case of don't knock it until you've tried it.

 

[Captante]

don't knock it until you've tried it

No question your concoction sounds delicious IMO!

Its just a tad unusual when compared to the classic American chili receipe.

 

[Kaido]

New chili modifications:

1. Upped it to 1/4 cup cocoa powder to make it more like a mole sauce. OUTSTANDING!

2. Currently using TJ's canned fire-roasted diced green chilis. Mo' flava.

3. Really liking the Flatiron Peppers for an after-bite burn, which lets you taste the chili & then get the heat.

4. Used a new trick for the ground beef - soaking in heavy cream! I got the idea from this recipe:

Cocoa Coriander Chili From Jenn de la Vega

Food52 Site.

food52.com

But it was Jenn who added the marinating time to the burger technique, which is what makes the biggest difference of all—thanks to the tenderizing powers of lactic acid. Carry this heavy cream marinade with you to other chilis and other ground meat recipes you make—burgers, meatloaf, bolognese, you get the picture. In all of these situations, the benefits shine through. The meat loses less fat and won't seize up in cooking, which leads to a more tender and luxurious texture—never dry or spongy. You can swap the heavy cream for buttermilk or yogurt, but then you can't say it was inspired by James Beard's hamburger, can you?

More info & testing here:

A Genius Chili Secret From a Cook-Off Queen

With a little help from James Beard's favorite hamburger.

food52.com

The formula is to soak one pound of ground beef with 2 tablespoons of heavy cream or yogurt for 4 hours, which uses the lactic acid to help tenderize the meat, which does 2 things:

1. Makes it more tender
2. Makes it more flavorful (beefy)

I've got a really solid dark chili base now. My ingredients for today's batch were:

1. One pack of scissor-cut thick-cut bacon, sauteed in the Instant Pot (not drained)
2. Cream-soaked browned ground beef (not drained)
3. Small can of tomato paste
4. Jar of salsa
5. Half a jug of chicken stock
6. Can of black beans (not drained)
7. Can of pinto beans (not drained)
8. 2 tablespoons squeeze minced garlic

Then the powders:

1. 1/4 cup cocoa powder
2. 1/2 Tablespoon of chili powder
3. Tablespoon of smoked paprika
4. Tablespoon of TJ's mushroom umami spice mix
5. 1/2 Tablespoon of onion salt
6. 1/2 Tablespoon of Flatiron red dried pepper mix
7. 1/2 Tablespoon of of Flatiron green dried pepper mix
8. 1/2 Tablespoon of chipotle powder

18 minutes in the Instant Pot. I've got it chilling in the fridge for the next few days & will add a 36-hour sous-vide'd chuck roast to it later for meaty chunks (going to cube & sear with a garlic-salt olive marinade).

Next batch, I need something to make it brighter. The dark base is phenomenal, but it definitely needs some brightness to it. Inching closer to the perfect bowl of chili!

 

[jmagg]

Bottom round cubed and browned in spices. Simmer the beef in half beef broth half Cento tomato sauce until tender. Add the veggys and beans and re spice

 

[sdifox]

Beans

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Rancho Gordo beans. Mix a hearty one and a creamy one, like vaquero with mayacoba. We make vegetarian chili with these that runs circles around most people's meat chili.

 

[DigDog]

i will always fondly remember the best chili i have ever had. served out of a polyester cup, from a van ... in Moscow.

cost about 20c.

greasy AF. literally the greasiest thing i have ever held in my hands.

taste was .. good. not excellent, but it tasted as chili should. HAD BEANS.


i am absolutely not a fan of "i cannot feel my face" stuff. I love the taste of hot chilies, but can't stand things too spicy to eat.



i do not make chili - or rather, i very very rarely make chili. I do not use cumin in anything at all because whatever i put cumin in "tastes like chili".
instead i make other meat-and-beans recipes... damn. now you got me wanting to make chili.

Anyway, i prefer cassoulet', which is mostly white meat (chicken or duck) with white cannellini beans, black pepper, onion/celery/carrot, laurel, and some secret spices. Mostly fenugreek.

 

[DigDog]

just to be clear,

if i have to make a beef sauce, i'd rather make bolognese, with a veeeery tiny tip of chili in it (you can barely feel it), and no beans.

if for some god-knows reason im making Feijoada, which is beans, beef and pork, i'll generally have very little chili in it, and mostly a green-tasting chili, such as jalapeno.

To me, the challenge of making any meat-and-bean stew is to make the beans flavour stand out, and the meat flavour to compliment it. I consider it crass, froma cookery point of view, to kill the beans flavour with too much chili and/or spices.
And if i'm making a no-beans beef sauce, then i dont put chili in it.

 

[nutxo]

I sent someone else to the store to get the stuff for chili today. I usually use 2 cans pintos and 2 cans of dark kidneys. They got 2 cans of dark kidneys and 2 cans of light kidneys.

I had a can of pintos in the cabinet. You think using 3 cans of kidneys and one can of pintos will make any difference?