Posts Tagged ‘chili chronicles’

Base Chili!!

I would never consider chili to be a Lazy Sunday meal.  Chili is so much more complex than people give it credit for.  I love chili for this complexity and have been working for many years to perfect and play with the base recipe to create best chili that I can.  My hope is to provide you with a strong base recipe that you can work with until you find your perfect recipe.

One thing I will say now (and will reiterate in a later Chili Chronicles post) is use a Crock-Pot.  I can not stress this enough.  You must let chili cook for at least four hours at low in a Crock-Pot to get the beginning of a right flavor and no more that six hours at low.  Any longer and the meat will begin to get mushy and you’ll lose the body of the chili.

So you think you are ready?  Well let’s see what you can do!

Ingredients:

2 lbs of meat

2 20+ oz. cans of seasoned diced tomatoes.  I love Dei Fratelli tomatoes and they have one that is seasoned with sea salt.  Therefore you won’t have to add salt to the chili.

2 16 oz. cans of beans (your choice) rinsed well

1 large white onion

8 oz can of tomato sauce

A chili mix that strikes your fancy.  I am a huge fan of Carrol Shelby’s Chili kit because it comes with all the seasoning you’ll need AND some Masa flour for thickening the chili.

Directions:

1) Brown the meat thoroughly in a large skillet, in batches if needed. If you are using a mix of meats (I use combinations of Pork, Beef, and Veal) I recommend hand combining the mixture in a bowl prior to browning the meat.

2) Dice your onions as thick or thin as you want them.  I love thick wedges that I let roast in in the Crock-Pot for 4 hours.

3) In your Crock-Pot add everything else.  Remember not to add ANY salt!  Also hold off on the Masa flour that came with the kit.  The Masa goes in at the very end based on how thin or thick you want the chili. (tomato sauce, onion, rinsed beans, diced tomatoes, chili powder from the kit or mix)

4) Set Crock-Pot to low

5) Stir in meat mixture once its browned and rinsed.  (Rinse the meat to get all the excess grease off)

6) Cook for 4-5 hours stirring and taste testing every so often.

7) If you like thick chili, add the Masa flour and stir in very well about 1 hour prior to serving.  You’ll see the chili begin to thicken almost immediately.

Serving Suggestions:

Sour Cream

Cheese

a variety of Hot Sauces (green, red, smoky)

Tortillas

Rice

Beans (if not mixed in the chili)

Pasta

Diced Onion

Corn Chips (like Fritos)

Enjoy!!

I hope everyone enjoys this base chili recipe.  There will be many future articles that will deconstruct chili and it’s contents, that will hopefully allow each one of us to develop our own chili recipes.  One day I will pass my recipe down to my beautiful daughter, Mallory.

Keep Cooking Gang,

Chef Ben

Chili Chronicles: Part 1

So how do you take these items

and turn them into this?

The interesting thing is that it’s been a source of contention based on different parts of the country.  The South vs. Texas vs. the West vs. the North.  Everybody has their own ideas of what chili should be including myself.  I know that I really love a sweet and smoky chili with no beans.

That brings up a whole different discussion about the contents of the chili.  If flavor is the first battle, contents are certainly the second.  Beans or no beans, chilies or no chilies, what type of meat to use in the chili.  There are all different types of thoughts behind the flavors, textures, and heat levels.

As the weeks progress and the weather cools here in Central Ohio, I tend to make chili every weekend but I don’t think it really qualifies as a lazy Sunday meal.  I put a lot of work into my chili because I really enjoy eating it and watching my wife’s face as the different flavors come out of the concoction.  Some nights I just want water with my chili, some nights its an ice cold beer and sometimes it’s milk to cool the heat but I truly do believe that chili is without a doubt the best fall food and I hope that I can educate you about the different types of ingredients, varieties, and flavors that go into a great bowl of chili.

Be talking to you soon,

Chef_Ben