Operation Chili

[Jester]

As many of you know, I compete in local cookoffs with some regularity, especially local chili cookoffs. In the last two chili cookoffs, held last month and Super Bowl Sunday, I placed not at all and fourth, respectively.

I'm pissed.

I have another chili cookoff on the 18th. I have every intention of winning it, though not by cheating, not by badgering all my friends to be there (it's one of those "vote for your favorite" type deals, which often results in a popularity contest rather than an honest assessment of the merits of the various dishes), and certainly not by compromising myself or my culinary beliefs. For example, my Pittsburgh-native roommate thinks I need to tone down the heat of the chili for the mostly Eastern palates I'm cooking for, and to be fair, he has a point that a lot of the people in this area seem to have wussy palates when it comes to spice, but damn it, I am a Southwesterner, and I am cooking Southwestern food. And as I told my roommate, I would far rather cook the best chili I know how to and lose than compromise my core beliefs just to try to win. In other words, I won't sell out.

That being said, I am always open for opinions, ideas, and suggestions. So if anyone here has any ideas for methods or ingredients, or something else, that would elevate my chili to a new level, please, feel free to let me know.

Especially since I'll be cooking it this weekend, so that it can sit in my fridge for a week and get happy.

Thank you, and we now return you to our regularly scheduled website.

[MaggieTheCat]

We've talked chili before, so I'm not sure how much help I'd be -- I'm pretty sure you've given me more tips than I've given you.

What kind of meat do you use? My husband recently made a triple meat chili with ground bison, ground lamb, and beef stew meat (cubed, not ground) that was pretty delicious. Maybe try adding or adjusting the ratios of the meats you use?

Other than that, you probably know all the standard chili "secret ingredients" that you could try:

Beer
Chocolate
Brown sugar/molasses (I'm pretty sure you were the one who suggested molasses to me, actually)
Yellow curry powder
Adobo sauce from chipotle chiles
There's probably more, but those are the ones I've used and seen used the most often.

Do you add tomatoes/tomato sauce to your chili? Have you ever tried a "Texas Red" chili that has no tomatoes in it? My recipe for Texas Red chili uses reconstituted dried chiles (and the water used to reconstitute them) and adobo sauce to make the chili "red" and just a liiiitle bit of beef broth to thin it out. It's very thick and hearty and delicious.

In any event, I commend you for not bending on your standards -- my husband is much the same way when it comes to chili. He never skimps on the spice, no matter who we're serving it to, and he always uses all meat and no beans, contrary to other popular opinions of what should be in chili. Good luck with the next cook-off!

[Jester]

Maggie, allow me to answer as much as I can, bit by bit.

I'm pretty sure you've given me more tips than I've given you.

Never too late to learn a new trick or try a new idea.

The meat that I use, which I've mentioned before, is sirloin steak, pork tenderloin, chorizo sausage, and smoked bacon. This last time I seared the steak and pork on a grill pan then cubed them and tossed them in the pot; before this time, I had always cubed them raw and browned them in a skillet. Not sure that either way is superior, so still playing with that. The chorizo is always a soft chorizo, which I de-case and brown in a skillet, then toss it in the pot, deglazing the skillet with whiskey. The bacon is oven-roasted, diced, and then...well, you know where it goes.

I only use ground beef in my Devil's Ass chili (the insanely hot stuff). In the last go-round, I increased the amount of steak that I use, and kind of liked the results, though I think I need to readjust some of the non-meat ingredients to reflect the almost 20% increase in meat. (4.5 lbs total to 5.5 lbs. total in a single batch, though for this upcoming chili I'll be making a double batch.)

I did try playing a bit with the meats I use in the January cookoff, substituting veal for the pork tenderloin. I think the chili missed out on the pork fat, even though I had originally theorized that there was plenty of pork in there already, between the bacon and chorizo. Not sure that the veal really brought anything to the party, so now I've brought the tenderloin back, but have, as I said, upped the amount of steak. I think I like that better. We'll see.

Other than that, you probably know all the standard chili "secret ingredients" that you could try:

No one really knows all the secrets, though of course I am familiar with many of the standard (but not well-known outside of chili circles) ingredients, and use some of them in my chili.

While I may have suggested molasses to you (I don't remember it), I don't personally use it my chili, as I have other ingredients I prefer for bringing the sweet part of the Sweet & Heat equation.

I do use tomatoes, though I think I am going to fiddle with which ones I use this time around. I don't want to eliminate tomatoes altogether from my chili, as they make such a nice base and bring a nice element of sweetness and acidity to the mix.

In any event, I commend you for not bending on your standards -- my husband is much the same way when it comes to chili. He never skimps on the spice, no matter who we're serving it to, and he always uses all meat and no beans, contrary to other popular opinions of what should be in chili. Good luck with the next cook-off!

Thank you for all of that, and while I am not personally opposed to beans in chili, and rather enjoy them, I have found that MY chili is far better without beans. Until a couple of years ago, I did use beans in my chili, but as I experimented, I found that it was easier to achieve what I was after in chili by not using them.

In addition to considering playing with the tomatoes I use, I am considering switching the beer in the recipe. Currently I use Corona, but am open to other ideas, though I do want to keep it lighter so that it blends in better. It's been my experience that dark beers not only don't blend well with the flavors I put in my chili, but they bring a lot of flavors I don't necessarily want, and sometimes just flat out separate from the rest of the stew. Which is, of course, unacceptable.

Again, thank you, and I am more than open to more ideas, even if I don't use them.

[Food Lady]

The only thing I can think of is to vary the type of tomatoes. I don't know who would even carry them, but maybe fire-roasted tomatoes would be different. I wonder if tomatoes can be oven-roasted, or roasted
over a gas flame.

[Jester]

Of course they can. It was actually something I was considering, although at present I use a variety of canned tomatoes in my chili.

[ArcticChicken]

I don't know who would even carry them, but maybe fire-roasted tomatoes would be different.

Hunts makes canned, fire roasted tomatoes. They're delicious.

[Kittish]

You might also try getting some local tomatoes and drying them, then use those in a batch, see how it affects the flavor. If you've got a place where you can do the whole sun dried thing, that might be worth trying. And fresh tomatoes will make a difference in flavor over canned, even if it's just supermarket tomatoes. If you try fresh from the supermarket, though, be sure to get anything but the big slicing tomatoes. Hothouse roma tomatoes have at least some flavor to them, the big slicers just taste of mush. If you can find locally grown, that's always best.

Hmm... try marinating your beef in the whiskey or a red wine overnight before you cook it? I love how red wine and beef combine flavorwise. Experiment maybe with marinating your pork in some sort of alchohol as well? That might be the place where a darker beer would work, since only a minimal amount of the beer will make it into the chili. Friend of mine does a pork roast that he marinates for a couple of days in guiness that is just astonishingly awesome. And I seriously don't like any sort of malt/hops beverage.

[Jester]

You might also try getting some local tomatoes and drying them, then use those in a batch, see how it affects the flavor. If you've got a place where you can do the whole sun dried thing, that might be worth trying.

Tomatoes are not local here, at least not that I've seen. True, I've not been to the local farmer's market, but this is not exactly Tomato Central, if you follow me. There's a lot of great local produce, don't get me wrong, but tomatoes, not so much. Plus, I don't really have time (this time) to dry my own tomatoes, as I plan on cooking the chili this weekend. Something to consider for next time though, certainly.

And fresh tomatoes will make a difference in flavor over canned, even if it's just supermarket tomatoes.

While I love fresh tomatoes, my one concern is that they could be too acidic. Something I have not had to worry about with canned tomatoes. Also, there is the labor factor....fresh tomatoes do involve a lot more work, what with the skin, etc. Don't get me wrong, I am not adverse to hard work, I am just thinking out loud here.

Hmm... try marinating your beef in the whiskey or a red wine overnight before you cook it? I love how red wine and beef combine flavorwise. Experiment maybe with marinating your pork in some sort of alchohol as well?

Definitely something to think about.....

Thanks!

Keep them coming, folks!

[Amusement Gal]

On the tomato topic, I think sundried tomatoes would do very well in a chili. At my store we carry them premade in a pouch, which isn't nearly as good as doing it yourself, or finding it at a market, but the flavor is much stronger and more concentrated. You could probably cut them into small cubes and benefit from the burst of flavor they bring. They're also excellent on sandwiches... *drool*

[TheSHAD0W]

Certain fruits might add an unexpected, interesting tang to your chili, but you'll need to do a lot of experimenting to get that right. Strawberry chili?

[Kittish]

Certain fruits might add an unexpected, interesting tang to your chili, but you'll need to do a lot of experimenting to get that right. Strawberry chili?

I don't know about strawberries, but peaches or apricots maybe? Or possibly blueberries. I'd start off with the more subtle flavors and work my way up.

[ArcticChicken]

Honey, maybe. Although that might work better in a lighter flavored chili.

[Jester]

I talked with my bar's head chef today about the whole fresh tomatoes vs. canned tomatoes thing, and for my purposes, and what I want to do, we came to the conclusion that canned tomatoes would probably work better. Fresh tomatoes would be more acidic than canned, and while fresh might be better if I wanted to use them for texture, I don't; I actually blend my tomato/pepper/onion base before I add the meat. I let the MEAT be the chunky factor in my chili!

On the tomato topic, I think sundried tomatoes would do very well in a chili.

The might do very well, and they are something I am considering, but for a future date. Also, while I live in Florida, I don't know if I could actually sun dry my own tomatoes, for two reasons. First, I don't know if I have the right conditions: it is very humid here, I don't really have a back yard, other than my balcony, which is covered, it often rains, and I really don't know how I'd position the tomatoes to get maximum sun, or if the humidity would keep them from properly drying before they simply rotted. (Back home in Phoenix, however, I think I would have excellent conditions for sun drying tomatoes, even if my living situation were the same.) The second reason is, when it comes to plants, I have a horribly black thumb, and something tells me something like sun drying tomatoes would fall under that category too. I tend to be forgetful about such time patient projects.

Certain fruits might add an unexpected, interesting tang to your chili, but you'll need to do a lot of experimenting to get that right. Strawberry chili?

I think fruit chili would make an excellent dessert or appetizer, and it's something I may think about in the future...but for the moment, I am sticking with a semi-traditional meat chili, and I really don't see fruit bringing much to the table. Maybe I will try incorporating fruit in a meat chili down the road, but at least for this impending cookoff, it is too soon for me to get the experimenting done that I feel would be necessary to see if that would work if it would simply be a berry big disaster.

Honey, maybe. Although that might work better in a lighter flavored chili.

Something I have definitely considered and even tried. I am not, however, confirming or denying that I still use it in my chili.

By the way, the thing with honey is, you have to get the right honey for the chili in question. As not all honey is created equal....at ALL. Just saying.

[Kittish]

As not all honey is created equal....at ALL. Just saying.

No kidding there! Clover honey is the best known, but there are lots of other varieties out there. I had a small jar once of some white wildflower honey from Hawaii. Stuff was very mild, but oh so good. I'd love to find some really intense wildflower type to use in baking, but I don't really have the money right now to order specialty honeys from the web. *sigh*

[ArcticChicken]

As not all honey is created equal....at ALL. Just saying.

Oh, I know. I'm lucky enough to have a small farmers marked just down the street from my house, and this last year a local apiary set up a booth. They don't have much variety, at least there, but they have buckwheat honey which is absolutely stunning.