Thread: Chili
View Single Post
  #15  
Old 02-20-2009, 03:32 PM
Ferd's Avatar
Ferd Ferd is offline
I remain the Petulant Chevalier


 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 17,524
Re: Chili

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferd View Post
Musings on the subject of Chili.

generally I use a chuck roast for chili sometimes i will use a mixture of ground beef pork and lamb.

I always make my own chili powder. I use a mixture of (please dont hold my poor spelling against me) Pasillias, Casabel, Ancho, and Chipotle. Ancho is the base with a 2 to 1 ratio of Ancho (2) to Pasillia (1) and Casabel (1). then just a few Chipotle. Chipotle are hot but the flavor is off the chart.

I seed the peppers and briefly toast the peppers on a dry castiron skillet then grind in my coffee mill (I have a coffee mill for spices and a different one for coffee).
Now when I make chili, there are 5 key spices and I do them all to taste
Chili Powder (seen above)
Cumin
Coriander
Salt
Pepper


Next there are 5 fresh veggies that are important
Onion
Garlic
Poblano Peppers
(this is the other key ingrediant. I use Poblano anywhere most people would use a green bell pepper. now it is important to char the skin and remove it. I will put them under the broiler until the skin thurns black on all sides. then remove to a brown paper bag or maybe even a plastic bowl that you can seal. close the bag and let it cool then peel the skin off and seed (dont remove all the seeds just clean it up a bit and remove the seed pod at the top. ) dice this up
Seriano Peppers Now some people just use Jalapenos and I use them too the Seriano gives a lot of flavor and great heat. you really have to gage the heat here so if you are worried about the heat, make sure to remove the seed AND the white pith, the pith is where the real heat is.
Jalapenos like the seriano the Jalapeno is hot though not as hot as hot as the Seriano the combination of these pepers are IMOH the best in flavor and heat.

Additional note on the peppers the Seriano and Jalapenos have a much more delicate flesh than the Pablano but you still should get the skin off them. just be extremely careful on your time under the brioler because you can burn them to a crisp in just a few seconds.

lastly i do use some tomato paste. but Again, this is more of an adjustment to mello the flavor than a key ingredient. find a really good tomato paste. I prefer the stuff in the tube instead of the can.

Well that isnt really a recipe but it is a great start on making a really good Chili. There are a lot of other spices that you can add and also other fresh veggies too but for me this is the base. Everything else is an adjustment. I do encurrage "adjustments" and will likely try coffee the next time I make chili.

some extra tips, dont over do the chili powder and dont try to add chili powder then taste emediatly to see what you have done. Chili powder needs a good 15 or 20 minutes to settle in as you simmer. Also the complexity will change over 24 hours. your leftovers the next day often taste better than the day you cook.

another tip? DONT USE LEAN MEAT! Chili isnt something that is made with expensive cuts of meat. Chili is peasant food and you cant approximate the flavor of the cheeper cuts by using lean high end roasts. these "better cuts of meat" cant take cooking for long periods because they dont have enough connective tissue. use the ceep stuff.
bump for Easty!

Most recently I have been using a combo of Chuck Roast (beef) and Country ribs (pork) that i dice up by hand. I cut the pieces about the size of the nickle
__________________
If I do something stupid blame the Lortab!
My Countdown Counting down to: Days left till the end of the opressive Texas Summer!

Last edited by Ferd; 02-20-2009 at 03:36 PM.
Reply With Quote