The Glade 4.0

Made a big pot of it tonight, just put it in the fridge after simmering for 4 hours. It has been a while since I have made it, I think I did it just a little spicier than I like - its not super hot it has that slow burn just to the edge of being super hot.

Everyone has a chili recipe they like so one size does not fit everyone but here is mine.

3 lbs ground beef (I don't like the chunky Texas style)
1 large chopped onion
2 large cans dark red kidney beans
1 large can of tomato paste
1 Large can of tomato juice (I usually like to use stewed tomatoes but my wife doesn't like tomato chunks so I make it this way for her)
3 jalapeno peppers diced
2 Serrano peppers diced
1 habanero pepper diced
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
Chili powder to taste (I usually use about 2 tsp)
~ 1 tsp Hungarian paprika
a dash or 2 of red pepper
salt and pepper to taste


Brown beef with 1 of the diced jalapeno and salt and pepper

Drain beef

Saute the onion, garlic and diced chili's until onion is slightly brown (When dicing the chili's remove seeds according to heat desired may take a few times to figure out how hot you like it. Sometimes I save back some of the seeds and add if needed later. Usually for mine though I remove the seeds from 2 of the jalapeno, keep all of the Serrano peppers and just a smidgen of the habanero)

Mix onion and peppers into the beef and salt and pepper again

add one can of beans with juice and one can drained

add tomato paste and then enough tomato juice to cover everything (usually 1 whole large can)

Let simmer for at least 4 hours on low heat

You can also substitute black beans for the kidney beans and it turns out good as well

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I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil

Mine is similar, but I use less meat relative to the other stuff, and I add corn.

I use about 1/2 lb ground sirloin (lean)
1 can light and one can dark red kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles
1 can diced tomatoes with garlic, onions and peppers
1 can whole white/yellow corn
Season to taste (Cumin, Paprika, Cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, etc.)

I brown the beef along with onions, chives, peppers (really whatever I have around) in a big cast iron dutch oven on the stove, then add in the tomatoes and corn undrained, and the two cans of beans washed and drained. The undrained tomatoes and corn give about enough liquid for the whole thing, in my mind.

Then I simmer it several hours, depending on how much of a hurry I'm in. I usually keep it in the pot and put it back on the stove to simmer some more on successive evenings to let it get a little more flavor-mixed- I do the same thing in the winter when I make gumbo.

Mmm, I'm looking forward to gumbo season coming up! Start with a rooster carcass, and then keep the gumbo going for a week or more. As you take cups and bowels out to eat, you add more stuff in, and the flavor keeps getting better and better. We usually do it around Christmas/New years when we're at home more with people dropping in, it's like a bottomless pot.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Why the **** are you guys using ground beef instead of brisket, sirloin, or a roast?

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Two reasons:

Ground meat disperses more easily in the mix, and I don't like overly chunking chili;

And it's a faster prep, for me.

Besides, i use ground sirloin. Also, I always have ground beef around in packets in the freezer, so it's convenient.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

Fair. Totally fair.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Chili doesn't have to have premium cuts of meat in it. Chili is chuckwagon food, meant to be made in large batches to feed hungy cattle wranglers. It's filled with fillers like beans (and in this case corn). A good quality ground beef is fine.

I prefer my chili with ground meat over cuts of steak or whatever.

I see, so Rynar makes Executive or professional chili, while you make chuckwagon chili. Plenty of room for both in this world.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

See my original post right next to where I said ground beef, I don't like that texture in my chili. Some do some don't some don't care. As I said everyone has a recipe they like. There is no wrong or right on it.

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I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil

Fair, totally fair.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

I feel like this thread requires an "Epic Glade Chili Cook-off"!

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

I would like to volunteer to be a judge...

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This must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.

May as well ask why its not pork or chicken. It's a different style of chili and it's not really relevant to compare them just because they share the name 'chili'.

What the heck is 'Executive' chili? I only found once recipe via google with the name 'executive' in the title, and it was made with Ground Beef.

There are as many kinds of Chili as there are people who make it. I went to a Skyline drive through in Ohio way back in the day, and was rather put off by the Cinnamon Sauce over Spaghetti noodles they served me. That's not to say it's wrong. It's just not my thing.

I rarely make Chili any more, but when I do, due to the 'kitchen sink' nature of my chili cooking style, it rarely comes out exactly the same every time. I'll likely use whatever meat I happen to have handy (as long as it's ground), and while the seasoning base and chili base remains the same, the rest of the ingredients will vary depending on what's on the shelves.

I also happen to like beans in my Chili, while some people are offended by such a thing. I also tend to make my Chili hotter than most people can stand. It's even hot for me and I love hot food, but that's part of the experience for me. I also happen to like to put crackers in my chili. It's something I've done since I was a kid and it's just the way I like it.

All of that said, I would make a lousy judge at a chili cook off, because I have met very few bowls of chili that I didn't like (Skyline being the notable exception). I love chili. It doesn't have to be made with a particular meat, or beans, or peppers for me to like it. I have my preferences, but I'll eat and enjoy it in nearly any form (except the Cinnamon Sauce variety.. I'll pass on that one :p )

/down with Chili Snobs!

It's exactly the same thing, only you use a chunked and shredded beef instead of an inferior ground product. You would be absolutely right if I had specified a different protien or a vegetarian chili.

In every single southwestern chili cook-off I've competed in, all beef entries are under one tent.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Midgen I have never liked Cincinnati chili either which is what skyline is. there are people around here that love it but to me yuck. I used to live in the Southwest and I hated the chili there, if I want beef stew I will make beef stew which is what they make except they make it spicy and call it chili.

Nephyrs, I have never put corn in chili, but my mom always used an interesting ingredient. She would put in a bag of the frozen diced hash browns (not the shredded). I would bulk it up some and allow you to use a little less meat plus the starch from the potatoes would thicken it a little more. I still make it that way sometimes if I want to use less meat.

I have also used combination's of beef and sausage over the years as well which also turn out well.

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I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil

I completely agree on the "Beef Stew" vs Chili comment, Killuas.

If I have the time (and it's the right season) I prefer to take whole cobs, cut off the kernels, and then roast them in a cast iron pan with some peppers, and then add that mix to the chili.

I find the corn adds a nice bit of crunch to the rest, personally.

I also like to eat my chili with some shredded sharp cheddar, a bit of sour cream, and fragments of tortilla chips, but that's just me.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.

...

Fairly certain the entire reason people use ground beef in chili is the fat content, not the protein ... (as evidenced by your list of alternate beef cuts to use in point of fact).

Beef is bland ****. Let's be honest about it ...

Despite the American predilection for beef, beef is bland and generally neutral in every way. We cook with beef because it's a) cheap and b) easy to obtain with suitable amounts of fat for flavoring. But the beef itself ... the actual muscle? Bland, mostly texture-free crap that really isn't suitable for anything but calories.

We like Beef Fat though ...

In fact, we like Beef Fat more than we like Bacon Fat. Now, you guys might hem and haw and protest, but the truth is ...

Americans like Beef Fat more than just about any other fat on the planet.

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Midgen, think Eddie Izzard.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

I would argue that I "like" bacon fat better, but I certainly consume more beef fat, for the reasons you state...

My chili recipe uses a substantial amount of bacon fat for flavor, so in my case, the beef fat is a fairly minor contributor to the flavor... the beefs main role us as a texture enhancer :p

Lets see if I can remember the chili I made last week:

2 lbs 85% ground beef
2 lbs kidney
2 lbs tomato paste
1lb fava
2 medium sized white onions, diced
2 green peppers, diced
2 handfuls cherry tomatoes
4 habenero
4 serrano
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 half teaspoon dried mustard
2 clove garlic, crushed

(Would have put in dried jalepeno if I had it)

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

That's an assload of chili.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Isn't that the point?

I've eaten it almost every day since then and not in small amount and still have a container of it left.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

Sounds tasty Elmo.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

It's good - just honestly wish I had also planted some cayenne or that the deer didn't eat all the jalapeno before it grew peppers.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville