General

[StJimmy666]

Thanks guys, I've put all these in my recipe book. I'll probably be trying Flounder's or Gainman's just cause they seem relatively painless and my secret ingredient will work well with both of them.(and will allow me to sneak out of the house to class). Keep em coming though

[Fubarius]

Here's mine, though I do tend to experiment a lot so it changes a bit every time. I'm going by memory here so the order may be a bit weird.

2 lbs meat of choice. Usual is ground beef, but I'll often use ground venison if I have any (hopefully be restocking the freezer next week, if the hunt goes well).
half a pound of bacon.
2 large cans tomato sauce.
1 medium can diced tomato.
1 can dark red kidney beans (and no more, this chili is all about meaty goodness)
1 chopped onion.
however much garlic as you like.
4 fresh jalapenos diced, with out the seeds, unless you like the heat.
any other peppers you enjoy.
a quarter can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped fine. If you like your food to make you sweat throw the whole can in.
quarter cup chili powder.
worcestershire sauce.
Lawry's seasoning salt.
salt and pepper.

First fry up the bacon fairly crispy, but not burnt. Do it all in the same pan. In batches if you prefer, but save all the grease that renders out. Pull out the bacon and let it cool a bit, then crumble and throw into a big pot. In the bacon grease saute the onions and garlic. When the onions start to soften toss in the fresh peppers for a bit. Then dump into the chili pot. Add sauce, diced tomatoes, and beans to the pot and start simmering, lid off of course. Brown the meat with a good dose of lawry's and a bit of chili powder. Drain grease and add the meat to the pot. At this point I like to deglaze the pan with some hot water and worchestershire sauce. Scrape up any tasty brown bits from the pan and let the water and worchestershire sauce boil off a bit until it starts to thicken a bit, then add to the pot.

Add chili powder, salt, and pepper to taste. Chop up the chipotle peppers and add to the pot a little at a time, tasting as you go, until you get the right amount of heat. Simmer until properly thick. If the spoon doesn't stand up on it's own, it ain't done.

[alpha434]

Southerners? Like Southern-aligned states and provinces? Or like "people south of you"?

[Finnigan]

I don't have an amazing chili recipe. We usually just make fast and dirty chili. However, I was introcuced to one ingredient I like to play with from time to time and I haven't seen it listed here yet, so I'll throw it out there.

Dark Chocolate.

for a batch (1lb beef size) IIRC I used maybe half of a flat bar of chocolate, or maybe less. Snap the pieces off and chop it up so it melts easy. Aparently the Mayans were fond of mixing chocolate and chili as a drink, and chocolate does work well in chili. If you have doubts hit the candy aisle in the supermarket. You can find chocolate bars with chili in them there to taste. I know Lindt makes them at least.

I like lots of the ingredients I'm seeing in this thread. I will be trying some. Thanks all; now I'm hungry.

EDIT: I may be disqualified as I'm a yankee.

[gainman]

Dark Chocolate is the secret ingredient of one of my buddies. It's a good one. But mine is way better :-)

[Ramous]

This thread is GOLD!

[Millar156]

I've won my local chili cook off 4 years running.

I'd post my recipe but without the "Secret Ingredient" it wouldn't even be close. I always said I'd give up the recipe if I ever lost but that hasn't hppened yet.

Hmmm give me some time to think about it. Maybe I'll cough up the goods.

[StJimmy666]

Feel free to PM it

Originally Posted by gainman

Dark Chocolate is the secret ingredient of one of my buddies. It's a good one. But mine is way better :-)

Mine was peanut butter until there was an incident at the cottage when my Uncle decided to share...uh-oh

Now everyone knows :'(

[wolf13]

sorry I don't have measurements, I dump to taste but i do pretty good chili the way I like it, not very chunky, a little sweet and NEVER beans:

Meat is usually equal 1 part ground beef/venison/possibly part lamb and 1 part sausage. I cook sausage first, then the ground meat with some VERY diced onion and crushed garlic.

once both meats are brown, I add to that tomato juice, crushed tomatoes, 1 package (if full pot, otherwise a little less, i try to use it at about half to 2/3rds the rate or just a little more since i spice it up) medium chili seasoning (yes i cheat, but it makes a decent base to start with. I am not a big fan of cumin so it lets me adjust a little farther), garlic, oregano and onion powder and start simmering. I like to pulverize a medium carrot and half a bell pepper in the food processor and add as well, with a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

I then open 1 can of chipotle chili's in adobo sauce and run the chilies through the food processor reserving the sauce. Add chilies and their sauce to bring the heat to desired levels. It does tend to get hotter later on so don't go over board, a 1/4 to a half a can can give a fair bit of kick. top off the pot with hard cider, usually about 1/2 bottle. let simmer for a while, at least 45 minutes, then add brown sugar to take the edge off and some extra tomato juice if you need to thin it out. at this point you should have sampled a bit and you may decide you want a little more depth, which can be some more of the seasoning packet, some more heat from chilies, a little extra salt (usually not needed). The brown sugar is totally to taste, only use a little if you want a harsher chili, use more if you want a sweeter chili. I like mine slightly sweet but not candy level. let simmer another half hour or so before serving. good the first day, better by the third.

[Surf2Live]

Originally Posted by martix_agent

chilli without beans? blasphemy!

Put beans in your chili in Texas and they'll tie you to the back of their truck and drag you down the road. Chili doesn't have beans