# Chili con carne - how do you do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-con-carne-how-do-you-do-it/772102 "2016-11-15T22:42:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-con-carne-how-do-you-do-it/772102/41 "2016-11-19T21:59:12Z")
A few years back I made a chili using half skirt steak and half chorizo for the meat. It took first place in a chili contest\*. mmm \*There were only two entries, but still, it drew raves ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-con-carne-how-do-you-do-it/772102/42 "2016-11-19T22:21:24Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Anchovies? Anchovies? In chili? Packed with umami. Nobody will taste the fishyness, but it will give chili that extra richness that puts it over the top. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-con-carne-how-do-you-do-it/772102/43 "2016-11-20T00:11:49Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > The beans/no beans camp really don’t understand each other. Beans should at least be served on the side along with beanless chili. I make frijoles con cueso that is to die for! :o ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-con-carne-how-do-you-do-it/772102/44 "2016-11-20T01:00:38Z")
We got quite a cold snap today here in Chicago and chili popped into my mind. My chili riffs on [this recipe](http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=175963#p175963). Maybe a little more cumin and a lot more garlic and onion. I don’t always have Spice House chile powder onhand, either. I haven’t made it with the recipe’s full complement of meats (skirt steak, ground beef-veal-pork, summer sausage) in ages and usually just use maybe 70-30% ground chuck-chorizo. Make sure it is good fresh chorizo, not that neon orange, plastic cased Supremo grease tube stuff. Sam Adams Boston Lager is a good base liquid. I go back and forth on the beans. Next time will be with, last time was without. I can see anchovies working in chili. I love them anyway and they would really add some punch. Whenever I’m using a recipe that calls for a couple anchovies, I know the can will be empty within a couple hours of opening. > [@Mr\_Quatro](#): > > Go to Wendy’s purchase a bowl of chili, taste a spoon full, find out what is in it and then throw it away and don’t make it that way. I’ll disagree with you here. Wendy’s chili is one of the few fastfoods I can enjoy (a lot) without any guilt. Their hot sauce is really good, too. Extra onion, no cheese, a couple packets of black pepper and maybe a squirt of sour cream if I’m feeling indulgent. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-con-carne-how-do-you-do-it/772102/45 "2016-11-20T01:10:10Z")
Like Mr Quatro, I like Carroll Shelby’s Chili Fixin’s. Meat is usually beef, often pork, sometimes chicken. Usually not ground, though I do use ground (“minced,” for the Brits) beef/pork sometimes. I’ve even made it with half ground and half not. Add a chopped onion (if there’s one available) whilst browning the meat. Tomato sauce, per Shelby’s directions, but using red wine instead of water, plus diced tomatoes. When I add the spices I also add a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder. And some chopped jalapenos or other peppers, if I have them on hand. Tinned pinto and/or black beans, making sure that I get all of the juice out of the tin as well. These get added near the end – one of my kids hates beans, so I let her get herself a bowl before I add them. Sour cream and/or grated cheese atop it, and maybe a baked potato or tater tots under it. My daughter likes it extra hot, so I try to make it to suit her, and let everyone else use the additives to cool it down a bit. (Besides, I _like_ sour cream and cheese on my chili!) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-con-carne-how-do-you-do-it/772102/46 "2016-11-20T01:14:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Possums have shells? > [@terentii](#): > > Aren’t parts of their bodies covered with a thick hide, sort of like the “armor” on an armadillo? No. Why did God make armadillos? So the rednecks could have possum on the half shell. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-con-carne-how-do-you-do-it/772102/47 "2016-11-20T10:53:54Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > I can see anchovies working in chili. I love them anyway and they would really add some punch. Whenever I’m using a recipe that calls for a couple anchovies, I know the can will be empty within a couple hours of opening. I use one can, minced, in a 6-8 quart batch of chili. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-con-carne-how-do-you-do-it/772102/48 "2016-11-20T15:09:10Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > I’ll disagree with you here. Wendy’s chili is one of the few fastfoods I can enjoy (a lot) without any guilt. Their hot sauce is really good, too. Extra onion, no cheese, a couple packets of black pepper and maybe a squirt of sour cream if I’m feeling indulgent. Yup. I’m trying to cut back my calories. And for fast food, it’s much better than a burger. Anybody else use celery in their chili? The bitterness and crunch just works. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chili-con-carne-how-do-you-do-it/772102.md?page=2)