Texan here. I’ve never heard of chili with out a tomato base. That sounds more like a Coney sauce! (Not really)
I actually won third place with this easy recipe:
Various (charred) bell peppers, charred hot peppers, an onion, garlic cloves, a can of whole tomatoes. Puree the shit out of all that in a bleder. Pour mixture in crock pot along with browned chili ground beef, simmer for a good 8hrs (I threw in various other spices along with some red wine vinegar.)
If you Google “Texas chili” with “no tomatoes” you will find a number of sources that suggest the addition of tomatoes is met with a raised eyebrow in at least some parts of Texas. Hell, like I said, there’s even those who go a step further and say “no onions,” too.
For example, from here:
Or here is something suggesting tomatoes as a controversial ingredient:
(Also, note the chili recipe given is tomato-less.)
I’m certainly not saying most Texas chilis are made that way–the few times I have had a bowl of red in Texas it’s usually been with tomatoes, but not always.
It’s kind of interesting to me, as you get the same sort of argument in Hungary with pörkölt (often called “Hungarian goulash” here), which is a similar dish to the purist’s Texas chili, except that onions are essential. While tomatoes, when they are used, are fairly minimal, (and usually in the form of a couple tablespoons of paste), there is a contingent that argues for no tomato products of any kind ever in the recipe.
FTR pulykamell, I never doubted you. I just found it interesting I’ve never heard of Texas chili with out a tomato base.
I abandoned tomatoes several years ago and haven’t looked back. I was just getting tired of the acidic finished product. I find that it just tastes a bit richer without tomatoes.
I don’t mind a small amount of tomato paste, but don’t use it myself.
ETA: I think it’s a little odd that we have a Texan here that hasn’t heard of tomato-less chili. My Texas friends were the ones who suggested I was a heathen for using it in the first place.
What, under the broiler?
I’ve tried roasting the peppers, but I’ve never noticed it makes any difference to the flavor, and it’s an awful lot of trouble to peel the burnt skins off.
BTW, for a four-pounds-of-meat recipe, I use 4 habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers, 8 Anaheims or New Mexicos, 4 poblanos and 4 jalapenos.
. . . Chili without grease?
Invented to make trail-jerky palatable, by some accounts.
Well, what do you use to thin it – water, beer, broth? And is the resultant consistency like chicken soup, or split-pea soup, or what?
Wait, is beef the only acceptable meat in Texas-style? No pork or lamb?
If there are no tomatoes, why is Texas Red red? Paprika?
Watch your mouth or I take the next step to okra.
Unless it’s Cincinnati chili, or a chili-like substance with that name, which is essentially a spaghetti sauce . . . actually; meat fine-ground, boiled without browning, served over spaghetti, with optional toppings (beans, raw chopped onions, oyster crackers, shredded cheddar cheese). Most recipes include chocolate.
I guess when you live in Ohio you have to complicate things to make life interesting.
What does the mole paste do to/for the flavor?
Cincinnati chili is, indeed, an odd thing. But I like it! Your description of it being more a spaghetti sauce than a chili is pretty much right-on. I was surprised at how liquid Skyline chili was. But I gotta tell ya, I love the way it tasted on a hot dog with that giant mound of cheese, as well as in a 5-way over spaghetti. I normally am not a big fan of chili dogs, but the chili was the perfect foil for the rather lackluster hot dogs they use.
I like it, it adds a another layer of complexity. Subtle, but detectable.
Once again, the parallels I mentioned with the Hungarian pörkölt dish are intersting. Essentially, herdsmen would take dried meat out into the field with some onions and paprika and make themselves a stew by cooking it and adding water. Kind of interesting to see how two similar dishes developed thousands of miles apart. (To my knowledge, Texas chili predates the Hungarian dish by a bit.)
Chile peppers (which paprika is, of course, a type of, but different chiles are usually used in chili).
I use corn meal as a thickener.
what?
Nothing wrong with that, although masa harina is a bit more common.
Paprika is just ground chili peppers, just a specific variety of them. New Mexican ground chilis tend to be bright red, while ground anchos can be red/brown.
1lb. ground beef browned, seasoned and drained.
1lb. sirloin cut into 1/2" cubes browned and seasoned.
2 lg. green bell pepper
2 lg. red bell pepper
2 lg. yellow bell pepper
2 or 3 scotch bonnets (or favorite hot pepper)
1 lg. sweet white onion (vidalia)
1 lg. red onion
3 sticks celery
2 lg. carrots
1-24oz. can whole pealed tomatoes
1 lg. head garlic
1 bottle beer
chili powder
thyme
cumin
smoked paprika
garlic powder
onion powder
salt
black pepper
white pepper
oregano
cilantro
bay leaf
-Process in the food processor 1 ea. of the peppers, white onion, celery and carrots till fine paste.
-Add to stock pot with can of tomatoes (crush tomatoes in hand to desired consistency).
-Cut remaining peppers and red onion into 3/4in. pieces and roast on sheet pan in 350[sup]o[/sup]F. oven till edges start to blacken.
-Add to pot along with browned seasoned meat.
-Add whole head of garlic and 2 or 3 bay leaves (remove before refrigerating).
-Season to taste.
-Simmer for 2 hr. at least.
-Add beer while simmering to maintain desired thickness.
-Refrigerate overnight reheat to serve.
In cook-offs which are using “homestyle” rules, anything goes for what you put in. If it’s Texas-style, though, any meat which isn’t beef is disqualifying. (Some cooks will use bacon grease to sauté the meat at the beginning of the recipe, or put pork/porkbones in that they remove before judging, which is perfectly legal.) Many cook-offs are both, and cooks will make one pot of Texas-style and one pot of homestyle and be judged separately on each. Tomato sauce/paste/puree is, BTW, acceptable in Texas-style.
For the curious, here’s my recipe for homestyle chili;
1/4 cup olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ground beef chili grind
1 lb. ground pork
1 tbls. salt
1 tbls. black pepper
4 tbls. chili powder
2 tbls. cumin
1 packet Sazon Goya (You can find this at Mexican grocery stores)
1/3rd cup cornstarch, dissolved in 1/3rd cup water
3 fresh jalapeno peppers, chopped
3 Anaheim peppers, seeded and minced
4 serrano peppers, chopped
1 habanero peppers, seeded and minced
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup beef broth
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. white vinegar
1 drop liquid smoke
In a large, thick-bottomed stockpot, warm olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, salt, and pepper, and saute for 3-5 minutes until onions are softened. Add beef and pork, combine thoroughly, and cook until fully browned. (Do NOT drain.)
Add beans and all peppers and stir to mix. Add chili powder, cumin, and Sazon Goya, and stir to mix. Reduce heat to medium-low and add cornstarch drop by drop, as necessary until all the grease in the pot is bound, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.
Add tomato sauce and broth and stir to mix. Bring to boil and add vinegar and liquid smoke.
Reduce heat to low and simmer 1 1/2 - 2 hours, stirring often to prevent scorching, until sauce has thickened and peppers have softened.
The most important thing is to keep the heat low and stir often enough to prevent the bottom of the pan from scorching. Having a thick-bottomed pot will also help here. If you do happen to scorch the chili, transfer it to a new pot as soon as possible and add a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter - it neutralizes any burnt flavor left over and won’t be noticeable in the final product.