Corn tortillas are used because that is what are far more commonly consumed and found in the great majority of Mexican kitchens. In most parts of Mexico, including the north where flour tortillas are more popular, corn tortillas are a daily staple. My wife makes homemade flour tortillas on occasion for special dishes. One dish is a burrito ahogado and is drowned in sauce. The flour tortilla holds up just fine. And the tortilla in traditional enchiladas are simply dredged in a sauce, not drenched like those served in the USA.
I often boil myself a bowl of Rotini and rice, with a can of chili mixed in. Garlic powder and pepper. Boil the whole shootin’ match. Yum!
I’ve done similar things as well. I just wonder if anyone puts pasta by default into plain ol’ “chili.” Chili with stuff mixed in is usually called “chili mac” or “chili with spaghetti” or something like that. My dad makes a chili soup that contains pasta, but that’s “chili soup” and often contains stuff like corn and even green beans in it.
In our family, the spaghetti is always cooked with the chili. Now, chili mac is chili with macaroni and is a popular kids’ dish and our grandmother was 1) a cafeteria worker for decades and B) the sort of cook that says “meh, pasta is pasta” so this could be a corruption of what she cooked vats of at work. She also never ate out, so she wouldn’t have encountered authentic chili anywhere. What gets me is her kids and grandkids are much more well-traveled, so everyone should know better by now. Make chili or make chili mac, but spaghetti is just wrong.
There’s a Lao food cart about two blocks from here that makes the same thing, with the added benefit of cashews.
Unfortunately yes. Except it is usually elbow macaroni. My wife’s family from Milwaukee did that and now my wife does. Pretty much a normal Chili (with beans) but then she tosses a handful or so of the elbows in and lets them simmer the last 15 minutes or so.
My biggest fear is my kids will follow this practice. I try to make them real chili as often as I can, but sometimes she is too quick for me… and the kids actually seem to like it.
Chili Mac to me is a box of Max and Cheese with a can of Hormel Chili stirred in. Pretty good bachelor food.
This is reasonably close to what she makes.
Yeah, around here (although I think you’re near here, aren’t you, or am I thinking of someone else) “chili mac” is usually just elbow macaroni with chili, not mac & cheese. I was at the local chili parlor a few weeks ago and had to order mac & cheese and chili separately to get this sort of chili mac & cheese, as their regular chili mac was the above. ETA: Looking online, though, it seems to go both ways.
Are all you weirdos who put macaroni into your chili really just talking about “Beefaroni?”
AKA “American Chop Suey” and “Johnny Marzetti?”
(really just a mess of macaroni, ground beef, tomato, onion, and maybe green pepper cooked together in a skillet, found in obscure pockets of New England and the Midwest, where the addition of ground chiles or garlic would cause the locals to collapse and writhe on the ground due to the powerful and incomprehensible flavors)
Basically, but with chili spices. Also similar to what is called “goulash” (not to be confused with the Hungarian dish) in parts of the US.
Damn. We have nearly as many names for hamburger-and-macaroni-in-a-pan as we do for foot-long sandwiches.
Indy area… so not too far away, but Chicago has quite a different food profile.
And no, it is not like Johnny Marzetti. JM is more like a casserole and not as spicy. Although I’ve also had a lot of bland Midwest chili it always has at least some chili powder in it. JM is also baked and usually has cheese either baked on top or mixed in.
The kind of chili I’m talking about is basically more or less a regular pot of chili that just has elbow macaroni tossed in. The link I provided is actually a bit thicker than what we make (no tomato paste in ours). JM you spoon out on a plate and it holds it’s form more or less… Midwest Chili is served in a bowl.
Holy Shit!
32 oz of canned tomatoes…plus 6 oz tomato paste…PLUS 12 oz V-8 juice? To ONE POUND of beef and 1 1/2 tsp chile powder? No garlic, no oregano? CELERY? Sounds like tomato soup with a little meat flavoring.
Well it is a thread about things made wrong after all.
It isn’t really what she makes but it is roughly similar. Fewer tomatoes, no paste, no V-8. Lots more chili powder, also garlic, but no oregano. And yes, celery chopped fine is actually pretty good in chili. I also usually try to sneak in a small can of diced jalapenos. We also use hot chili beans to add a bit more flavor as well.
Not at all what I would normally make unless I’m told specifically to make “her” kind.
No offense meant. I LIKE tomato soup.
Not unorthodox.
With you on that one. I like a little moisture to still be present, not getting my mouth coated with powder when I take a bite.
I drain most of the water out of ramen before adding the seasoning packet.
I agree with this one, too. The texture of less-than-well-done ground beef trips my gag reflex. I’m fine with steak anywhere along the scale (although I prefer medium), but a burger MUST be well-done.