More chilis. Dry peppers are generally available at any mega-mart. The wider the variety, the deeper the flavor.
Try chunked pork shoulder along with chunked beef. A 50/50 mix is nice. Dump all vegetation that isn’t peppers, onions or tomato (and I guess beans.) Don’t use sausage in any form - it adds spices you might not want (fennel in chili?).
Don’t know if I’ve seen dried peppers - are they typically in a little plastic bag? In the produce section?
mmm
They’re found in most stores of any size these days. They may be over in the produce section or on the end of an aisle nearby. Yes, they’re sold in bags.
Around here they are usually at the end of an aisle near produce. The brand at my local grocery is El Guapo. Super fresh, super cheap. I think the 4 oz. of cumin I picked up the other day cost $.69.
Is it next to the Three Amigos salsa? 
I agree although, as mentioned before, chorizo should work out okay, but don’t go crazy with it.
I’m not sure about the bacon idea. I’d go uncured and unsmoked pork (as the aforementioned pork butt) myself for a chili. Then again, the tasters may love bacon in the chili, so who knows?
You can’t go wrong with a tablespoon of powdered oriental mustard per gallon of chili.
Whole dried chiles could present a problem. Remember that no prep work will be allowed before the event. Normally, you’d either grind the chiles before adding them to the stew, or fish them out after they’ve been hydrated and puree them in a blender. Will Mean Mr. Mustard be able to do either of these at the venue?
Really, I don’t think you want chili with whole anchos or pasillas in it.
I would have assumed that bringing your “house blend” chile powder would have been allowed by the rules. Is grinding up dried chiles beforehand against the spirit of the rules? I wouldn’t think so. Otherwise, you can definitely buy already ground anchos, guajillos, pasillas, and moritas if you want to.
talk about too many cooks in the kitchen…
bell peppers? beans?
in my opinion, a good chili is simple. very simple. if you’re already using ground meat, why add in beans as just more filler? then filler up the filler with onions and green peppers? then filler those some more with bacon bits and celery? just craziness in a can.
you asked for secret ingredients and the usuals are:
molasses for coloring/sweetness
bitter choco for flavor (an entire bar is probably too much. use half.)
booze - beer/bourbon works best imo
cumin and dried chilis as spices
things like worcestershire and tamarind are just too strong/bizarre a taste to introduce to meat and tomato paste where smokiness and cowboy-ness are the tastes you’re looking for.
i would almost rather you use corn/onions than beans as extra filler if you’re dead set on adding veggies to the mix. tomato paste + pork butt + flank steak + ground beef/sausage is more than enough substance for a chili though.
Back to the no beans bullshit again? I thought that was put to rest upthread.
The OP is from Up North, where beans are not only allowed but expected.
I recommend caution with using chunks of meat in a soupy northern chili. The amount of liquid and the leaner consistency of stewing meats can lead to a blander and somewhat tough consistency. Chunks work great in Texas Red and in really dense chilis with a lot of spice, but in a mild chili with lots of tomato and beans it can end up being off-putting. Imagine a spaghetti sauce with chunks of beef instead of ground.
The ideal solution I think is to select a few cuts of beef and pork. Some shoulder, some chuck and some sirloin maybe and have the butcher give it a very coarse grind for you. It’ll have texture but still break down all those fibers.
Bolding mine. I make spaghetti sauce not only with chunks of beef, but also pork. Braising meat for several hours is a standard method for tenderizing. The only place I use ground beef in spaghetti is in the meatballs.
Not sure what you mean here. You shouldn’t be using lean cuts for stew (if that’s what you meant by “leaner consistency.”) If you use a stewing or braising cut like my favorite boneless short ribs, chuck, shank, etc., that stuff will turn into butter after a few hours of simmering. A lot of stew recipes say something like 2 hours, but I find it’s more like 3 hours to get that meat to properly break down and turn soft and succulent.
And, yeah, chunks of meat in a spaghetti sauce is pretty standard when I’m doing a “Sunday gravy” type spaghetti sauce. I only use ground beef for a bolognese.
ETA: You could meet halfway and use some ground and some hand-cubed beef. That way, the ground contributes to the thickness and body of the chili, while you still get the lovely chunks of meat.
Crap. Now I’m really hankering for a batch of spaghetti sauce. Hell, just the meatballs are worth the all-day effort to make this. I often just ignore the pasta and eat it as a meat stew, or add some fagioli for some extra body. And the meatball sandwiches for leftovers are to die for.
You don’t add the beans as filler or as a substitute for meat, of course. You add the beans as beans. You might as well ask why you should use beans in cassoulet, when you already have meat in it.
I just made some swiss steak last night, and ate some of the leftovers today. I always liked the texture of long-cooked round steak. I wonder if anyone ever made chili that way? It’s only a small step from ground beef chili to round steak chili, and it would look classier.
Sure. Google “round steak chili” for examples. It’s pretty much impossible to come up with a culinary idea somebody else hasn’t had.
Of course; I just wondered if anyone here had and if they recommended it. I wanna win that cookoff next year, no matter what it takes1