I got a great buy on a couple of pounds of top round. Perfect for a pot of chili. So dopers give me your best chili recipe.
Shouldn’t this be in Great Debates?
Do you want great chili, or easy chili? This is time consuming, but the chili kills!
You’ve already got two pounds of meat - this recipe calls for three pounds. Either buy another pound of meat or just use the two pounds you have - it’s up to you.
Brew up a pot of coffee and leave it on the burner while you go to the store.
At the store, buy a 3 lb chuck roast, some onions, some chili powder, some ground cumin, some garlic, a 4 oz. can of green chile peppers, some masa flour and some beer.
When you get home, cut the roast into cubes about 2” square. (Yes, I know, you can buy pre-cut stew meat, but trust me, this is better.)
After you’ve got it all cut up, brown the meat thoroughly in a 3 quart Dutch over, one pound at a time. Remove each batch with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the juice and drippings in the dutch over.
Chop up an onion, and sauté the onion in the meat juices until it’s tender – maybe 5 minutes. Add two cloves of chopped garlic and sauté that with the onion another minute or so. To this add three tablespoons of chili powder and a tablespoon of ground cumin, and a tablespoon or two of Tabasco sauce. Stir all this together and cook over medium high heat for another minute or so.
Return the beef to the pot. In a 4-cup measuring cup, pour in a bottle of beer. When the foam subsides add enough of the coffee that’s been sitting on the coffee maker warming plate to bring the liquid level in the measuring cup to three cups. Pour that into the pot along with the drained can of green chiles.
Bring this to a rolling boil, stirring it up while boiling for a minute, then reduce the heat to simmer and let it cook uncovered for one to two hours, or until the beef is very tender.
Now take a couple of tablespoons of the masa flour and mix it with hot water to for a watery paste. Pour that into the chili pot and stir till it thickens. Repeat this with more masa flour and water until it gets to the thickness that you like.
Serve with chopped onion and sour cream on the side, if you like.
Notice, there are NO beans, and NO tomato paste/sauce in this recipe!
uh - that should read, “to form a watery paste”! :smack:
Labdad’s sounds pretty damn good, mine is similar but I do add a can of “petite diced” tomatoes.
Also I cut the meat into smaller cubes and brown it in bacon grease.
I second the “move it to GD” idea. This could get bloody, especially if a “beans-in” person shows up. 
My chili is sort of a Zen thing. It all depends on what I have available. Labdad has a good basic recipe. Personally, I would dump the coffee and add more garlic and more chilis (ancho, poblano, whatever you have). I would also dump in a can of stewed tomatoes, or better yet a can of Ro-Tel.
The best chili I ever made consisted of moose meat, chilis, and some spices. We ate the whole pot with Fritos, standing over the stove.
Uh, yes. I neglected to mention what you brown the meat in. Bacon grease is preferable, but if you don’t have any, you can use vegetable oil. And there’s nothing sacred about 2-inch cubes. I just like big hunks o’beef in my chili!
Absolutely. It’s almost as bad as asking “hey I’m thinking of buying a computer …”
Crushed tomatoes
red kidney beans
white navy beans
lots of garlic
lots of chili powder
lots of onion powder
a bit of oregano
Brown the meat, saute onions in the juices, then add the rest and let it simmer away. Salt pepper and hot sauce to taste.
<begins running away from the “no bean” enthusiasts, leaving a stinky beanfart cloud to slow them down>
Ok, as long as we started the thread with apostasy (no tomatoes???), I don’t feel bad about continuing the trend. Here’s my recipe:
mrklutz’s not-Texas Chili
This chili, while very tasty, will be scorned by Texas purists because it uses a variety of meats. You were warned.
Ingredients
1 pound tip steak
1 pound turkey breast
1 pound ham (real ham, not the water-injected processed stuff)
2 large cans diced tomatoes
2 cans chili beans
1 large red onion
fresh hot peppers (type and quantity to taste)
cumin (several tablespoons)
garlic (lots)
pepper
salt
oregano (about ¼ tsp – ½ tsp)
celery seed (optional)
1 bottle of beer (I prefer to use Killian’s Red. Just don’t use a stout – it makes the chili too sweet)
Instructions
- Cube the meat (skip this step if you choose to include the optional grilling step later)
- Dice the onion and peppers, and crush the garlic
- Marinate the meat overnight in the beer with the onion, peppers, garlic and spices
- {Optional} Remove the meat from the marinade. Sear it thoroughly on a very hot grill, then cube it. (This will add a nice smoky flavor if done properly.)
- Place the meat and marinade in a stockpot. Boil gently until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Add the tomatoes. Bring to a low boil.
- Taste and add more seasonings as you reduce the chili.
- Simmer (almost at a boil) until the chili is very thick.
- Add the beans. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar, and cornbread.
This is my own recipe. It’s relatively quick to throw together but has received raves from my friends.
2 lbs. flank steak
2 white onions
8 cloves of garlic
1 large can of crushed tomatos
1 small can of tomato paste
1 bottle of beer
ground chili powder
ground cumin
ground chipotle pepper
Cut the steak into small (3/4") cubes. Toss it in the pot with the onions and cook over high heat until browned. Mince the garlic and add it as the meat finishes browning so it doesn’t burn.
Dump in the tomatos, the tomato paste and the beer. Add equal parts chili power and cumin (about 4 Tbs each) and a dash of chipotle. Stir it up.
Let it simmer for three hours or so, adding water if it gets too thick. By that point the meat dissolves into the sauce.
Add two cans of pinto beans near the end if you like that sort of thing.
We have many ways of making chili in the Bunny household, however all of them have one thing in common:
must simmer for at least 6 hours.
Beans and tomatos yes, mesa flour, big yes
Beer and coffee no thank you.
Sorry, my best chili recipe is Black Bean Turkey chili.
Does anyone still want it? It’s really good.
About 1 lb of ground turkey
1 onion (size based on how much you like onion) - chopped
several large garlic cloves (fresh garlic is essential!) - chopped
2 (15 oz, I believe) cans of black beans, drained
8 (15 oz, I believe) cans of stewed tomatoes in liquid - best to put it in a food processor for a quick spin to chunk up the tomatoes
1.5 tablespoons (minimum - more if you can take it) chili powder
1 small can diced green chiles (again, this is a minimum amount)
1 tsp. salt
(optional - chopped fresh or dried cilantro, to taste)
Brown the ground turkey with the chopped onion. Drain off excess fat. Add all the other ingrediants, bring to boil, then lower to about medium, cover with a lid & let simmer for at least 30 minutes.
Wow, is that ever easy!
I use pork roast when I can, browned with lots of onion. Three cans of tomatoes (whatever kind you like) a can each of black red and kidney beans, roasted peppers (jalepenos, anaheims, poblanos, whatever), corn, lots and lots of chili powder. Simmer for hours. There’s no need to thicken if you let it cook long enough.
I started out with Labdad’s recipe.
Damn good chili.
Thanks all
I think it’s safe to say that both the bean and no-bean chilli crowds can unite and at least both agree that Thunderbolt Chilli is an abomination.
I think most people with tastebuds could agree on that. Yerch.
Having skipped the entire thread, all I have to say is take your favorite recipe, and add two tablespoons of cumin.
Glad you liked it, Rick. Unlikely as it may sound, the beer and coffee do give it a great flavor!