You’re not far off. The flavors come from the rendering and browning of meat, plus the chiles/onions/garlic. I make some curries in about the same way I make chili, and I picked up the spice blooming tip from a Madhur Jaffrey book before I saw Rick Bayless do it on his show. Picture of ‘typical’ Texas red
I personally don’t use tomato paste—she thinks it makes it too sweet, but I don’t see it as objectionable. I see enough “Texas chili” recipes that include it.
My suggestion from down in Texas - cubed boneless chuck, homemade chili powder (from toasted whole dried chilis (ancho, cascabel, arbol, etc) and cumin seeds whizzed up in a blender, plus some smoked paprika), a few garlic cloves, beef broth, some masa harina for thickening, S&P…brown meat, add liquid and other ingredients and simmer in a dutch oven for a few hours until the meat is falling apart…cook some dried kidney or pinto beans and add them if you must.
Indeed. Charro beans are proof that God loves us and wants to be happy. Even if we may be stuck in Texas.
I’ve made red chili with and without beans. And I’ve heard of chili recipes minimalist enough to omit onions. I like it without beans, but you do you. OTOH, white chicken chili, with gobs of fresh roasted Hatch chiles, is outstanding with white beans like cannellini.
Yeah, I was going to say, I’ve heard of recipes that skip out on the onions too, but leave in the garlic as the alium flavor. I use the onion because, well, I love onions and I’m very much influenced by how I cook the aforementioned pörkölt. I basically use the onions for sweetness and liquid (they release a LOT along with the meat when cooking down) and add a minimal amount of beef broth, just enough to keep it from scorching, so maybe a half cup for a couple-two-three pounds of meat? So the liquid that is left over is pretty concentrated beef, onion, and chili pepper goodness.
But, yeah, white chicken chili? Definitely beans in that. One of my friends does a white chicken chili that in addition includes fennel (as in the bulbous vegetable, not the seeds). I thought this was the craziest idea I’d ever heard, but it’s delicious.
No. Just … no. Corn belongs on the cob, or mixed with peas on Grandma’s dinner table, or in a livestock feed trough. It has no place in chili.
Not much to add, other than I’m looking forward to trying some of the suggestions here. Never though about cumin, for example. But no corn.
just don’t make bean and tomato soup with ground beef and call it chili …my northeast relatives do this and I have to hold my tongue …
Former WA state chili champion (well, OK, I was third place, but they put my photo in the paper, consarnit) checking in.
You’d better check the cookoff rules before you go using beans. Some of the major sanctioning bodies for chili cookoffs, such as CASI, explicitly forbid the use of beans or any other vegetables visible in the final broth. I use pinto beans if beans are expected - they add texture and stretch out the meat without throwing off the flavor too much.
I’ve never found it necessary. I make my broth with equal parts beef broth, chicken broth, and tomato sauce. (Keep an airplane bottle of vodka on hand, though - it can potentially save the batch if you scorch the pot.)
For God’s sake, man, at least thicken your chili a little. I recommend a roux made with cornstarch and the rendered beef/pork fat. Equal parts beef and pork is generally the way to go - again, unless the cookoff rules prohibit pork. I don’t recommend chunks of tomato either - just go with sauce as I mentioned above.
As mentioned above, you won’t win any cookoffs with McCormick’s. My go-to is a 50/50 mix of Gebhardt’s and Mexene (which you can order online if it’s not available locally. The only other spices I use are salt, pepper, cumin, and Sazon Goya (which you can find online or in a Hispanic grocery store, or possibly at Walmart). Possibly some onion powder and garlic powder if you’re not planning on using fresh stuff. Cocoa and cinnamon don’t belong in chili unless you’re in the greater Cincinnati area and you’ve got a hankering for spaghetti.
I like to kick up the flavor with some chopped green peppers - I usually use a few jalapenos, a few serranos, and one or two Anaheims.
That’s what I said. Till I tried it! Now I’m sold. It goes really wonderfully with it.
I have no time for regional purists, to be honest. It’s yummy lots of different ways, as far as I’ve been able to determine.
I, personally, would only use corn in a vegetarian chili, along with zucchini and yellow squash, and some extra beans, and maybe some cucumber.
Beanless chili is sloppy joe mix, meant to be put on a bun. Use pinto and kidney beans.
Green Peppers for sure. And I like to add some sliced celery. Nice texture, and adds a little bitter flavor.
Jalapenos and Tomatoes and chopped onion of course.
Now I’m sure I’m probably wrong for the true connoisseur. Pay attention to the rules as Smapti suggests.
A buddy of mine got third place in our local chili cook off. I had some of his. He used elk meat. Zero vegies. It was… not something you could eat for a meal, and I did not particularly like it. It was, I donno, just stewed meat with some spices. Boring as can be. Anyone can do that.
IMHO, chili should be alive with different flavors, and textures for a good mouth feel.
Yeah, corn is part of my “everything but the kitchen sink” style of soupier Midwestern chili. (I’m not saying this is necessarily the definitive style in the Midwest, but I see it around at least the upper Midwest, hence why I’m calling it that. Or maybe just “Yankee” chili, I don’t know.) That’s also when I’ll throw the diced bell peppers in, and stuff like that. Even elbow macaroni. Maybe even celery if I’m feeling nuts. But, when serving it or describing it to others, I make sure to qualify it as “kitchen sink chili.” Similarly, when I make Texas style chili, I qualify it as that, as well. Of course, I’m probably only of 1% of the general population who gives a shit, but I just feel dirty calling it “chili” when I throw all that stuff in (unless it’s a “vegetarian chili” or a “white chili,” then anything goes.)
Depending on whether you’re making it with ground beef or hand chunked cubes. I tend to do it the latter way, so it ends up like a beef stew. See the photo in my previous link on the subject, or this photo here. T’aint sloppy joe mix.
At least no one has mentioned spaghetti so far.
When I first read this thread I was sitting at a Primanti’s (Pittsburgh-based restaurant chain, which among other things means fries on burgers for some reason) finishing one of their signature dishes consisting of French fries covered with chili. The chili tasted largely of pickle relish. Not a taste I’d try to emulate, but different strokes, I guess.
Carne adovada.
If somebody else already hasn’t said it…
Homemade stock is very important.
I like chicken stock, beef will work.
Annnnd this thread wins the big prize as our ONE MILLIONTH THREAD ABOUT CHILI!!!
I’m not typing out another huge damn essay. The final word on chili is that your chili should please you and those you offer it to.
My Personal Bowl of Red nails me as a native of the Great Rust Belt. Southwesterners and Westerners would scoff at my use of beans, onions, and (a small amount of) tomatoes. A Vermonter or Minnesotan would say that I was using an insane amount of chile. A goor-may foodie would choose stout or homemade broth or some sort of artisianal beer for the liquid — I use the water I blended the chiles into. I also use ground beef exclusively, lots of oregano and garlic, and a modest amount of cumin.
My chili may not win any blue ribbons, but it’s mine and I like it.
^ That actually does sound like a perfectly acceptable bowl of chili. 
Man, here we go again. Now it’s gonna have to be chili time at chez pulykamell again. It’s been awhile since I did Texas red (last couple times it was “kitchen sink chili”), so that’s gonna be on the menu sometime this week. I got excited, as my wife told me the parish we attend (well, really, that she mostly attends) is having a chili cook-off, but I’m working that weekend. I have like every weekend in the next two months free, except for that one. Grr… This is like the fifth year in a row its happened to me.
One more thing, because everyone’s been mocking McCormick Chili Powder. It actually was rated as the best pre-mixed chili powder by Christopher Kimball’s “board of experts” at COOK’S ILLUSTRATED. I think it compares very well to Penzey’s or Gebhart’s.
When I feel like fiddling, I get dried anchos and guajillos and negroes and New Mexico and chipotles, toast them, seed them, simmer them, and then blend the chiles and water into a smooth liquid. When I’m not in the mood for all that shit, I use a half-cup of McCormick. And doctor with extra garlic, oregano, and cumin. The second version is really good, too.
I used to buy Wolf chili when I lived in L.A. Now in the Pacific Northwest I don’t know if I’ve seen it. But Nally and Dennison’s offer bean-free varieties. I like to keep a can or two around in case we feel like pepper bellies/Frito pies/walking tacos. But Mrs. L.A. likes those with beans, so I just get that. For actually eating chili, I like chili colorado (meat and red sauce) that I make ‘from scratch’. If I want something quick, Bear Creek’s Darn Good Chili is darn good. (It has beans.) Or I’ll make some quick chili on the stove with ground beef, with or without beans.
But for me, no beans.
I actually have no opinion on McCormick chili powder, and I’m sure it’s a perfectly acceptable product, but the Cooks Illustrated panel endorsement only makes me more skeptical. 
