Scubaqueen, it sounds yummy, but not like any CHILI I have ever heard of.
You do realize cumin is in chili powder? It’s one of the two principle ingredients, the other being chiles. (Assuming you are referring to what Americans call “chili powder.”)
What Scubaqueen describes is closer to what is known as “goulash” in much of the Midwest (but has practically no resemblance to the Hungarian dish with the same name.) I mean, at some point there has to be a line as to what is chili and what isn’t, doesn’t there? That recipe, to me, is clearly on the other side of that line.
Here’s a sample recipe for Michigan hamburger mac goulash. The biggest difference is that these goulashes usually take elbow macaroni, but Scubaqueen’s recipe has spaghetti in it instead.
You used to be able to get Texas-shaped pasta. There are specialty products now, but this was available in most grocery stores.
On the package was a recipe for Rattlesnake Chili. With the note that, if rattlesnake was unavailable, you could substitute another kind of meat…
you guys are right. i just checked with my aunt and she says the correct name for the dish is hamburger casserole. my bad. i assumed it was a chili. 
pulykamell, you just cleared up something for me. i never put in much chili powder in anything because i don’t like what it does to the taste.
now i know why. :eek:
My chili has bacon, pork, beef, chocolate, orange zest, habaneros, and Shiner Bock. It’s always a big hit.
Y’know, chili-heads always say that habaneros have such a wonderful flavor, underneath the heat… But like most folks, I can’t eat habaneros except in extreme dilution. I feel like I’m missing out: Has anyone ever tried to breed a pepper with that same flavor, but without the heat?
Yep. Burpee has several “low heat” habs in their seed catalog this year. Along with mild jalapenos and other sins against God and Nature.
Huh. “Low heat habs”? I wonder what this is like. I mean “low heat” is all relative. Are we talking habs that are 50,000 Scoville instead of 200,000 or are we talking like poblano-level heat?
I’m a chili purist --no beans, no tomatoes, masa harina for thickening (or crushed/powdered pork rinds), etc.
In ten years of chili cookoffs and competitions, I’ve never placed higher than fourth with my Texas Red.
Friday, as part of the Halloween party at my office, I said I’d do chili, but discovered on the day of the party that I had only about half the expected volume needed.
I went to the drugstore next door, got 2 cans of Campbell’s chunk chili, a can of Ro-Tel, 2 quarts of “vegetable juice cocktail”(like V-8 but half the price) and a big bag of original flavour Fritos.
Into the crockpot went my lovely chili (half and half ground and cubed beef chuck/brisket mix, pasillas and guajillos rehydrated and pureed with garlic, onion, Mexican oregano, cinnamon stick, fresh ground toasted cumin seed, Penzey’s Chili 9000, masa as the thickener, powdered red chipotle added at the end)…
And all the storebought crap, plus about three tablespoons of honey that were in the office kitchen.
Won first prize not only for chili but also for overall food.
As I remarked to my wife “It’s like I had to take, not Mozart, but perhaps Berlioz, and had to dump Britney Spears on it for them to enjoy it. Either way, I won.”
Depends on the chili.
What I call Yankee Chili:
Bacon
Ground Beef
Onion
Garlic
Red Pepper
Chili powder
cumin
oregano
coriander
diced tomatoes
beans
tomato sauce/puree/whatever I can find
Beer - whatever I have on hand. Typically ales or porters. No IPAs. They don’t work as well
Texas Red:
Bacon
Chuck Roast
Onions
Garlic
Roasted peppers (usually red peppers. Always poblanos)
Chile powder (ancho or chipotle)
Chipotle peppers
Cumin
Diced tomatoes
Chicken Stock
Beer (porters preferred, but sometimes I use a local cherry ale to play up the sweetness a bit)
Masa Harina to thicken
White Chili:
Poblano peppers
onion
jalapenos
Chicken (dark meat)
Cumin
Coriander
Oregano
Chicken
Northern beans
Ground tortilla chips to thicken
There are some local places that put potatoes and milk in their white chili. I shun them as most people should.
I made my chili last night for a Halloween party. I had a package of dried habaneros, about eight of 'em, and I used them all… along with six jalapenos This was, by far, the hottest chili I’ve ever made. It was weapons-grade.
My wife made a chili-kit turkey chili for our friends who don’t like spicy food.
Everyone agreed that mine tasted better, but most thought it was way too hot. Several guests combined the two chilis. This morning, most of the turkey chili is gone, but I’ve got a lot of mine left over.
I think next time I’ll only use about three of the habaneros.
Heat-wise, six jalapenos is kind of redundant if you’ve already got eight habs in there. Habaneros are about a hundred times hotter than jalapenos.
Look upon the Face of Despair.
I just got some free jalapenos! (From a gardener’s yard, in a big box labelled “Free jalapenos!”. I love this town.)
But I’m actually afraid to use them…I’m a weenie. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to try it.
Just char them over an open flame, then sweat them in a paper bag for a few minutes. They should skin easily. Then slice open and remove the seeds and ribs. That’s where the heat is. Dice the flesh and add to whatever. Then wash your hands carefully and thoroughly with soap and water.
Anyone at all can eat any kind of pepper at all, if it’s diluted enough. A single jalapeno (even an unusually hot one) in an entire big pot of chili will be tolerable to almost everyone. Try something like that. If that works out fine for you, then go on to try more. If you’re really leery, wear disposable gloves while you’re chopping it, but that probably won’t be necessary.
100 Scoville? What the?
Oh, believe me, I know. The jalapenos were in there for taste and texture (I left the jalapenos in strips, rather than chopping them up fine).
Am I a weenie for wanting to grow these? I love to look at peppers, and would LOVE to grow some. I always kill them by (I think) overwatering…next year, though, I’m going to set up a less-water-needed raised bed just for peppers and other vegetables that don’t need so much babying as tomatoes, etc.
I’ll grow hothotHOT ones too, of course, but those are for my neighbors and ex-husband.