I’ve done mine much the way that Ike just did. >BRAAAP<
When I was young, and could afford naught but hamburger, we used to brown it and add the juice from the can of jalapenos we were going to add later, and let the meat simmer in it (and also to deglaze the pan). Yum.
I appreciate it. In a typical Texas chili-loving zeal, I’m apt to refer to anyone from north of the Red River a “Yankee”. If I’m feeling especially drunk with chauvinism, I’ll even use the term to refer to my fellow Texans that are unfortunate enough to live east of the Pecos…
Enjoy your Chipotles! I was eyeing a can at the store just this market thinking the same thing…
Feel free, it’s just that after all of the killer cheese attacks we’ve had in this neck of the woods, I’m sticking with Jack. The queso fresco does sound particularly good though. Good call.
Oh, so now it comes out. You want us all believing that you have some high moral code when it comes to beans in chili con carne, but what’s REALLY going on here is that if you get a mouthful of beany goodness you’ll swell up like a big old hoppy toad.
I agree with you on the paprika question. ALWAYS cook your paprika before adding liquid.
Pantellerite: Y’know, I’ve GOT dried chiles in the house; I don’t know why I never reach for them. I buy ground anchos and chilpotles from Penzey’s spice company…their products are really first-rate, and not far behind grinding your own. DO you ever use Gebhardt’s Chile Powder? I was under the impression that Texans shook that stuff on everything short of the breakfast flakes; all the Texas cookbooks rave about it.
August: Guinness and Chee-tos. I’ll, er, make a note of that.
Uke. Ike, do you have those chiles on a ristra? It’s hard for me to remember that those are more than just colorful kitchen decor. In fact, if we buy a ristra it never gets used; the chiles have to come in a bag to be utilized.
I have used Gebhart’s chili powder many times before; it is the superior pre-mixed chili powder. For several years now, however, I’ve switched to buying ground chile pepper instead of chili powder and haven’t picked it up in a long time. My mom still swears by it, though. They do a lot more than chili powder these days: If you have no choice but to eat canned ugh! refried beans, Gebhart’s are pretty good.
What do I put on everything (including chili), short of breakfast flakes? Cholula hot sauce!
Nah…they’re in a Ziploc bag up on the top shelf, in a Tupperware container along with the sesame seeds and the sundried tomatoes and the dried mushrooms. Come to think of it, I never use those dried mushrooms, either. My entire cuisine would change if I just moved that damn tub to a lower shelf.
I didn’t realize that Gebhardt’s was a premixed chili powder…I’d always assumed it was just ground chile*! Probably because all my Texas cookbooks tell you to use oregano and garlic and cumin in addition to the Gebhardt’s.
I hesitate to speak as an authority on Gebhardt’s. I’ve always assumed that it is a premix because it is labeled as “Chili powder” and not “Ground Chile”. That’s the convention with which I am accustomed, anyway.
I should also add that just because a Texas recipie calls for Gebhardt’s–or any premix chili powder–that doesn’t preclude it also calling for comino, garlic powder, or Mexican oregano. In fact, no less a Texas cooking authority than my very own Mother routinely uses both premixed chili powders (including, but not limited to, Gebhardt’s) and extra comino et al. in her cooking. Maybe I just come from comino-loving stock, but it doesn’t seem that much different from what anybody around here does. I stopped using premix chili powder + garlic/comino/oregano (and switched to “pure” ground chile powder) several years ago when I endeavored to cook for art’s sake… that is to say, when I endeavored to cook chili for art’s sake. This was, or course, why the next step was to dispose of the ground chile and go for whole dried chile turned into sauce!
(Ironic note: I first endeavored to become a Texas chili gourmand more than a decade ago and have tried to remain current in the literature (so to speak). This despite having given up beef and pork about six years ago…)
[Edited by Ukulele Ike on 10-08-2001 at 03:23 PM]
Grrr…
the only thing that was supposed to show up in italics in that last post was:
my very own Mother.
Please feel free to ignore any other words emphasized by italics in the remainder of that post. Tell you what, the first time I don’t preview in a long time and it bites me on the ass…
Bites me on the ass like a good bowl of Red, that is!