Chili is whatever you want it to be. My favorite version is the kind my kid made when she first started cooking. Two pounds of ground beef, some kidney beans, canned tomatoes and Taco Bell taco seasoning mixed in. Covered with shredded sharp cheddar (yep Kraft) with crunched up tortilla chips on top.
It’s damned good chili to me, I don’t care what anyone else thinks.
When I make chili I get my ground meat from the local Mexican store. it’s minced without the gristle. I add onion chunks, black beans and chopped serranos from our garden. Tomatoes too if we have them fresh. Not too spicy, just enough for that green flavor. I eat it with a glob of guacamole or a mashed avocado and some Mexican table cream. Also with crushed tortilla chips. My Mexican SO prefers chili this way.
If I want nothing but seasoned meat I’ll make seasoned meat but it sounds rather boring without something else thrown in. It wouldn’t be filler, it would be part of the meal.
So what is the difference between “chili grind” and hamburger, anyway? My chili has been trending in a porkward direction lately anyway, but I’m open to suggestions on how to improve the remaining beef.
Currently, I’m using a half-pound bacon and one pound each hamburger and Italian sausage for a batch.
Chili grind is coarser than hamburger – it’s supposed to be made up of bits about 1/4" in diameter, or the size of the last joint of your pinkie, or so I’ve read.
Chili grind is just a coarser grind of meat than your standard hamburger ground beef. Another thing to try is to mix chili grind beef (or hamburger) with some hand cut beef. I recommend using boneless short ribs and cutting them anywhere from 1 inch cubes to 1/4 inch dice, as to your preference.
I don’t care what anyone else says. If a “chili” doesn’t have beans, it’s simple wet meat. The three essentials for chili (as made by this Midwesterner) are 1) tomoto juice, 2) beans, 3) chili pepper. Chili can be made with meat, but it’s not necessary and too much of it overpowers the pepper with meatiness and greasiness. Beans are the canvas one paints the pepper tastes on.
I have made “chili” with rice instead of beans (to please Korean tastes), which is interesting, but not the same.
