C-canned…chili?
Does such an abomination exist, this side of the banks of Hell?
For chili dogs? You bet! It’s a completely different beast from true chili, so making it is a waste of time and resources if I can get it commercially. Wolf was the best, but has disappeared from the shelves around here. Skyline and Camp Washington are too far away.
They’re located in the Boston area I think, so it’s entirely possible that if you buy masa at a normal, non-ethnic grocery store, it’ll be quite a bit more expensive than say… here in Dallas, where masa is pretty cheap and abundant in normal grocery stores, and dirt cheap and often on sale in Hispanic supermarkets like Fiesta or El Rancho Supermercado.
Another suggestion is to get the right grind on your chili meat. Garden-variety ground beef is too finely ground. You want “chili grind” or whatever they call it where they use a grinder plate with 3/8" or 1/2" holes. Ground, but fairly coarsely.
OP, as a fellow Canuck I have to say that your exclusion of a bit of maple or birch syrup in your chili disturbing to say the least… 
I use it in lieu of brown sugar. I also roast all the veggies on the grill, and although I’ve used a varying mix of passila, ancho, chili de arbol, chipotle I also have turned it up for competitions with Carolina Reaper or Scotch Bonnets. The Reaper has this beautiful sweet fruitiness without that ashtray aftertaste you tend to get with Habaneros.
Meatwise I like using chunks of browned sirloin or stewing beef.
I like hot peppers but after a certain point they offer more heat than taste. In chili I might use some habanero, but in quantity probably nothing much hotter than arbol.
In The Food Lab, Kenji prefers a meatier chili made with short rib. He likes spices like cinnamon (which Cooks Illustrated finds too distinctive) and star anise (supposedly popularized by Fergus Henderson). Kenji also likes any type of unami including soy sauce and anchovies. Myself, I think Worcestershire sauce offers the best of both of these, even if some think it untraditional. Both CI and Kenji avoid grittiness by making a paste out of the chili powder.
CI divides enhancers into flavour enhancers, meatiness/Unami enhancers, texture and sweetness. For me, there is also an important role for nutrition, but not at the cost of taste.
Kenji also gives recipes for a vegetarian chili, Texas chili and a chili verde. CI complains the Texas chili champions at Terlingua all have similar winning recipes too dependent on repeated additions of chili powder and MSG. This seems harsh, but I like beans and vegetables in my chili for nutrition.
Here is Kenji’s recipe and discussion from The Food Lab (reprinted from Serious Eats).
I’m not sure I want to add Marmite to anything. And I like a smoky chili. I’m also not convinced all booze is equal. But I’m probably not a food genius.
Huh. That’s interesting. While I do read Serious Eats, I’ve literally never seen their page on chili, and it seems Kenji does share a lot of my philosophy in regards to how to layer the chili flavors, as well as his preference for short rib. I have gone the whole chiles blended route, but I actually like the powder myself. Bloom it in oil first, though, but be careful not to let it burn. I’ve never noticed any grittiness in my chili. Spice-wise, I’m a little more naked than he is, but lots of good information there.
(Marmite is a great flavor enhancer for stews. I just use straight-up MSG myself, or the aforementioned bullion cubes, but Marmite works well, too.)
A good percentage of the heat factor in my favorite chili comes from ground chipotle (smoked red jalapeño). It adds pungent smoky flavor in addition to pleasant hotnesses.
Am I the only one who eschews powder in favor of actual fresh chopped peppers?
I do that with green chili, but not red chili. Red chili just doesn’t taste right with fresh peppers to me. It lacks the earthiness and dried frutiness (think grape vs raisin) (and sometimes smokiness) powdered chiles or blended soaked dried chilies have.
I should say, I will occasionally add fresh peppers to my chili, but the base flavor always has to be powdered/dried chiles for me.
I like fresh jalapeños (and other peppers) in my chili mixed with a paste made from other dried chiles. I like the smoky flavour to come from chipotle (or other smoked chiles) though some people use bottled liquid. I’m not against MSG but I’m not sure I have a lot of use for Vegemite.
Nigella Lawson uses fresh peppers exclusively.
Kenji finds any booze too be good. CI thought stout had a bitter flavour and mild lager was better received. Red wine was thought to bring out a tomato flavour too much (IIRC). The proper place for whiskey or bourbon is drinking it while making the chili.
I personally use a (preferably homemade) broth or stock of some sort, either chicken or beef – both work fine. I’ve done the beer thing, but I just prefer stock. If i try the beer thing again, I would try something like a Belgian dubbel in it. That’s what I typically use for carbonnade, and I think it would go good with chili. I also use Flanders red ale in my carbonnade, but that may give the chili a weird sweet-and-sour flavor that I don’t think would work as well as a malty and somewhat sweet, low-hop Belgian dubbel.
Nope. I’m all fresh as well though I like roasted in the Fall when I can get it as well.
Rather than ground chile, I will often use dried ancho or negro or guajillo chile toasted, simmered, and puréed in a blender. Sometimes I’ll mince some fresh jalapeño or Serrano and throw those in. But no, I agree with puly (irritating how often that happens) that the dish derives its earthiness from the dry chiles. And powder is just easier…Cook’s Illustratedwent so far as to recommend McCormick’s supermarket brand chili powder over the purer varieties you can get from Penzey’s and such places. Since I just make it for myself now and not guests or absent children, I cut corners.
And no, I never put booze in chili. Who suggested THAT?
A bottle of dark beer can be a good stock for chili instead of beef stock or broth. Plus, you have 5 more to lubricate the chef! I like to use a mix of dried ground peppers and fresh peppers. I prefer beans and veggies (mushrooms, onions, roasted jalapeno peppers usually) in my chili but I’ve made traditional style Texas Red a few times and enjoyed it as well.
Another day, another batch of great chili.
Based on some research, I made my usual batch. But added small amounts of cinnamon to the cumin and oregano, which is traditional. Used smaller chunks of roast. Used seven types of chiles. Finished it off with a pour of cream. It’s a beautiful thing - healthy as all get out with a sauce that makes you want to eat every drop. I’ll probably be eating it all week.
Anyone got a good recipe for biscuits or corn bread? Anyone here ever cover their chili with cornbread dough and let it bake?
I’ll have to experiment with mushrooms, star anise and bulgur, used to affect with vegetarian chilies. As above, guess I should be using more maple syrup to sweeten, but my government ration is generally reserved for all the Beavertails all Canadians eat every day.
Joy of Cooking recipe. Just know that the sugar is NOT optional - it is FORBIDDEN!!!
Right. No sugar in cornbread, and NO WHEAT FLOUR.
Also, cornbread with chili is just plain weird. Nabisco saltines or GTFO. (this is my Great Lakes/Rust Belt heritage talking)
My skillet cornbread reference is also from John Thorne. I have copied it out several times for my buddies here. If you search it and can’t find it let me know, and I’ll type it out again. It really is the best.