Good Chili Recipe?

[3kids4me Super Moderator and Super Mom Find all posts View Profile Close 3kids4me]

I've never made chili before but we are having a small crowd of kids tonight so I'm going to try it.

Does anyone have a really delicious recipe? There are a million on the internet but it's hard to know where to begin.

Thanks!

[Sandcrab Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sandcrab]

This recipe may be a little complicated for a first time chili maker but it won a cook-off against 18 other entries last year.

You can easily cut the recipe in half as this makes a full, large crockpot. You may also want to tone the peppers down a little if serving to kids.

Sandcrab’s Award Winning
NORSX-MEX (Sweet Heat) CHILI

2 - 15oz plus 1-8oz can tomato sauce.
1 - 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes
3 - 5 1/2 oz cans Campbell’s tomato juice from concentrate
4 to 6 whole tomatoes skinned and quartered
2 to 3 stalks celery, diced
1 large onion diced
Note: I rinse tomato cans with a little water and add to pot.
Note: Remove seeds from all peppers.
1 large green pepper, diced
1 large red pepper, diced
2 to 3 cayenne peppers, finely diced
2 jalapeno peppers, finely diced
4 tbsp chili powder ( I use Tone’s)
6 to 7 tbsp dark brown sugar
Put above ingredients in a large crock pot and stir together. Put on Low setting and leave for 3 to 4 hours until vegetables are soft. Occasionally stir and break up tomatoes.
Brown 1 ½ to 2 lbs hamburger in a little olive oil. Season with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder. Drain oil and set hamburger in fridge.
1 cup ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp hot sauce (I use either Louisiana or Barons)
Dash of garlic powder
1 15 ½ oz can chili beans (drained)
After 3 or 4 hours, mix hamburger and above remaining ingredients into the pot and simmer on Low setting for 3 or 4 more hours. Stir occasionally and taste to your hearts desire. If not quite up to your desired “heat” index, sprinkle with a little bit of crushed red pepper flakes.

Like the Pirate’s Code, a recipe is just a “guideline”. Chili is very forgiving so some substitution doesn’t seem to affect the outcome. For example: Canned tomatoes can be substituted for fresh ones. A little more or less heat to taste or a little more or less sweet to taste. Sometimes I even add a can of drained whole kernel corn (or frozen).
We top our chili with crushed tortilla chips and either shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese. Could also top with a dollop of sour cream.

[3kids4me Super Moderator and Super Mom Find all posts View Profile Close 3kids4me]

Thanks. After reading several deluxe chili recipies like this one, I have realized that I cannot actually make chili! (I know there are recipes where you jump dump a bunch of stuff in a pot, but I sense that these probably don't taste very good!)

[jericap Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close jericap]

This recipe looks absolutely delicious....I'm going to the store today to get what I don't have and make it for the weekend. Nice to have on a rainy day!

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Hmm. Well, there's nothing particularly difficult about the recipe, it's just time-consuming. I'm sure Sandcrab's version is delish, but you're just trying to feed a bunch of teenagers. Here's how I would make it simpler and faster.

Sandcrab’s Award Winning
NORSX-MEX (Sweet Heat) CHILI

2 - 15oz plus 1-8oz can tomato sauce.
1 - 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes
3 - 5 1/2 oz cans Campbell’s tomato juice from concentrate
4 to 6 whole tomatoes skinned and quartered

I would change all of these to two 28-oz cans of whole peeled tomatoes and a large can of tomato sauce. Put them in a large pot and set to simmer.

2 to 3 stalks celery, diced
1 large onion diced
1 large green pepper, diced
1 large red pepper, diced

I would interpret the above as "some celery, some onion, and some peppers if you have them." I would also do a sliced clove or two of garlic and I like carrots and even a couple of mushrooms, too. Saute the vegetables separately and add them to the pot of simmering tomatoes.

2 to 3 cayenne peppers, finely diced
2 jalapeno peppers, finely diced

I would interpret this as "A half-teaspoon of ground cayenne, more or less according to taste." Add to pot.

4 tbsp chili powder ( I use Tone’s)

I would interpret this as "That's a lot!" This recipe makes a lot of chili. I'd start with maybe a tablespoon and work up from there. Add to pot.


6 to 7 tbsp dark brown sugar

Not a fan of the sweet stuff, I'd use a pinch. It enriches the flavor.

Put above ingredients in a large crock pot and stir together. Put on Low setting and leave for 3 to 4 hours until vegetables are soft. Occasionally stir and break up tomatoes.

I'm trying to make the teenage boy version. Just keep simmering.

Brown 1 ½ to 2 lbs hamburger in a little olive oil. Season with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder. Drain oil and set hamburger in fridge.

My interpretation: After you've given the veggies a good head start, brown hamburger and add to pot.


1 cup ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp hot sauce (I use either Louisiana or Barons)
Dash of garlic powder

These four will change the flavor of the chili and make it more complex. Optional.


1 15 ½ oz can chili beans (drained)

Rinse 'em and throw 'em in. I like to use a couple of different kinds of beans. Nothing too strong-tasting.

When all your ingredients are in and hamburger is cooked through, taste and adjust seasoning. Simmer until the elements "come together." There will be a lot of fat from the hamburger at the top; either mix it in or push it aside or cool and put the whole pot in the fridge overnight, then remove the hardened fat. (A night of cooling will improve the flavor, too.)

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Sharon it is easy, I would tell you how but I pretty much just wing it, You do need Chile powder and it can be made with either Chop Meat, Steak or even Chicken I hear. Beef is the best.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

Sharon it is easy, I would tell you how but I pretty much just wing it, You do need Chile powder and it can be made with either Chop Meat, Steak or even Chicken I hear. Beef is the best.

If you are using chicken, use white beans or navy beans.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

Oh, and to make good chili for today...start yesterday. That over night aging really adds to the flavor.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Thanks. After reading several deluxe chili recipies like this one, I have realized that I cannot actually make chili! (I know there are recipes where you jump dump a bunch of stuff in a pot, but I sense that these probably don't taste very good!)

I buy the Bears Creek Chilli mix at the Christmas Tree Shop - they also have it in other stores - and 'doctor it up'

Add browned beef or turkey - a few cans of drained beans - I also like corn - and several small cans of chopped chilli peppers.

serve with tostada chips and sour cream...you CAN do this

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

You definitely can. It's like making a soup or stew--same idea of sauteing the different ingredients and then simmering them together slowly, only this time it's tomato-based.

[Sandcrab Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sandcrab]

Wacky,

Most of time consumption is dicing veggies and browning meat. Also waiting for crockpot to do it's thing.

We like sweet to balance the heat (from the peppers). Less heat, less sweet.

This is a large batch but it freezes well and may be even better re-heated. We freeze small portions in tupperware like containers and send some home with the kids when they visit or else just nuke a bowl for a chilly northern night by the campfire. Due to the prep time, it just makes sense to me to make a large batch and have on hand.

Like Frank, I too used to just dump and taste but had to come up with some consistency to enter the "Cook-Off"....which my wife and kids encouraged me to enter...I was so proud (:

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Oh, I bet it's fantastic! It sounds really good (okay, except for the sugar). Did you ever try putting in a big pinch of ground mustard and a big pinch of curry powder? The mustard makes the flavor more complex and the curry doesn't "read" as curry, it just supports the flavor of the meat.

[Sandcrab Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sandcrab]

Wacky,

No haven't tried those ingredients. Your cloves sound interesting. I've read some recipes that include chocolate. Have you tried that? I too like to sometimes add corn to the chili but my family and friends don't seem to care for that. Some funny/uncomplimetary comments at the cook-off, about some of the chili entries: It tastes like "doctored up canned chili" or "it tastes like school chili". The community where the event was held was composed of mostly Scandanavian and German decents. Some of the older ladies were afraid to taste my chili when the saw the uncooked cayenne peppers floating on top (just for presentation). After I twisted their arms, they tried it and came back for seconds. I bet they had good BM's for the first time in years (LOL).

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Wacky,

No haven't tried those ingredients. Your cloves sound interesting. I've read some recipes that include chocolate. Have you tried that? I too like to sometimes add corn to the chili but my family and friends don't seem to care for that. Some funny/uncomplimetary comments at the cook-off, about some of the chili entries: It tastes like "doctored up canned chili" or "it tastes like school chili". The community where the event was held was composed of mostly Scandanavian and German decents. Some of the older ladies were afraid to taste my chili when the saw the uncooked cayenne peppers floating on top (just for presentation). After I twisted their arms, they tried it and came back for seconds. I bet they had good BM's for the first time in years (LOL).

Wow, not cloves. They have SUCH a strong flavor. Curry! Honest. It's good in bean soups, too. Just a little, because if you put in too much, the food tastes like curry. You want to stay just under the level where someone would think "curry!"

I won a noodle pudding contest. Some of the entries were pretty eccentric--tons of candied cherries, or cornflakes, or an upside-down pineapple version (that one was actually really good).

[Sandcrab Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sandcrab]

Whoops! You mentioned "garlic cloves" but I read cloves. Noodle pudding? That sounds like a description of my brain.