Lets have your favorite chili recipes...

The one me and the wife have been making the past few years just recently won me the Chili cook-off at my work so others must have liked it as well. I would classify it as a "sweet-heat" an account of the BBQ sauce and sugar. We almost always make it with ground turkey breast. Also we always use Bushes spicy chili beans and Bushes bold and spicy baked beans, we deviated from this a few times because we were shopping at Whole Foods and it just wasn’t the same. Also we started omitting the mushrooms, we love mushrooms but just didn't think it needed it.

Do not attempt to omit the sugar, we did and it just didn't taste right. We almost always use Famous Daves Texas pit for the BBQ sauce and I'd say we use a little more beer than it calls for. It can take a while for the carrots and celery to soften so we almost always use a 6-7qt slow cooker/crockpot testing it every half hour or so till the carrots are the right firmness.
It’s a little more involved than others but it’s so worth it.

Atomic Canuck Chili

My chili is more basic, and it includes medium shell pasta. (I know, there are people who argue for and against pasta in chili. I like it both ways.)

1 1/4# ground beef
Small onion (optional)
1 packet McCormicks Chili mix
1 can Chili Beans
1 can Diced Tomatoes
1 can Tomato Juice
3 Cups Medium Shells

In large soup pot, put water on to boil for Medium Shells. Put shells in boiling water for 9 minutes.

Brown ground beef and onion. Drain.
Add Chili Mix and stir well.
Add Chili Beans and Diced Tomatoes. Mix well.

When pasta is done, strain, then put back into pot. Add meat mixture to pasta, then add tomato juice. Heat well and serve.

This recipe is easy and has been a favorite chili meal of ours for years. I also bring this to deer camp, although I triple the recipe.

I used to do chili cookoffs. I have a prize winning Texas chili recipe that I'd be glad to throw out here, I don't compete anymore. It's LONG, I ain't gonna do it unless someone is interested, but I'd be happy if someone is.

quote maxxbhp: "I used to do chili cookoffs. I have a prize winning Texas chili recipe that I'd be glad to throw out here, I don't compete anymore. It's LONG, I ain't gonna do it unless someone is interested, but I'd be happy if someone is."

please do, i love chili.

quote maxxbhp: "I used to do chili cookoffs. I have a prize winning Texas chili recipe that I'd be glad to throw out here, I don't compete anymore. It's LONG, I ain't gonna do it unless someone is interested, but I'd be happy if someone is."

Please put it together, take your time, i don't have time right now, but I'll throw mine in too.

I may have to do this in installments. First let me talk about meat. The best meat for chili is Chuck Tender Roast. You take it home, slice it up and grind it coarse. Some people cube it, I don't see the point, it's a massive pain in the ass and I don't think it tastes better. So we have about 2-1/2 to 3 pounds coarse ground Chuck Tender Roast.

Now let me talk about chili powder. Chili powder is a lot like a canoe, ANY canoe will work, but some are a lot better than others. For my competition recipe I use only Pendery's chili powder. If you use something else, it will STILL be good, it just won't be AS good. You can get Pendery's on the web, they ain't hard to find.

Start off with your 2 1/2 to 3 pounds coarse ground Chuck Tender Roast. Put about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 8-10 quart stock pot, warm it up and dump in the meat. You just want to "grey" this meat. Just sear it, I actually have better success when it's maybe 10% still pink.

NOTE: I rarely ever add any salt, that seems to take care of itself.

Alrighty, the meat is where you want it. Add:

One 15 oz can beef broth
One 15 oz can chicken broth
One 8 oz can Contadina tomato sauce

Bring this to a mild boil.

CHILI FOOTNOTE: Generally you will introduce spices into chili 3 times, each separate event is called a "dump". The way the dumps are arranged is part art\part science, but it's worth paying attention to.

You're ready for the first dump. That first dump will be:
3 Tablespoons Zatarain's Instant Diced Onions
2 beef and 2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 Tbsp Pendery's Original Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Pendery's Terlingua Won Chili Powder
1tsp Blair's After Death Hot Sauce

You have to use your own imagination on this, After Death is Super Hot, but it tastes so damn good

We're gonna super slow simmer this for 45 minutes. At 45 minutes, we're gonna do the 2nd dump. The second dump is gonna be :

1 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 TBSP Pendery's Original Chili Powder
1 TBSP Pendery's San Antonio Red Chili Powder
1 packet Sazon Goya (con culantro y achiote)*

*this is fairly easy to find, use about 1/2 teaspoon Saffron if you can't find any.

Continue to cook for 30 minutes, covered, a very light simmer

Add 1 TBSP Pendery's Top Hat chili powder
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp brown sugar or molasses.
Cook about 5 minutes, eat it

EDIT: I like to reduce the chicken broth by 1/2 and double the tomato sauce. I like it better but chili judges don't. I also like to throw in some Rotel, maybe sometimes use 1/3 pork sausage for the meat. Make what you want, it's your food

My chili recipe is similar to maxx’s. No beans or canned ingredients. Meat and peppers. Beans can go on the side. I used to subscribe to Chili Pepper magazine 10-15years ago and read how it’s done in Texas. Now I grind my own chili pepper varieties. I grow cayenne myself along with a few others, but find whole dried ancho and chipotle peppers at the supermarket to grind. You can somewhat control the heat level by removing seeds before grinding.

Recipe:

Sear 2 lbs chuck stew meat in stock pot with splash of oil
Add 2 tsp ground cumin to meat during searing
Stir in diced medium size yellow onion

When onion starts to go translucent add 2 cups water
Add 2 cups homemade stewed garden tomatoes
(OK, go ahead and add a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes if you don’t end up having to make quarts of this yourself every year)
Add 2 seeded, skinned, and diced ripe bell peppers (red or orange)
Add equal volume (about 8) of seeded, mostly de-membrane-d, skinned, and finely diced Hungarian wax, Anaheim, or Jalapeno peppers. (use nitrile surgical gloves when pre-preparing peppers such as these)
Add 2 tbsp unsulfured black strap or dark molasses (or 1tbsp dark brown sugar)
Add 2 tsp garlic powder, stir, bring to a simmer, and cover.

Open a beer, drink.
After about 20 minutes when the peppers have softened, stir in 1 tsp each of ground chipotle and ancho peppers, and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper.
(If desired substitute 1/2 tsp cinnamon for ground ancho)
Cover and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for an hour.

Taste and adjust seasoning to hotness or sweetness you desire by adding additional molasses (or dark brown sugar), Tabasco (or other bottled hot sauce), freshly ground black pepper, and salt. Do this only a little at a time stirring thoroughly before adjusting any further. Turn off heat and serve when adjusted to satisfaction.

Chili I

This is what I consider a pretty basic version of what is called Chili in the upper Midwest.

2 lbs Hamburger
4-6 cloves Garlic chopped
2 tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
3 Tbls Chili Powder
2 tsp Cumin
1 Medium Onion chopped
2 cans Tomato sauce 15 oz
2 cans Diced Tomatoes 15 oz
3-4 cans water, rinse out tomato cans add to pot

This is the basic base for my chili, you can add if you like:

2 stalks Celery sliced
1 can Black Beans, or Kidney Beans
Some Elbow Macaroni, or Small / Medium Shell Macaroni
Cook separately and add to chili about ½ hour before serving, makes the pasta firmer. Sliced Mushrooms

You can also add a tablespoon or two of brown sugar to the pot, or a 12 oz. beer, to sweeten it up a little if you want


Brown the burger in a frying pan, drain the fat, and combine everything in a pot. Simmer for at least an hour. As far as how much water to add initially, add enough to make it soupier than you you’d like, some of the water will boil off and the chili will thicken. You can always add water near the end to make the chili the consistency you’d like.


If you plan ahead a little, I like to grill T-bones a day or two before I make the chili. Grill them over a charcoal fire with a few handfuls of wood chips to increase the smokey flavor. Save the bones, throw them in the chili pot, adds a nice flavor.

Chili II - my current favorite

This Chili uses Chipotle peppers in Adobo Sauce for some heat. Chipotles are smoked, dried jalapenos, the adobo is a tomato based sauce. I find them in small short cans on the Mexican food aisle at most supermarkets. “Hot” is pretty subjective, I’d suggest adding the chipotles a bit at a time, until you hit the hot you’re looking for. This one makes a pretty good chili without the meat if you want.

Chili II

2 lbs Ground Chuck
1 Medium Onion – chopped
1 Carrot – sliced fine
1 Green Pepper – chopped
1 Red Pepper – chopped
1 Celery Stalk - sliced
3 cloves Garlic – chopped
1-3 Tbls Chipotle Chiles in Adobo Sauce – chopped finely
If not available a few slices of jalapenos from a jar chopped
Will add some heat
2-3 Tbls Olive Oil – enough to coat the pan
1 Tbl Oregano
2 tsp Cumin
1 Tbl Chili Powder
1-1/2 tsp Salt
1-2 Tbls Brown Sugar (optional)
2 cans Diced Tomatoes – 15 oz can
1 can Black Beans
1 can Kidney Beans

Heat the oil in a pot and saute the onions,carrots and red and green peppers for 10 or so minutes, until the onions and carrots are softened and just starting to brown. Add the garlic for the last few minutes of this sautee. This step carmelizes the sugars in the carrots and onion and adds some sweetness to the chili. Add the chipotles, cumin, chili powder and salt and stir to blend. Brown the burger and add. Add the tomatoes and 4 cups or so of water with the rest of the ingredients and simmer for an hour or so. You can experiment with how much water to add depending on how thick or soupy you like your chili.

I’m going to have to try Chipotle in Adobo sauce some time. I’ve added a couple tablespoons of mole before when using cinnamon, but I don’t recall the brand name; and I know there are many kinds of mole. The brand I’ve used before has a slight chocolate flavor.

after seeing some of theses recipes im too ashamed to share mine now.

Jan, one time at a chili cook off at work, a guy originally from Texas who doctored up Hormel chili with onions, tomato sauce, and hamburger won. I stopped bringing chili after that. Too much work.

quote inspector13: "Jan, one time at a chili cook off at work, a guy originally from Texas who doctored up Hormel chili with onions, tomato sauce, and hamburger won. I stopped bringing chili after that. Too much work. "

now thats funny because a can of hormel chili is in my recipe.

max-that looks incredible! Waiting for the weekend, and thanks for sharing!

BWCA.com chili cook off?

Max,

At the risk of sounding indelicate, could you tell me about your dumps, I mean, uh, the introduction of spices. You use 4 types of Pendery's chili powder, what are the flavor profiles, and what does the timing add? If I were to order from Pendery's, is there anything else they specialize in that would be worth ordering? I've heard and read about REAL chili, but haven't ever made it, sounds like it's time to give it a shot.

quote kanoes: "

quote inspector13: "Jan, one time at a chili cook off at work, a guy originally from Texas who doctored up Hormel chili with onions, tomato sauce, and hamburger won. I stopped bringing chili after that. Too much work. "

now thats funny because a can of hormel chili is in my recipe. "!$/i

Buy the ticket, take the ride .Dr. Hunter S. Thompson