Inside The Bowl, The lowdown on Chili

The super bowl  is this Sunday, and in honor of the big game I’ve decided to write about one of the quintessential  super bowl party foods; Chili.  Now, the best place to start with just about anything is the beginning. 

Chili more than likely started with the Gauchos of the Mexican plains. Initially a simple mixture of available meat in a spicy chile sauce, it was adopted by the cowboys of the American southwest, and in typical American fashion made bigger and more complex.  The cowboy’s camp cooks took that simple mixture and added tomatoes, aromatics, and additional spices to make what today’s chili purist would call ambrosia.  Traditional chili is a far cry from the simmering pots of ground meat and beans most of us have on our stoves.  True chili purists will tell you that chili is chunk meat in a thick and spicy tomatoes and chile broth.  They look down on those of us that would even dare consider adding vegetables, or beans, and the meat definitely must be whole chunks nothing so sissified as ground meat!  OK, for anyone sweating bullets that I am going to tell them they need to remove the beans from their chili or there mortal soul will burn…..relax. I am far from a purist.  I love to experiment with different ingredients, and every pot of chili I make contains beans of some sort.  In fact I think the greatest thing about a popular food like chili is all the variety.  Traditional, red eye, green, white, turkey, buffalo, vegan and about 400 other versions exists to tempt our palates and our imagination.  In our house we have tried dozens upon dozens of additional ingredients to our basic chili recipe. Some of them keepers, some of them…..well, not so much. Here is a list of some of the keepers.

·        Honey

·        Lager beer

·        Whisky

·        Chocolate (really! Try it some time. Dark is better than milk)

·        Molasses

·        Maple syrup

·        Ground up corn chips

·        Bacon (duh!)

·        Strong brewed coffee

·        Crushed pineapple

·        Diced zucchini and summer squash

·        Tomatillos instead of tomatoes

·        Beans: black, red, pinto, kidney, navy, great northern, black eyed

Another way to broaden you chili's horizons is to vary the meat you use.  Our favorite combo is ground sirloin, pork, and venison, but if it squeaks, squawks, flys, swims, slithers, or walks you can probably grind it up and make chili out of it.  Please show some restraint though. I know you’re excited to perfect that chili recipe but let’s leave the neighbor’s cat to the Chinese takeout guy.  I promise I am going to give you a recipe here but I have one last thing to mention.  This recipe is going to call for chile, C-H-I-L-E powder. This is different from chili, C-H-I-L-I powder.  Chili powder is the reddish brown powder found in just about every American spice cabinet. It is a mixture of ground dried chiles, cumin, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Chile powder on the other hand is just the ground up dried chiles.  My recipe calls for the Chile with an “e” version.  Chile powder can be found at Latin food stores or at specialty spice stores.  In a future post I show you how to make your own.  If you don’t want to buy another spice, or are unable to find chile powder, chili powder can be substituted in the same quantity but be sure to leave out the salt and cumin or those flavors will overpower the chili. 

2# ground meat (I suggest sirloin and pork)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium red onion diced

2 ribs celery finely diced

1 poblano pepper diced

1 each red and green bell pepper diced

2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes

2 16oz cans diced tomatoes (no salt added if you can find it)

3 T tomato paste

1 can each: black beans, pinto beans, and light red kidney beans (we use dried, also a future post)

3T Ancho Chile powder (or regular chili powder)

1T cumin

1T granulated garlic

1T oregano

1/2T Onion powder

1tsp cayenne powder

2T brown sugar

2T kosher salt

2T beef bullion

2C water

1/4C masa(a corn flour widely available at many grocery stores) or ground up corn chips

In a large pot brown the meat, and drain reserving 4 or 5 tablespoons of the drippings.  Return the reserved drippings and add the garlic, onion, celery and peppers cooking over medium heat until tender.  Return the meat, and add the tomatoes and tomato paste.  Drain and thoroughly rinse the beans adding them to the pot.  Then add the chili powder through the bullion stirring the pot well to mix.  In a separate bowl add the water to the masa and mix well.  Add the masa to the chili pot.  Cover and simmer for at least one hour before serving.  Serve with cornbread, shredded cheese, sour cream, and thinly sliced fresh jalapeños.

Use this recipe as a starting point and experiment on your own.  Go find the next greatest ingredient and invite us over for a bowl!  I hope we have inspired you.  Leave us a message and let us know what your secret ingredients are, or what the most bizarre thing you have put in that chili pot was!