There's nothing better on cool, rainy days than a nice, big bowl of homemade chili. I have a pot going right now and I thought I would share my recipe and get some ideas for future reference.

Here's what you need for 6 generous servings of my chili:

1.5lbs. lean ground beef (or venison if you've got it)
1 medium yellow onion
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
2 cans of diced stewed tomatoes
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of black beans
1 oz. chili powder
1 oz. Valentino hot sauce
A couple shakes of cinnamon or ground cloves

On medium-low heat, crumble your beef or venison into the pot. Then, chop up your onion and let it sweat with the meat while you chop up your bell peppers. Add them to the sweat and leave it be until the meat is browned (not cooked; just browned). It's important to use lean meat because you don't want to have to drain out any of the nicely-flavored oil, and you don't want it to be too greasy. By that same token, you shouldn't use extra-lean meat because you need to have some grease in there to carry the flavor and give it the right consistency. In the case of venison, it might not hurt to add a little extra virgin olive oil to the sweat.

After the meat is browned, the onions are translucent, and the peppers are softened, go ahead and add the canned ingredients, the hot sauce and half of the spices. I don't drain any fluid from the cans beforehand; I just dump the whole things in. Let it simmer for a little bit and taste test the broth and finish seasoning it to your taste. Cover it and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for at least 45 minutes, but preferably for 2-4 hours, and enjoy!

Now let's have your recipes, and if anyone questions your credentials as an environmentalist, let them know you love chili.

MMMmmm this could turn into a juicy topic! Hopefully we can keep it civil when people start disagreeing on what does and what does not belong in "real" chile.

I'm pretty open minded about chile til you start throwing in a few certain ingredients that I see lots of people use for some reason....things like corn and sausage....
To each his own though.

I'm a serious chile head and your recipe looks good to me for a mild tasting chile that anyone could eat. I would personally add some hotter stuff in there but that's just me. I'm one of those people you don't want to ask "is this hot?" lol.

I personally prefer white beans like great northern or navy. And it's just gotta have garlic in it!!! Garlic goes in just about everything.

+1 on the garlic. I like my beans dark though....

So they can come back out darker? LOL

Recipes for salsa would also be nice. Been looking around but haven't found one that strikes me yet.

I have just used Wick Fowler's 3-Alarm Chili Mix with either venison or beef (no beans) for the last 40 years and not had any complaints. Use less red pepper if you want 1 or 2 alarm.

1911

actually, the different grades of olive oil are for various things.

extra virgin olive oil is for drizzling on breads and salads, really. It breaks down under heat, as does virgin olive oil. It is not actually meant for cooking.

If you are going to use oil, like in the case of venison, you should use just plain olive oil, or even vegetable oil.


also, a good thing to help thicken your chili would be tomato paste.

whenever I use tomato anything for cooking, like in sauces and such, I almost always put a pinch of sugar in there as well, to help neutralize the tomato acidity. if you are careful about how much (rather how little) you put in, it wont alter the flavor of the tomatos or recipe. this will also help knock down the vinegar, which is in all commercial hot sauces, which can screw with the flavoring of your basic ingredients, especially when used in large amounts.

I was always under the impression that "TRUE" Chili" does NOT have beans... and that "chili with beans" is how you would describe it, if it did...

Anyways... I never use a "Recipe"... I just make chili...

Get a big ol pot... Usually one that holds about 3 gallons... ( this will be FULL when done... )

Add to it...

2 large cans diced tomatoes, 1 can crushed tomatoes, 1 large can whole tomatoes, 1 large can of puree, and 2 medium cans tomato paste.

4-6 large green peppers, 4-6 large white/spanish onions - diced. ( more or less to desired consistency)

1 large bunch fresh cilantro minced coarse

1 whole garlic - use 6 to 8 of the larger cloves - sliced thick (1/16 - 1/8 inch)

2 tablespoons of the jar style diced garlic

Mushrooms - fresh or canned - if you want them... ( I like em in mine... If canned do not drain... just dump!)

3 - 4 of the chili powder bottles. like the ones you get at walmart... the round ones with the red top... ( about a cup and a half total) more or less for taste... mind you this is not for heat... just flavor...

2 cans black beans, 2 cans great northern beans, 1 can pinto beans, 1 can kidney beans. ( I like a variety of beans in chili too! ) DO NOT RINSE THE BEANS!!! the thick juice is all flavor... you rinse... you are dumping thickness and flavor down the drain... why are you being such a pansy about this?!?!? *MEN* eat chili...

3 or 4 small cans of diced chile's

Its all in how it LOOKS... if it looks too tomato-ey add more peppers and onions and beans... If you think it looks good with less beans... dont put as many in. It should be like thick salsa at this point... kinda...

simmer all of this... meanwhile... in the pressure cooker... Dont have a pressure cooker? REALLY? Wow... sucks to be you... your chili is going to suck... guess you are stuck with ground meat... Anyways... for the rest of us...

Flash sear in a 1/4 cup of olive oil 2-3 lbs of meat chunks - about 1" - 1.5" cubes... venison, emu, beef, goose... whatever ya got... Chuck roast diced is very nice, venison leg meat chunks work perfect too... the stuff you usually would grind into hamburger... I like to mix venison and beef as the venison is usually very lean, and the beef helps it out... sautée with garlic powder, salt, pepper, onion powder, and some more chili powder... add crushed red pepper to taste... I like to put in about a tablespoon here... get it all cooking up nice in the cooker... put on the lid, and the pressurizer, and pressure cook on high till 3 bars, then LOW heat for a full 15-20 mins. This will turn the toughest of meat into buttery tender deliciousness!

After cooking, remove the pressurizer, cover the lid with a towel... when completely vented, remove lid and stir... it should be quite nicely brown and juicy inside...

DUMP into veggie pot... continue simmering... yes... dump it all...

In pressure cooker pan brown 1 pound of ground italian sausage... do not cook till juices are gone... just brown slightly... then dump into veggie pot... yes... grease, juice, meat... all of it... the more the better... it will all blend and everything will find that happy place in chili harmony where your taste buds will thank you... ( or me... for insisting)

Stir well... taste often... will probably need about a 1/4 cup of salt... but salt to taste slowly... you can always add more!!! Its tough to take salt out... LOL

At this point you will want to add heat... whatever your choice of peppers are... diced fine and coarse... or you can use whatever you want out of a bottle... whatever... just heat it up at this point... to your intensity level... and dont forget... the more often you taste, and add heat, thinking its not quite there yet... *STOP*... cause you are not realizing your tongue is lagging behind your brain, and its really a lot hotter than you think it is... you can always add a dash more LATER...

WASH YOUR HANDS!!!!!!!! cause when you feel that tickling itch near your eye... yes you will think you are going blind... its not fun... really... WASH YOUR HANDS!

cook for about 2 hours stirring OFTEN on the lowest heat to keep at almost a boil... DO NOT LET IT BURN!

Its done when you think it tastes good... but usually it will be better after a day or two... ( kinda like a good lasagne! LOL )

This amount will usually last in my house about 2 days... GONE...

If I have forgotten anything I will come back and edit later... but thats all I can think of off the top of my head...

Damn Indy! You gonna be out this way any time soon? That sounds absolutely awesome! And no, I don't have a pressure cooker and it does suck. I used to have one and am thinking maybe I'll buy myself one for my BD.

Obviously, you can use better cuts of meat and just dump them in the chili and it will come out fine... I for one prefer to use the meat I wont use for anything else... and there is the reason I pressure cook the meat. If you dont pressure cook it the meat cubes will sometimes be tough and chewy... depending on what kind of meat you use... this allows you to use almost ANYTHING and it will still come out like fork tender pot roast!

Also, the reason I do it separately from the veggies...Theres the Irony!!!

If you add the meat TOO SOON after pressure cooking to the rest of the mix, it will then be OVERCOOKED and start to fall apart and become stringy... Theres NOTHING WORSE than stringy chili... Although I think the one time I overcooked the rabbit in the rabbit stew I made was on the verge of disgusting. Not flavor wise... just this tough, chewy, stringy mass of meat fibers that were the thickness of carpet thread, but managed to clump together and be a real pain in the ass... We dont let that happen in Chili!

I also like to add a LITTLE bit of ground sausage for the nice flavor it imparts.

Personally I cant stand too much ground meat in my chili... makes me think I am eating sloppy-joes with beans and no bread... but just a small amount of Sausage is the ticket! Usually I like to use about 1 pound to 3 or 4 of Sausage to meat... Depending on my mood... as I said... I dont have a recipe... I go with what I feel like tossing in at that point... LOL

You want to talk about tender... Put a large corned beef in the pressure cooker for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 3 bars on low heat... oh my god... fork tender!! Likewise... when I make venison stew, or beef stew... I always pressure cook the meat for about 10 minutes before adding it to the potatoes, carrots, celery, parsley, onions... Oh... wait... thats a recipe for another thread, isn't it?!?!?

Racegal... BUY YOURSELF a damn pressure cooker!!! You wont know how you got along without it... why do ya think they made them way back when in the first place?

Wow Indy that does sound good! And BTW a pressure cooker is definitely in our future! I used to have access to one all the time til it moved out....

One thing to note about the beans...no matter what kind you like, I like to add mine toward the end of the cooking (last 1.5 hrs or so and be SURE to keep the temp low enough and the pot stirred enough that they don't burn at the bottom)... I cook mine for several hours though. +1 on not rinsing the beans.

Here's a little secret recipe that I like to add to mine too...
http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showto...t=0#entry263820

Unfortunately, I have children to feed... They dont appreciate some of the finer things in life... Like habaneros. It can have some bite... I just have to season each bowl individually if I want things to be near nuclear...

Although my Daughter ate up my entire supply of Cobra's hot sauce... go figure!

Man that sounds great with the 2 different beans in it. I always use kidney beans but never thought of adding the black beans.
Looking over your cooking instructions and me being a southern man is sweat the same as simmer?

Thanks for sharing.