What do you like in your chili?

[kphoger]

Two categories of answers:

A.  What is your preferred chili made of?

B.  What toppings go on that chili?



I'll start.

A.  made of?

  1.  A base made from dried chili peppers, preferably two different kinds.  I de-stem them, toast them in a skillet, rehydrate them in water off the boil, purée them in a blender with some of the steeping liquid, then sautée the puré in a skillet with some vegetable oil.  (The leftover steeping water makes a nice spicy herbal tea, depending on type of chili pepper, especially with honey and lemon juice.)

  2.  Ground beef or a very small cut of stew meat.  A combination of deer meat and beef is even better.

  3.  Beans.  Pinto beans are best, plus either kidney beans or black beans.  Call me a heretic, I don't care.

  4.  Onions and garlic.  Really, I don't see the point in cooking anything if you don't put at least one of those in your dish.

  5.  A couple of serrano peppers for fresh heat, de-stemmed and cut lengthwise in half.

  5.  Sometimes diced tomatoes.  Sometimes diced bell peppers.  Anything beyond that is getting into vegetable beef soup territory.

  6.  Salt of course, but also plenty of cumin.  Oregano and maybe some paprika.  A splash of red wine vinegar if I'm feeling fancy.

B.  toppings?

  Maybe a little sour cream, maybe a little shredded cheese.  Really, though, your chili shouldn't need any toppings.

[J N Winkler]

I use a recipe for chipotle chili with a ground turkey base (85% lean), but substitute fresh Fresno red chili peppers (de-stemmed, de-seeded, and julienned) for the chipotles.  However, it's been about two years since I fixed it.  Fifteen-bean soup is my winter standby.

[kphoger]

Chipotles are a good chili to go with, so long as it isn't the only pepper used.  I prefer ancho plus a spicier one such as puya, but tossing one or two chipotles in the mix adds a nice layer of flavor.

[Rothman]

Skyline Chili...

[SkyPesos]

As someone in Cincinnati, going to have to go with ground beef chili topped on spaghetti, and shredded cheese on top of all. That's the classic 3-way!

And Skyline > Gold Star

[US71]

I used to like Steak and Shake, but the chili seems to swimming in grease, anymore.

I make my own chili with ground beef, chili powder, garlic, onion, tomatoes (or tomato juice) and a few kidney beans. In the past, I have added a splash of Coca-Cola &/or 1/4 tsp of cocoa.

[renegade]

As someone in Cincinnati, going to have to go with ground beef chili topped on spaghetti, and shredded cheese on top of all. That's the classic 3-way!

And Skyline > Gold Star

False.  Gold Star is way better than Skyline could ever be.  Neither will ever be as good as Acropolis Chili was, before they tore it down.  Camp Washington chili is an adequate substitute.  Empress used to be good, but I haven't been there since they closed most of their locations.

It's a waste of my time and money if it's not 4-way.  I need my onions.

[dlsterner]

A.  What is your preferred chili made of?

First, my snarky opinions about burgers and their toppings do not apply to my chili

Ground beef, then coated with enough spices (cumin, cayenne pepper, etc) to give it a bit of a kick, then sautéed some more to "toast" the spices to bring out the flavor.
Onion and garlic, of course.  Tomatoes, chili peppers and jalapeño peppers.

No beans.

Often will add some beer to it.

Not so much spice that it sets your mouth on fire, but enough to know that you aren't eating "hamburger soup".

B.  What toppings go on that chili?

To be honest, whatever I feel like and/or have available.  Cheese and/or sour cream and/or tostados.  I'll have the chili by itself, or over spaghetti, or over rice.  Or to make chili dogs.

FWIW, I also enjoy Cincinnati style chili - just need to remember than Texas style and Cincinnati style are two separate classes of chili.  Both are good in their own individual ways.

[kphoger]

1/4 tsp of cocoa.

I tossed in a couple of chocolate candies once at some friends' house when nobody was looking, and it turned out great.  Haven't tried it since then.

chili peppers and jalapeño peppers.

I'm confused by this.  Jalapeño peppers are chili peppers.

[dlsterner]

chili peppers and jalapeño peppers.

I'm confused by this.  Jalapeño peppers are chili peppers.

Late at night, didn't proofread as much as I should have.  I'm human

[hbelkins]

Does spaghetti belong in non-Cincy style chili? Great online arguments have occurred over this topic.

And considering Skyline vs. Gold Star, I can really tell no difference in the two at a restaurant. There's a Gold Star in Lexington where I will occasionally eat when I'm there (seems my choices usually come down to Gold Star, Culver's, or Freddy's these days) so I'm more familiar with it. There is now a Skyline in Lexington but it's in a bit of an inconvenient place for me so I haven't been there.

Both companies sell a frozen version of their product, and I have to stay I much prefer Gold Star's frozen two-way (you have to add your own cheese, onions, or beans if you want them) to Skyline's.

[Dirt Roads]

Nobody has mentioned this yet, but how about steak tips in chili?  If you freeze them first, they can be diced into small cubes and fried before hitting the chili soup.  I like to fry them in the same spices that go in the chili soup.  My wife has a hard time with spicy foods, so its been a long time since I did this. 

Also like plenty of diced tomatoes in the soup.  And onions on top (cheese optional).

[bwana39]

No BEANS...

NO BEANS.......

No Beans

[bwana39]

1/4 tsp of cocoa.

I tossed in a couple of chocolate candies once at some friends' house when nobody was looking, and it turned out great.  Haven't tried it since then.

chili peppers and jalapeño peppers.

I'm confused by this.  Jalapeño peppers are chili peppers.

Yes, no, sort of.

Generally when you are talking about Chilies in Mexican Food, you are talking about Hatch Style Chilis. Decendents of the New Mexico #9 Mild peppers/
Most Hatch peppers are about a third as hot as a typical jalapeno pepper, or they can be about as hot as your typical jalapeno. Because there are different types of chili peppers that can be categorized as Hatch Chile Peppers, there heat levels can vary from a fairly mild 1,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU) to around 8,000 SHU.

https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/sweet-mild-chili-peppers/hatch-chili-peppers/

[kphoger]

Generally when you are talking about Chilies in Mexican Food, you are talking about Hatch Style Chilis. Decendents of the New Mexico #9 Mild peppers

I am?  News to me.