I like a nice terlinga red chili, which has a base of cumin cayanne chili powder, garlic and onion powder. It comes out a nice deep red color.
Chili is the easiest thing in the world to cook, and the most customizable, but my recipe goes like this.
Mix spices, about 1/2 cup to 2/3's cup worth. (make your own mix you chili grubbin varmits)
If you have time
cook some bacon and brown your meat in cast iron skillet, or throw some lard in to the mix. If you hate lard or bacon you can use another emulsifier ( Butter, Margarine) but use an emulsifier at this stage along with some light seasoning (liquid smoke to taste, onion powder, and a little garlic) you use salt too, but only after the bulk of your meat browns so you can taste how much your putting in.
Some chilis have tomato sauce, and some dont... if you like a little tomato add 8 oz of sauce for every 2.5 pounds of beef.
Which brings me to the taste part, browning the meat first means you have done 2 things. 1 youve locked in all the moisture and juciness you can and 2 youve cooked the meat. Sample liberally past this point because you can, there is no excuse for bad chili if you browned your meat first.
If you can help it dont brown meat in the microwave, as it tends to boil water out of the food. Its also easier to rubberize your beef.
I used 2.5 pounds of 80 ground round beef, which makes about 5 bowls of chili without beans when your done, if you want more, add more beef up to 5 pounds and adjust the cooking time, liquids and spices.
A lot of chilis include water once you throw the browned beef into a crockpot, dutch oven, or stewpot. I submit that each and every person who puts plain water in their chili is a lunatic. Lunatic I say!
Why , well why put in water when you can add beef stock, or a little chicken stock. People not afraid to add a bit of alcohol can add a little beer (which really tenderizes the meat) (Chicken stock will also tenderize the beef due to its natural enzimes so if you hate the idea of adding beer use a little of it)
So throw ypur beef into a crock pot (undrained), add your liquids (including tomato sauce) and spices, then stir to get a nice mix. I like to throw a whole smoked jalapeno pepper in at this point. If your using a crock pot you now face a dilemma.
The slower this chili cooks the better it will be, and your crockpot should have a low setting and a high setting. Cooking the chili on low for 10+ hours will ensure the best tasting result if you got your spices right. It will also kill your family as the savory smell of cooking chili permeates every nook, cranny and hollow in your house. Be warned cooking chili can drive a person mad. THe fastest option is to set your cooker on high, and cook the chili for about 4 hours, till the chili reaches the consistancy you like after stirring. All cookers are not the same so it will be a fairly hands on process with you checking and stirring every 40 minutes or so. (mainly just stir) On high you can up the hours to about 7 without seriously rubberizing the meat, but take care, if you plan to cook it longer you probably want to switch it to low.
Notice I havent added any beans, or vegetables into the mix except for on jalapeno pepper. Dont untill you plan to serve it.
Chili can be eaten as a meat dish, but beans are a little fragile and impart too much of their flavor to cook with the chili and adding already cooked beans is a surefire way of having gloppy disgusting beans in your chili. Add them in last 30 minutes to the mix, or heat them and spoon your chili on top (my reccomendation) Vegi's likewise shouldnt be cooked with the chili unless you need them as spices. The long cooking time ensures that those onions you put in are going to be vaporized or that tomato will disintegrate into the mix. Chili works best as a medium with which to serve fresh ingrediants with. So chop that onion and tomato and jalapeno if you want, but dont add them untill you chili hits the bowl. Trust me you will be pleased with the result. oh, and one last thing... if you dont like cornbread (because your a commie or a yankee) then try a potato roll or a kings Hawaiian roll (the sweetness complements the savoryness of the chili)
anyhow thats how I cook my chili.
Results may vary.
For those willing to skimp on a step use a store bought chili spice mix (in your supermarkets soup section)
