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It’s that time of the year. I’ve been tweaking my chili recipe for about a decade now. I call it ‘T’s Tex-Mex Red’ as most of the ingredients in it are used in Texas, Mexican, and Tex-Mex cooking. Here are some tips I’d give to the novice chili competition competitor / homecook.
1) Your chili can only be as good as your chili powder. Some will only use stuff they make themselves but there’s no shame in using a quality made product. In Chicago we have Spice House, Savory Spice, Epic Spice. You can also mail order Gephardt from Texas. Skip the McCormick.
2) Build layers of flavor. First thing in pan is tallow. Then I brown small cubes of chuck (optional - sometimes I use just ground beef). After that onions (to soak up tallow). Then in goes Mexican chorizo (good for flavor / color) followed by peppers. Followed by ground beef.
Note about above: I remove each ingredient from the pan after its sear / browning (throw it all in a bowl). This will assure that your ingredients don’t just steam.
2) Once you have your big bowl of meats, browned onions / peppers (use a variety like diff colors of bell, jalapeño etc) I also like to use hatch chiles if I have them or roasted poblano (add either of those near the end so they don’t disinigrate). Throw it all back in the pot.
3) Always add your first round of spices to your pot full of browned meats and veggies (+ splash yellow mustard) and mix up and let cook for 5 mins. This will release flavors from the spices. When kitchen gets aromatic it’s time to add liquid. Cheap beer or beef broth works best.
4) Cook liquid in beef/onion/pepper mixture until mostly evaporated then add your tomato sauce if using. I like to make a homemade red enchilada sauce for this but you could also use a store bought version or plain old tomato sauce. I prefer my chili not be chunky with tomatoes.
5) don’t overdo the tomatoes. I add enough sauce to get the consistency to where I want it which is neither too thick nor too thin. Personal preference but just remember you’re making chili and not tomato soup or stew.
6) It’s always best to make your chili a day ahead. That and you need to let it simmer for at least a couple hours so it’s not “raw” which means it has yet to meld into one big bowl of flavor.
7) Notice when I said “add your 1st round of spices” up above? This is bc you should add your spices in at several different stages to build those layers of flavor. What spices? This can be freestyled. Aside from chili power and cumin think paprika, garlic powder, onion powder...
beef / chicken bouillion, NM chile powder (green and or red), Mexican oregano, Adobo, BBQ rub etc. If it’s Texan or Mexican it’ll be good added in. How much? I say about 12 tbsp of chili powder per 8 pounds of meat. Add half as directed above and half an hour before complete...
... exact amount for the rest of the spices can vary, I usually eye it. Figure 2 TBPS of cumin and maybe 1 TBSP for the rest of the them. It’s not rocket science it’ll be fine so long as the chili powder is the dominant spice used.
8) Lastly going back to layers of flavor. I always add a big cup of red salsa to the pot right before serving. My guys at the now closed Taco Buritto Palace made the perfect blend for this which was red and thin with lots of onion and cilantro in it. Try to make or find similar.
This post is old and I cant promise the portioning is exact but here’s a lil’ piece I did on my chili recipe (which is always getting tweaked). If you can grill steaks as I do in this recipe it’s worth it. Save the meat juices for the pot. Enjoy the game! http://chibbqking.blogspot.com/2009/01/art-of-chili.html
