Talk about chili in the summer? But chili is most appropriate in the fall and winter. You can't really appreciate a bowl of chili unless you've come in to its smell from a dark, rainy, wintry night.
Let's talk about Chili
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Shaihulud
Deity
My Chilli is something called a Sambal belachan, mostly used as a condiment and dipping sauce. I find that when used as a base for the American form of Chilli, it enhanced the taste flavourably. It is also something you can make in large batches and stored.
classical_hero
In whom I trust
They call them peppers. Chili is a dish they make.
Believe it or not, it's still fall and winter here in the midwest. We are scheduled for frost this weekend. Hey, maybe i'll make some chili!
I put a significant amount of bean in mine: because that's where all the savings ($) and nutrition can come from. Well, that and the tomato, but the tomato is more expensive. I do like a wee bit of hamburger in my chili. I've never enjoyed straight vegetarian chili. That said, I've recently discovered dehydrated textured vegetable protein. It's very tasty, and very cost-effective. I can tell it's not hamburger but it's "close enough" that I am quite pleased.
onejayhawk
Afflicted with reason
Chili (that is the preferred spelling) is essentially a curry that developed in Texas, USA. Methods are very similar to curry and many of the spices are the same. Here is something I wrote up 10 years ago.
Some basic rules of chili:
1) Brown the meat in small batches. The point is to brown and not braise. Meat contains water, which will boil given half a chance. Spread the meat to to avoid this.
2) Toast your seasonings, especially if using whole dried peppers. Toast whole peppers til crunchy, pour out the seeds, and then crush in a blender or coffee grinder. Cumin should also be toasted a shade darker
3) Put your ground dried peppers, cumin, herbs and other dry seasonings in a Pyrex bowl or measuring cup, and pour over a cup of boiling water. This is a technique common in making curry. The resulting slurry will release the flavors into the chili more quickly.
4) Water works as well as anything for liquid. Adding beer just before serving is nice, but using it for the long cooking is unnecessary.
5) Consider baking in a covered dish, such as a dutch oven. Brown meat and cook with water and peppers for a while. Add the rest of the seasonings and bake at 300 for 2-3 hours. A paste of equal parts boiling water and cornmeal can be added to thicken the batch. Add just before baking.
6) Tomatoes are permitted. A spoon of paste gives a nice body. Add midway.
7) Onions and garlic should also be added midway. Dry peppers and cumin early on. Green peppers late. Beer and beans just before serving. Purists prefer the beans on the side.
8) Chili that is not spicy enough to require a fire extinguisher is spaghetti sauce--all right in its place, but not the genuine article.
Also this. http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=65769
J
Some basic rules of chili:
1) Brown the meat in small batches. The point is to brown and not braise. Meat contains water, which will boil given half a chance. Spread the meat to to avoid this.
2) Toast your seasonings, especially if using whole dried peppers. Toast whole peppers til crunchy, pour out the seeds, and then crush in a blender or coffee grinder. Cumin should also be toasted a shade darker
3) Put your ground dried peppers, cumin, herbs and other dry seasonings in a Pyrex bowl or measuring cup, and pour over a cup of boiling water. This is a technique common in making curry. The resulting slurry will release the flavors into the chili more quickly.
4) Water works as well as anything for liquid. Adding beer just before serving is nice, but using it for the long cooking is unnecessary.
5) Consider baking in a covered dish, such as a dutch oven. Brown meat and cook with water and peppers for a while. Add the rest of the seasonings and bake at 300 for 2-3 hours. A paste of equal parts boiling water and cornmeal can be added to thicken the batch. Add just before baking.
6) Tomatoes are permitted. A spoon of paste gives a nice body. Add midway.
7) Onions and garlic should also be added midway. Dry peppers and cumin early on. Green peppers late. Beer and beans just before serving. Purists prefer the beans on the side.
8) Chili that is not spicy enough to require a fire extinguisher is spaghetti sauce--all right in its place, but not the genuine article.
Also this. http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=65769
J
BvBPL
Pour Decision Maker
I put chocolate and chiles in my chili.
onejayhawk
Afflicted with reason
Chocolate or cocoa? A couple spoons of cocoa adds color and complexity.
For those that think chocolate an odd addition, it is only recently that chocolate has been sweetened. Mole is a chile sauce.
Chiles cause sweat, which is a natural cooling process. That is why capsicum is so important in tropical cuisine around the world. Chili is a chile dish.
J
For those that think chocolate an odd addition, it is only recently that chocolate has been sweetened. Mole is a chile sauce.
Chiles cause sweat, which is a natural cooling process. That is why capsicum is so important in tropical cuisine around the world. Chili is a chile dish.
J
CavLancer
This aint fertilizer
I want to make my own ketchup for the restaurant, save some dough. I'm using tomatoes of course, bananas as a thickener, but want to add a touch of chili flavor and there are chilis here. How do I get the flavor from the pepper into the ketchup? Just blend them in and heat? We have plenty of bananas here and banana ketchup is a product sold in the stores, though far too sweet for my tastes. Still red though. 
Thankfully can still get Hunts and Heinz for personal use up until we make our own. Also to be found are hot sauces and I'm thinking of just adding some when we make a batch, but figured I'd ask and see what the different experiences are.
Thankfully can still get Hunts and Heinz for personal use up until we make our own. Also to be found are hot sauces and I'm thinking of just adding some when we make a batch, but figured I'd ask and see what the different experiences are.
BvBPL
Pour Decision Maker
Cocoa, I guess. It adds complexity and can tone down spiciness if I add too many chiles.
Considering you eat it, yeah...
Absolutely. 
My dad liked to add celery and onions to anything he made in the stew line, but I like it either way.
BvBPL
Pour Decision Maker
Celery seed is a great way to add the sweetness of celery w/o adding celery that will invariably become mushy in a chili.
cybrxkhan
Asian Xwedodah
I do like throwing celery into stuff, like pastas or pizzas or what not, but I never thought about throwing it into chili. Should remember to do that next time.
onejayhawk
Afflicted with reason
I want to make my own ketchup for the restaurant, save some dough. I'm using tomatoes of course, bananas as a thickener, but want to add a touch of chili flavor and there are chilis here. How do I get the flavor from the pepper into the ketchup? Just blend them in and heat? We have plenty of bananas here and banana ketchup is a product sold in the stores, though far too sweet for my tastes. Still red though.
What kind of dried chiles are available? Since pizza is on the menu, the ubiquitous crushed ancho pepper is a good choice. This is the one Americans have in big shakers on the table at pizza joints.
Ketchup is cheap. Why not do a chili sauce? Heat vinegar, fish sauce, garlic and peppers plus sugar to taste. Mix in pureed tomatoes.
J
CavLancer
This aint fertilizer
Dunno. However we'll be cooking down the tomatoes and banana could cook the chilis down at the same time. Here, ketchup is expensive because its prepared food. The profit margins are slim being a 3rd world country (albiet growing at 7.25% or whatever) so everything I can save along the way means something. 
Should look into drying peppers and see if they are better than those desiccated, industrialized, processed, and something else bad dried chilis they sit out at the pizza places that have been there for all eternity.
Should look into drying peppers and see if they are better than those desiccated, industrialized, processed, and something else bad dried chilis they sit out at the pizza places that have been there for all eternity.
AdamCrock
Polish Pirate
Chili is awesome but personally I prefer Jalapeno ! ^^ It fits with everything imho ! ^^
Silurian
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My wife likes to eat roast chili in garlic sauce as a side dish when we are eating out in Macedonia.
Quackers
The Frog
Silurian
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Is she trying to cultivate the worse smelling breath possible?
Not sure.
She always asks if the chilies are very hot and complains if they are not when the dish arrives. There are normally four or five large chilies in the dish.
