February 9, 20232 yr 3 minutes ago, Sbbruin said: I can abide the chicken chili statement, but shrimp fajitas are damn good done right. I'd neg you, but you have cancer, so I'm letting this one go.
February 10, 20232 yr Making a double batch right now from snow dog’s recipe on TOS for a chili cook off at work tomorrow. I’m forecasting a 2nd place finish to something white or with beans in it or both. Wouldn’t be the first time.
February 10, 20232 yr 5 hours ago, South Austin said: I tend to think our country over-criminalizes certain areas of conduct, but I also believe that people who make dishes they call "chicken chili" and "shrimp fajitas" should serve a minimum of five years in prison.
February 10, 20232 yr 5 minutes ago, elfenix said: Basically every respectable ethnic group acts this way about their food.
February 10, 20232 yr The last chili cook off I did was at a former company’s Indianapolis office. I was there for a week and one of my folks invited me to his house to cook my Texas chili to enter a chili cook off they were having. I brought a simple set of my Pendery’s spices and chile powders. Went to the grocery for everything else. It was my usual accessible batch for back then with tomatoes and beer in it. It was certainly not hot but everyone that tried it made some comment that their ass would be on fire the next day.Lots of entries. Many were simple pound of beef can of kidney beans can of tomato sauce packet of French’s Chili-o powder. There were a couple of Cincy style shitpots. One warned folks it was spicy as it had an onion in it. The winner was made with chicken and MANGO.
February 10, 20232 yr 13 hours ago, South Austin said: I tend to think our country over-criminalizes certain areas of conduct, but I also believe that people who make dishes they call "chicken chili" and "shrimp fajitas" should serve a minimum of five years in prison. I’ll call them “shrimp soft tacos,” then. Me gustan los camarones. My girlfriend occasional says she’s going to make “chicken green chili.” I inevitably say, “casserole, not chili.” She rolls her eyes and life goes on. My problem is that even though she’s Hispanic and eats jalapeños with everything and even though her mom makes good salsa, I like stuff spicier than she does. It usually doesn’t matter much because I can tone stuff down, but I don’t like making bland chili. The chili paste I make for 3 pounds of meat has two ounces of dried peppers — 2 ancho, the rest arbol (15 or so? just depends, since it’s based on weight) — toasted and reconstituted along with some chipotle with adobo. That’s about at her limit, so I split it when it’s done and let it simmer with some pepper flakes. Not ideal, but it works.
February 10, 20232 yr 19 hours ago, jimmyjazz said: Chicken and mango chili coming out of the back of the pack for the win. LOL. I'd still take a bowl of that over the "5-Bean Vegetarian Chili" that won at my office cook-off. 18 hours ago, South Austin said: I tend to think our country over-criminalizes certain areas of conduct, but I also believe that people who make dishes they call "chicken chili" and "shrimp fajitas" should serve a minimum of five years in prison. Agree, and I almost spit out my sausage kolache at such a thought!
February 10, 20232 yr 5 hours ago, Doc Daneeka said: My girlfriend occasional says she’s going to make “chicken green chili.” I inevitably say, “casserole, not chili.” She rolls her eyes and life goes on. They don’t carry this anymore, but it was a pretty decent base when you added some heat to it. And yeah, more to the point, it’s spicy chicken soup. Kick ass recipes from Texas is one of my favorite things about shaggy/surly. my chili game increased exponentially after a few years on this site.
February 10, 20232 yr 2 hours ago, Gatorubet said: They don’t carry this anymore, but it was a pretty decent base when you added some heat to it. And yeah, more to the point, it’s spicy chicken soup. Kick ass recipes from Texas is one of my favorite things about shaggy/surly. my chili game increased exponentially after a few years on this site. I already make her a spicy green chicken pozole with fresh tomatillo, etc. which is better than her mother’s, though she won’t say that in front of her.
February 10, 20232 yr Making a double batch right now from snow dog’s recipe on TOS for a chili cook off at work tomorrow. I’m forecasting a 2nd place finish to something white or with beans in it or both. Wouldn’t be the first time. Give it a woke name like Locally Produced Fair Trade Sustainable Methane Free Keto Friendly Texas Red. You’ll still lose to some Vegan Kale Quinoa Chili without chile. Ask if they’d like you to add some cum-in their dish.My family has been in Texas since before the Alamo. Yet I can’t abide certain Texas foodways. For instance, and I hope you younguns have avoided this trauma, of the collection of congealed salads that used to festoon every Texas funeral spread, holiday table, Sunday school potluck. My grandmother would make of lime jello, tuna fish, pecans and mayo. An aunt with lemon jello, cream cheese, pineapple, marshmallows, and avocado. Tomato aspic with ham and jalapeño, from my mom. I put Texas congealed salads in the category of shameful things from our past we must move on from, right up there with shooting Yeller and exporting Blue Bell ice cream and Dickeys barbecue.
February 10, 20232 yr Those aren't just Texas staples. That shit was all the rage in the midwest. In the mid-late 20th century, home cooking in the United States sucked ass.
February 11, 20232 yr Making a double batch right now from snow dog’s recipe on TOS for a chili cook off at work tomorrow. I’m forecasting a 2nd place finish to something white or with beans in it or both. Wouldn’t be the first time. They only announced the top 3 and I wasn’t in it. 15 entries in the chili contest. Mine was the only one without beans. I think there were three vegan entries. At least two that had corn in them. I saw one with chicken. I also witnessed someone dumping cans of beans and who knows what all else into their crockpot this morning thus making chili on-site.
February 11, 20232 yr 5 hours ago, Texzilla58 said: lime jello, tuna fish, pecans and mayo. An aunt with lemon jello, cream cheese, pineapple, marshmallows, and avocado. Tomato aspic with ham and jalapeño
February 11, 20232 yr 22 hours ago, jimmyjazz said: Those aren't just Texas staples. That shit was all the rage in the midwest. In the mid-late 20th century, home cooking in the United States sucked ass. Ambrosia salad hangs its head in shame.
February 11, 20232 yr Traces of Texas The Arcane Texas Fact of the Day: Chili has no beans. If you have something in a bowl that is called chili but it has beans (Wendy's Hamburgers, I'm looking at you here), it is not chili. It might be chili flavored soup or something, but it isn't chili. The legendary Frank X. Tolbert in his classic book, "A Bowl of Red," makes this point perfectly clear and contest rules of the Chili Appreciation Society International reinforce it: no beans. My understanding is that Wolf Brand had to start putting beans in their "chili" so as not to offend delicate Yankee sensibilities. On a side note, H. Allen Smith once wrote that "the chief ingredients of all chili are fiery envy, scalding jealousy, scorching contempt, and sizzling scorn.” It sounds like H. Allen must have consumed some of my infamous "Chili con Carnage" before he wrote that. Edited February 11, 20232 yr by Jerry Callo
February 11, 20232 yr On 2/9/2023 at 5:48 PM, Sbbruin said: I can abide the chicken chili statement, but shrimp fajitas are damn good done right. Y’all can’t handle a historical argument for why beans are acceptable but you’re fine with shrimp fajitas. JFC. The word literally means skirt.
February 11, 20232 yr 13 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said: Y’all can’t handle a historical argument for why beans are acceptable but you’re fine with shrimp fajitas. JFC. The word literally means skirt. you're arguing with a californian.
February 11, 20232 yr 44 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said: Y’all can’t handle a historical argument for why beans are acceptable but you’re fine with shrimp fajitas. JFC. The word literally means skirt. Who's "y'all"? One guy from California argues for shrimp fajitas and suddenly it invalidates evidence that original Texas chili didn't include beans? Edited February 11, 20232 yr by jimmyjazz
February 12, 20232 yr El Fenix you need to study some food history rather than pulling out the lameass white folks scorn. Everyone ate these things as they were a wonder that came with refrigeration. And every ethnic group has some awful mundane shit that is embraced with near religious reverence.
February 17, 20232 yr My firm had a chili cookoff today and I made my usual recipe. It’s similar to the Pedernales Red recipe posted in this thread. I reviewed this thread for any new ideas and I saw my old posts regarding dry chili powder vs. reconstituted puréed whole dried chilies. I’ve never noticed a big difference. But I decided to go with the puréed reconstituted chilies. For about 5.5 lbs. of chuck roast (cut into 2 inch pieces and pulsed in my cuisinart to desired texture) I used around 10 whole ancho chiles and around 10 whole guajillo chiles in place of most of the Mexene powder. I added 2 Tbl of Mexene just because. I’m still not certain that it was a game-changer, but it was one of my better efforts. It won first place. Sorry, no pics. On the vitamix vs cheap blender question, I recently replaced my ancient Waring Professional bar blender with a new Ninja Professional 1000w. $59 at Costco. The Ninja puréed the chiles perfectly in about 45 seconds. We’ll see how long the motor lasts. I’ve heard that the motors in most cheaper modern blenders and food processors are made to last about 5 years.
February 17, 20232 yr 1. You can return it to costco 2. I was free for lunch today 3. did you offer Fritos ? @HouTex Edited February 17, 20232 yr by tx 3 putt
February 18, 20232 yr My firm had a chili cookoff today and I made my usual recipe. It’s similar to the Pedernales Red recipe posted in this thread. I reviewed this thread for any new ideas and I saw my old posts regarding dry chili powder vs. reconstituted puréed whole dried chilies. I’ve never noticed a big difference. But I decided to go with the puréed reconstituted chilies. For about 5.5 lbs. of chuck roast (cut into 2 inch pieces and pulsed in my cuisinart to desired texture) I used around 10 whole ancho chiles and around 10 whole guajillo chiles in place of most of the Mexene powder. I added 2 Tbl of Mexene just because. I’m still not certain that it was a game-changer, but it was one of my better efforts. It won first place. Sorry, no pics. On the vitamix vs cheap blender question, I recently replaced my ancient Waring Professional bar blender with a new Ninja Professional 1000w. $59 at Costco. The Ninja puréed the chiles perfectly in about 45 seconds. We’ll see how long the motor lasts. I’ve heard that the motors in most cheaper modern blenders and food processors are made to last about 5 years. Hmmm. You work in a sophisticated workplace for a serious craft Chili to win a cook off. Were there other genuine efforts or were you competing against the typical yankee interlopers with vegan bean soup and chicken mango crap?
February 18, 20232 yr 10 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said: Hmmm. You work in a sophisticated workplace for a serious craft Chili to win a cook off. Were there other genuine efforts or were you competing against the typical yankee interlopers with vegan bean soup and chicken mango crap? Everyone probably all wear tuxedos to work ? Edited February 18, 20232 yr by tx 3 putt
February 18, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, Texzilla58 said: Hmmm. You work in a sophisticated workplace for a serious craft Chili to win a cook off. Were there other genuine efforts or were you competing against the typical yankee interlopers with vegan bean soup and chicken mango crap? Competition wasn’t huge, but no Yankees were involved. Some decent chili was made, although three of them had beans. WTF is the tuxedo comment? Classic Surly hyperbole.
February 18, 20232 yr Making some chili for a soup/basketball/day drinking potluck. Started like this, with jalapeños, serranos, poblanos, garlic, onions, and shallots sautéing in the Dutch oven. Making bacon off to the side. I’ll then cook ground venison seasoned with Meat Church Holy Cow in the bacon grease. Then I’ll dump that into the Dutch oven and add a jar of tomato purée we made from a buddy’s garden last summer. Toss in a can of beer, some Hatch chilis, black beans (I’m a Midwesterner, spare me the lecture) and set on the smoker for the next 6 hours.Around 11AM I’ll throw in some sweet corn we froze last summer, and just before noon I’ll top it with cilantro.
February 18, 20232 yr 16 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said: Making some chili for a soup/basketball/day drinking potluck. Started like this, with jalapeños, serranos, poblanos, garlic, onions, and shallots sautéing in the Dutch oven. Making bacon off to the side. I’ll then cook ground venison seasoned with Meat Church Holy Cow in the bacon grease. Then I’ll dump that into the Dutch oven and add a jar of tomato purée we made from a buddy’s garden last summer. Toss in a can of beer, some Hatch chilis, black beans (I’m a Midwesterner, spare me the lecture) and set on the smoker for the next 6 hours. Around 11AM I’ll throw in some sweet corn we froze last summer, and just before noon I’ll top it with cilantro. Cool soup, bro.
February 18, 20232 yr 5 minutes ago, South Austin said: Seriously, I’d eat that up. But, you know, Surly. I find irrational provincialism endearing. I also understand that this is not Nam, and there are rules. And for some reason, long ago, someone said that if you’re south of the Red River, beans are allowed in everything but chili. So them’s the rules on Surly.
February 19, 20232 yr 15 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said: And for some reason, long ago, someone said that if you’re south of the Red River, beans are allowed in everything but chili. So them’s the rules on Surly. Correction. South of the Kansas state line.
March 17, 20232 yr Made a pot yesterday for game-watching. My wife wanted me to go for a heartier version of my usual Texas Red, so I leaned heavy on veggies, some of which aren't totally "authentic". (No beans, though.) All agreed it might have been my best effort yet, it was absolutely delicious. 4 lb of beef (roughly a 50/50 blend of Wagyu ground beef + Prime chuck roast (1/2" dice)), 4 anchos, 10 guajillos, a couple of yellow onions, 8 cloves garlic, a roasted, skinned and diced poblano and a roasted and minced jalapeno, 28 oz Cento tomatoes, and the usual cumin/oregano/cayenne/salt/pepper spice blend. I'll probably do just a bit more salt and cayenne next time, or maybe add some chipotle pepper powder. At any rate, this one's a keeper. My brother-in-law had 3 bowls. Edited March 17, 20232 yr by jimmyjazz
May 17, 20232 yr That video is pretty consistent with the various things I've read about the origins of chili con carne. Obviously, there are bits of conflicting information, but he gets those mostly right, to my recollection. I wish he had hilighted the "official" Chili Queens recipe, which doesn't use commercial chili powder, but that's a minor quibble.
June 30, 20232 yr Question for ya'll: I typically use ground chuck for my chili and powder over reconstituted peppers. I have some dried chilis left over from something else though, so I want to try something different from my norm. The question is really about the beef. I've experimented with cubed chuck before, but it shredded and I can't stand even a little bit of that in chili. Diced sirloin gives me a texture I like but not the flavor. Is it just a matter of not leaving the chuck in as long, or is there a cut in between chuck and sirloin that I should try?
June 30, 20232 yr 1 minute ago, TexasHooch said: Question for ya'll: I typically use ground chuck for my chili and powder over reconstituted peppers. I have some dried chilis left over from something else though, so I want to try something different from my norm. The question is really about the beef. I've experimented with cubed chuck before, but it shredded and I can't stand even a little bit of that in chili. Diced sirloin gives me a texture I like but not the flavor. Is it just a matter of not leaving the chuck in as long, or is there a cut in between chuck and sirloin that I should try? I use the stuff labeled "stew meat" at the meat counter. I don't know what cut it is precisely, but it always holds up in cubed form, and I tend to make chili on a pellet grill where I'm smoking it for 5-6 hours. You guys have Hy-Vees in the Twin Cities, right? I think they carry it.
June 30, 20232 yr Some of the best chili I've ever made used leftover brisket, diced and added towards the end (maybe 30 minutes or so). Any interest in pork shoulder? Cubed right it will hold up reasonably well.
June 30, 20232 yr Pork shoulder is a good call, and now the next time I make chili I'm totally cubing up a shoulder roast. The best batch I ever made used ground venison, bacon, and the cubed beef roast/stew meat.
June 30, 20232 yr Kroger currently has Choice briskets $1.97/lb. I bought two on Wednesday then ground and vacuum sealed the smaller one (14 lbs trimmed) with the intention of using it for chili for all of the unwashed miscreants I associate with that won't eat venison.
June 30, 20232 yr Just now, Al_4_ISU said: and the cubed beef roast/stew meat. I never knew if that "stew meat" was a specific cut, or just leftovers after butchering everything down. I mean, I don't think it's offal, but it could be a mix of different cuts, depending on where you're buying it. I assume it's typically tougher cuts. They're not throwing tenderloin or other good steak meat in there.
June 30, 20232 yr 1 minute ago, Herbie Hancock said: Kroger currently has Choice briskets $1.97/lb. I bought two on Wednesday then ground and vacuum sealed the smaller one (14 lbs trimmed) with the intention of using it for chili for all of the unwashed miscreants I associate with that won't eat venison. One of my favorite things to do culinarily is trick people into eating venison who claim they don't like it. Just now, jimmyjazz said: I never knew if that "stew meat" was a specific cut, or just leftovers after butchering everything down. I mean, I don't think it's offal, but it could be a mix of different cuts, depending on where you're buying it. I assume it's typically tougher cuts. They're not throwing tenderloin or other good steak meat in there. I've always assumed the same, but whether I'm using it in chili or beef stew, I've always had really good luck with it coming out tender and not getting stringy or separated.
June 30, 20232 yr Thanks for the ideas- keep them coming. I have used leftover smoked brisket (and tri-tip) with great results, but don't really want to do that just for the purpose of chili. Maybe I'll use a cubed raw brisket flat and use that as I would with chuck? Could work.
June 30, 20232 yr 10 minutes ago, TexasHooch said: Thanks for the ideas- keep them coming. I have used leftover smoked brisket (and tri-tip) with great results, but don't really want to do that just for the purpose of chili. Maybe I'll use a cubed raw brisket flat and use that as I would with chuck? Could work. Absolutely do this and report back. I've never considered it, but would 100% try this. Just cube up some flat and save the rest to smoke at a later date.
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