Jump to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

Surly Horns

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Featured Replies

On 10/11/2024 at 6:08 PM, Texzilla58 said:

Usually a heaping tbsp per pound.  I like a heavy cumin edged.  

Same. And whether for at home or for competition I'm adding half my cumin closer to the end of the cook than the beginning. 

  • Replies 1.9k
  • Views 155.5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Most Popular Posts

  • Not bad for my first time. 2nd place out of 69 entries at the Texana Chili Spill. 

  • jimmyjazz
    jimmyjazz

    Probably my best ever:  an attempt to get close to the original San Antonio Chili Queens recipe.  I used less onion and more chile peppers & cumin, but the result was stellar.  I'd say the heat wa

  • elfenix
    elfenix

    3.5 lbs chili grind, 3 or 4 lbs cubed smoked brisket, a bunch of peppers made into paste, powders bloomed in beef fat, bunch of onions + ones floating around the fridge, some serranos and jalapenos fl

Posted Images

I have an impossible task, but I'll give it a shot and ask the experts here anyway. I need to make a pot of chili for family. Most of us are fine with a solid typical Texas chili. Except we have a few family members that really, really want beans in theirs.  In addition, they can't handle much heat because they are older.  Finally, just to top it off, any meat that is gristly would also be a problem, so I want to make sure I use the right meat(s) in it. Any thoughts on a recipe, where maybe some beans or additional heat could be added at the end to some of the bowls? I'm at a loss.

Or a few cans of Wolfe chili, would they even notice? 

So I'll fix one pot of Jimmy Jazz recipe from the beginning of this thread, and the second pot from another chili with beans recipe I already have.  For that one, it calls for a few tablespoons of chili powder. COuld I just substitute the rehydrated chilis discussed in this thread? At least I could give them something interesting.  Any thoughts on best meat cuts?

For the old farts, just do a pot of Wick Fowler's with 2 lbs standard ground beef, and throw some cooked beans in at the end.  Sounds like that's what they're looking for anyway.

 

1 hour ago, Dbeasy said:

So I'll fix one pot of Jimmy Jazz recipe from the beginning of this thread, 

If it's the recipe that starts with these ingredients, I would recommend tilting to more guajillo and less ancho.  Maybe 6/12 instead of 8/8 or something like that.  Too much ancho just gets things kinda sweet and raisin-y.  (Again, my opinion only, but you did reference a recipe I posted.)

2 lb    beef chuck (cubed ~ 1/2")
1 lb    pork loin (cubed ~ 1/2")
8        dried guajillo peppers
8        dried ancho peppers
4        dried chipotle peppers

So, here is what I've decided to do. I took the Jimmy Jazz recipe and "merged" it with an InstaPot chili recipe we've used in the past (with beans) that was decent. I'm adding some beans, but not a ton. I'm violating every rule of chili-making. I feel dirty. If folks want me to post the recipe and results next week, I will. Conversely, if you want me to not say another word again about this basterdized chili, I totally understand.

2 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

So, here is what I've decided to do. I took the Jimmy Jazz recipe and "merged" it with an InstaPot chili recipe we've used in the past (with beans) that was decent. I'm adding some beans, but not a ton. I'm violating every rule of chili-making. I feel dirty. If folks want me to post the recipe and results next week, I will. Conversely, if you want me to not say another word again about this basterdized chili, I totally understand.

Beef stew, or whatever you would call chili with beans, tastes great.  Or at least it's certainly not the beans that make it bad.  Just throw some cayenne in your bowl if you need more heat.

2 hours ago, Gene Parmesan said:

Beef stew, or whatever you would call chili with beans, tastes great.  

I call chili with beans in it Chili With Beans. Chili is a type of stew. Chili with beans in it, also a type of stew.

 

As for the task at hand, my step-grandmother would make both a pot of chili AND a pot of beans at family get togethers sometimes. Provide a slotted spoon and they can throw their beans in the chili if they want.

As for the heat issue, maybe mash up or blend up some chilies, fresh or cooked, and have a good sized bowl of it on the side for people to thrown a spoonful in their chili/chili with the beans if they want to spice it up a bit. Maybe roast some serranos and get those chopped up/blended up on the side. One of my favs is a bunch of chile pequins mashed up in the molcajete with just a bit of liquid to spread it out and help lube things up for better mashing (maybe just a bit of water, or a bit of tomato juice). You throw that in a stew or soup (chili in this case) and man, it'd be good for a quick heat. Obviously a lot of work, both making it and just finding that many pequins.

OR maybe just a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce or other type of pepper sauce to pass around/on the counter. 

HEB has chuck roast on sale, so I picked up a 2.5 lb’er and cubed it up this morning as I’ve been adding around cubed meat into my ground at a 2:1 ratio in my last few batches. Went to put the cubed chuck in the fridge and saw an open bottle of spicy Zing Zang Bloody Mary mix and said what the bell. Chuck has been marinating in that since about 8 this morning, about to start cooking at 3.

On 11/19/2024 at 7:18 AM, Dbeasy said:

So, here is what I've decided to do. I took the Jimmy Jazz recipe and "merged" it with an InstaPot chili recipe we've used in the past (with beans) that was decent. I'm adding some beans, but not a ton. I'm violating every rule of chili-making. I feel dirty. If folks want me to post the recipe and results next week, I will. Conversely, if you want me to not say another word again about this basterdized chili, I totally understand.

Post it

I started doing this years ago when we lived in California.  Was asked to make “real Texas Chili” by the host who was Canadian for a Super Bowl party.   Asked to define it, he said “ you know, chili, beans, sorta spicy…the real thing!”

i told him I’d need some room.  Anyway I didn’t compromise the real lines.  I was the only Texan, the rest were Bay Area locals, New Yorkers, midwesterners. Having eaten out with them often they had zero clue and little heat tolerance.  Made a simple pot of ground beef chili with gebhardts and crushed tomatoes.  A pot of beans.  And lots of add ins.  It’s evolved and expanded.  I have a DiL from west Oklahoma so it’s bean tolerant.

my last big one:

big pot of Red (ground 80/20, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, onions, garlic; they love it and I figured out doing a chile paste and chuck roast is lost and waste of time and money)

pot of green chili (ground pork, pork shoulder, onions, jalapeños, poblanos, anaheims, tomatillos)

pot of pinto beans made with bacon grease, bacon, ham hock, chile, beer)

Mexican rice, Fritos, tortilla chips, saltines, chopped fresh jalapeños, chopped onions, biscuits or flour tortillas (great with the green), sour cream, shredded cheese.  A bunch of other shit.  
if you’re have the notion ill grill up hot dogs or links.  I like wrapping one up with chili cheese and onions in a flour tortilla.  Always a hit and something few have had.  My dad made them when I was a kid.

 

 

So I had to delay the chili because we missed our cold weather window. Trying again next Friday. I noticed almost everyone in this thread floats whole serranos or jalapenos. We've always cut up serranos, with seeds, and dumped them in. What is the effect of floating vs dumping them in diced up?

1 hour ago, Dbeasy said:

So I had to delay the chili because we missed our cold weather window. Trying again next Friday. I noticed almost everyone in this thread floats whole serranos or jalapenos. We've always cut up serranos, with seeds, and dumped them in. What is the effect of floating vs dumping them in diced up?

 

i float them. blend after and add back in to desired heat level 

 

You can't "mark" your chili in competition, so most float the japs or serranos to add the heat without the actual pepper. I have no idea if the people that do it on this thread do competition chili and it's just habit. But I don't know why you wouldn't dice them up and add to the pot.

1 hour ago, Dbeasy said:

So I had to delay the chili because we missed our cold weather window. Trying again next Friday. I noticed almost everyone in this thread floats whole serranos or jalapenos. We've always cut up serranos, with seeds, and dumped them in. What is the effect of floating vs dumping them in diced up?

When I float fresh chiles I squish them with tongs before removing.  It gets most of the heat and flavor into the pot without changing the texture.

10 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

@jimmyjazz would you mind reissuing your current recipe?

Hmmm. It kinda varies.  Let me see what the last I notated was.  Please be aware I don't know shit about shit.  Never done a competition, strictly home cooking.

16 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

@jimmyjazz would you mind reissuing your current recipe?

OK, these are my last notes.  I remember liking this one quite a bit.  Nothing on the actual cook, just the ingredients.  I get lazy.  I remember I diced the chuck roast into ~ 3/4" cubes and that was a nice contrast to the ground chuck "gravy".  Apologies for using frozen onions.

Spoiler

2.2 lb     chuck roast

1 lb         ground chuck

6              ancho chiles

10           guajillo chiles

7.5 oz    chipotles en adobo

8 oz        tomato sauce

4 c           chicken broth

2 t           smoked Maldon sea salt

12 oz      frozen chopped onion

8 oz        mild diced canned green chiles

3              cloves garlic

2 T          fresh ground cumin

1 T          Mexican oregano

1.5 tsp   Morton’s salt, divided

 

Edited by jimmyjazz

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

When I float fresh chiles I squish them with tongs before removing.  It gets most of the heat and flavor into the pot without changing the texture.

I dice them up fine and by the end of the long cook they just melt away, don't change the texture at all.  And heaven forbid I get a little more veggie flesh in my diet.  I've always thought floating them was kind of silly but I don't know anything about competition cooking.

  • Popular Post

Fritos were on sale and the weather is colder this week so here's some Texas chili....

PXL_20241129_063728811.thumb.jpg.a25d387c380bd0453126036b44ce622d.jpg

PXL_20241130_004220972.thumb.jpg.f56620848bb64f17405b85910076acfc.jpg

Diced onions on Frito pie? 
tenor(5).gif.7298c9c983f0813646e0f3ee8683ccd3.gif
 

Wait…this is a revelation to you?
Frito pie is served with Fritos, cheese, to be topped by diced onions and sliced jalapeños as you wish. With Louisiana hot sauce available for a splash of something extra.
Oh, and if you then eat the resulting goodness using a saltine as a spoon, that’s just piling on.
3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


Wait…this is a revelation to you?
Frito pie is served with Fritos, cheese, to be topped by diced onions and sliced jalapeños as you wish. With Louisiana hot sauce available for a splash of something extra.
Oh, and if you then eat the resulting goodness using a saltine as a spoon, that’s just piling on.

Cholula

Cholula

I’ll allow it, but for the Mexican sauces I prefer Valentina’s.
I just prefer the more vinegary kick of a Louisiana hot sauce. My coonass half is showing.
14 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


Wait…this is a revelation to you?
Frito pie is served with Fritos, cheese, to be topped by diced onions and sliced jalapeños as you wish. With Louisiana hot sauce available for a splash of something extra.
Oh, and if you then eat the resulting goodness using a saltine as a spoon, that’s just piling on.

IMG_6157.gif.552d72b6720684080d0de6fa6f1b9d70.gif

 

Obviously not from Houston.

The minced onions that James Coney Island served are the gold standard for Frito Pie.

This page is weak.

May need to get a pot going.

6 hours ago, ztejas said:

This page is weak.

May need to get a pot going.

Got something fired up over here. 
 

IMG-6434.jpg
 

IMG-6438.jpg
 

That is going to have some heat.  

I'm doing chili for the game with rehydrated peppers, but it won't be that hot.  Pics to come.

Nothing too fancy, I used the Terlingua chili seasoning from HEB with 1 lb of chili grind and 1 lb Whataburger breakfast sausage, added half an onion, a tablespoon of cayenne, a Shhiner Bock, and went half beef broth half chicken broth.  Added another spoonful of of just plain chili powder to thicken it up a little.  

20241130_094706.jpg

20241130_111600.jpg

Dbeasy's Basterdized Surly Chili Finished Product

It was decent.  Ate it again today on chili dogs.

image.jpeg.06e97c89a97e9a55a87b141491087a81.jpeg

Ran out of grated cheese. Tearing up cheddar pieces had to suffice. Shots of various prep steps

image.jpeg.d1ee1671eac4453139cd274bd8b22707.jpeg

image.jpeg.9b08dbb98467b0559963d97f66f55540.jpeg

image.jpeg.fdf0406ba0362ac68a61bf28bf7c6386.jpeg

image.jpeg.fc819935b651c60a0694bf3393d21f88.jpeg

image.jpeg.9cb09d534ac112f808a6b372096c6aa7.jpeg

image.jpeg.ade6a3669c9f5930fcd7aa07df0db8d1.jpeg

image.jpeg.6176e220a7e420458cefa3fb14e67635.jpeg

image.jpeg.e2bbe059ae15aaa79bb6f645d78b34c0.jpeg

image.jpeg.21c39c0f5fcfef05e34cac7e8749a871.jpeg

The Recipe Spoilered

Spoiler

Dbeasy’s Basterdized Surly Chili Recipe

Ingredients

Meat

2 lb ground beef, or 1 lb ground beef and 1 lb of diced beef chuck

 

Spice Blend

1.5 tablespoons of cumin seeds, ground

2 teaspoons of Mexican oregano

1.5 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon of kosher salt

 

Peppers/Liquid

8 dried guajillo peppers, blended

3 dried ancho peppers, blended

3 dried chipotle peppers, blended

3-6 serrano peppers, seeded or not, diced

2 cups of beef stock, or 1 cup chicken stock and 1 cup beef stock

1 cup of dark beer or Lone Star

 

Diced/Minced Items

8 cloves of garlic, minced

2 large, sweet onions, diced

 

Other Add-Ins During Cooking

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

2 13.5-ounce can of Rotel

1 tablespoon of kosher salt

3 15-ounce cans of pinto beans or dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (optional)

~5 tablespoons of olive oil

 

Other Add-Ins at the End of Cooking

3 tablespoons of Masa Harina

1 cup cilantro leaves

fresh lime

sour cream

cubed avocado

grated cheddar cheese

Fritos, optional

tbd cayenne pepper

 

Preparation

1.      Stem and seed ancho, guajillo, and chipotle peppers. Char on the stove for 30 seconds and then soak in 3 cups of hot water for 20 minutes. Drain peppers and discard hot water.

2.      Toast cumin seeds until fragrant; grind to medium powder

3.      Combine cumin with oregano, paprika and salt – this is the spice blend

4.      Heat 1 cup of beer and 2 cups of beef stock until warm and add to blender with drained peppers and half of the spice blend.

5.      Blend in a Vitamix the pepper liquid spice combination with 2 teaspoons of olive oil until smooth. Strain out any pepper bits.

6.      Mince or finely grate garlic and set aside

7.      Dice serrano peppers and set aside

8.      Dice onions medium fine

9.      Dice beef chuck (if using) to ½” cubes

 

Cooking

10.  Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and sauté on high; if it starts to burn add ½ cup water, beer or stock.

11.  Add beef and remaining half of the spice blend, spreading it over the bottom, and let it brown without stirring for 7 minutes. Give it a stir and sauté for 1 more minute, then use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a plate. Add another teaspoon of salt to the beef.

12.  Stir in the onions, add a little olive oil if necessary, 3 serrano peppers, and 1 teaspoon of salt; cook until softened then add garlic, cook for a total of about 5 minutes.

13.  Stir in the pepper liquid spice combination with tomato paste and cook 1 minute. Stir in the beef and any juices, the Rotel tomatoes, beans, and ½ teaspoon of salt.

14.  Cook for 30 minutes.

15.  Add masa harina.

16.  Add cheese, avocado, cilantro, remaining 3 serrano peppers, sour cream, Fritos as desired.

 

 

1 hour ago, Bill Brasky said:

a tablespoon of cayenne

IMG_8713.gif.5ac02f404a8098eee46dc6a6b1247a69.gif

3 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

That is going to have some heat.  

Yeah I am getting some pushback  

 

IMG-6442.jpg

 

11 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

Yeah I am getting some pushback  

 

IMG-6442.jpg

 

In your bowels?

5 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Got something fired up over here. 
 

IMG-6434.jpg
 

IMG-6438.jpg
 

Chipotle/Guajillo/Arbol?

That's a lot of arbol. That mfer gonna be nice and hot - going in and coming out.

3 hours ago, Bill Brasky said:

Nothing too fancy, I used the Terlingua chili seasoning from HEB with 1 lb of chili grind and 1 lb Whataburger breakfast sausage, added half an onion, a tablespoon of cayenne, a Shhiner Bock, and went half beef broth half chicken broth.  Added another spoonful of of just plain chili powder to thicken it up a little.  

20241130_094706.jpg

20241130_111600.jpg

That looks simple but pretty damn good. 

35 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

Added about a pound of ground, smoked brisket. 

20241130_174554.thumb.jpg.1595f7bfe9804e7edb9edbac2d0efbbd.jpg

Cheat code. Hook em gentlemen. 

football and chili tomorrow sounded like a great idea ….

heb guy was putting out fresh chili grind as i was walking by. took it as a sign from God / Jesus …..

 

IMG_2467.jpeg

Just finished up at Texas Chili Parlor- excellent as always

 

20241207_125641.jpg

20241207_122536.jpg

20241207_113134.jpg

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.