Thread Revival / Update! - Chili in progress
OK, so it took until Friday (and an unexpected day off from work) for me to get to making this batch of chili.
Also, unfortunately, due to an incredibly busy couple of weeks, the chili cook-off has been postponed until the fall. Boo.
BREAK BREAK
I decided to use a combination of recipes (as I often do).
-
Campus' Big Boy Brisket Chili
-
mrmarkfr's competition chili
- My own dear Mom's secret Crawford Chili recipe
Thanks to a couple of you out there who graciously let me read through your own award winning chili recipes in my research! You gave me some great ideas.
I chopped up about 1 1/2 lbs of the brisket I smoked last weekend:
I also decided to use BOTH the Montezuma Chipotle and the Santa Fe rubbed nekkid fatties from last weekend:
I pulled together all sorts of spices from the normal assortment you'd expect:
Cumin, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Cayenne, Oregano, Bay Leaves...
Then, after I discovered that I couldn't really get the whole chilies that I wanted (mentioned a few posts above) for grinding into a powder, I found ancho chili and chipotle chili powders in the spice aisle. I decided to use those two in equal ratio in place of the generic "chili powder."
Several recipes and discussions here on the forums mentioned splitting the spices into 3 portions for inclusion at three distinct points in the cook. This is the first time that I've tried this method... but the theory makes sense to me. We'll see how it turns out.
Instead of starting with the meat (as I would, if the meat was uncooked), I started with the onions, tomatoes, sauce, and the first batch of spices. I let this bubble and simmer for about 10-15 minutes before adding beans. I'd considered going with a beanless chili, but I thought it could use some texture differences and some additional veg. I went with some great northern beans and black beans - why not!? I wanted something different than the standard pintos and kidneys.
I let this go for about another 15 minutes before adding the second "dump" of the spices... this one with the bay leaves. Then, I added the MEAT!
After the meat went in for about 10 minutes, I started to mess with the consistency a bit. I know it'll thicken some more as I let it slowly cook and mingle. Therefore, I added some more diced tomatoes, a small can of sauce, and a little water (that I expect will evaporate out).
It's not exactly pretty to look at, but the smells from the kitchen are pretty intoxicating.
I've been stirring it occasionally and taking a taste here and there. It's not done yet, but we're headed in the direction I was hoping for.
More to come.