# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Cooking, Food Storage, & Preserving >  Chiles for chili!

## M118LR

About the only ingredient that chili can't be made without is chiles.
From the basic recipe of cutting 1 inch cubes of meat, adding 1 chile pepper per piece of meat, covering the lot with last night's coffee, bring it to a boil and simmer until it's soft enough to chew.
Now I'm sure that everyone has thier own favorite recipe for chili. So feel free to share. You can add as many or as few as you like. No ingredient list is to long or to short. Beef chili,turkey chili, Cincinnati chili, chili-getty, vegetarian chili, squirrel chili, etc etc.... 
So from lowest Scoville sweet bell pepper to flame throwing pure capsaicin, if you like it and make it, Please share the recipe! Thank You.

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## M118LR

Most every area has wild peppers, onions, and even garlic so it's generally acceptable to toss onion and garlic into the chili pot. So that brings us to the first questionable chili ingredient: Cumin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumin A spice native from the east Mediterranean to Pakistan/India. How did that ever get into chili? But it will be hard to find any modern prepackaged chili powder/mix without it. Even many of the "Original" Texas Chili recipes include cumin.  
A few chile pepper varieties:
New Mexican
Anaheim
Poblano
Pasilla
Cherry
Guajillo
Jalapeno
Serrano
De Arbol
Cayenne
Piquin/Tepin
Habanero

I'm sure I left a few out, so if there are any indigenous to your area that you make chili with please include them.

Round here we got one called the Datil pepper, makes a wonderful ingredient in Minorcan chili. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datil_pepper

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## pete lynch

Here is my my chili recipe when I don't feel like doing a ton of prep work _and_ cooking:

One Hour Chili

ingredients:
1 lb of ground meat ( I use venison or 1/2 lb venison and 1/2 lb chorizo)

chipolte peppers in adoboe sauce( 1 pepper with a TBS of adoboe sauce crushed into a paste)

1 14 0z can low sodium petite diced tomatoes ( undrained)

1 15.9 oz can of beans drained and rinsed ( choose your favorite bean)

1 20-24 oz jar of mild salsa. ( Great Value is a good cooking salsa)

1.25 0unces of chili seasoning:

 1 TBS chili powder
 1 tsp oregano
 1 tsp ground cumin
 7 tsp garlic powder
 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp onion powder
( I came up with this mixture to avoid salt where possible.There is enough salt in the other
 ingredients without adding more to the seasoning. I reccomend table seasoning to taste
 with garlic salt and black pepper. The combined measurements will make more chili seasoning
 than you need for this recipe in the quantities I have listed. It's almost enough for 2 batches.
You can add other things to it if you want.)


On medium heat in a 3 quart pot, brown meat together and drain fat.

Add chipolte pepper/adoboe sauce paste and chili seasoning and cook for 1-2 minutes

Add salsa and tomatoes

Add a 1/2 cup of water or beef broth. 

Turn up heat and bring to boil.

Add rinsed beans and turn heat down to a simmer.

Allow to simmer, covered, for 25 minutes.

Let stand uncovered for 5-10 minutes.


 If you can resist the urge to have a big bowl right away you will find it tastes even
better the next day. Re-heated of course. 
Serve with corn chips.

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## kyratshooter

My recipe,

Go to store
Buy big can of Armor chili
Go home
Place chili in bowl
Add big spoonful of hot salsa
Put big chunk of Velveeta cheese on top
Heat in microwave
Add salt and pepper
Stir with spoon and eat

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## madmax

oh man.  Canned chili and Velveeta?  Takes me back to early married years on a splurge night.

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## M118LR

Chili No Beans: Meat ingredients (beef and pork), water, tomato puree (water, tomato paste), rolled oats, chili pepper, textured soy flour, contains less than 2% of: salt, sugar, spices, garlic powder, soy lecithin, caramel color, sodium phosphate. 

Lentil Vegetable Chili: 
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic pressed
4 scallions chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 large carrot peeled and diced
28 oz can pureed tomatoes
2 medium dried ancho chile peppers (stemmed and deseeded)
1 small chipotle chile pepper (stemmed and deseeded)
8 oz lentils
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
white pepper
cayenne pepper
salt
1 cup water

Saute the onion, garlic, scallions,carrot, red and green bell peppers in the olive oil until onion is translucent. Add tomatoe puree and the stemmed deseeded chile peppers. Bring to a simmer add one cup water. Add lentils, cumin, and oregano. Cook for 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Add salt, white pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste.

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## pete lynch

I like the Campbell's Firehouse Chili. Straight up with no cheese. :munchies:

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## 2dumb2kwit

Just a little piece of advice.....


.......if you decide to make your own chili powder (As per Alton Browns recipe.), DO NOT HEAT DRIED CHILIES INDOORS !!!!!




Yes.....I learned that one the hard way.  LOL

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## Rick

Hey! Where have you been?! Good to see you and the mule!

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## hunter63

> Just a little piece of advice.....
> 
> 
> .......if you decide to make your own chili powder (As per Alton Browns recipe.), DO NOT HEAT DRIED CHILIES INDOORS !!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes.....I learned that one the hard way.  LOL


....and when using dried chilies....let them cook a bit and hydrate before adding more because it seem to taste hot enough ...Yet.

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## kyratshooter

> Hey! Where have you been?! Good to see you and the mule!


Yea, we really missed the mule!

Welcome back.

As for the chilli???

After eating a slice of pizza for supper last night and taking OTC meds for hours afterwards, and almost deciding it was not indigestion but that I was about to join Hunter63 in the ER. 

I have decided to forgo the custom made chilli and stick to some nice chicken soup or a bit of stew.

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## Rick

Nothing like mother's home made stew for a cold. However, that forces the making of cornbread and a nice side salad. Dang, now I need supper again.

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## 2dumb2kwit

> Hey! Where have you been?! Good to see you and the mule!


 I've been busy, trying to abuse and keep in line a certain yankee lawyer. LOL

(And by the way........he really, really likes this song.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ubTQfr_tyY

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## pete lynch

I kinda like that song. ( I never though Florida was a southern state, either. It's just sorta ...there)

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## M118LR

This is what happens when you let the Great Unwashed rewrite thier own history. BBQ, just like chili was a Spanish meal. The Spanish absconded BBQ from the Caribbean and brought it to Florida's sunny shores Long before the commonly held myths of BBQ styles (and chili) even began in the British concept of America. Here is the Sunday school question: what State was the birthplace of both Presidents during the War of Northern Aggression (Civil War, if Y'all are of Yankee Heritage) ?

Go ahead and skool them kyratshooter! (is that slang for Kentucky Rat Shooter?) Ever heard of the spot between possum trot and monkeys eyebrow?



"Who was Jefferson Davis and where was he born?
Jefferson Davis was born in Fairview, Kentucky-- a small town 9 miles east of Hopkinsville. Fairview, Kentucky is approximately 100 miles southwest from Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace. He was born on June 3, 1808, less than a year earlier than Abraham Lincoln.
Both men were president at the same time: Jefferson Davis for the Confederate States of America and Abraham Lincoln for the United States of America.
Jefferson Davis can serve as a good example of the difficult choices southerners who were loyal members of the Union faced when the South succeeded. Jefferson Davis was a West Point graduate, served in the United States Congress as a representative of the state of Mississippi, was a member of the Senate Military Affairs Committee, and served as Secretary of War during the Franklin Pierce administration. Here is a man who was a prominent elected official of the United States, yet left the service of his country to serve in the Confederate government." https://www.nps.gov/abli/learn/news/...-questions.htm

BBQ & Chili. both of Spanish Origin within America.

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## hunter63

True chili has no beans..........

http://masdixpod.tripod.com/masdixpod/whyno.htm

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## shiftyer1

> True chili has no beans..........
> 
> http://masdixpod.tripod.com/masdixpod/whyno.htm



Nope,  if'n ya want beans ya put em in a bowl next to your chili!!!!

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## hunter63

> Nope,  if'n ya want beans ya put em in a bowl next to your chili!!!!


"On the border"

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## M118LR

Beans are less expensive and easier to ship than meat, so it was just economics that started the army to adding beans to chili. So true chili aficionados and those in cook off contests will not have beans in thier chili. But chili was made to be adaptable. Chili over: rice, spaghetti, french fries, nachos, hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. etc... 

But I have found that many of the Strip/Sirloin/Rib-eye recipes for chili which include (frijoles negros) black beans either with or without dark red kidney beans are pretty good. And pinto beans make white chili recipes go allot further.

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## Orbean

This is a stew we eat regularly.

Brown one lb of 90% ground beef.
Mix a tablespoon or two of beef base or bullion in two cups of water.
When burger is browned deglase the pan with the water. Continue to cook on medium high heat. 

Chop 1 1/2 or 2 lbs of green chili roasted, peeled, and seeded,  new mexico type, with 6 gloves of garlic. Chop well. Then add the chili to the meat and and a quart of water. Bring to a boil then turn heat to simmer. 

Chop up two large potatoes diced about a half inch or smaller. Chop onion fine. Add both. 

Last add a can of corn, can of pinto beans, and a stick of butter. Add water to cover everything, Check of salt, add with pepper if needed. Cook until potatoes are soft. 

We serve it with a tortilla, topped with cheese, tomato, and an over easy egg.

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## Batch

Chili was an Aztec word for the chile pepper. The Spanish adopted the dish and called it chili con carne. If there was a dish with meat already as its main ingredient, why say meat dish (chili) with meat?

My son makes a chili with steak cut into cubes and canned tomato chunks, several types of chiles and other seasonings. Served over white rice. Chili con arroz no chili con carne y arroz! LOL

Now them Texans boasting that they invented BBQ and that it is a smoked brisket? Well a boastful Texan you say? Never heard of such a thing!  :Cowboy:  :Lol: 

The word Barbacoa is from Arawak indians in the Caribbean and Timucua Indians in Florida a frame for drying meat. And the word became used for a method of dressing and cooking pork. So, the Texans are a little late to the table to be claiming they invented BBQ and that is beef.

As for was Florida a southern state? It was the 3rd state to join the Confederacy after only 15 years of statehood. War with the Seminoles had just ceased fighting a few years earlier. But, Florida was very much a frontier and was the least populated state in the War of Northern Aggression. Just prior to the war people in Georgia and other southern states migrated to Florida to avoid the war. Though they were often forced into conscription for the confederate cause.

At some point, I have read, that Florida's population was 82% people who's family had migrated from Georgia.

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## M118LR

Not to mention that the Aztec & Mayans both had outposts in Georgia, 

But as we speak I swirl a simmering crock pot of cubed shoulder beef, (chuck) datil peppers, onions, and garlic that I call Chili! Many shall not be able to consume more than a mouthful on Friday. But as the purest form of Chile con Carne (Columbus times) I have no troubles serving it to today's affectionadoes. 

One pound of peppers per pound of beef, a large chopped onion, a head of garlic minced, cover it with coffee from last nights camp and you have Chili!

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## Rick

I would have thrown up in my mouth a little but it would have burned too bad.

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## M118LR

Once again returning with an empty crock pot, why is it that folks find it hard to believe that chuck-wagon cooks used left over coffee in chili?  The peppers you select can match your taste-buds Rick. 1/3 Red Bell, 1/3 Yellow Bell, 1/3 Green Bell. There you go, mildest chili ever made. If you stay at or below the Serrano level, mixing in lower scoville unit peppers, most folks can enjoy the flavor. But around this neck of the woods, folks savor the flavor of the local datil pepper.

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## WalkingTree

I thought it was some practical joke the day I found out that some people consider linguini a vital ingredient in chili.

Though I'd consider it a different dish...that some pasta or noodles aren't an intrinsic part of a bowl of chili...I now consider what I guess I'd call "chili pasta" a yummy idea.

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## pete lynch

There is chili mac.

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## hunter63

Chili dogs?......I like chili dogs

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## M118LR

> I thought it was some practical joke the day I found out that some people consider linguini a vital ingredient in chili.
> 
> Though I'd consider it a different dish...that some pasta or noodles aren't an intrinsic part of a bowl of chili...I now consider what I guess I'd call "chili pasta" a yummy idea.


Chili-ghetti, chili + spaghetti.

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## hunter63

Mixed Dr. Mcgillicuddy  with margarita mix once.....(out of tequila)......
Called it a Dr. Margaret

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## M118LR

> Mixed Dr. Mcgillicuddy  with margarita mix once.....(out of tequila)......
> Called it a Dr. Margaret


As long as you got it down, we can call it chili. I can be highbrow, but I've been down and dirty,it's all chili in the end.

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## hunter63

> As long as you got it down, we can call it chili. I can be highbrow, but I've been down and dirty,it's all chili in the end.


True Dat......and it depends how hungry you are......

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## Wildthang

If chili don't make you phart, it isn't any good :Smartass:

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## M118LR

If a chili phart don't make you squirm, it ain't packed with enough of a burn. 
(Famous quote: Come on ice cream)

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