How do you make your Mexican chilli?

NickK

NickK

NickK

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13 Jan 2003
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For me it's a simple matter of:

Mince
Onion roughly cut
2 tins of peeled tomatoes - chopped
2 cloves of garlic (a compromise living with a french wife)
Bell peppers - mainly red but with a 1/2 of yellow (sweeter)
Paprika
Smoked Paprika
Ground pepper
Chilli
1/2 bottle of San Miguel - the other half to the Cook :D

+ a minimum of 2 hours cooking... (I prefer more as long as possible - even overnight infuse.. before heating again for serving)..

Now in this case, tonight, the chilli is a scotch bonnet + some ground/dried Dorset Naga. Although I had to take the bonnet out after initial cook otherwise the wife (compromise again) will find it too spicy.. I'll add some more naga to mine.

Now I this chilli growing season I'll be growing some Mexican chillies then drying them.. looking forward to their smokey flavour..
 
NickK said:
For me it's a simple matter of:

Mince
Onion roughly cut
2 tins of peeled tomatoes - chopped
2 cloves of garlic (a compromise living with a french wife)
Bell peppers - mainly red but with a 1/2 of yellow (sweeter)
Paprika
Smoked Paprika
Ground pepper
Chilli
1/2 bottle of San Miguel - the other half to the Cook :D

+ a minimum of 2 hours cooking... (I prefer more as long as possible - even overnight infuse.. before heating again for serving)..

Now in this case, tonight, the chilli is a scotch bonnet + some ground/dried Dorset Naga. Although I had to take the bonnet out after initial cook otherwise the wife (compromise again) will find it too spicy.. I'll add some more naga to mine.

Now I this chilli growing season I'll be growing some Mexican chillies then drying them.. looking forward to their smokey flavour..
Click to expand...

How can it be a Mexican chilli without Cumin? :confused:
 
FrenchTart said:
This works pretty well for me:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yJ6_jS-6EIeLFhLOHdUsd2Zqu-OdLzMjQ-B0kLVhJiQ/edit?usp=sharing
Click to expand...

A recipe very similar to this, but more chocolate, cumin and coriander, + smked paprika.

Key aspects are to use some kind of stewing beef and not mince, have minimal tomato in the sauce (this isn't spag bol!), espresso+chocolate, and as many different chili varieties as possible. It isn't about the heat, it is about have different chilies to give a breadth and depth.
 
Our last one had the following on the chilli front (to 1Kg of mince)

1 Trinidad scorpion
1 Naga viper
2 Bhut Jolokia
4 smoked dried Bhut Jolokia
4 chipotle
smoked paprika

It was pleasantly warm and smoky :)
 
Chilli lots and lots of chilli and some cumin, anything else is up for change depending on mood.

People never put enough chilli powder in. If it's to hot, change to a lower heat powder.
 
Range of chili's, tried so many "perfect chilis" and they are very one dimensional. Always ensure i use Ancho, Chipotle, Arbols, and a god mix of dried and fresh.
 
Pork mince,
Beef mince,
Smoked Lardons,
Garlic,
Red onion,
Passata,
Tom Purée,
Paprika,
Cayenne,
Mushroom ketchup,
Smoked chipotle x2,
Dried Bhut Jolokia,
Bhut or Scotch bonnet powder,
Cumin,
2 cinnamon sticks (mexican if I have any)
Mushrooms,
Kidney beans,
Sugar,
Salt,
Pepper,
Dark chocolate at the end if I have any.

Something like that. I do it pretty much unconsciously now. Sometimes I do beef steak, rather than the minces, others I just do the above. Depends how I feel and when I'll be eating it.
 
1.5-1.8 kgs diced beef.
3 onions
3 cloves garlic
3 red chilli
1 Chorizo sausage
2 tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon each of ground coriander, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika.
Seeds from 3 cardamom pods.
4 tablespoons each of ketchup and tomato purée
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
50 grams 70% or above dark chocolate.

Chop onions, garlic and chilli and fry with olive oil in a large pot for 10 minutes. Add spices and cook for a further minute. Add the chorizo sausage, I mince mine first. Cook for about 5 minutes and then add the beef. Give a a good stir so the meat starts to brown. Add the ketchup and tomato purée. Then add the kidney beans and stir those in. Then add the chopped tomatoes and bring to the boil. Stir in the chocolate then put the lid on and transfer into the oven on gas 3 for 3-3.5 hours.

Preferably cook the night before and reheat as required.

Add more red chillis and/or cayenne pepper depending on how hot you like it.
 
FrenchTart said:
Interesting timing - post on Serious Eats about chili.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/11/real-texas-chili-con-carne.html

It's not a bad recipe though personally I prefer the look of my own :p
Click to expand...

Interesting.. I'd be tempted to really cook the meet in the sauce at something in the 60degC range (i.e. enough to cook the meat but stop it from going hard) for a long time.. it lets all the favours meld then, at the last stages before serving, up the temperature to finish.
 
NickK said:
Interesting.. I'd be tempted to really cook the meet in the sauce at something in the 60degC range (i.e. enough to cook the meat but stop it from going hard) for a long time.. it lets all the favours meld then, at the last stages before serving, up the temperature to finish.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. I've been meaning to play around with that kind of thing myself. Fry things off to get the malliard reaction going and reduce the water content then stick the entire thing in the sous-vide to finish at 62C.
 
Braising steak or similar is definitely superior to mince if you have the time.

What you end up with is a really rich, spicy, stew essentially which tastes much better than the minced variety.
 
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