How do you make your Mexican chilli?

Jailhouse chilli is the best I've tasted (recipe from Pistonheads).

Jailhouse Chili

2 large onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 tbs olive oil
3 tbs chili powder
5 red jalapeños, finely chopped
1kg minced beef, 20% fat
500g stewing steak, cubed
6 rashers streaky bacon, diced and fried
2 tbs ground cumin
2 tbs oregano
1 tbs cayenne
1 tbs turmeric
1 tbs cinnamon
500ml dark beer
500ml beef stock
1 carton passata
2 tsp garlic salt


In a large frying pan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil. After a few minutes add half the chili powder and half the diced jalapeños. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the onion mixture to a large casserole, leaving the oil in the pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine mince, chuck steak, fried bacon, the rest of the jalapeños and half the cumin, oregano, cayenne and turmeric. Mix well.

Brown the meat in 3 or 4 large clumps in the onion pan until brown on the outside. Don't worry about it not being cooked in the middle. Add this to the casserole.

Add the tomatoes, beef stock, half the beer and the second half of the cumin, oregano, cayenne and turmeric to the casserole.

Simmer on a very low heat for 1 hour.

Add second half of chili powder, the garlic salt and the rest of the beer. Simmer on a very low heat for another hour (or more) until the beef is cooked.

Serves 6 - 8.
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I do mine in a slow cooker for at least 6 hours.
Shread the beef before serving.
 
daz said:
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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I've made it with braising steak as well diced beef and its far better than using mince.
 
daz said:
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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Minced beefs ends up with a completely different dish. It might taste ok spending on what you add but it completely misses the point and isn't a spicy stew as chili should be.

Adding minced beef the mince adds little flavor or good texture. It is just a protein source. Good stewing beef adds a lot of flavor and texture, as well a naturally thickened sauce.
 
D.P. said:
Minced beefs ends up with a completely different dish. It might taste ok spending on what you add but it completely misses the point and isn't a spicy stew as chili should be.

Adding minced beef the mince adds little flavor or good texture. It is just a protein source. Good stewing beef adds a lot of flavor and texture, as well a naturally thickened sauce.
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That's what I was saying, using 'proper' beef is much better :p :)
 
Going to give Kenji's recipe a go - I've never tried chilli like that, all of mine have been mince/beans/tomato based, so I'm always up for trying something new.

I notice that he uses "masa" in his recipes. Can I use "masa harina" instead, and any tips on substituting it?
 
Makhaira said:
Going to give Kenji's recipe a go - I've never tried chilli like that, all of mine have been mince/beans/tomato based, so I'm always up for trying something new.

I notice that he uses "masa" in his recipes. Can I use "masa harina" instead, and any tips on substituting it?
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Same thing. You could use regular flour instead tbh
 
Makhaira said:
Going to give Kenji's recipe a go - I've never tried chilli like that, all of mine have been mince/beans/tomato based, so I'm always up for trying something new.

I notice that he uses "masa" in his recipes. Can I use "masa harina" instead, and any tips on substituting it?
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Yea, masa usually means masa harina. It's basically corn flour to thicken. A popular substitute is to crumble tortilla chips into the chilli, as they're normally made from masa harina and easier to get hold of.
 
D.P. said:
Minced beefs ends up with a completely different dish. It might taste ok spending on what you add but it completely misses the point and isn't a spicy stew as chili should be.

Adding minced beef the mince adds little flavor or good texture. It is just a protein source. Good stewing beef adds a lot of flavor and texture, as well a naturally thickened sauce.
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I disagree with pretty much all of this.

There needs to be some appreciation for the anglicised versions of these dishes and understand that they're good in their own right. There's no 'should' with these dishes. They are what they are. A good minced beef chili can be an amazing dish, and is in no way inferior to a chunk/stew style chili. I think when you tell someone how a dish 'should' be made, because you think it's more authentic or whatever, you run the risk of becoming the amateur chef nerd who everyone rolls their eyes at. I've made chili both ways and I still go back to making mince chili, because that's what I crave sometimes and also because I think mince chili is better for toppings (ie nachos, potatoes, burgers, hotdogs).

Furthermore, properly browned minced meat can add a boat-load of flavour to a dish if you cook it properly. If you've ever tried Mario Batali's 'beyond brown' style of bolognese you'll know what I mean.

Re: the original topic. The biggest improvement I made with cooking chili was switching to a homemade chili powder (a good recipe, but I like to half the amount of garlic powder). It's really easy to do, and over the long run saves you time having to toast/soak/slice you different dried chilies individually each time. I've also tried using the tinned chipotles in adobo, and they're pretty nice, but expensive in the UK.

I also don't enjoy the addition of chocolate to a chili. I think when you put enough chocolate in so that you can taste it then you push the chili into molé territory in terms of taste, and I like chili more than molé.
 
I can see your point and some Anglicised food I do enjoy (for example, quite a few of the BIR curries) but I think a lot of the hate for mince-based chili comes from a combination of factors.

First off, it's a dish that is cooked at home (badly) a lot by amateur cooks that assume shoving mince and chilli powder in a pan makes chili. On top of that, getting good quality mince is also something that is not that simple to do. Yes, you could go to the butcher and ask for some decent chuck mince mixed in with a bit of rib or brisket or something but that's often too much effort for your average home cook. Then you've got the problem with mince of cooking it correctly. It's actually harder to get mince right than it is to get a few pieces of shin or whatever correct. For the latter you just "cook it for a few hours until it is tender or falls apart, if you like it that way".

I agree with you that it's possible to use mince to make a good chili (probably :p I haven't done so myself) but I also think that one of the most simple improvements you can make to a classic anglo-chili is to swap out the mince for a tough cut of beef and cook it for longer.

The chili powder suggestion is a reasonable one though I personally have preferred results when I keep my chillies whole and only prepare them just before I'm about to use them. They seem to retain a lot more flavour that way.
 
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ok so this might be a stupid question - how do you use dried chillies? do you soak them in something and then chop them up or what?
 
I just put them straight, no messing around with attempting to rehydrate them.

The main thing is that over time the flavour drops before the heat level, so older chillies are better for adding heat but newer better for flavour and heat.
 
toasteh said:
ok so this might be a stupid question - how do you use dried chillies? do you soak them in something and then chop them up or what?
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I toast them, either in a pan or in the oven for a few minutes until fragrant, then pour in some kind of stock, usually chicken and cook them until soft then blend them.
 
I have a quick and easy method.

500g of mince,
1-2 onions
2 heaped teaspoons of cocoa powder
2 heaped teaspoons of ground cumin
2 teaspoons of chilli powder
1-2 fresh chilli's
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans
salt/pepper to season
a dash of lime juice to finish

adding water then leaving to cook as long as possible makes it nice and thick.
 
toasteh said:
ok so this might be a stupid question - how do you use dried chillies? do you soak them in something and then chop them up or what?
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Whole ones?
I cut them open and flatten. Toast them in a hot cast iron pan and then soak them in water for about 10 mins. Then I drain them and shove them in a blender with a little bit of the water.
 
for some reason i have always put some ground coriander seeds in my chilli. Looking at a few recipes online just now and cant find any that do that, so not sure where I got it from.

I also add a teaspoon of sugar, or some tomato ketchup in as well.
 
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