How do you make your Mexican chilli?

Jolteh said:
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.
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The problem is it is hard to get good quality minced beef so it pretty much necessitates buying good chuck steak, taking out the meat grinder and dong it yourself and then cleaning up afterwards is just a hassle. Or you can just buy some good stewing beef, at the most a quick dicing is all that is required. That alone is reason enough just to make it with stewing beef.

Secondly you seem to completely miss the point where I clearly say that you can make good chili with ground beef it is just a different dish. You seem to be arguing this point from the opposite direction. If you want some spicy sloppy joe type mix to pour over the burger then that is fine if that is what you like but that is not the same as a good beef chili stew.
It is not about the Maillard reaction, in fact you don't have to bother frying the stewing beef at all. It is about the flavours that come out of a good cut of tougher meat, the collagen breaking down which thickens the sauce, the texture of of whole chunks of beef that shred in your mouth, and the flavour of the beef that is kept inside. A godo chili is like a good massuman curry, you get a rich spicy sauce but an unmistakable good beef taste as you you chew on the chunks of beef.


As for your suggestion to use a good chili powder, well that is surely better than a generic store bought tub of tasteless much but I fail to see how it can be an improvement over the traditional method. The whole point of using whole chilis and spices in general is because once they are ground up they loose their flavor rapidly, much like coffee the increased surface area rapidly increases the rate of oxidization. So the only way to make a good chili powder will be to make it fresh for each batch of chili you want to cook. Looking at the recipe you posted and the only step that is removed is the short soaking of dried chilis - the heating in a skillet and the grinding are still there. And garlic powder, really? There is just no need and there is no comparisons to fresh garlic. Skip the garlic powder and if you make that a recipe it will be very good I'm sure but it dont; see any significant time saving what so ever.

Also if you make a wet chili paste from soaking the chilis you can freeze the paste for a few months without an issue, unlike a dry powder left in your spice rack.
 
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Not arguing with your post in general DP but garlic powder is awesome - it's not a substitute for fresh garlic but it's a nice adjunct :)
 
FrenchTart said:
Not arguing with your post in general DP but garlic powder is awesome - it's not a substitute for fresh garlic but it's a nice adjunct :)
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In much the same way as fresh/whole/ground/dried chillis. My house mate uses a mix of garlic powder, paste and fresh when he does his lasagne and it definitely makes a difference to the flavours. (It also keeps vampires and anyone with a sense of smell away for a day or 2 :D)
 
tom_e said:
In much the same way as fresh/whole/ground/dried chillis. My house mate uses a mix of garlic powder, paste and fresh when he does his lasagne and it definitely makes a difference to the flavours. (It also keeps vampires and anyone with a sense of smell away for a day or 2 :D)
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Sounds tasty. My lasagne used to do the same but these days I try and reduce the amount of garlic I cook with (a little) :p
 
FrenchTart said:
Sounds tasty. My lasagne used to do the same but these days I try and reduce the amount of garlic I cook with (a little) :p
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This is the man who happily chomps his way through raw cloves just for a snack, there's no way he'll ever reduce it. There's also no way I'll ever turn down a free meal cooked by someone else :D
 
D.P. said:
The problem is it is hard to get good quality minced beef so it pretty much necessitates buying good chuck steak, taking out the meat grinder and dong it yourself and then cleaning up afterwards is just a hassle. Or you can just buy some good stewing beef, at the most a quick dicing is all that is required. That alone is reason enough just to make it with stewing beef.

Secondly you seem to completely miss the point where I clearly say that you can make good chili with ground beef it is just a different dish. You seem to be arguing this point from the opposite direction. If you want some spicy sloppy joe type mix to pour over the burger then that is fine if that is what you like but that is not the same as a good beef chili stew.
It is not about the Maillard reaction, in fact you don't have to bother frying the stewing beef at all. It is about the flavours that come out of a good cut of tougher meat, the collagen breaking down which thickens the sauce, the texture of of whole chunks of beef that shred in your mouth, and the flavour of the beef that is kept inside. A godo chili is like a good massuman curry, you get a rich spicy sauce but an unmistakable good beef taste as you you chew on the chunks of beef.


As for your suggestion to use a good chili powder, well that is surely better than a generic store bought tub of tasteless much but I fail to see how it can be an improvement over the traditional method. The whole point of using whole chilis and spices in general is because once they are ground up they loose their flavor rapidly, much like coffee the increased surface area rapidly increases the rate of oxidization. So the only way to make a good chili powder will be to make it fresh for each batch of chili you want to cook. Looking at the recipe you posted and the only step that is removed is the short soaking of dried chilis - the heating in a skillet and the grinding are still there. And garlic powder, really? There is just no need and there is no comparisons to fresh garlic. Skip the garlic powder and if you make that a recipe it will be very good I'm sure but it dont; see any significant time saving what so ever.

Also if you make a wet chili paste from soaking the chilis you can freeze the paste for a few months without an issue, unlike a dry powder left in your spice rack.
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The whole point of minced meat if you don't need to get 'good quality' stuff. You're not making a burger with it, it's going in a heavily cooked dish but a bunch of other strongly flavourful ingredients. This is exactly the dish you should be using basic supermarket mince with. Not only can you get awesome flavour from it, but it's generally cheaper and cooks more quickly.

I also disagree with the point about it not being about maillard. A good stew with red meat should always have maillard flavours in its taste profile. It seems baffling incongruous that in the same post where you say that there's no substitute for going through the relatively lengthy process of using whole dried chilies each time you cook it, you also say that it's fine not to bother browning your meat before stewing. Why would you pass up free and easy flavour?

Additionally, the analogy with coffee beans and oxidation doesn't translate in this instance. With coffee you're essentially producing a drink made from the extraction of a single ingredient. The best coffee is gonna use beans roasted relatively recently, stored carefully and then ground moments before making the drink. The extraction is done in a particular way and the final drink needs to be consumed fairly quickly for it to be at its best. Basically, because you're using one ingredient you want to handle it carefully to get the best result.

Lets compare that to chilies. Most people order them from a mail order company and when they arrive they have no idea when they were dried. They come in a cheap plastic bag which most people just leave them in while they store them in their cupboards for several months (to years) while they work their way hefty amount they ordered to justify the postage fee. When you prepare them you've gotta keep your eye open for the dreaded white mould. Then when you use them you basically cook the bejesus out of them, stick them in a pan with about a dozen other strong ingredients and then finally decide that you're gonna leave the finished dish overnight, because it always tastes better the second day right?

Does ground chili lose flavour over time because of oxidation? Almost certainly. Is it so significant that anyone would be able to notice the difference between freshly ground chilies and chilies ground a month or two earlier and kept in an airtight container? If they're going into a chili with a bunch of other stuff then I sincerely doubt it. And frankly, I've never seen anyone bother to do a taste test where they've compared a chili made from two-month old homemade powder to a chili made from whole chilies prepared just before cooking. I strongly suspect that neither have you.

And the advantages? As you pointed out, to prepare a batch of homemade chili powder takes no less time than preparing some whole chilies for a dish would. What seems to have escaped you is that the whole point of it is to make enough powder for several dishes. If it takes me 20 minutes to convert whole chilies into powder, and it'd take the same amount of time to prepare them 'fresh' for a stew, then if I make enough powder for 4 dishes then I've just saved myself an hour - get it? Want to know what else is cool? I've then got some amazing homemade chili powder to use whenever the hell I want. It's just a teaspoon away. I can chuck it in barbeque rub, fajita seasoning, curries or whatever.

Finally, I'm not sure where you got the impression that I was suggesting you use garlic powder in place of fresh garlic. I'm not. Obviously I use fresh garlic in a dish that calls for garlic, and the recipe I posted was just an example (and an example that I suggested halving the amount of garlic powder for.
 
Are you honestly telling me there is no difference between pre-ground and whole spices?
Chilis like many other spices loose their aromatic compounds in time and this is greatly accelerated when grinding due to surface area. Chilies loose their aroma like many other spices but the capsicum remains for longer so you end up with heat but non of the flavors important for a chili con carne. Chili con carne is not about heat but complex broad flavors provided by many different types of flavorful chilies.

Anyway the difference between your ground chili powder recipe and traditional methods a mere 10 minutes soaking in water. If you believe that the powder won't deteriorate in storage then you can certainly believe that the paste from soaked chilis won't deteriorate when stored in a freezer. So there is really no difference in prep time worth worrying about.
 
D.P. said:
Are you honestly telling me there is no difference between pre-ground and whole spices?
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No, I'm not telling you that, read last post.

D.P. said:
Chilis like many other spices loose their aromatic compounds in time and this is greatly accelerated when grinding due to surface area. Chilies loose their aroma like many other spices but the capsicum remains for longer so you end up with heat but non of the flavors important for a chili con carne. Chili con carne is not about heat but complex broad flavors provided by many different types of flavorful chilies.
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Thanks for taking the time to type this out, but I'm sure everyone who frequents this forum already knows this. Just on a minor note though - capsicum is the genus of plant to which the chili belongs, the chemical compound I believe you are referring to is capsaicin.

D.P. said:
Anyway the difference between your ground chili powder recipe and traditional methods a mere 10 minutes soaking in water. If you believe that the powder won't deteriorate in storage then you can certainly believe that the paste from soaked chilis won't deteriorate when stored in a freezer. So there is really no difference in prep time worth worrying about.
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Again, read my last post. I'm trying to convince you that provided they're used within a few months, properly stored home-ground spices are just fine for chili. I'd wager that if you made two identical pots of chili and used chilies that you'd ground a month earlier in one pot and freshly prepared chilies in the other people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Of course there is some deterioration in flavour, but I'm telling you from experience that it is not as severe as you believe. Ultimately the chilies are one constituent of a dish that contains several bold flavours, so it's a pretty forgiving recipe.

Preparing and freezing chili paste is obviously a decent middle ground, but it is more work for no additional benefit, and isn't a versatile as a powder (you can't, for instance, easily use it in a dry rub like you can a powder).

I know I'm not going to convince you otherwise, because that's not what happens on the internet, but I've cooked chili a bunch of times and I've tried it the way you advocate and the way I currently make it and I've come to the conclusion that homemade powder is the best compromise on taste and convenience. Obviously if you feel that adding the extra step of preparing whole dried spices each time elevates your chili to a higher level then that's your prerogative.

(but you're still wrong noob, suck it)
 
So you think letting chilies soak for 10 minutes is really such an effort that it isn't worth it, ridiculous. Otherwise you recipe for chili power is as much work as what I suggest.
 
I make Vegetarian chilli, just pure vegetables, and I have had many compliments from friends about it.

Rule number 1 being good chillis. Scotch Bonnets and Harbenaros work the best for me.

Rule number 2 - let that bad boy cook and give it some love.

2 Peppers, 2 red onions, 2 cloves garlic, 2 Spring onion (for the end) , big handful of smaller mushrooms into quaters. Kidney beans , Half a can of baked beans, 1 big can of chopped tomatoes and Tomatoe Puree.

Black pepper, Salt, Cumin, Good amount of Paprika, Dried chlli seeds and a bit of Masala (it works)

I consistently season throughout the cooking. Even from the peppers at the beginning. Cook these first, then onions, then mushrooms. Then add the chillis and garlic as to not over cook or burn them. Then the kidney beans, let these cook a bit, then the baked beans (they give it a sweeter taste!). Then add the tomatoes, cook this for a while and add more salt and pepper.

Then get a cup of water and have it ready. Add some puree, so it brings a more consistent feel and colour to the chilli. Then add some water and cook.

When the chilli looks like it is drying out then keeping adding a bit more water, and then stir well.

Repeat this process for at least 2/3 hours. I would do as long as you can to be honest.

Keep watching it, and at the end it will blow your mind.

When you are ready to serve place the freshly chopped spring onions on top. Give it in a bowl, with some nice bread and a dollup of normal nature yoghurt!

You dont need meat either, so its very cheap, and i swear amazing.
 
I've got a chili on the go for tonight's dinner. It's a bit of a fatherlesssonised (sigh word filter) version as I didn't have everything I needed to hand and such. Still, decent beef, lots of varieties of chillies, espresso, beer, etc. I also have stuck some dried black beans in to simmer - 2 hours is enough to get them from dried to edible.
 
Chili Verde, the basis is slow cooked pork with a variety of different green chilies with a crisper fresher zingy taste.

I haven't found a favorite recipe yet. As with a red chili it is important to have a variety if different chilies but you tend to use fresh chiliis instead of dried. A mix of Jalapeno, Poblano, Anaheim is easy enough to start with.
 
French Tart, i think im going to have a little go at that chilli you posted at the weekend.

only problem, ive got ancho chili and plenty of chipotle chili,

I dont have

pasilla,guajillos or chiles de arbol

What type or chilli are they taste wise? Ive got some habs, lemon drop and santa fe in the freezer from last years harvest. Suitable alternatives?:D
 
D.P. said:
Chili Verde, the basis is slow cooked pork with a variety of different green chilies with a crisper fresher zingy taste.

I haven't found a favorite recipe yet. As with a red chili it is important to have a variety if different chilies but you tend to use fresh chiliis instead of dried. A mix of Jalapeno, Poblano, Anaheim is easy enough to start with.
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That sounds pretty awesome. I'll have to have a read around.

Kimi said:
French Tart, i think im going to have a little go at that chilli you posted at the weekend.

only problem, ive got ancho chili and plenty of chipotle chili,

I dont have

pasilla,guajillos or chiles de arbol

What type or chilli are they taste wise? Ive got some habs, lemon drop and santa fe in the freezer from last years harvest. Suitable alternatives?:D
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To be honest I often don't stick to exactly those recipes. I try to have as many different chillies in there as possible. From the sounds of it your ancho and chipotle will provide a nice base and all the frozen chillies will improve it/make it taste a little fresher :)
 
Kimi said:
French Tart, i think im going to have a little go at that chilli you posted at the weekend.

only problem, ive got ancho chili and plenty of chipotle chili,

I dont have

pasilla,guajillos or chiles de arbol

What type or chilli are they taste wise? Ive got some habs, lemon drop and santa fe in the freezer from last years harvest. Suitable alternatives?:D
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Bang them all in :D any powders you may have too. More is more.
 
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