[Tippet]

I learned how to make chili from friends I made in Corpus Christi. I went there to learn distance casting techniques and go surf-fishing on the Padre Island National Seashore. No one makes chili like a Texican. No beans or store-bought chili powder in traditional Texas chili. This is not a minimalist's recipe and usually it's the first dinner of a trip, since you're packing in raw meat. To start with you need chili powder. Don't waste your time with prepackaged stuff, the best is what you can make yourself. OK, to get going, find out where the Mexicans in your town go to get groceries. Pick up some dried chili pods. You need ancho, guajillo, chipotle, cascabel, and arbol. The arbol is the heat source, it's small, bright red. Beware! The rest add flavor and aroma- particularly the chipotle. You may already know, it's smoked jalapeno. It looks like a shriveled-up cafe latte-colored jalapeno. Smells like a good-smelling campfire. The ancho is a large dark pod. The guajillo is skinnier than the ancho, dark red but not as dark as the ancho. The cascabel is a little ball, like a cherry tomato. Chili powder: 3 cascabel 2 ancho 2 chipotle 3 gaujillo 3 arbol 2 tbspn cumin seed 1 tbspn oregano 1 tspn paprika

Remove all the stems and seeds from the pods.

Cut the pods up into little pieces.

Toast them on a hot dry skillet until they smoke a little, shaking the pan throughout Only takes a few minutes. You're drying them out so the grind up easily.

Toast the cumin seed the same way. Cumin is what wakes up your chili. Without cumin, forget it. Order a pizza instead.

Grind everything up to a fine powder. I use a coffee grinder. I start with about half the cut-up pods, then add the rest, and then add the paprika, cumin seed, and oregano.

Get it as finely ground as you can.

Find a good airtight container to pack this stuff in and try not to inhale it when you're transferring it from the grinder. Don't touch your eyes before you wash your hands. To make the chili in camp, you'll need to pack in some stuff: 1 lb. coarse-ground beef, or steak cut up into little cubes- freeze it first and it should be thawed by the time you're ready to cook. 1/2 a yellow onion, diced fine. Food processor or handy-chopper works great, or just cut it up when you're ready to cook. 1 can diced tomatoes, or cut up fresh ones. beer 1. Crack open a beer and guzzle it. Hurry up. OK, now do another one. 2. Brown the beef, and be sure to reserve the fond back into the mix. No need to waste that, it's pure flavor. Open another beer. 3. Add the onion and get it carmelized. Finish the beer and open another. 4. Add chili powder. This is subjective. Start with 1 or 1.5 tbspn. I use 2 tbspn and it's tolerable for my wife. When I make it just for myself, I start with 3 tbspn and go from there. You can always make it hotter, but not so easy to back it off if you go too far. Finish your beer. 5. Add the can of tomatoes and drink another beer. 6. If you want more liquid (and I do), add beer. 7. Crack open another beer and watch the chili simmer. I'd like to let it simmer for a long time, but my wife always makes me serve it up after just a few minutes, and it's good as is. This stuff makes my head buzz, my whole upper body tingles. Ooh and it'll give you a little goodbye-kiss on the way out too. Ahh life is good. Not a lot of up-front burn. If you like that, just add some ground black pepper. I'll cook some of this on my next trip so I can add some pics of actually cooking this on the trail using only backpacking gear.

[BeyondLost]

[yukon222]

Yep, use all meat; no beans! I like to cut up small pieces of top sirloin. Haven't gone the route with custom making the spices though. Usually just go thru 4 or 5 store bought spices. Your recipe looks good (but I'd put in real beef).

[Tippet]

[BeyondLost]

[Tippet]

Texas is awesome

[Frank]

The Everett Herald had great chili recipe a few weeks ago (no beans) We tried it thought it was the best.

[Blue Dome]

A friend of mine who recently ate at Mike's Chili Parlor and Tavern in Ballard said the chili is excellent. Apparently, the place was featured on the Food Network.

[Quark]

Damn. That twist of making your own chili powder is probably the thing that makes it so good! I do like beans in chili though. Not too many, mind. But some. (and the secret to making a pot o' pinto beans is to leave the chili powder out - just onions, garlic and beans. But thats a different subject). I've eaten at Mike's. Good chili to be sure. I think the thing that makes Mike's chili is the ambiance. There isn't any. Which is exactly the best kind of place to eat a bowl of chili and drink a cold brewski. I've been to the Terlingua Chili Cook-off near Big Bend, Texas. Tons of vats of the concoction. Enough that the locals, if they had a job, would call in sick on Monday. Actually, the Monday following is probably a work holiday. That was an interesting festival - raucous and fun. It's probably all yuppified and commercialized nowadays. They probably serve wine with the chili. And full of arts & crafts booths - that kind of stuff can really stink up a good festival. Eucalyptus wreaths and teddy bears in gingham overalls and wire-rimmed eyeglasses. O for pete's sake. And heart-shaped window shade pulls made of a cinnamon paste. That kind of crap.

[kbatku]

My wife and I fight over this all the time - I say it's Chile con carne ( chile with meat) and that means that regular chile DOESN'T HAVE MEAT!!! She says I'm all wet- that chile is all meat. She's from Texas. What does she know?? Here is something that sounds real gross, but is a genuine real Texas thing that makes any chile extra good - Fritos corn chips cheese onions (sweet) ketchup Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of the chile, followed with diced fresh onion, slightly crushed up Fritos and then squirt ketchup on the whole mess. It sounds real gross, but believe it or not, it's a real Texas Taste Treat.

[Blue Dome]

I'm going to hit that Mike's Chili Parlor and Tavern in Ballard and check it out.

[DRSpalding]

Chile con carne would probably be called Argentina.

[Dane]

This thread is making me hungry

[jenjen]

[BeyondLost]