It's getting chilly - so how about some chili ?

[DJlaysitup]

Now granted, I have only won local contests with this recipe (actually, one win, one second, and one third the last three years - and once got beat out by a "vegetarian chili" - such B.S.). Anyway - it's a good traditional chili recipe with a couple "tricks". Everything is available at the local Krogers or whatever supermarket in your area.

Traditional Chili:

Beginning with a standard chili recipe (ground beef, beans, onion, chili powder, etc.) - do the following things (and I cook mine in a crock pot):

Double (or semi-double) the meat. Most recipes start with 1 lb of ground beef. I go with between 1.5 and 2 pounds.

Use 80% lean ground beef - don't go for the ultra lean stuff (more on that later)

Get a yellow pepper (same as a regular green pepper but it adds color)..cut it up and put it in.

Key for my recipe: Buy a jar of yellow pepperoncini peppers and cut them up into small pieces and insert the actual peppers into the mix early on. (save the juice).

You can pre-cook the meat if you desire but I have found that just letting it cook in the crock pot works fine and actually transfers some more flavor to the beans...this process takes 4-6 hours for me.

Monitor and stir every half our or so (cooking on low).

Sprinkle in chili powder moderately through the process. Once you get a good taste - a few hours in - stick with it. If there is a "sheen" of grease on top, sprinkle in some cornmeal (not to much) and that will preserve the taste and not be really noticeable.

Once it's all basically done and seems to taste good - have some shredded mild cheddar to sprinkle on top for presentation don't use stronger cheddar as it will overcome the chili taste. A side of cornbread ever hurts.

And the KEY - about 10-15 minutes prior to serving pour in a few ounces of the pepper juice that you saved. The juice will give your chili a tangy (as well as traditional chili taste) - if you put the juice in too early it will cook down and lose it's flavor - if you put it in too late it will overpower the traditional chili taste.

[lethalweapon3]

Also, a quick plug for folks in town this weekend, as the annual Chili Cook-Off is going on up in Brookhaven this Saturday.

http://www.brookhavenchilicookoff.com/

~lw3

[Guest]

I'll definitely try the pepperon-, pepperoch-, those peppers.  Also agree that veggie chili is just plain wrong.

DellavaDLeague probably eats veggie chili.

[lethalweapon3]

I hereby designate November 28 as Hawks Fan Chili Day!

In honor of this event, from 21 years ago today:

Don't blame the Atlanta-area fans for the low and hungry turnout. This game was from Lakefront Arena at the University of New Orleans, as Ted Turner made some dough for himself ($1.2 million) by shifting about a dozen NBA "home" games from the Omni to the Big Easy.

The promos for team accomplishments are one thing, but putting fan promos on the back of a single player was a bit much.

I do wonder where this scrumptious chili came from (did New Orleans have Wendy's back then?)

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19841128&id=NW8aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ICoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5824,7714011&hl=en

Quote

 

(Article from Nov. 29, 2014, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

If this is what professional basketball, New Orleans-style, is all about, maybe it's time to throw in the towel.

...only 2,172 showed up and they were more concerned about a promotional gimmick to get free chili at a local fast-food chain than they were for the game. They cheered for chili more than for the Hawks.

 

~lw3

[AHF]

Mmmmm...sounds good!  I am trying to brew a stout right now that would go well with it (hopefully) when done.