Actually, I love chili anytime of the year, but during cold weather it is especially good, or as the novelist Margaret Cousins said, “Chili is not so much food as it is a state of mind. Addictions to it are formed early in life and the victims never recover. On cold, blue days in October, I get this passionate yearning for a bowl of chili, and I nearly lose my mind.”
There are probably thousands of different chili recipes and I enjoy making and eating a variety of chili recipes. For me, it is a great food adventure. And although I may have my personal favorites, such as my version of a traditional chili, I really don’t get too excited if someone else has his favorite that is much different than mine.
Some people like it spicy and hot and some prefer it mildly spiced. Some cooks use ground beef while others insist that the beef should be chopped. There are chili recipes that use chicken, turkey, pork, venison or other rather exotic meats. Some chili recipes use beer or meat stocks as part or all of the cooking liquid.
There are many vegetarian versions of chili as well. The use of vegetable stock and/or tomatoes eliminates the need for meat.
What kinds of beans, if any, should be in a chili? Here, too, you’ll find a vast range of preferences. Pinto beans, red beans, kidney beans, black beans or white beans – there are recipes that use each or them or even a combination of several, such as the Three Bean Enchilada Recipe on the website. But you should also know that there were no beans in chili originally!
What kind of chile peppers or chili seasoning should be used and how much? With this the great chili debate really heats up – so to speak. ( Chile refers to the fruit of the chili plant, and chile pertains to the pepper. Also, it means the cooking process. Chili means the mouth-watering stew.)
And the great chili debate is not limited to what chili or chili recipe is best. Some people are so passionate about where the first bowl was made and who made it that they nearly come to blows.
In America, chili is something many people love to cook and eat, and some love to argue about. My Texas friends will undoubtedly defend their chili as the best ( and maybe the only true chili) in the world.
In his book, “Simple Cooking,” John Thorpe wrote, “It can only truly be Texas red if it walks the thin line just this side of indigestibility: Damning the mouth that eats it and defying the stomach to digest it, the ingredients are hardly willing to lie in the same pot together.”
What is amazing to me, however, is that even among residents of Texas there is disagreement as to the single best chili recipe. That has helped keep “chili cookoffs” alive and well, not only for fun, but also for years as a annual event. I have never desired to be a chili judge. If their life isn’t in jeopardy, their digestive systems may be. When my grandmother passed on, my father Humero-Tibbs told me she saw many chili cooks give up grilling burgers, hot dogs, catfish, and beef brisket before they really cooked them. He said she saw many of her chili-cooking ancestors turning out puffy, white flaky beauties. I didn’t much care for her peas-and-gold cooking, but I take comfort in her example.
I guess it’s a matter of taste.
One of my favorite chili recipes is one I first wrote up in Regional Recipes Magazine in the 1980s. I called it the Holiday Chili Recipe, simply because it was the first time I had used canned chili. A friend of mine was delighted when I revealed the recipe, and actually added more to it than I write up here. This chili recipe lives on in our family, and we always make it.
AST TIME Chili Recipe
Sounds like a tall order of chili connoisseurs, but the process is incredibly simple. This will make a wonderful chili for lunch or dinner.
Ingredients
1 (40-oz) can crushed tomatoes4 (15-oz) 11.5 oz. wild cardamom pods2 (i.e. 1 teaspoon cinnamon) teaspoons chili powder
Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Then add a few drops of Tabasco sauce. Serve over turkey or chicken.
You can make this recipe with little effort for the whole family. Easy to make, easy to eat, and always a hit with a crowd.
flushed down with lots of milk.
1 tablespoon of coconut oil around the chicken
1 lb.
About The Author
Helena Eater
How much does the quality of food really matter? If you eat food that tastes good, your life will be better. If you eat food that tastes bad, your life will be worse. The difference between good and evil is partly subjective: what tastes good to me might taste bad to you. The difference is also partly objective: what restaurants I think serve good food might serve lousy food to you. But if we stick to objective measures — measures such as how much weight people gain or lose — we can cut through some of the subjectivity.
