Prepping for the chili contest

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Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Toast the spices? I'll do that.
I made a container of dry chili seasoning. I was thinking of using 2 tablespoons for a 2 pound roast.
The blue corn meal showed up today. That should make it unique or turn people off.
I re-read your original post and found you already mixed all the spices + salt together. I don't cook chili from a mix like that. Different strokes.

Re: Spices. I buy them from the bulk bins here, in small quantities, to get the freshest. I've also ground my own pure chili powder as BH described. You can also toast the whole red chilis until fragrant, pop off the stem, dump the seeds, then stuff into a Mason jar, then fill with very hot water to rehydrate for about 10min.

Pull them out with tongs and dump into a blender. (Taste the chili steeping water before using it. If it's bitter, discard it and use water or malty lager beer (no bitter ale in chili)). Otherwise add enough to liquify the chili paste and blend until smooth. Then dump that into the skillet + the other spices to fry after the onions have browned. Add the garlic last as before.

I also use a couple of fresh green chilis. As I don't have a gas range, I either use a charcoal fire or a plumber's torch to blister the skin, then put into a small paper bag, then seal and cool about 8 min. (The skins are indigestable and will give you the wind something terrible...) dice, then brown with the onions.

No doubt this is a lot more work than dump & simmer. However, the results are well worth the effort.

To kick it up even more, heat a cast iron skillet on a charcoal grill and add some pecan, hickory, peach, cherry, etc. wood for smoke. Brown the ingredients as above. Here they will all be perfumed with flavorful smoke and add great flavor to the pot.

BTW: 2 tblspns of mix doesn't sound near enough to me....


Thanks. Some good tips. I am doing small batch of chili this weekend.
 
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