Best Chili for varying tastes?

Okay folks, I'm competing in an office Chili cook-off and I want to win!!

My "Foodie Dilemma" is that I like my foods highly flavored ( not highly spiced ) and a bit different. My office is mostly folks who aren't Foodies- I'm not convinced that what I like most is going to be what everyone else likes most.

So what do you suggest? Red or White? ( Beans is forgone conclusion for me ) Any recipes for truly outstanding chili that you can share?

Thanks for any counsel ,
Deb

I run into this when cooking for pitch-ins at church. A lot of the folks there are food wimps. No spice; no heat; no zip.

Make your chili (I vote for red) but back down on the heat. Offer little containers of peppers, chili powder, cumin, onion and/or garlic on the side for folks to "turn it up a notch" to suit their own tastes.

I just started harvesting my Bhut Jolokia chiles (or chee-lays as that goof ball on the food Network calls them)...You can have a handful of those.

Past threads on chili recipes"

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=12124&p=104958&hilit=+chili+recipe#p104165

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12234&start=15&hilit=chili+recipe

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8049&hilit=chili+recipe

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4631&p=44704&hilit=+chili+recipe#p44506

As a friend of mine originally from Texas said: "REAL chili don't have no stinkin' beans".
Sadly he passed away two years ago when I told him folks around here serve pasta with their chili.

As a friend of mine originally from Texas said: "REAL chili don't have no stinkin' beans".
Sadly he passed away two years ago when I told him folks around here serve pasta with their chili.

As I Texan I have to say that I almost screamed the first time I saw noodles in chili (man screaming is frowned upon among Texans so I managed to pull myself together)...i seriously thought they were worms at first glance...then I came to the conclusion that someone was playing a joke on me...then I realized it wasn't a joke and that I had offended the host. Story of my life. Heh.

Oddly, although I often heard people talk smack about putting beans in chili, as a child it wasn't that unusual to find them in there. The biggest difference I noticed is that Texas chili is more like a stew than a soup.

Here is a crowd pleasing recipe I often make. It makes a Texas style thick chili. I make it from memory every time so be sure to taste as you go. Chili making is an art not a science so the recipe is constantly evolving. You can probably find something similar on the net this is a fairly common base recipe back home. Omit the obvious to reduce heat.

2-3 chopped onions sauteed with garlic salt and pepper

Brown two pounds of meat on top of that. I sometimes get exotic here and mix 2-3 meats, but ground beef will do. Hell, it's still good with Laura's Lean. Watch out for that grass fed stuff.

Add:
1 bottle of Shiner
1 cup of prepared coffee
1 can beef broth
2 small cans of tomato paste
1-2 T cocoa
1 can of Rotel
1 or 2 diced jalapenos
1/4 cup brown sugar (more if needed to balance the bitter stuff)
Cumin
Coriander (sometimes)
3-4 T Siracha Sauce
Pinch of Cayanne
2 cans of rinsed pinto beans. Don't use those beans with that nasty chili sause on them.

Taste and go from there! Like any chili, the longer it simmers the better. Good luck.

Edit: I should add that the sweetness melds into the rest of the flavors as time passes. This is definitely a chili that is better the next day. I searched for a similar recipe on the net, but couldn't find one...maybe it has evolved more than I thought. Don't be afraid of the ingredients...it doesn't taste anything like it looks and I've had some pretty "safe" eaters tell me it's the best they've ever had.

That looks like an amazing recipe. I made a pot of chili today and truly wish I'd seen this beforehand. Mine is inferior, no question.

I go through this in my house, DH not to fond of it being super spicy and we like to multi-purpose our chili through several other meals since a batch is way more than 2 people can eat! One I use is from Betty Crocker Chili Con Carne.
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/chi ... 81fd87c06f

Another one I love is from a restaurant back home called the Soup Kitchen. It's very mild and a touch sweet with it's spice, goes great with grilled cheese and has a flavor that's different from most chilis you run across.

Ingredients:

2 lb ground beef
2 green peppers (small)
2 onions (small to medium size)
1 can of beef stock gravy or beef broth
1 small can of tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)
2 cans pork and beans (15 oz) ****
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp garlic
2 tbsp chili powder (use 4 if you want it spicy, 2 for mild)

****Showboat brand comes closest to what the restaurant makes, but a large can of Bush's will work if you can't find anything else.


Cooking:
1. Brown ground beef in a little oil.
2. Dice onion and green pepper and sauté with the browned beef until soft.
3. Add garlic and spices to taste.
4. Add gravy, tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, and pork and beans (don’t drain pork and beans).
5. Simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally – 10-20 minutes or until flavors blend well. (It tastes best the next day after sitting in the fridge and letting the flavors blend)
6. Serve with grated cheddar cheese, Fritos Scoops and sour cream.

I usually make this a day or two before we have it so it flavors up more.

Ground meat in chili? Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.....

(Note - the Ewwwwwwwwwwww does not apply if said chili was meant to be consumed on hot dogs. That is the only reason for using ground meat in chili)

Cubed stew meat from some meat bearing critter is the only way to go - I have used venison, beef, goat, lamb, bison, and even ostrich in a pot. The rest of the ingredients can (and will) change like the wind, but there shall always be cubed meat in my pot.

My base recipe is here (it is a blog - totally hobby based, and something I co-author with a friend, so I'm assuming it won't offend the powers here) : http://creativenoms.com/2011/09/still-not-ics-approved-chili/

And yes, there is vegemite in it.

i know some consider it sacrilege, but when i make chili i like to start with really great beans. Always pinto and always homemade. i make my beans very thick and hearty and when i know i am making chili i make sure that they have a lot of broth.

i do not have a set recipe, but i like to add A LOT of onions, garlic, green peppers, varying types of peppers depending on the type of heat that i am wanting, tomato paste or sauce depending on whether the bean broth is thick or not, CUMIN, oregano, and i have this cool cocoa-chili blend that i like to add as well. i do not use canned tomatoes, i find it becomes too acidic and has a tinny flavor. and i also like mine with ground beef, where i am from that is just how it is made, DEEP South Texas, not Texas

basically, i do not have a recipe, but i feel it starts with the beans.

The best chili often times won't win in an office/work cooking contest. I have found that really basic, Paula Deen type of recipes, with a very low degree of sophistication often win. The majority of people, at least at my office for sure, don't know what good food is.

I have vowed to never cook in another contest at my work place again, too frustrating. I make amazing gourmet stuff & never get even 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.

Chris... that is why places like O'Charley's and Applebee's are so popular. aka Blah and Blah2. I don't bother with the office competition things, I can't cook bland...what a waste of good food!