Best Chili Recipes: 5 Tips for Cooking Great Chili!
Chili is a metaphysical thing in the world of cooking. There are major competitions all over the United States, and believe me they can get really fierce. People take chili seriously! The chili is a very personal creation for the person who created the dish. Lots of people can work their whole lives to perfect a chili recipe and that’s no joke. Just ask anyone who has ever competed in a chili cook-off. If you are new to the world of chili and want to get out of “the canned stuff”, welcome! Even if you are old at making chili, welcome! The tips here won’t hurt and will only enhance your chili experience! Let’s get some tips!
Tip 1. What if your chili is too thick? What kind of chili is it? White Red? Beef? Chicken? If your chili is too thick, don’t use water to thin it, that’s what everyone does. Use brother instead! The water will “kill” the hard work for the flavor of your chili creation. Broth adds the liquid you need, and unlike water, it also adds flavor and depth to your chili recipe!
Tip 2. What if your chili is too thin? You could add a little tomato paste to it as a way to thicken it up. Try it little by little until you achieve the consistency you are looking for! What if the tomato paste doesn’t thicken the chili the way you want? So the next step is to try to use something like cornstarch or cornmeal commonly called masa flour! You can also try using cornmeal old school. I like this myself. Cornmeal gives a good texture. Some people I know in the southern United States say just use good old fashioned instant mashed potatoes. Nothing bad! It works and adds texture too. Then it’s the zero calorie way to do it using arrowroot mixed with a little water then added to the chili and stirred. As you can see, there are many ways to make your chili thicker. The choice is yours and you must experiment.
Tip 3. Most people I know who make chili at home just use plain, boring jalapenos every day. This is fine in most cases and they bring the “heat”. But the fact is, there is a world of different chilies out there. Anaheim, Poblano, Serrano, Santa Fe Chiles, Ancho Chiles, the very popular these days Chipotle in Adobo sauce or Chipotle powder, Cayenne, Tabascos, Thai Chili, Habanera and Scotch Bonnets. The list can go on and on from one country to another. So why not try using more than one type of chili in your chili? Change the flavor, don’t settle for the mundane! Have fun!
Tip 4. First things first! Cook the meat! Any meat you are using needs to be cooked first. Brown the meat long before you have to add the liquids to the recipe. Browning the meat helps maintain the flavor of the meat. You don’t want the meat to get soggy from the liquids from the chili recipe. I prefer to brown my meat. That’s turning up the heat and putting the meat in the pan of my favorite skillet, the cast iron skillet, to get it sizzling quickly, stir it around a bit, and then turn the heat down. This is a classic searing technique that locks the flavor into the meat.
Tip 5. The better the meat, the better the food! It is a fact that the better the quality of any meat or main component of a meal, the better the food will be. Remember it’s quality over quantity! Just because you can get some cheap meat and get a lot of it doesn’t mean it’s quality meat and you’ll get a quality meal. If you have to use a cheaper meat that is less tender, expect to cook your chili longer to soften it up and consider using a meat tenderizer to help tenderize the cheaper cuts and cook the chili longer and you should be fine. . In the long run, if you can afford to get the best cuts, I always do it every day!