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 their chili seriously! Chili is a very personal creation for the person who created the dish. Many people can work a lifetime to perfect a chili recipe and that’s no joke. Ask anyone who has ever competed in a chili cook off. If you are a newbie to the world of chili and want to get out of “canned things”, welcome! Even if you are an old man at making chili, welcome! The tips included here will not 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? Cow meat? Chicken? If your chili is too thick, don’t use water to thin it, that’s what everyone in the world does. Use broth instead! The water will “kill” the hard-worked flavor of your chili creation. The 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 very thin? You could add some tomato paste to it as a way to thicken it. Taste it little by little until you get the consistency you are looking for! What if the tomato paste doesn’t thicken the chili the way you want it to? Then the next step is to try using something like cornstarch or cornmeal commonly called masa flour. You can also try the old school use of cornmeal. I like this myself. The cornmeal gives it a good texture. Some people I know in the southern United States say just use a good old fashioned instant mashed potatoes. Not bad! It works and adds texture too. Then it’s the calorie-free way to do it using arrow root mixed with a little water and 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 should experiment.
Tip 3. Most of the people I know who make chili at home just use boring old jalapenos every day. This is fine in most cases and they bring the “heat”! But the fact of the matter is that there is a world of different chili peppers out there. Anaheim, Poblano, Serrano, Sante 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 back and forth 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 mundane! Have fun!
Tip 4. First things first! Cook the meat! Whatever meat you are using must be cooked first. Brown the meat well 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 soaked in the liquids from the chili recipe. I prefer to brown my meat. That’s turning on the flame and putting the meat in the skillet of my favorite cast iron skillet for a quick sizzle and a little stir and then turn the heat down. This is a classic browning technique that keeps the flavor in 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 meal will be. Remember that it is quality over quantity! Just because you can get some cheap meats and a lot of them doesn’t mean it’s quality meat and you’re going to get quality food. If you have to use cheaper meat that is less tender, expect to cook your chili longer to tenderize it 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!