Chili as a dish instead of as a sauce is a range dish, descended from the sauce. It's one of those innovations that crossed back across the border, like fajitas or pizza done the American way migrated back to its influence point dramatically changed. As a trail dish it's a meal of opportunity -- trail hands ate beef when an animal got killed on the trail, starting with steaks and then working their way to the leftover bits , which were starting to get a bit ripe, so the "cookie" would use spices to mask the flavor. Beans were never used, as they represented a meal all their own, and saving them as much as possible maximized the savings on the trail. Chili was also a way to introduce other critters like rattlesnake, gopher, and the like into the meals, so it was a good fallback recipe for the chuckwagon cook. Beans as a filler were introduced during hard times to make meat last longer. If I include them I put them in at serving time on an individual basis, not as an ingredient, as they can impart flavors to the chili I don't care for, and also because there's a risk of my five generations of Texas ancestors rising up and raining down a zombie apocalypse on me if I were to do so. Chili is the state dish of Texas.
-----Original Message----- From: Cookinginthedark [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Charles Rivard Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2013 11:02 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [CnD] Chili my way I agree with you on not using beans. I never thought of that as stew, though. I have also posted my recipe for crock pot chili, and it is extremely, extremely, hot. I would estimate that it makes about a gallon, or 4 quarts, although I use a 5 quart crock pot. --- Shepherds are the best beasts, but Labs are a close second. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nicole Massey" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]>; "'RJ'" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2013 10:38 AM Subject: Re: [CnD] Chili my way > If it has beans in it it's not chili, it's chili stew. My chili is > seasonings, tomatoes, a minced onion, and a coarse ground of beef called > chili meat along with a pound of pork sausage. I've posted the recipe here > before. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Cookinginthedark [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of RJ > Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2013 10:32 AM > To: citd > Subject: [CnD] Chili my way > > Chili my way. > > 1 medium onion [ chopped fine) > 2 sticks of celery [chopped fine[ > one carrot (chopped fine to sweeten it up a bit[ Little oil in a large > sauce > pan and soften the above. > Add one can of beef broth > 1 can of stewed tomatoes. Two more cans if you don't have frozen tomatoes, > or one large can, out of the garden. > Two packages of frozen tomatoes > rinse the following beans well > 1 can of kidney beans > 1 can of northern beans > 1 can garbanzo beans > 1 can of cannellini beans > as much garlic as you like > I use about 4 cloves of fresh garlic [sliced thin] I don't like chili > powder, so I use cayenne pepper. About 1/4 teaspoon Some oregano, black > pepper to taste. > Cook on a medium heat and stir now and than so the tomatoes won't stick to > the pan. > Take a heaping tablespoon of flour and add enough water to dissolve it. > About 3 to four tablespoons. Turn up the heat on the chili and mix in the > flour. Turn chili on a low heat and simmer until you are ready for it. Be > sure to stir now and than. > For the meat, I use hamburger. I add some seasoning and garlic to the > hamburger. [black pepper, salt, oregano, cayenne pepper.[ I than flatten > the burger out and fry it into a thin patty about 1/4 inch thick. Than > break > up the patty and add it to the chili. > RJ > > How to freeze tomatoes. > Rinse well cut off top of tomato stem and green part, put in freezer bag > and > freeze. > How to use. Run hot water over frozen tomato and slip off skin. Add to and > soup or casserole. I will crush the tomatoes if they are defrosted enough, > if not, will take and knife and cut them up. > > _______________________________________________ > Cookinginthedark mailing list > [email protected] > http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark > > _______________________________________________ > Cookinginthedark mailing list > [email protected] > http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark _______________________________________________ Cookinginthedark mailing list [email protected] http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark _______________________________________________ Cookinginthedark mailing list [email protected] http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark
