Homemade Chili

Hello, it’s me Karin, writing this post on homemade chili.
Football is now in it’s sixth week and sadly my beloved ‘9’ers’ are 1-3. I’m not going put the blame squarely on our quarterback, but c’mon man.

Football can only be watched if accompanied by a slew of hearty dishes. I call it comfort food. In homage to the football season, my posts, for now will include some of the ‘snacks’ and food that we enjoy while watching the proverbial ‘grid game’.

I’ve been making chili for years and some might call it pedestrian, I have to disagree. Chili, is a blank slate that can be made to one’s own palette. Simply, chili a melding of spices and meat and is distinctive from region to region, mostly coming out of the states.

I don’t claim to be an ‘chili expert’. I know however that the obsession of chili began in the late 1800’s, so they say. A group of women known as the ‘chili queens’ started a group of wagons calling them ‘chili parlours’. The first parlour was established in Texas and also dubbed as ‘chili joints’.

Texas isn’t the only state to claim chili as their conception. Mexico being so close to the border of Texas, and therefore their food is heavily influenced by their southern neighbours.

Although most chili’s start with your usual suspects of ingredients; Garlic, onion, cumin, chili powder, and of course you can’t forget a big can of tomatoes (I prefer a can of diced tomatoes as opposed to the crushed, but to each their own!). The abundant availability in Mexico to dried chili peppers is infinite. So, quite obviously you won’t find an authentic Mexican chilli without an ancho pepper or even chipotle peppers in an adobo sauce.

Both Cincinnati and Wisconsin both have bragging right to their ‘chili chops’. I found that Wisconsin chili somewhat used the same spice blend that I am accustomed too. The only difference I could see was the ‘the state of the cheesheads’ preferred a slightly coarse ground on their meat. Cincinnati chili is well, slightly different. It’s the odd cousin that beats to his own drum. The recipe includes white vinegar, allspice berries, unsweetened chocolate; they fill a pot of cold water and add the beef crushing it with a potato masher. It is always topped with spaghetti and copious amounts of cheddar cheese. A little unconventional but I’m sure dee-lish!

The great debate among those that enjoy this rich and spicy tomato sauce. ‘To bean or not to bean, that is the question’. You would be hard pressed to find a beanless chili in most the states. In Texas however, prefer to go beanless.

‘We’ll im just fixn’ to get tied!’ Cause the chili I make ALWAYS has beans in it and it’s ‘rooten tooten good’. I think I’ve almost used every kind bean from black beans, to kidney, even a can of mixed beans. I even poured my leftover chili on a bed of polenta. That’s the great thing about chilli, it’s a blank state, just waiting for your culinary opinion.