I just made this recipe last night. Has anyone else questioned the amount of salt called for here? Let me start by saying that I am a salt addict - there is nothing I won't salt. But just looking at the recipe, it seemed like a massive quantity - even for kosher salt. I started with a single tablespoon and even that was a borderline amount. I used no-salt-added diced tomatoes. Regular pureed tomatoes. I added a Tbs of tomato paste to fortify, but nothing that should send the salt content off the charts. My ancho chile powder is nothing but chiles - no extra salt there. This has to be a typo, right? It was still a great and easy recipe, even modified. I like Clambelly's suggestion of adding masa harina as the sauce was a bit thin. I'll try that next time.

Not bad...but try this: Add a few tablespoons of fine masa harina and sprinkle over the top as it's all simmering. It will nicely thicken everything without making it scummy. Also, a Tbs. of unsweetened cocoa powder is a secret ingredient for any dish with this many tomatoes (including Italian marinara sauce, or any pasta sauce for that matter, as long as the sauce is tomato-based), and don't forget a sprig or two of cilantro.

Clambelly Mar 23, 2011 01:24 PM

Sounds like a good chili recipe. Too bad its already to warm for chili here. I generally add beans to mine, but true chili snobs know that beans aren't to be included in real chili.

If you can't get behind this recipe, you don't appreciate Tex-style chili. The only thing I'd do differently is use 2-inch boneless chuck cubes instead of ground beef. Stew beef makes a better Tex-style chili. Also, add a bottle of Cerveza Dos Equis Ambar and and 2 ounces of Jose Cuervo Gold, and cook it down for about 90 more minutes.

You could even use it on pasta, similar to a Cincinnati style chili. Although it's not really the same, taste is in the palate of the person eating the dish.

Just me but the ingredients and picture tends to suggest this as a topping for a chili-dog ? I prefer a more full featured chili too, more ingredients, Adding beans, corn, peppers to give it a flavor and festive color to decorate the table or plate. And chili isn't rocket science, chili powder packets that are pre-mixed can be spiced up with additional spices just the same. Regardless, even the least expensive and generic of these pre-mixed spices are quite good as is.

Agree. Skip this recipe. Made for a really bland, unsatisfying batch of chili

Houston Born and Bred. I drink Lonestar while I cook, and I went to Walmart and bought the whole "texas flag" bathroom collection, you have to be a texan to really appreciate a giant texas flag shower curtain. I have had chili with chunks of beef, ground beef, stew beef. I have had chili made with seasoning packets in a grocery store and seasonings ground from a "secret blend" in a molcajete. I have had chili with beans, without beans and even without meat. Never had potatoes. When it comes down to it, rules, no rules, regions or out of staters, chili is something that I can honestly say because of all the different styles and seasoning combinations, I never bore of. I am always down for a hot mug full of chili. Just the fact someone took the time to cook it from scratch is normally good enough for me. We are a proud people, 49 other states do not have the ability to become their own country, but we do. We got some of the best damn BBQ, Chili and TEX-mex that can be found in the world. So lets try it all and bask in the glory of what we do best. I plan on trying all of these recipes, just to see what they taste like. Well, maybe not the haggis...I just don't get it, sorry.

PetriesDish Sep 5, 2009 05:20 AM

Chili is not named for the peppers, as they are spelled chile. Anyone coming to my place for a get together, be it a family, friend, or open party of folks, is not going to find beans in my chili. I am a native Texan, and have been one for over 50 years. That being said, I do have sides that guests can incorporate into their chili - things like borracho beans, shredded cheese, sour cream (ewww), pico de gallo and cilantro. It's simple hospitality. This way they can taste it the way it is intended, and add their own dilutants. My wife's family puts spaghetti in their "chilli". Go figure. And yes, there have probably been near as many wars fought over chili as BBQ - I'm preloaded for action either way. Cheers, y'all!

'2 16 oz cans of red kidney beans 2 16 oz cans of small red beads (sic) Seasonings, 1 tsp each of salt pepper (sic), Lawry’s, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder" You are absolutely right Scargod. This ain't chili. I'm willing to bet that Sarah of Sarah’s Haggis Chili has no idea what real chili is. Bless her little Scottish heart. Somebody needs to tell her "how the cow eats the cabbage" as we say in Texas.

speyerer May 1, 2008 12:11 PM

Tgardenhire: I thought we were talkin' chili? Unless my eyesight is bad, there is no chile powder in yours. Was this a typo? I'm not puting beans or beads in mine, either. Not sure if I see the point of making a sausage just to chop it apart a few minutes later.

Scargod Apr 23, 2008 08:59 PM

I can honestly say I've never had a chili made with sheep's heart, lungs and liver....Not that there's anything wrong with that.

speyerer Apr 22, 2008 04:30 AM

Because I was asked so many times about his recipe, here it is Sarah’s Haggis Chili To start with you need to make Haggis: Now I was born and raised on home fed beef and have never hurt a little wooly sheep. When God made those critters, he never made enough mint jelly to drown the flavor of lamb. Being that as it is, lamb has never graced my table. So I make haggis out of Beef. I have tried pork…. Best to stay with Beef. 3 lb of Ground Round or Sirloin (Sirloin has a richer flavor) 1 medium Onion finely chopped 1cup Scottish Oatmeal 16 oz of beef stock 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper ½ to 1 teaspoon of nutmeg (to taste) Edible Collagen Casings for Fresh or Smoked Sausage (32mm (1-1/8") soaked in water Mix in a bowl. Put in a Sausage Stuffer and fill the casings with the mixture. Tie off ends and you have a sort of haggis. You can boil or bake the sausages for about 30 to 40 minutes. Take out and let stand till cool. Now for the chili 2 16 oz cans of red kidney beans 2 16 oz cans of small red beads 1 medium onion chopped 2 8oz cans of tomato sauce 1 8oz of water Seasonings, 1 tsp each of salt pepper, Lawry’s, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder Brown onions and haggis (chopped and cubed) together, then add chili ingredients and bring to boil then reduce to a simmer for 2 hours. Season more to taste if needed. Serve with Cheese and crackers. Sausage Stuffer and Casings can be bought from Bass Pro Outfitters. Edible Collagen Casings for Fresh or Smoked Sausage from Bass Pro (basspro.com) Now, if you want the real Haggis here it is: Recipe Ingredients: Set of sheep's heart, lungs and liver (cleaned by a butcher) One beef bung 3 cups finely chopped suet One cup medium ground oatmeal Two medium onions, finely chopped One cup beef stock One teaspoon salt œ teaspoon pepper One teaspoon nutmeg œ teaspoon mace Preparation Method: Trim off any excess fat and sinew from the sheep's intestine and, if present, discard the windpipe. Place in a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour or possibly longer to ensure that they are all tender. Drain and cool. Finely chop the meat and combine in a large bowl with the suet, oatmeal, finely chopped onions, beef stock, salt, pepper, nutmeg and mace. Make sure the ingredients are mixed well. Stuff the meat and spices mixture into the beef bung which should be over half full. Then press out the air and tie the open ends tightly with string. Make sure that you leave room for the mixture to expand or else it may burst while cooking. If it looks as though it may do that, prick with a sharp needle to reduce the pressure. Place in a pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and immediately reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for three hours. Avoid boiling vigorously to avoid bursting the skin. bandit banditscovebrittanys.com

Scargod, thanks for your comments about chili. They are appropriate for a food board. If the chili you had in Connecticut, at chili fundraisers, was crap, why didn't you, with your vast knowledge of chili history and preparation techniques and obvious friendship with Frank and Wick, offer to help with the fundraiser and donate a pot or two of your prize-winning chili? As for President Bush, just think how much he could have achieved if he was only half as smart as you perceive yourself to be. He could have been president one day. Sir/Madam, you are the buffoon.

speyerer Mar 9, 2008 09:46 AM

Boy! Havin’ read all the previous comments, I want to join in this fray! Hope it’s not too late! I’m a Texan and this is fun! I’ve taken my gloves off, too. I live in the New Haven, CT area; have for over five years now. I’m an old Texan who has roots in Elgin (where great sausage and “Q” comes from) but spent almost all my life in the Dallas area. I was fascinated with competing in chili cook-offs for a while. The 2007 Terlingua Chili Cook-off winner was from a town 15 miles from where I was born. 80% of CASI Terlingua cook-off winners are from Texas! What I like about these events is partly the food, partly it’s the event’s attitude and partly it’s the bikers. Not that I’m a Harley biker, but I rode for most of my life, so I’m an adventurous, risk-taker. Eatin’ a good bowl of chili is like that! I’ve studied winning chili recipes. I’ve made spreadsheets so I could dissect and compare them. I’ve fixed chili so many times I can’t remember the ways. When it’s cool up here, I often cook it for parties and for dinner guests. Up here, in the Nor’east, my chili gets rave reviews. Usually I make several gallons and it disappears… I serve beans on the side. I used to not offer beans, but now I usually serve black beans with jalapenos, coarse chopped garlic and onions in them, if people need to tone down their chili, or jus’ ‘cause they like to! I don’t put beans in my chili when cooking it. I don’t recall any of us (Texans) calling it “red” or “bowl of red” or “chile con carne”. Mostly, we just said “chili” unless we were trying to impress a foreigner. Frank had a cookbook called “Bowl of Red”, but I’m not sure if Wick called it that. The organizations don’t mention “bowl of red” but have a “red” and “green” categories for chili. “Chili” is faster and easier to say than “bowl of red”, so there! I won’t go way into the history of chili ‘cause that’s a hot-button topic, in itself. I will say that in the olden days cowboys ate a lot of beef on the trail. It wasn’t always that edible a cut that they used and they needed variety and some spice; they were influenced by Mexico, thus “chili”. My guess is that beans, a trail staple, was occasionally slipped in, along with various wild game and whatever the cook deemed appropriate. I agree with some comments about what is “proper” chili. It’s what you want it to be. “Pure” chili is for contests (but I do love it!). All I know is, I grew up eating a lot of Wolf brand chili and remember the fat old guy, with the ten gallon hat, saying on the TV, “So, Neighbor, how long’s it been since you've had a big, thick, steaming bowl of Wolf Brand Chili? Well, that's tooooo long!” So I can’t abide celery, bell pepper and kidney beans in chili, even if you pile a lot of cheese and onions on it! I don’t think fresh veggies were that available on the cow-trail (to plop into the chili) either. I’ve had what they call chili, here in Connecticut, at chili fundraisers (not associated with the two “real” chili associations, ICS or CASI) and boy is it generally crap! I was amazed the first time I went to one of these local events and saw vegetable/bean stew with ground hamburger meat in it. My God! It was like they were conflicted as whether to be a vegetarian or a carnivore…. No heat! Real sissy food! They shouldn’t call it “chili”, is mainly what I’m saying. It’s closer to hamburger helper. I was a little surprised to see the green chili pepper (type, origin or heat unknown) in the 25K chili recipe. Usually, there is no “green” at all in “a bowl of red” for competition. The coriander is a little unusual, but there’s not all that much used and paprika is missing! I use McCormick’s smoky paprika. I use three or more types of ground chiles and not “chili powder”, which has numerous ingredients in it besides ground chiles. My chili recipe is not unlike the 25K recipe. The proportions of this recipe are virtually “classic” for 95% of all winning chili recipes. I sometimes use some good bacon and chop it up fine to go along with pork and sirloin, which I cut into 3/8”-1/2” cubes. I think a coarse “chili grind” is acceptable but not the texture I prefer. Obviously, Brucesw knows his stuff. Amen, brother! I would only seriously disagree with you about there being “too much” tomato sauce in this recipe. This is typically the amount used in winning recipes. I think your wheels ran off the track in those last two paragraphs….. As for Bush: I almost hate to spoil this discussion by bringing his name up again (but I will). He’s a cowboy in some respects, but certainly not a Texan. A “cowboy” is a label associated with wildness, unpredictability and ignoring rules. Cowboys do whatever suits them and make their own rules. They are masters of their own universe. Yep, he’s a cowboy, but more a play-like “cowboy”, like he was an “air jock” or “college graduate”. He makes me laugh and cry at the same time. He makes me angry. What a buffoon! What a disgrace for our country.

Scargod Mar 5, 2008 10:03 PM

No need to Google fastrac. http://www.chilicookoff.com/Winner/Winner_Champions.asp?Cat=1 http://www.chilicookoff.com/Winner/Winner_Champions.asp?Cat=2

speyerer Mar 3, 2008 09:20 AM

Might want to Google Chili recipes for more choices!

New Mexico Hatch chiles are green and quite tasty, however there is limited availability of fresh Hatches.

speyerer Feb 19, 2008 07:27 AM

Aren't New Mexico Hatch chiles green? I think they're very popular in chili. Anaheims also fit the bill, but they're too mild for my taste.

joshcantori: "i apologize for being a dick." Apology accepted.

speyerer Feb 18, 2008 04:23 AM

totally my point. to me, ones approach to cooking chili is a manifestation of ones approach to cooking, in general. There exists a general framework that defines chili. once within that famework, you can do a million and one things. anyway, any good thoughts on a green chili? last one i made was real tasty but a bit too gourmet for my idea of chili. one thing i did like about it was that prior to addig the peppers (jalepenos and poblanos) - i roasted them under a flame in the over -- gave a nice smokey flavor to the chli. as far as cookingyour aromatics in rendered fat -- hell yeah! the flavor you get from rendered animal fat when stewing and brasing is insurpassable. pork fat in a chowder. duck fat in a beef stew. i actually prefer using rendered duck/fowl fat for my roux. but back to the point. chili. any thoughts a bout a good green chile?

"if you want to make a chile - then cook a god-damn chili. " If you were running for office, you'd have my vote! Chili's a pretty flexible recipe: meat, spices, cooking liquid, peppers. Every added element and variation in style changes the flavor and that's what's great about chili. How boring this world would be if every bowl of chili tasted exactly the same. FYI, my favorite recipe is the one in Paul Prudhomme's Seasoned America. Cooking the onions/peppers in rendered fatback adds a rich layer of flavor and really brings out the flavor of the chilis.

monkeyrotica Feb 14, 2008 09:28 PM

beans . potato. not the point. make a chile with chili peppers.

thats what im talkin about. were not talking recipes - we are talkin flavors. no rules. if you want to make a chile - then cook a god-damn chili. its not about ground beef vs sausage -- its about good meat for the pepper. good luck to the ass-suckers, but you u r talkin about chili - not wendy's --- so thankyou for hearing.

And I forgot to mention the one bottle of shiner bock to simmer.

Couple of tips from a chili lover in Houston. I've found that coursely ground beef with some stew meat mixed in works very nicely. The best is to chop the meat yourself with a knife. Brown the beef in redered kidney suet and make sure it is brown not gray before adding other ingredients. Save about a 1/4 cup of the suet to add to the chili when it is simmering. Use dry Ancho chilis instead of chili powder (boil, then remove the skin and throw in a blender - save the chili water to add to the beef). Masa works well to thicken if you care to. No tomatos, green peppers or beans in proper Texas chili please. (Yes I'm prepared to get flamed for the tomato comment). Other typical ingredients are salt, cumin, cayenne, garlic, onions, serranos and jalepenos.

if you are talking about someone else's recipe - i apologize for being a dick. my point is that chili should be versatile - flexible. there are core essentials to a good bowl of chili - but if you get stuck on particular rules and regulations you will miss out on a ton of excellent food. there are at least a thousand ways to make a good chili -- so why limit yourself to one?

which recipe should the Wendy's-go'ers follow? If you are talking about my comments, please do not mistake them for a recipe. I was just talking about food. And my point is perfectly exemplified by your remarks. People have completely lost touch with food and how to cook it. The last chili I made was a fresh poblano chili with pork, tomatillos, jalepenos, cilantro, and blah blah blah. The reason being that the market just got fresh poblanos in. Do you prefer chili powder and cumin over fresh chilis? Cause those are both ingredients in Wendy's chili.

I was born and raised a New Englander but have been in TX almost ten years. This recipe is fine for people who a) don't care, b) don't know or c) both. Might as well just get some chili from Wendy's. One thing you have to keep in mind is that Texans take their chili as seriously as their BBQ and rightfully so.

hooliganyouth Feb 12, 2008 03:50 AM

you people are all crazy. first of all, its called chili because of the chili pepper. second, who gives a rats ass about some chili society from texas? they are likely to be as informed about chili as our fearless leader is about the ideals of our fine country. there are few rules of chili that must be respected (for food's sake) - first and foremost, use chili peppers, dried, ground, fresh - whatever - its chili. second, chili is a stew. cook it like a stew and use cubed, fatty meat. i like a pork shoulder -- but any cheap cut cubed (and not overly-trimmed) will do just fine. if you dont like tomatoes - stock or even water will cut it. if beans are against some holy-grail rule, forget em - but potatoes are even good. its chili. no rules. just good food cooked with the crops originally grown in south texas/northern mexico. hell, forget texas and visit northern mexico if you want some chili.

1. I use beans in my chili. 2. I am not from Texas. 3. I use hamburger because it is easy and I buy it in bulk when it is on sale and freeze it. 4. We live in Northern Kentucky, outside Cincinnati where they serve some of the most vile food in the world -- Cincinnati style chili. 5. Our current President may not be from Texas, either, but he does deserve respect. 6. So, if real Texas chili does not have beans, what is with all the Tex-Mex dishes WITH beans? 7. I always considered Texans to be a bit daft and blustery anyway. Think cowboys. Steve Kirk blogs at www.theperfectsense.com.

That $25,000 recipe looks pretty good; I’ve never made it and haven’t ever made one with pork in it that I liked. I prefer beef or venison and plan on trying goat next time I make a batch. I agree with others that hamburger grind meat is inappropriate for chili (unless you’re making it for children). Chili needs to simmer for a long time and the meat must stand up to that. I prefer round and for years I only made it with chili grind but more recently have been going to the trouble to cube the meat; I think I still prefer it with chili grind but my KA grinder blade isn’t as coarse as I’d like it to be and it’s actually easier to take the time to cut it in cubes than it is to clean the grinder after using it. The concept of chili has been so bastardized over the decades that it’s a shame. I wouldn’t ever order chili anywhere outside of Texas, New Mexico or Cincinnati without ascertaining what the locals mean by the term. There’s some truly awful stuff out there to which the term chili has been misapplied, mostly of the variety of tomato-hamburger-vegetable soup and Garbage bowls or Everything bowls. Lots of people seem to believe if a dish has got some chili powder and cumin in it that’s all it takes for it to qualify as ‘chili.’ That being said I can appreciate that Chow has left out bell peppers, carrots, olives, mushrooms, brussels sprouts, corn, nuts, EVOO and some of the other stuff that I have read of in ‘chili.’ Chili is meat and spices. The complexity of a bowl of chili should come from the blend of spices, at least 3 kinds of chiles at a minimum, not from the number of different vegetables that can be thrown in the pot. Another problem with this recipe is the use of only one variety of chile and then the addition of a canned chili in adobo? I think Tolbert’s classic bowl of red is a little boring myself. The best chili I ever made included ancho, chipotle (not in adobo), paprika (some dried pods from my own garden, not powdered stuff), ginger, and chile piquin. The thing about using chiles and making your own blends rather than prepared chili powders is variations in taste from batch to batch with the same ingredients. Also be sure to grind some cumin seeds, don’t use powdered cumin. You can toast them if you want to - it helps but it isn’t essential. The aroma from this spice mix will drive you crazy; you won’t get that by opening up a jar of chili powder. And it you don’t let it rest overnight, skim excess fat (to taste) and/or thicken it if necessary before serving, you haven’t made real chili, might as well make Texas Red Chili Helper from a box. I’ve grown tired of the taste of masa and never use it anymore to thicken my chili. Beans are acceptable as an extender but beans are one of Mother Nature’s greatest gifts and I think they dumb down the spices and alter the flavor too much and are just better on their own on the side and chili is better without them. I have made chili many times with beans, I just like it better without, but I agree pintos are the only acceptable ones. If you just need an extender, you could also use tempeh or TVP. In fact tempeh and pintos are the basis of a very good vegetarian chili, much better than the vegetarian Everything bowls labeled chili just because they’ve got some chili powder and cumin in them. There’s also too much tomato in the Chow recipe. Chili is NOT a tomato flavored meat dish. Tomatoes are added to ‘sweeten’ the chili, which means not to make it sweeter or taste like tomatoes, but to take the edges off the spices. There’s at least twice as much tomato products in that recipe as there should be and maybe as much as 4 times as much as needed.. I’d also cut back on the amount of onions and garlic and use red pepper flakes, if needed, rather than a bottled hot sauce, but those are lesser issues.

I'm going to give the $25k chili recipe above a twirl this weekend. Spey, I hope you're still checking on this thread. Maybe I'll post on the Texas board to find you. Anyway, the recipe ingredient list contains Gebhardt's chili powder and "regular dark" cp. In step 8 of the prep. directions, a 3rd cp is mentioned: New Mexico cp that is not listed in the ingredient list. Any idea how much of that powder was used in the winning recipe? Thanks in advance!

Yeah, I'm quite happy with the KA meat grinder. What you want to do for sausage is put your meat through the coarse plate, then (after freezing it for about 20 minutes to keep the fat level intact) force that through the fine plate. That'll give you a good even texture.

BarmyFotheringayPhipps Jan 24, 2008 11:08 AM

Barmy, Are you satisfied with the KitchenAid meat grinder? I was looking at them last night at the mall. I want to try my hand at sausage. I agree finely ground meat is wrong. I add the flour (masa) at the end of the cooking. The bean/chili question, I also think the no bean rule started in North Texas. Francis X. Tolbert who founded the Chili Appreciation Society International, which is based in the ghost town of Terlingua, where annual chili-cooking contests are held, was born in Amarillo. Thanks for the conversation no ill will intended. By the way my son is a grad student (engineering) at Boston U.

speyerer Jan 24, 2008 09:45 AM

I think it's a matter of personal preference more than a matter of region: I'm from the panhandle and I personally don't mind beans in chili, but only as long as they're pintos and as long as they're an accent and not the focus of the dish. To me, kidney beans have no place in chili because they never get properly creamy. The main difference in my chili is that I start with a chuck roast that I cube and then send through the meat grinder attachment on my KitchenAid. As earlier posters noted, ground beef is simply all wrong for chili, no matter what else you add to it. I stand by my characterization of a man born in New Haven, CT, schooled at Phillips Andover in Massachusetts and graduated from Yale: no matter how many Gs he drops and how much brush he clears, he will never be a Texan.

BarmyFotheringayPhipps Jan 24, 2008 08:19 AM

Speyerer, Easy there...I was not being snarky;I really do wonder if portions of Texas generally make chili different ways. Since the majority of people I know are from Central/South Texas and use beans I am wondering if the "no beans in Texas chili" rule originated in another portion of the state, such as the panhandle. I find it interesting that the International Chili Society has a rule against beans since I usually hear the absence of beans associated with Texas-stlyle. As for my recipe, I use most of the same spices as the recipe above with the two major differences being; 1. I start with browning chopped "stew meat" that I have dredged in a little flour. 2. I add red kidney beans near the end of the process

Honey Bee Jan 24, 2008 04:46 AM

I live in Boston but was born in Denver City, Texas and raised in Lubbock. Trust me, I've got my Texas bona fides. And actually, you had the spelling right the first time: "chile" is the spelling of the fruit. The dish under discussion is spelled "chili."

BarmyFotheringayPhipps Jan 24, 2008 12:11 AM

Please excuse the typos. "ways" and "chile".

speyerer Jan 23, 2008 12:46 PM

Dear Baffled, Beans in a chile competition are strictly forbidden by International Chili Society rules. But it's OK with me if you, your in-laws and almost everyone else you know puts beans in chili. It's also OK with me that BARMYFOTHERINGAYPHIPPS, who by the ways lives in Boston, says no real Texan has EVER called chili a "bowl of red." I would appreciate that either of you would post your recipe for chile since this is the "Recipes" board.

speyerer Jan 23, 2008 08:52 AM

Native Texan here... I have never called chili a "Bowl of Red". I would consider chili con carne a topping for tamales, but not if I wanted a bowl of chili. Baffled by the fact that some folks say that Texas chili should never include beans. I put beans in my chili, as do my in-laws, and almost everyone else I know. Maybe it is regional?

Honey Bee Jan 23, 2008 04:26 AM

As a Texan since my birth in 1939, I have eaten many bowls of red. "Bowl of Red" is the name of a chili recipe by Frank X. Tolbert, from his book A Bowl of Red, published by Texas A&M University Press, 1953. Frank Tolbert founded the World Chili Cookoff in Terlingua, Texas and owned a chain of chili parlors in Dallas, Texas. I support President George Bush and resent the name calling by the previous poster and consider it inappropriate and disrespectful for a board such as Chow.com. I would like to share this unique chili recipe: $25,000 Bowl of Red Serves: 8 As served by Margot Knudson when winning the $25,000 top prize at the 21st annual World Championship Chili Cook-off at Tropico Gold Mine, Rosamond, California. Published Dallas Morning News on March 02, 1997. Ingredients: • ½ cup oregano tea, see directions • 2 medium onions, finely chopped • 1 medium green chili pepper, minced • 2 medium garlic cloves • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper • ½ ounce regular dark chili powder • ½ ounce cumin • 5 ounce tomato sauce • 3 ounce bulk pork sausage • 3 pounds prime beef, coarsely ground • ½ teaspoon coriander, ground • 1 cup beef broth, canned • 2 Tablespoons lard (butter) • 2 ounces Gebhardt's Chili Powder • - white pepper, to taste • - Frank’s Red Hot Pepper Sauce, to taste • - cayenne pepper, to taste Note: Please notice that there are no beans involved in Mrs. Knudson’s recipe. Per International Chili Society rules, the use of beans, pasta or any other filler in competition chili is strictly forbidden. But if you have to have beans, add 3 or 4 cans of drained pintos just at the end, in time to warm them up before serving. But try it without the beans first so you can taste a $25,000 bowl of red. Method Oregano Tea: 1. Let 1 Tablespoon dried oregano leaves steep in ½ cup hot water for 30 minutes, then strain out leaves and discard. 2. Set aside the liquid that remains. Method Chili: 1. Sauté onions and garlic in butter about 3 minutes. 2. Add Gebhardt's and regular dark chili powder. 3. Mix well. 4. Brown beef in separate pan a pound at a time, adding white pepper to taste while browning. 5. Add to onions and spices; use a little beef broth to keep from sticking. 6. Sauté sausage and minced green chili pepper about 2 minutes. 7. Add to pot with meat and onions and cook about 15 minutes. 8. Add New Mexico chili powder, cumin, coriander, tomato sauce and remaining broth, mixing well. 9. Cook about 30 minutes. 10. Add oregano tea. 11. Cover and cook over low heat about 2 hours or until meat is tender, stirring occasionally. 12. During the last 20-30 minutes add salt, cayenne pepper and Frank’s Red Hot Pepper Sauce, if needed. Note: The 66-year-old was the fifth woman to win the world title. It took her five years to perfect her winning recipe, which was handed down from her father, a restaurant chef. "It has a little bite to it, but that's what makes it good," she said. “Wish I had time for one more bowl of chili.” ~ dying words of Kit Carson

speyerer Jan 23, 2008 01:43 AM

And for that matter, no real Texan has EVER called chili a "bowl of red." That's for fake Texans such as that idiot in the White House.

BarmyFotheringayPhipps Jan 21, 2008 04:04 AM

Skip this one!!! For the best ever check out Cooks Illustrated. CCC. It's true Texan and amazing. But do not eat it the first day! It needs to sit. J

SeattleJim Jan 20, 2008 05:21 AM