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My "secrets" for a decent pot of chili...

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zxcvbob:
Beans in chili is a false controversy.  Tomatoes is the real issue.

Kingcreek:
We've had chili threads before, haven't we?
#1 should be START WITH BACON.
(Brown your meat in the bacon grease. Save the bacon crumbles for later. Serve the finished bowls of chili with a garnish topping of sour cream, diced green onion, and bacon crumbles.)

K Frame:
Yep, beans is truly is a false controversy.

Tomatoes may also be a false controversy.

If one person/place had, at some point in the past, come up with the recipe, written it down, published it, then it might be a legitimate controversy.

But chili is just like stew (in fact, chili IS a stew). It was in large part working class food, developed by the less well off and often employing whatever ingredients were available, whether or not they were "approved and traditional."

Everyone claims that THEIR way is the RIGHT and ONLY way to make it, and that everyone else is a heretic...

I like my chili with beans. I also like my chili without beans.


I generally add beans to my chili because I like how they taste and they make a pot go a LOT farther, and one of my considerations for cooking stuff like this on the weekends is how many lunches (and the occasional dinner) I can get from the pot.

The pot I made last night made just shy of 12 cups. Without the beans it probably would have been closer to 8 cups.

So, 4 extra cup servings. That's enough to carry me into next weekend, meaning I don't have to cook for lunches for the rest of this week. And, tonight, I just may have chili over eggs (Egg Beaters) for dinner.

Kingcreek:
I agree with you about using good dried beans properly prepped. I like pinto or black beans in chili.
I'm married to the spice queen. She buys in bulk and blends different spices and herbs as needed and per her standards. I have given up trying to make the blend and she always has a jar of something called chili seasoning. We don't have a spice drawer or even a spice cabinet. We have a spice pantry.

zxcvbob:
I like beans in my chili as long as they don't overwhelm it.  I usually make it w/o tomatoes, but I will sometimes add a can of tomatoes as an extender.  IMHO, tomatoes should not be a major ingredient, but if you like it that way that's fine with me.  If you can't make good chili without adding tomatoes, something is wrong (not enough dried peppers, maybe too-hot peppers.)

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