Originally Posted By: chiefsfan1
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Instead of grinding the meat, consider cubing it into about 3/8"-1/2" pieces. After it is all cubed, brown it in hot grease. This can be a little timely process, as to brown rather than stew the meat, you have to do small batches. And cook hot. Remove the meat as it is done and put it in the stock pot. After browning all the meat, then saute the onions in the same grease. At the very end, add your garlic. Pour the onions, garlic, and grease in with the rest of the ingredients.
I know. I thought the same thing when first taught this technique. Drain the grease if you really can't get past it. But you are draining off flavor. And you will never notice in the final product.
The cubed meat really is one of the steps up from average to something special in chili. It takes time. But it is worth it. It will set your chili apart from all the rest. Especially if you use this technique to brown it.
^^^ This...beat me to it.
When browning, don't fear the fond build up. That's great beef flavor. Just turn down the heat a bit as you don't want it to burn. When you brown the onions, they will release a lot of water. Scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to remove the fond.
After the onions are browned, add all the spices and 'toast' until fragrant, then add the garlic last. Toasting the spices this way produces MUCH more flavor than dumping them in a pot of liquid.
To up the deep, rich, beefy flavor even more, add some veal or beef stock or demi-glaze.
I'm hoping it's cold enough here this season to actually make chili....
Toast the spices? I'll do that.
I made a container of dry chili seasoning. I was thinking of using 2 tablespoons for a 2 pound roast.
The blue corn meal showed up today. That should make it unique or turn people off.
There are a few different methods to bring out the most of your spices. This is how I do it. Alton Brown does it very similarly. I make my own chili powder from dried chile peppers. Mine is a combination of New Mexico, Colorado or California, Negro Pasilla, cascabel and arbols Seed and stem them. Then put them in a 300° oven for about 5-6 minutes. The aroma will be wonderful!
After they cool, grind them to a powder in a food processor. A blender will also do the job if you don't have a food processor.
Next is the cumin. Buy comino seeds in the Mexican section of the grocery. Even better, pick them up at the local Mexican market. That's where you are going to find the best and freshest selection of dried chiles anyway. Heat the comino seeds until they turn light brown. They can also be done in the oven at 300° for 5-6 minutes, or in a dry frying pan on the stove top. Both ways work well, but I like to do them in the frying pan because of the small amount. Once again, the aroma will be absolutely intoxicating. At least, it is to me. Let cool and grind. Because of the size of comino seeds, they are a little harder to grind in the food processor. I use a mortar and pestle. I've heard some use a coffee grinder, but some have reported the wrath of the wife after the next pot of coffee tastes like cumin.
The flavor with homemade chili powder and cumin is totally in a separate class from chili with store bought chili powder and ground cumin. You will never hear the end of the praise for your chili.