Chili powder...

[jennyema]

No BASIL in chili powder!

It's generally ground ancho chiles, cumin, mexican oregano (it's different than Mediterranean) and garlic. Some add salt. Hot chile powder usually adds some dry chile flakes.

I add some unsweetened chocolate to my chili to deepen the flavor -- like a mole.

[Otter]

I know basil isn't in chili powder proper, but I usually add a small pinch as a background taste when making chili since I like the flavor. It's in the BH&G New Cookbook - I tried it and I liked it.

[kitchenelf]

Yikes Otter - that's chili/chilly weather

You could have put the baby's talcom powder outside - that would be chilly powder :roll:

I'll give you the bit of advice that I learned from a little girl I used to keep - NEVER, and I mean NEVER leave the baby wipes on the back porch when the temperature dips down into the low 50's.

Went to get them - changed her - she SHREAKED!!!!! "Bicky, dat's berry told"

Trust me - that's good advice! LOL

[Otter]

We had a day last year when the wind chill was -63 - hope we don't get one of those again! The snow actually made an intense crackling sound when you walked on it - sort of like walking on Rice Krispies. Chili has been postponed until Thursday - a friend dropped a pheasant by this afternoon and we're going to have that instead. I must be psychic because I picked up a bottle of Madeira this morning, so will have Pheasant with Madeira Pan Gravy. Yum!

[Goodweed of the North]

Originally Posted by Otter

Thanks k-elf, that is identical to the one I found, so it must be a winner. I certainly wasn't going to go to the store for a jar of chili powder what with the wind chill being 35 below zero!

Wind-chill of -35! That's just windchill. Once you get into your car, and close the doors, the windchill goes away. You must be looking at an absolute temp of around -15 or so, still cold. And that crackling snow, isn't that normal in Minnesota? It is here in U.P. MI.

It warmed a little today, up to around 10 degrees. It was about 2 when I went to work this morning. Last weekend, we had two days of -17. I know what you're talking about. Oh, and if you're a true Northerner, then You have to have at least one sub-zero camp-out under your belt, complete with a pot of chili made in a dutch oven, over a proper campfire built in the snow.

But I gotta say, don't go through the ice. I've done it and am here to tell ya, that water at 32 degrees is colder than any experience I've ever had, including sledding in gravel pits when I was a kid until my clothes were literally frozen solid (happened every weekend unti I was old enough to get my own snowmobile.:D )

Oh, and have you ever raced almost naked (only briefs were allowed to be worn) between ice shacks when it was too cold for other ice-fishermen to be out fishing? When you're 16, and with a best friend, and the fish aren't biting, it can get pretty boring. And you know how competitive teenage boys can get. Besides, at the time, I needed the ten bucks I won from the bet, you know, for gas, for the snowmobile, so I could half freeze myself yet again.

My poor Californian wife jsut doesn't understand these things.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

[Otter]

It's going to start warming up this weekend and finally get above zero with less wind. I know we'll have more nasty stuff, but at least we will get a break from it. Bridget usually wants to drag me half way to Canada on her "walkie" but she has been going out, doing her business and immediately running back to the house.

[Otter]

The chili came out awesome. I used the "recipe" for the chili powder and it came out right on the button. A couple other things, however, are what made it really special. Instead of hamburger, I browned cubes of mock tender steak in the LeCreuset. Then I removed the steak and carmelelized the onion in the juices. Recipe then called for adding a half cup of water and adding back the meat and the other ingredients. Instead of water, I used half a cup of Madira. After simmering for 40 minutes, the steak was tender and the flavor was just fantastic. I made a double batch and can't wait to see what the leftovers taste like.