Novice chili recipe please critique?

[nicklord1]

Ingredients

400 g of tomatoes
1 lb of braising steak
one onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp of paprika
1 tbsp of cumin seeds
1/2 pint of beef stock

sour cream and corriander to garnish

Do you think it needs some fresh chillis if so what sort , i like my chili to have a kick but not to be so hot you cant get near it.

Thank you

 

[Alix]

Its not chili without chiles. Um...what kind can you get? Anchos are nice. You can get some smoked ones that will add some lovely flavour to your chili. Can you start with some chili powder and then find your chiles to add the flavour and heat you want?

 

[jennyema]

Personally, I don't think it has nearly enough spice. Ground cumin, chile pepper, and mexican oregano. In greater quantities.

A dry, rehydrated and pureed ancho chili would give it depth of flavor without making it too hot.

Why the sugar? I have never put it in chili. Sometimes unsweetened chocolate but never sugar.

Paprika? Again, I am wondering why.

Also, personally I think that is way too much tomato. Plenty of chili aficionados use very little or no tomato in chili.

Beef stock works but I generally use beer.

I think you have a good base that needs to be kicked up

 

[nicklord1]

here is a list of chillis i can get

Big sun haberno
Ring of fire
Scotch bonnet
Aji pepper
Devils tongue
New mexican big jim

 

[nicklord1]

i will rewrite this recipe over the enxt few days with your help.

But may i ask which beer , SOL and would a bottle do , also why beer

I am adding tomatoes purely because i know the people i am making it for prefer a liquidy tomatoey based foods.

 

[nicklord1]

alos i can get ancho , cascabel , pasilla , de arbol , serrano , jalapeno , Guajillo , chiplote

 

[nicklord1]

i can get dried oregano or ground oregano of the mexcian variety

 

[jennyema]

I'd stay away from fruity peppers like habs and scotch bonnets.

Ancho is a dried pepper that is very common in chili. I'd use that. If you want to kick up the heat, jalapenos are good. Chipotles are dried, smoked jalapenos. IMO sometimes they can be too smokey in chili, but other people love them.

Beer gives a bit of bitter edge and depth of flavor and the alcohol helps release flavor components.

 

[nicklord1]

how many anchos do you think i need to use for a chilli serving 3-4.

ALso which beer should i get

And the choclate intiques me how much and would it be the 70 percent cocoa choc .

Thanks

 

[nicklord1]

mulato chilli ?

 

[jennyema]

I generally make chili in larger quantities (it freezes well and leftovers taste a lot better the next day and the day after that).

For 4 people 1 or 2 anchos would do. I rehydrate and puree them.

For beer I usually use something amber but have also used Bud Light. GO figure. I'd not use anything really bitter.

I toss in a scant T or so of unsweetened cocoa powder or a square of unsweetened chocolate. I'd not waste particularly good chocolate on chili.

400 grams of tomatoes is nearly a pound -- for 3 to 4 people that still seems like a lot. But if they want something that's more like a chili-flavored sloppy joe than that's fine.

 

[nicklord1]

how about a mulato chilli .

Also i have never worked with dry chillis so how does one puree them.

I will work on my recipe for your approval later today

How much beer should i add.

 

[jennyema]

how about a mulato chilli .

Also i have never worked with dry chillis so how does one puree them.

I will work on my recipe for your approval later today

How much beer should i add.

A mulato is a dried poblano, so that would work fine.

People have diffferent ways of using dry chiles, but I wash mine, then rehydrate in very hot (boiling) water for 15 min or so. I remove the stem and the seeds and puree in a food processor with some of the soaking water. SOme people scrape off the "meat" and don't use the skins. Some people lightly toast them in a skillet before rehydrating.

Use the same amount of beer as you would have used stock or use 1/2 and 1/2, but same overall liquid called for in original recipe. You can always add more, so you might want to add just a tad bit less rather than have watery chili.

 

[nicklord1]

cool i will post my new and approved chilli recipe on another thread so it is different . PRob post it in a couple of hours .

Thanks for your help