Is Chili A Soup?

[Daphne duLibre]

I'm just here because there are no posts in "soup" and I figured why not start something?

Alton Brown on "Good Eats" did two programs: one on chilis the pods, and a second on chili the soup/stew dish -- without beans.

So, I made some chili, without beans. I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

Brown insists that "chili powder" you buy in the grocery is worthless stuff, but my local Fred Meyer (Kroger) has packages of chilis in the Mexican food area. There are fresh peppers in the produce section, but I'm not going to the bother of roasting a Jalpeno to get a Chipotle.

Elsewhere Brown uses prepared ingredients -- salsa, canned tomato, ale (cheap ale), tortilla chips. My chili powder comes in an envelope off the rack.

Moving on --

Chili is about "cheap cuts." I did pork and beef. Brown uses lamb too, but lamb is not cheap, and I've never had lamb in my life. I left it out.

Basically I headed to the butcher and bought the cheapest cuts of pork and beef in the shop. Stew beef, and bonless pork ribs. I cubed these and seared/browned them in a large stainless pot. Small batches for searing/browning, don't crowd the meat. About 3 lbs total. Set aside.

Then de-glaze the pot. Add ale, about a 12 oz can, and work the glaze from the meat browning off the surface of the pan with a wooden spoon (so as not to scratch the stainless steel). Since all these ingredients end up in the same pot and "stew" for hours and hours -- you can add tomato paste, and salsa to the pot to de-glaze. Acid is the key to deglazing here.

I used Pace Picante, about a pint -- because I like it and because CostCo sells it in huge bottles. It's a "picante" -- vinegar and acid. I also tossed in an 8 oz bottle of Chipotle sauce that I found in the 99 cent store. A can of tomato paste -- more acid.

Then I toss in chili powder. The stuff I use is the Mexican style with the seeds. It's the same chili you find in the shaker at the pizza palor I believe. Cumin, I tossed in a jalpeno "escabeche" (pickled) -- which I get canned.

I added green pepper -- which is technically a chli, and a yellow onion -- or three. I like onions, your taste may vary.

Go easy on the chili peppers! You can add more later, but you can't remove them if you get too much heat!

Interesting here -- traditional chili uses masa harina. In espanol "masa" is "dough" and masa harina is corn flour dough, used to make corn tortillas. Brown uses corn tortilla chips, about three handfuls. This is ample salt for the whole pot of chili. I suppose you could use corn tortillas and salt to taste. Or search the shelves for masa harina.

Cover and bring the whole mix to a low simmer for somewhere between a couple hours and a full day. I like to cook this chili until the meat breaks down and no longer consists of cubes. I stir about every half hour. Stirring lets me check the progress, adjust the burner if needed, check seasonings.

Alton Brown notes that chili should be served in a bowl three times the width as deep. I think any soup bowl will do.

Condiments include but are not limited to: tomatoes. oinions, cheese, peppers, salsa, sour creme . . .

Personally, I view chili as an ingredient for tortillas. Corn, rolled and baked w/ salas, cheese, etc. This is an enchilada. With corn chips -- instead of a spoon. Flour tortilla, wrapped w/ veggies, condiments -- a burrito (literally "little burro" a pack animal).

Chili is a nice compliment to a BBQ. And it freezes well.

My chili probably won't win the Great Texas Chili Cookoff, but it works for me, and I enjoy the process.

So, is it a "soup" ???

 

[kitchenelf]

I consider chili a one-pot-meal. I wouldn't call it a soup nor a stew - it's just, well, chili!

I personally wouldn't consider a chili without beans being a soup anymore than I would consider chili with beans being a soup - it's again, to me anyway - a one-pot-meal.

Lamb is wonderful - make a rosemary/Dijon sort of pesto and put over lamb (I've posted a recipe somewhere here - I think in an Easter thread a loooong time ago). VERY nice stuff.

Or...buy a small amount of chops (places like Sam's Club or Cotsco are good sources) - make a sort of gremolata - fresh garlic, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, (dried rosemary and thyme are pretty good so those will do fine too) kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper - finely mince everything together and add a bit of olive oil for spreadability. Spread on each side and set aside for about 15 or so minutes and grill for just a few minutes on each. Medium rare is best. I like mine leaning towards the rare side.

Now that was waaay off topic but I just wanted to give you a simple recipe for the lamb - simple or not - it's wonderful!

 

[ironchef]

FYI, "picante" means spicy or peppery. It does not refer to the amount of acidity in a dish.

 

[Bangbang]

Its just Chili. Trust me.

 

[kitchenelf]

Moved to the Soup sub forum under Soups, Stews, and Casseroles versus the Soup sub forum in the Canning forum.

 

[BlueCat]

I consider chili to be more of a stew. My dad liked it with more liquid though, and his was more like a soup. The chili cookoffs I've cooked in have always been a contest of cubed meat and sauce. The judges are very biased against chunks of any kind (other than the meat), and there are no beans in cookoff chili. I always use chuck, or stew meat, because it's tender after long cooking times. A lot of chili cooks were using round and London broil, which makes for a very tough bowl of red after a couple hours on the stove. I love making chili - have done it for years and have gotten pretty good at it after all this time if I do say so myself. It's fun to try different combinations of ingredients to see what you come up with.

BC

 

[kitchenelf]

Now in proper Chili sub forum

Does anyone else see an "aurora" around this subject?

 

[Bangbang]

I consider chili to be more of a stew. My dad liked it with more liquid though, and his was more like a soup. The chili cookoffs I've cooked in have always been a contest of cubed meat and sauce. The judges are very biased against chunks of any kind (other than the meat), and there are no beans in cookoff chili. I always use chuck, or stew meat, because it's tender after long cooking times. A lot of chili cooks were using round and London broil, which makes for a very tough bowl of red after a couple hours on the stove. I love making chili - have done it for years and have gotten pretty good at it after all this time if I do say so myself. It's fun to try different combinations of ingredients to see what you come up with.

BC

My family other than me just has to have beans. Ughhhhh!

 

[jpmcgrew]

Dont forget to make a good side of cornbread or flour tortillas for southwest style.YUMMY

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Dont forget to make a good side of cornbread or flour tortillas for southwest style.YUMMY

I like my chili with gresh corn tortillas, thank you very much. But then again, a flour tortilla filled with some refried beans, shredded sharp=cheddar cheese, and some good chilli, well that's almost as good as a carne asada burrito.

And you need only look at the picture in one of my chili threads to know how I like my chili.

But as was also said in one of those threads, and I can't remember by whom, chili is a very personal thing. And everyone has their own favorit way of making it. Chili made the way you like it is the best chili, no matter what the judges, or your Aunt Bertha say or think.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Michael in FtW]

So, is it a "soup" ???

Well - chili is generally thought of as a sort of stew where I live - it's rich and thick. There is also chili sauce, which is a little thinner and usually served over something like hot dogs, and there is chili soup which is even thinner and watery like a soup. So I guess the answer to your question would have to be it depends on the consistency of what you concoct.

 

[BlueCat]

I agree that chili is a personal thing. One of our friendly chili contests was a once-a-year party where generally the same dozen or so cooks would make their best pot of red (or green) and we'd compete between ourselves. After many years of this, I came to know who's chili was who's even if we changed pots to try to trick each other, and they probably knew mine too. One fellow always made a chili that I loved even more than my own - I always looked forward to tasting his chili to see if I liked it as much this year, and I always did. It's a lot of fun. And, as I said before, all of our chilis became more mild as the years went on, just because everyone (but me of course!) was getting older, and their tolerances changed. It was kind of funny, since we all started out all those years ago with fiery hot pots of chili.

BC

 

[Andy M.]

In considering "technical" categories, one could put chili in the stew category. Some make it with more liquid, putting it into the soup category.

However, If feel no compulsion to assign chili into a category. It's OK that it's chili.

I also don't get hung up on the beans/no beans issue. I added kidney beans to my chili when I started making it as a way to stretch the meal. I still do. If you don't, OK, but don't tell me I'm wrong.

As Goodweed said, it's a personal thing.

 

[kitchenelf]

I've known several people who have won chili contents with beans in their chili.

One thing that I have done that is surprisingly wonderful is add diced zucchini. I was dead set against it until I tasted it!!! Also, I love whole black olives in mine sometimes, it just depends on what recipe I am doing. The Pumpkin and Black Bean chili NO black olives but other recipes I use yes. I would pull some out for someone who didn't like beans but they are going in mine! lol I would love to taste your chili BlueCat - I probably wouldn't like it so it might take several bowls to convince me

It's funny how what you say is true about "heat". The older we get the more flavor we want versus heat - it's not that we don't like it it's just that we can't afford that much Prilosec!!!!!!

Can't wait for cooler weather to make chili!!!!!

 

[Andy M.]

...Can't wait for cooler weather to make chili!!!!!

I don't wait. I had a bowl of chili last week. It may be hot outside, but the A/C makes it "chili" inside.

 

[Daphne duLibre]

FYI, "picante" means spicy or peppery. It does not refer to the amount of acidity in a dish.

Actually, "picante" from Bantam Spanish/English Dictionary means "pricking, biting, piquant, stinging, racey."

"Piquant" -- the cognate -- is French. My Larousse lists "piquant" as "qui pique" -- something that pricks/piques.

"Mordant" comes up in both definitions. From the Webster's Unabridged . . . "mordant" -- acidic.

Picante is a salsa with a vinegar or acid base.

Acid is basic to deglazing a pot -- in ale, picante, tomatoes, etc. Acid breaks down protein molecules -- i.e. meat. It's basic to brining, stews. tough cuts of meat, braising, tenderizing.

Please understand that I'm not flaming you here. It's just that picante sauce is a salsa with a high acid content, and it's acid in the sauce that makes it do what needs to be done in stewing chili meats. It's fundamental to the chemistry involved preparing the dish.

 

[GB]

Acid is basic to deglazing a pot -- in ale, picante, tomatoes, etc. Acid breaks down protein molecules -- i.e. meat. It's basic to brining

Acid is not needed for deglazing a pan. Deglazing can be done with plain water. Acid is also not basic to brining. For a basic brine all you need is water and salt.

 

[Andy M.]

...
Acid is basic to deglazing a pot -- in ale, picante, tomatoes, etc. Acid breaks down protein molecules -- i.e. meat. It's basic to brining, stews. tough cuts of meat, braising, tenderizing...

Acids also don't do much for tough meats. For example, an acidic marinade will not act to tenderize a tough cut.

Somewhere else on this site there is a link to an article by Shirley Corriher discusing this fact. She does say that, while acidic ingredients don't act as a tenderizer in marinades, dairy products do.

 

[Daphne duLibre]

Ahhhhhhhhhh, "traction" . . . *G*

"Traction" is the term I use when a thread takes off.

OK, on the "soup" question. When I log on now I see all sorts of sub-categories in this forum. When I logged on before it was just "soup" -- which for me is anything in a pot that gets heated on a burner and contains any amount of water.

Ahhhhhhh, but the "beans/no beans" question. From a culinary anthropological view -- broadly historical . . . Chili was first developed, evidently, on chuck wagons where it was readily heated, re-heated, "amended" (In gardening, "amending" means adding different kinds of dirt to pre-existing dirt. The analogy seems to work here.). Also, chili was pragmatic, a food made from what was at hand and "cheap cuts" -- because it gets "stewed" which tenderizes all but soup bones.

So, yes -- chili with beans is authentic. But the "elite" dish is meat and chilis. I've never had the "elite" chili despite two years in the Army in Texas. So, I made some recently. I like it. Beats "beans & rice" to death.

But after Texas and the Army, it was college -- a rather extended period of college, about 12 yrs all tolled. In college we did "red beans and rice." But the "beans" got "tweaked" according to what was available --

(Maybe we should collaborate here, "An American Natural History of Chili")

I think, "chili" is a potage that is spiced with chilis. Cheap meat and beans work well with chilis in a pot, cooked long and slow.

Usually it was pinto beans, but also red beans, kidney beans . . . limas, garbonzos. When you're a starving college student, beans are beans.

Then some sort of meat. We'd actually do "pet food" -- This was the ground beef at the grocery that was out-dated. It'd be frozen and re-labeled as pet food. One of my colleagues was doing her Ph.D. in microbiology. She assured me that once the ground beef is frozen, the bacteria count freezes too. Also, cooking kills all the bacteria -- so long as you really, really cook it. None of this "rare patty" or "beef tartar" stuff.

Beans in a pot, water, tomatoes, meat, peppers -- I like the jalpeno escabeche -- pickled, with onion and carrot. Cheap in a large can. We used to pocket the Tabasco sauce off the tables at restaurants when it was set out as a condiment. (Hey! It's in support of "education" ! ! ! )

So, a pot of beans, with some meat. We'd add black olives -- zucchini would work, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic for sure. It was a "Tex-Mex" potage.

With rice -- beans and rice form a complete protein. When you're a starving college student, complete protein at bargin prices is important chemistry to understand.

On the chili -- I forgot to add: Garlic. Nothing I cook lacks garlic. Seems the "staff of life" somehow. Also, cayenne, Tabaso sauce. Tabasco is a chili from what I understand.

I have a cupboard full of "heat" -- A pinch of this, a bit of that. Seems intuitive.

Chili in hot weather. Actually, I have a couple MD friends/colleagues who note that all the chilis in this south of the border cuisine literally cause a physical reaction that assists the body in tolerating hot weather. The chilis cause you to prespire, but it aids in heat tolerance.

Finally -- Columbus was looking for India and trade in pepper. He found chilis and called them peppers. Calling them chili peppers just confuses the issue. Green pepper, red pepper are actually chilis.

It's not a soup. But this is the right forum category.

 

[SierraCook]

Chili in hot weather. Actually, I have a couple MD friends/colleagues who note that all the chilis in this south of the border cuisine literally cause a physical reaction that assists the body in tolerating hot weather. The chilis cause you to prespire, but it aids in heat tolerance.

I like to eat and make chili no matter what the weather is outside or inside. To me chili does not fit into any category, but chili. I prefer my chili on the thick side, no veggies, lots meat and beans, and spicy, but not too hot.

This is a wonderful thread, DL. Thanks for making us think a little.