Chili Beans

[txanne]

I just remembered that a lot of people put chopped onions on the top. (Also grated cheddar, which I mention for the sake of anthropological completeness and the sake of people who are not observant Jews.)

Also, if you can't find saltines, lots of people crumble yesterday's cornbread in the bottom of the bowl. (DO NOT EVER use sweet, sugary, dessertlike cornbread for this. Cornbread IS NOT SWEET. Speaking of foodly heresies. You can add jalapeños to the cornbread, if you want, and leave them out of the chili completely. I can't believe I forgot about that until now--it's probably my favorite way to eat chili. It's very filling and warming!)

Chili is the kind of meal that people serve themselves, from the pot on the stove; it's not something you'd have at a formal dinner. It's basically stew, after all; it's something you cook on a cold day, when you've got nowhere particular to be, and you end up with a giant huge pot of it, so you invite all your friends over.

[antongarou]

unfortunately Scripps apparently doesn't like Israel, so no first part for me.*goes looking on the net for replacement*

ETA:Wasn't planning on jalapenos for this specific use anyway.And we have no cornbread. As to cheddar: Sounds tasty!(I'm a Jewish atheist).

[Emma Bull]

The cornbread is a delicacy you can make yourself! If you can get cornmeal--coarse-ground yellow or white North American corn, which in England is called maize. (A friend who lives in England laments that the only thing they do with cornmeal over there is sprinkle it on the bread pans before they lay bread dough on them for baking. /digression)

Chaz's cornmeal biscuit recipe would work very well for the application Txanne is suggesting (and thank you, Txanne, because now I have to try that. Mmmmmmm.) Gang, anybody have a link for the entry in his journal where he offered up that recipe?

[Elizabeth Bear]

I make a New England style chili (kidney beans, maple syrup, beer, a little chocolate and peanut butter--plus the usual chili seasonings) that I've served with rice, with cornbread, and with tortillas. It's very good any way at all.

In Cincinnati, they serve their chili over spaghetti--that is a very sweet (to my taste) cinnamon-laced chili.

I believe in cheese over chili--the sharper, the better.

Basically, chili is like barbecue. There are a thousand ways to do it right.

I wish the late, great James Barber's recipe database were online. I learned to make chili from his TV show, THE URBAN PEASANT. There's an episode where he makes two pots of chili side by side ("Black Hat" and "White Hat", where the latter is sort of yuppie chili and the former is chunks of meat in chili sauce, by god) to demonstrate variations.

And yes, they did come with representative Stetsons.

Basically, Anton, the takeway is that in America, any thick, stewed dish with a base of chile peppers and cumin may be called chili. Sometimes it doesn't even have meat in it (beans!). Chili verde, as Chaz makes it, doesn't even have red chilis in it.

[txanne]

Oh wait. I have at least two of Barber's cookbooks, if I didn't lose them in my most recent move. BRB!

***

ha-HA! I have THREE!

The chili recipes are in The Urban Peasant: Quick & Simple, pp. 76 and 84. What are the legalities of posting copyrighted recipes? (Not the ethics; I'm quite certain that Mr. Barber wouldn't have minded at all. You use what you got, that's the Urban Peasant Way. God, I miss that show.)

[Elizabeth Bear]

The legality of posting copyrighted recipes is that it's illegal.

Which is why I didn't just take photos of the cookbook. *g*

[txanne]

I had the impression that recipes were a special case--ingredients? methods? Something makes them different.

[Elizabeth Bear]

Ingredients lists are not protected, but the actual text of the recipes (instructions, etc) is.

[eschatonic]

I make a New England style chili (kidney beans, maple syrup, beer, a little chocolate and peanut butter--plus the usual chili seasonings) that I've served with rice, with cornbread, and with tortillas. It's very good any way at all.

In Cincinnati, they serve their chili over spaghetti--that is a very sweet (to my taste) cinnamon-laced chili.

I believe in cheese over chili--the sharper, the better.

Basically, chili is like barbecue. There are a thousand ways to do it right.

I wish the late, great James Barber's recipe database were online. I learned to make chili from his TV show, THE URBAN PEASANT. There's an episode where he makes two pots of chili side by side ("Black Hat" and "White Hat", where the latter is sort of yuppie chili and the former is chunks of meat in chili sauce, by god) to demonstrate variations.

And yes, they did come with representative Stetsons.

Basically, Anton, the takeway is that in America, any thick, stewed dish with a base of chile peppers and cumin may be called chili. Sometimes it doesn't even have meat in it (beans!). Chili verde, as Chaz makes it, doesn't even have red chilis in it.

Totally, although the Cincinnati thing sounds gross.

In California where we don't have to worry about regional cuisine because everyone's from somewhere else, chili is what you make when you've got a bunch of tomatoes and you find a pound of meat in the fridge that you forgot about and now you have to use it today or throw it away. With whatever peppers you happen to have on hand, and cornbread if you've got it or rice if you don't. And you could put some carrots or other sweet root vegetable in too if you're feeling virtuous.

Anton, if you can't find cornmeal, you could also serve it over couscous. Cheezy couscous would be best, but plain would be ok too. And if I were you I'd use the date syrup as the sweetener. I bet it would go pretty well with the cinnamon.

[antongarou]

Thank you all for the enlightening lessons, and to MadGastronomer for introducing me to Good Eats. One question still remains: when should I add the dry and soaked kidney beans to the pot?

[txanne]

Cook the beans separately. Let your guests combine the two.

[antongarou]

I would really rather not have another container on/in an already crowded surface/volume.

[MadGastronomer]

About 30 or 45 minutes before you want to serve.

[txanne]

I just realized why I'm so adamant about not cooking the beans in the chili--it's because chili is supposed to be a very, very thick stew. Like, you can almost eat it with a fork. If you added dry beans to my chili, there wouldn't be enough liquid to cook them properly. Can you cook the beans ahead of time, and add them on the day?

[kayjayoh]

The chili I grew up with (in Wisconsin) is ground beef, tomatoes, onions, canned chili (or kidney, but I prefer chili) beans, and the spices. Served over elbow macaroni with shredded sharp cheddar and a dollop of sour cream on top. I know it isn't authentic chili, but I love it so.