Quote (SymphonicX @ Dec 7 2015 03:27am)
Honestly, and I'm sure I'll receive (and maybe deserve) some hate on this but I like to keep my chili very simple.
Maybe its because I'm more blue collar and I like it easy to make and easy to eat but simple ingredients are easy for me and work out well to my tastes.
My typical batch yields 1 big meal and two work lunches or two big meals if I share the other half with my roommate.
Simmer 1 can of tomato sauce, 1 can of kidney beans, and 1 small can of diced tomatoes+peppers (I think rotel makes a good one, or your grocery brand probably has some generic choices)
Brown 1lb of ground beef in a large skillet. My roommate swears by low fat ground beef but he's also the idiot who thinks that cheap, meatier steaks are better than expensie, well-marbled steaks.
I go with the cheap ground beef here because the little bit of fat that doesn't get drained away adds flavor.
Add the browned ground beef to the pot that you're simmering the other ingredients in.
Add a little bit of salt, a generous amount of freshly ground pepper and hot sauce to taste.
You can do whatever hot sauce you like here, I have found that for a good consistency that a generous amount of frank's red sauce tastes best.
My roommate likes to dice up a couple habanero peppers and add a few dash's of tabasco sauce. Like I said though, my way leads to a more consistent taste.
After this is done (depending on how tender you like your beans and how much time you have) I like to add a generous amount of shredded cheese and some crushed saltine crackers to balance out the spicy taste and add a nicer texture to the chili.
If anyone wants to hate, fuck off this shit is so simple and tasty, who cares if a 5 star restaurant chef wouldn't be caught dead serving it?
If you like it, that's all that matters. There's nothing wrong with a simple chili.
I have a recipe for competition chili, and have trophies for my efforts. Not posting my recipe, but one ProTip I would offer to anyone who like to make chili is this:
Roast all the veggies (fresh peppers, onion, garlic).