I don’t know about you, but I just love a good bowl of chili, especially when it’s a little cold outside. When I was quite young, I would eat it as plain as possible, but as I got older it became a vehicle for toppings. I know when we make it at home, we have a buffet of assorted toppings. We serve a parlor style chili at Bistro Verde during the fast-casual, to-go version of the restaurant that my students and I run. We will be open again to the public Jan. 30, 2024, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesdays to Thursdays. With that chili, we serve shredded cheddar, sliced scallions, sour cream and crackers. 

In Cincinnati, Ohio, they add cinnamon to their chili and serve it over spaghetti. They top their chili with cheese, beans, onions and oyster crackers. In Indiana they serve their chili with the beans mixed in and tossed with macaroni, and then topped with shredded cheese and Frito chips. Kansas City chili often includes smoked brisket of pork shoulder, inspired by its love of BBQ. New Mexico has a green chili, or chili Verde, which uses pork shoulder and Hatch green chilis. It is served with fresh tortillas. 

In Texas they make chili con carne, which is considered the original bowl of chili. It is seasoned beef with red chilis and seasoning — no beans. It is speculated that this method for making chili comes from Mexico where chilis have been used for thousands of years. Taking dried and fresh chilis and cooking them with meat until everything is tender and delicious isn’t difficult to imagine happening hundreds of years ago. There is a journal entry form a forty-niner, in 1849, that references making a simple chili during long travels, often getting the assistance of people travelling from Mexico to process the chilis correctly. 

The first chili cookoff was in 1952 at the Texas State Fair in Dallas, to advertise the book “With or Without Beans,” written by Joe E. Cooper. Then in 1967, in Terlingua, Texas, another chili cookoff took place, and the concept quickly spread throughout Texas and the rest of the country. For the most part, the rules of a traditional chili cookoff are everything is cooked on site, it should taste good, it should have a good consistency (not too much gravy or too thick, not too greasy) and there should not be any beans, pasta, rice, hominy or similar items in the chili. 

I have made and eaten every type of chili, and they are all fantastic. Often, we just throw together a quick ground beef and bean chili. In our house, there is a bit of debate which beans belong in chili and those that do not. The potentially traditional answer to this question is — beans don’t belong in chili. 

The recipe below is a version of a work in progress for what I would call a competition chili.

Competition Chili

Ingredients:

*3 pounds beef chuck, medium diced
*1/4 cup bacon grease
*1 pound 93/7 ground beef
*1 yellow pepper, crushed
*2 medium Vidalia, crushed
*15 fluid ounce roasted tomatoes, crushed
*3 tablespoon crushed garlic
*3 tablespoon Mexene chili powder
*3 tablespoon Gebhart chili powder
*1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder
*1 tablespoon New Mexico chili powder
*1 tablespoon Kashmiri chili powder
*1 tablespoon paprika
*1 teaspoon smoked paprika
*1 tablespoon onion powder
*1 tablespoon garlic powder
*1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
*1 tablespoon beef powder
*1 tablespoon chicken powder
*2 tablespoon ground cumin
*1 tablespoon cocoa powder 
*1 tablespoon salt
*1 tablespoon ground black pepper
*1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
*½ pound beef suet

Directions:

1. Brown the beef chuck in bacon grease until golden brown. Remove, and set aside. Do not discard fats.
2. Add ground beef to pan, and brown. Do not over crumble. Remove, and set aside. Do not discard fats.
3. In a blender, combine pepper, onion and tomato. Blend until smooth.
4. Add blended mixture to the pan, and cook until dry but no color.
5. Add the garlic, and cook for one minute.
6. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, and stir together.
7. Add half of the mixture, the suet and the meats to the pot.
8. Add enough water to almost cover.
9. Place in the oven, or smoker, at 350 degrees for 60 minutes, or simmer on the stove.
10. Add half of the remaining spice mixture, and stir well, breaking up any large pieces of ground beef. 
11. Place in the oven, or smoker, at 350 degrees for 60 minutes, or simmer on the stove.
12. Add the last bit of spice mix and correct seasoning if necessary. 
13. Let stand until ready to serve, and enjoy.
14.  If you really need beans, add them at this point. 

About

Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management, Baking/Pastry, and Value-Added Local Food, and non-credit cooking and food classes through LLCC Community Education.

Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.