Chilli tips!

[Andrew_Culture]

Seeing as this is the 'cafe' part of the forum I thought I'd talk about food for a moment.

I'm knocking up a chilli for tonight's supper and it's a fairly standard beef mince, chopped toms, tom puree, onions and red peppers affair but I'm looking for more interesting slants on this recipe.

I've recently started chucking in a big knob of butter and plenty of cumin when frying off the meat but wondered what other tips my fellow forum users may have to liven up a chilli. I should point out that this needs to be eaten by a toddler and a wife who isn't keen on having the backs of her eyeballs melted by hot food. I'll put in plenty of Samble Olek and jalapenos to my own portion to give it life.

 

[JoeyB]

I love these threads. I get lots of ideas from them!

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I forgot to add that I now also sling in a desert spoon of dark sugar.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I always put in some cocoa powder just near the end before serving - might be an option rather than sugar?

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I always put in some cocoa powder just near the end before serving - might be an option rather than sugar?

We have some Green and Blacks hot chocolate power, I'll give that a crack.

 

[midliferider]

Assuming you have told us all the ingredients you intend to use, you can spice it up a bit by using onions and garlic.
Other important question is what are you going to eat it with? Rice?

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

We have some Green and Blacks hot chocolate power, I'll give that a crack.

I've never used hot chocolate powder, it will likely be sweeter than cocoa I suppose as I think it has sugar added - but it should work. I find that you can put in more heat to the chilli during the cooking phase if you use cocoa as it tempers the heat a bit - my younger daughter is not a huge fan of hot food but I can always get her to eat my chilli even if it has loads of "heat"

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Assuming you have told us all the ingredients you intend to use, you can spice it up a bit by using onions and garlic.
Other important question is what are you going to eat it with? Rice?

Did I not mention onions? Ooops!

We normally have it with rice, but tonight we're having some curly fries that I bought on a whim then forgot about.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Oh, and you don't need a lot - teaspoon or thereabouts

 

[Goonerobes]

My recipe changes every time I do it but often I add cinnamon, tabasco & grated dark chocolate.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

[QUOTE 2891036, member: 45"]Parboiled sweet potato cubes. Adds a bit of sweetness and a slightly grander consistency.[/quote]

Coo-eee, that's a nice idea.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

My recipe changes every time I do it but often I add cinnamon, tabasco & grated dark chocolate.

I'm kinda scared of adding Cinnamon, it seems risky for some reason.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I add Chorizo if we have it (which we usually do). I also add liquid smoke when I can, but we're currently out of stock.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I prefer beans rather than mince, you can't have too much cumin either. I'd make it 'lite' and then when you've served the wimps you can add a spoonful of Gran Luchito or similar to give it a boost, as a bonus it stops them having seconds too, oink.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

[QUOTE 2891052, member: 259"]If you can get some dried Mexican oregano it makes a big difference.

I usually use a mixture of ancho, pasilla and chipotle chili powders and I toast some whole cumin and grind it up - much better.

I have a Texan mate who puts a piece of orange peel in his, and it works well. But he nevers used mince, tomatoes or beans in his.[/quote]

Anchovies?