Best Bowl/Cup of Chili In State of CT?

[Drew]

Where do you guys go for a good bowl or cup of chili? Anyone have good recipes?

Side note- acceptable chili toppings (not necessarily all at the same time):

White onion
Green Onion
Jalapeno
Sour Cream (not a fan personally- but acceptable)
Cheddar/Monterrey/Mexican Blend cheese

anything else on top (avocado.. just no) is ridiculous IMO

 

[Chin Diesel]

First in to kill off anyone using Cincinatti and chili in same breath.

Personally I don't like the fresh chopped veggies thrown on the top at the end.

I have become a fan of throwing in corn in the last 30 minutes. Yellow or yellow white color gives a different look on the eyes and the sweet taste can take some of the sting off the heat from peppers. More of a Sante Fe or Tex Mex style.

While I like to mess around and experiment I always load mine up with dark and light kidney beans, black beans, and some sort of white bean. I'll mess around with different meat cuts too and will use anything from beef, poulty, deer meat, etc.

usually get a bag of the red/yellow/orange sweet peppers, jalepenos, red pepper, chili peppers, poblanos and maybe fresno and aneheim. More a process of what looks good at the grocer than an exact recipe. I don't need to blow the roof off, you just want some warm heat that hangs on after each bite and for a good 20-30 minutes after you finish a bowl.

Fritos scoops or tostitos scoops, mexican crema (or sour cream) and any mild cheese shredded on top.

If you do it with plenty of beans and lean meats and avoid loading it with dairy products at the end you actually get a very healthy meal low in fat and with plenty of protein. Get low sodium canned veggies or get them fresh to control the sodium.

 

[August_West]

Side note 2 : unacceptable and disqualifying Chili ingredient : beans

Unless served on side .

 

[August_West]

@RichZ

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I make chili at home so often that I almost never order it out, but I have a soft spot for a big bowl of chili from the lodge at Mohawk Mountain after a few hours out on the slopes.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Side note 2 : unacceptable and disqualifying Chili ingredient : beans

Unless served on side .

Enjoy your sloppy joe.

 

[Drew]

Btw- don’t knock this until you’ve tried it. Absolutely delicious combo: Chili and cinnamon rolls

The Truth About Chili and Cinnamon Rolls

To several Midwest states, it is perfectly normal to enjoy a bowl of chili served with a cinnamon roll on the side.

whatscookingamerica.net

“While chili and cinnamon rolls may seem a strange paring to most of the nation, this food combo is Midwestern cold weather comfort food. For the past couple years, rumors have been floating around the internet on popular discussion strings, such as Reddit and social media site Twitter, about this mystery food combo. Inquiries keep popping up to find out if it is a crazy myth or true. Even the trendy news site Buzzfeed picked up on the question and introduced this concept to a global audience. According to a lengthy discussion string in a popular Instant Pot® Community Facebook group, a roll call of users hailing from the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, rural Washington, and Wyoming claim a bowl of chili served with a cinnamon roll on the side is indeed a favorite food pairing!”

 

[dvegas]

Kuhn's chili. You can buy it at the 5-0 food store on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield. Think they serve it on the dogs at Rawleys and The Cricket. All heat, no beans.

 

[karstenkibbe]

As I continue to find ways to cut down on beef consumption, I’ve been experimenting for a few years with a blend of dark and white ground turkey in my recipe. In the case of ground beef chili, I don’t miss it.

 

[Umami Zen]

My wife is the chef in the house-Prequalifying comment.. If you're into flavor vs heat in a chili..Realizing that most chilis have a degree of heat based on the chef's objective for taste. Try adding -for flavor- an East Indian spice called Garam Masala. It is a combination of multiple spices blended into this spice.

It has some heat-great smell/nose-and should be used in the last 5-10 of the chili simmering as a finishing spice. It also allows you to match chili with wine if you enjoy that combination. As @Drew suggests above--Cinnamon and chili is a great combo-- Cinnamon is part of the blend in Garam Masala and adds a really nice flavoring component to the chili.

Just had some chili the other night with a heavier Pinot Noir.. Off the charts.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Side note 2 : unacceptable and disqualifying Chili ingredient : beans

Unless served on side .

Live shot from the Hey Adrien! kitchen.

Started a chili base w mirepoix, garlic, turmeric, garam masala, cayenne, pumpkin purée, tomato sauce and, what’s that in the other pot? Beans. Black beans soaked overnight (I’m not a monster, would never make chili w canned beans). Chopped fresh spinach will go in it as a last step.

Caveat: this is not going to be an eat alone chili. Different lunches: over rice, atop a veggie burger, atop sweet potatoes, over injera, topped w runny soft boiled eggs…home for the week and didn’t want anything “christmasy” for lunch.

 

[CL82]

My wife is the chef in the house-Prequalifying comment.. If you're into flavor vs heat in a chili..Realizing that most chilis have a degree of heat based on the chef's objective for taste. Try adding -for flavor- an East Indian spice called Garam Masala. It is a combination of multiple spices blended into this spice.

It has some heat-great smell/nose-and should be used in the last 5-10 of the chili simmering as a finishing spice. It also allows you to match chili with wine if you enjoy that combination. As @Drew suggests above--Cinnamon and chili is a great combo-- Cinnamon is part of the blend in Garam Masala and adds a really nice flavoring component to the chili.

Just had some chili the other night with a heavier Pinot Noir.. Off the charts.

Cinnamon is a hot spice and is excellent in anything that you would use chili or cayenne.

 

[superjohn]

One thing I never get at a restaurant anymore because I make it better at home than any place I've ever gotten it from. I make chili and Chile Colorado often and always use a lot of different beans and a lot of different peppers. Jalapeños, poblanos, guajillos, pasillas, anchos, Chipotles in adobo. The key is to roast the jalapeños and poblanos and soak your dried peppers in warm water and food process them. I always add stout beer to the pot. As for beans even though chili wasn't created using beans they should always be in there because it makes chili better, it's like how anchovy should always be in your Caesar salad.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Corner pug in west Hartford was the best chili I’ve had out in the state.

As a rule, I think starting with a 50/50 of hot Italian sausage and ground beef took my chili’s to another level.

Other tips:
Brown your meat first. Then sauté your veggies in the same pan. I usually just stick to garlic onion jalapeño.

Dark light pink kidneys.

Rotel tomatoes in chili spice.

Deglaze your pan with about 4-6z of your morning pot of coffee for just a bit of smoky notes.

 

[MexicoHusky]

The key is to undercook the onions

 

[XLCenterFan]

My wife's

 

[Dove]

First in to kill off anyone using Cincinatti and chili in same breath.

Personally I don't like the fresh chopped veggies thrown on the top at the end.

I have become a fan of throwing in corn in the last 30 minutes. Yellow or yellow white color gives a different look on the eyes and the sweet taste can take some of the sting off the heat from peppers. More of a Sante Fe or Tex Mex style.

While I like to mess around and experiment I always load mine up with dark and light kidney beans, black beans, and some sort of white bean. I'll mess around with different meat cuts too and will use anything from beef, poulty, deer meat, etc.

usually get a bag of the red/yellow/orange sweet peppers, jalepenos, red pepper, chili peppers, poblanos and maybe fresno and aneheim. More a process of what looks good at the grocer than an exact recipe. I don't need to blow the roof off, you just want some warm heat that hangs on after each bite and for a good 20-30 minutes after you finish a bowl.

Fritos scoops or tostitos scoops, mexican crema (or sour cream) and any mild cheese shredded on top.

If you do it with plenty of beans and lean meats and avoid loading it with dairy products at the end you actually get a very healthy meal low in fat and with plenty of protein. Get low sodium canned veggies or get them fresh to control the sodium.

Did your neybahood do the Community Meat thing again?

I know you're in Florida and Covid ain't a thing.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

beef.
black beans.
onions.
garlic.
salt.
pepper(s).
cumin.
recently, while making the rounds, everrbody seemed to be giving me food that i didn't want, but i said nothing.
brother was making a humungous pot of the stuff, sans beans. says 'take sum!' now im stuck with a pail of the stuff.
later that day, friend says 'i made a pot of beans, take sum!' i shut my mouth, and walk out from her place with a mess o beans. uggh. and they were red beans, not my first choice for chili as they're mushy.
then, i pop in on moms, who says 'i made sum meatloaf (moar like ground beef, onions, mebbe sum salt and pepper, pre sauce.).
take sum!
individually, each was beyond boring. now im stuck with buckets of stuff that i did not want. back home, i see a fellow who is in school, and who we often share food with. aha! a sucker - 'hey dude! stop by later, we made a pantload of chili, get sum!' i hit the kitchen, toss all into a big pot, and mix up the mess. still sketchy, needs help. we do stuff to it, and it does a 180. tasty, really tasty. kick save, and a beauty!
guy stops by the next day, and i say "that was yesterday's offer. u didn't come by then, soooo, no soup for you!'
we stuck the stuff in the freezer. saving it for a rainy day, or right now.
charity begins at home.

 

[AreBee1969]

Cinnamon is a hot spice and is excellent in anything that you would use chili or cayenne.

Cinnamon is a staple ingredient in my chili recipe along with honey. I use them to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes and the honey will somewhat delay the presence of the heat. I recently found a habanero infused honey at a local farm stand which is dynamite!

I use a nice fatty ground beef (85%) and equal portion of steak tips chopped really small. I brown the meats in butter with a peaty Scotch, chili powder and Tabasco sauce. It flavors the meat nicely without imparting a big flavor on the whole pot.

I sauté the veggies in a separate pan at the same time as the meat. White onions, garlic, red or orange peppers (green are too bitter) and the hots. For hots, I try only to use habanero peppers, but will defer to jalapenos if the habs are not looking good.

Add tomatoes spices, and a 1/2 can of kidney beans to the veggies and meat and let the pot simmer for a couple hours.

 

[Waquoit]

Nothing stands out. I know I've had some decent cups in my day but they were pre-Covid. I have my best luck cooking chili in the Instantpot. It gets the flavor into the meat better for me as well as producing the best liquid part.

 

[storrsroars]

Side note 2 : unacceptable and disqualifying Chili ingredient : beans

Unless served on side .

fwiw, most of the earliest chilis in the mid-1800s were made with goat meat and often black-eyed peas in addition to chilies. No tomatoes.

The Texas Chiili Appreciation Society has about as much bearing on chili preparation outside Texas as does the Instituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano over espresso outside Italy.

 

[August_West]

 

[Chin Diesel]

Did your neybahood do the Community Meat thing again?

I know you're in Florida and Covid ain't a thing.

Haha. we were just talking about that over the weekend. Was at a friend's house and someone had bought a tray of holiday cookies that were truly atrocious. Just dry and flavorless. Basically tasted like lard, flour and salt. We were joking we could wrap them up and send it out as a gag gift and see how many times it got regifted.

 

[Chin Diesel]

View attachment 71994

Too bad you forgot the rest.........

The Great Chili Debate: Beans Or No Beans?

To bean, or not to bean. When you're making a pot of chili, that is the question. If you're from Texas, there is a definitive answer.

www.southernliving.com

The ICS defines traditional red and green chili as "any kind of meat or combination of meats, cooked with red chili peppers, various spices and other ingredients, with the exception of beans and pasta which are strictly forbidden. No garnish is allowed." If that sounds a bit uptight, there is the ICS's Homestyle Chili competition which defines chili as: "the cook's favorite combination of ingredients resulting in a dish seasoned with chili peppers and spices." Bean lovers, go crazy.

 

[storrsroars]

View attachment 71994

Who allowed them to add "various spices and other ingredients"? Those weren't in the original recipe.

It's all just arbitrary BS. If you want to call something like "Texas Red" a very specific set of ingredients, have at it. Otherwise, who gives a rat's ass, other than it shouldn't contain cinnamon or be served over pasta with cheddar cheese.