Chili Season Is In Full Swing!
Let’s be real, the entire season of “Fall” and the beginning, middle, and end of “Winter” are made for one type of food: Chili! In the food world, there is a huge battle between one specific part of Chili. Whether or not beans belong in Chili. Some other fights consist of types of Chili and again, whether or not they are even Chili. (i.e. White Chicken Chili, Chili Verde, Cincy Chili etc.) Earlier this year, we’ll call it 2 weeks ago, I wanted to cook my way through the different styles. This includes adding and subtracting sides and different ingredients in those different Chili’s! To start off, I decided to take my chance on the Bean-less wonder that is: Texas Red Chili!
Texas Red Chili=NO BEANS!
Having never eaten, let alone made, Texas Red Chili (only my Award Winning Chili! <—CLICK the Red!), I wanted to do some research as to what I needed to prep for. I obviously knew that if I mentioned throwing any kind of bean in here, I would be hung up by my feet and beaten with a stick. Was there any other rules that I needed to follow, though? Yea…and I probably broke some. Buuuuut, I did it for a reason I swear (and I decided to loosely interpret one of the rules)!
“If you know beans about Chili, then you know Chili ain’t got no beans.”
-All Texans (ever)
In this definition, I don’t see anything about adding Green and Red Bell Peppers or Sour Cream, Cheese, or Avocado, so here we are! Let’s get into it!
Peppers For Days
Guajillo and Ancho 
Red and Green Bell, Jalapeno
Five to be exact! There is a reason for them all!
Guajillo and Ancho: Smoky flavor and some kick!
Jalapeno: Extra heat.
Red Bell: Added sweetness to balance the heat!
Green Bell: Earthiness with pepper taste.
The fun (and somewhat time consuming) thing about the Guajillo and Ancho is that they start off dry. In order to get them going, you have to rehydrate them. I will remind you of this later but, START THE REHYDRATING PROCESS FIRST! Before prepping anything, get those peppers in some hot water.
The Reason I Cry At Night
Personally, I absolutely love Red Onions. I use them whenever I need an Onion in a recipe. Yellow Onion vs. Red Onions aren’t different to me, pretty much at all. White Onions are SHARP! And Green Onion is the perfect garnish.
The Texas Red Chili
With ALL Chili is, the longer you let it simmer, the better it will taste. This isn’t just to let the flavors meld but also to cook out some of the acid created by the Tomatoes. Don’t get me wrong, this is SO good right away but after letting it simmer for about 2 hours, it was noticeably better. Also, if you have time, let it sit in the fridge for the night and rewarm in the Dutch Oven the next day!
Overall, Texas Red Chili is pretty great! The time and effort that I put into it was worth the end result! And honestly, it wasn’t that hard to leave the beans out…
Texas Red Chili
Ingredients
For Chili:
- 2 lbs. Hamburger (80/20)
- 28 oz. Tomato Sauce
- 3 oz. Tomato Paste
- 1 Red Bell Pepper (small chop)
- 1 Green Bell Pepper (small chop)
- 1 Jalapeno (minced w/ seeds)
- 1 Guajillo Pepper
- 1 Ancho Chile Pepper
- 1 Red Onion (small chop)
- 8 Garlic Cloves (minced)
- 1 Beef Bouillon Cube
- 3 tbsp. Chili Powder (split by half)
- 1 tbsp. Cumin (split by half)
- 1 tbsp. Smoked Paprika (split by half)
- 1 tbsp. Oregano (split by half)
- 1/2 tbsp. Garlic Powder (split by half)
- 1/2 tbsp. Onion Powder (split by half)
- 1 tsp. Salt (split by half)
- 2 tsp. Black Pepper (split by half)
- 2 tbsp. Masa Harina
- 1 c. Pepper Water
- 3 tbsp. Butter (unsalted, split)
For Garnish:
- Avocado
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Green Onion
Instructions
- In medium sized mixing bowl, add 2 cups hot Water. Place Guajillo and Ancho into water. Set aside.
- In a Dutch Oven turned to medium (or whatever large pot you have), pour in Tomato Sauce and Tomato Paste. Add Beef Bouillon Cude, Masa Harina, and half of the seasoning blend. Continue to stir every few minutes.
- Prep all veggies. In 2 separate pans, add 1 tbsp per pan. Add Red, Green, and Jalapenoes into pan. In other pan, add Red Onion. Once Peppers become fragrant, dump into pot. Once Onion is translucent, dump into pot.
- In pan that was used for Onions, place last Butter slab in. Once melted and bubbling, add Hamburger. When Hamburger begins to brown, add the other half of the seasoning blend.
- Pull full sized Guajillo and Ancho Peppers and place into simmering Chili. Take cup of (now) infused Pepper Water, and dump into Chili.
- Let simmer for 2 hours (if there is time).
- Serve warm/hot.
- MUNCH!
Notes
The FIRST thing you need to do is place Chiles in hot water!!
Experiment with different types of Chiles!
Save the extra Pepper Water for different sauces.
Because of the lack of Beans, texturally, Sour Cream and Cheese help fill the missing Beans role.
Try putting in Dark Beer (Shiner Bock cuz Texas…) to add depth. Add when Tomato Sauce gets dumped into pot.
The FIRST thing you need to do is place Chiles in hot water!! (It shortens the process! Just do it!)
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