Chili

[mdt]

I have to chime in for three reasons. First, I have to defend cincinnati chili. I'm a native son and I would say that by far Goldstar is the worst version that is easily available. I would tell you that if you have have a singlular version of it, you want to have Skyline. There are other good versions in Cincinnati, but this version is the standard bearer for the dish. I suspect Bruni had Goldstar because he was passing through the Airport and there is only Goldstar in the Airport.

Second, Cincinnati Chili is a perception issue as much as anything. It is NOT chili like most people think of chili. If you are going to eat it for the first time, do not say to yourslef this is chili. It's really speghetti with greek style meat sauce. I just think people who get themselves in a twitch so often think they are getting beautiful meaty stew when its nothing of the sort.

Third, I'm going to shamelessly drop some knowledge for people. If you want a fairly reliable and mostly authentic version of the recipe, I have my own version on my blog. So try some cincinnati chili at home. It is definately an acquired taste, I've had Hard Times and I don't think it's that good a version either, so spare yourself the misery and jump right into it.

Welcome and thanks for the info. Some pretty nice pictures on your blog. Must take you forever to get anything done taking all those shots!

[ol_ironstomach]

Frightening as it may seem, Skyline is now available in the freezer section of your grocery (at least my Harris Teeter). In December I had occasion to feast on both Skyline and Goldstar (prior to her investiture as a New Yawker, Gubeen was originally from Cincinnati, and we happened to be over the border in northern Kentucky) and I guess the thing that surprised me is how much less I liked either of them than Hard Times' spicier, coarser interpretation of Cincinnati chili. I expected the Greek angle on the spice profile, but still found them to be very mild, and almost bland.

[jparrott]

HT Cincinnati chili tastes like Indian food.

[monavano]

I have to chime in for three reasons. First, I have to defend cincinnati chili. I'm a native son and I would say that by far Goldstar is the worst version that is easily available. I would tell you that if you have have a singlular version of it, you want to have Skyline. There are other good versions in Cincinnati, but this version is the standard bearer for the dish. I suspect Bruni had Goldstar because he was passing through the Airport and there is only Goldstar in the Airport.

Second, Cincinnati Chili is a perception issue as much as anything. It is NOT chili like most people think of chili. If you are going to eat it for the first time, do not say to yourslef this is chili. It's really speghetti with greek style meat sauce. I just think people who get themselves in a twitch so often think they are getting beautiful meaty stew when its nothing of the sort.

Third, I'm going to shamelessly drop some knowledge for people. If you want a fairly reliable and mostly authentic version of the recipe, I have my own version on my blog. So try some cincinnati chili at home. It is definately an acquired taste, I've had Hard Times and I don't think it's that good a version either, so spare yourself the misery and jump right into it.

I haven't been in a while, but is anyone here a fan of the Vienna Inn's chili/chili mac?. I lived in Oakton for a couple years and ate there a couple times. I haven't been in several years tho.

The first time I had chili over pasta was when I visited friends in Alexandria. They went to pick up a couple pints of chili from Hard Times, and I cooked spaghetti in the meantime. I've been hooked ever since.

I've been dabbling with a new smoked pork chili recipe, which is also a bit unconventional. If I can reproduce it successfully, I'll post it.

eta: I just had a flashback. Mom used to make very basic chili, so I don't have any childhood frame of reference for anything genuine in any region. She served it with.......wait for it.......mashed potatoes Eating it over spaghetti seems so....normal now.

[Husband]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. And yes dinner does take a bit longer with taking all the photos... but its much much worse for my wife who has to actually watch and wait on me most of the time.

As for putting chili over things, at this point I get totally unjudgemental about it. I think it's really not all that shocking. If you look at all the Tex-mex style dishes that pour chili or variations on that theme over meat and starches, mash potatoes only seem eccentric.

[DanCole42]

I can't believe it. Two pages of posts about chili, and only ONE recipe???

Anyone else? Favorite recipes? Innovative techniques?

Come on!

[zoramargolis]

unsweetened chocolate or cocoa

beer

chipotle powder

[DanCole42]

unsweetened chocolate or cocoa

beer

chipotle powder

Where's the beef?

[Waitman]

A prominent local farmer dumped a frozen deer leg on us and despairing of turning the lean, solid stuff into any type of succulent steak we decided to chili it up. We riffed off of Dean Fearing's Sirloin Steak with Black Bean Chili from the seemingly underrated and forgotten Mansion on Turtle Creek Cookbook (lobster burritos: mmmmmmmm). As we were drinking freely and making things up there is no actual recipe to report but, as with most chili recipes, it's damn hard to screw up if you pay attention.

Basically, while you cube and brown the venison (actually, we did this but we might coarse grind should the opccasionarise again) and throw it in a pot with sauteed onions and a great deal of garlic, you make a witches brew consisting of (guessing -- use enough to more than cover the meat):

A pint or more of veal, chicken or whatever stock

Most of a bottle of burly red wine -- whatever's left after you've had enough to assure its quality

Roasted and ground cumin and coriander seed (roast in an iron skillet until you can smell it, grind in a coffee grinder)

Onion

garlic

Roots from fresh coriander (save the leaves for topping)

Three or four of your favorite kinds of dried chilies, some smokey, some hot, some just flavorful

A few chopped jalopenos

A big can of whole tomatoes, gleefully smushed by hand

Tomato paste as needed

Good old chili powder (we use Ranch Gordo's 'cause were cool like that)

Whatever Mrs B reminds me about

Simmer the whole thing for an hour or so, uintil it tastes l.ike it's getting there but still needs to concentrate a little morte. Strain it through a chinoise and dump it on the meat. If you're cooking venison, add extra red beans for richness.

Cook until it looks like chili is supposed to and the flavors are concentrated and infused throughout.

******

By the way, should you have a sirloin steak laying around, start with the above recipe, throw it on some black beans with choppped onion and cook for the appropriate time, and add cubed and fried Sweet (or white) potatoes and chopped sweet peppers of many colors. Ladle over grilled sirloin.

[Heather]

Scott makes pretty damned good chili. It's a riff on a Cook's Illustrated recipe, with cubed chuck, toasted and ground dried anchos & cumin seeds, onions, garlic, bacon, fresh jalapenos, tomatoes, and masa harina. I'll see if I can find the recipe online. It's excellent.

[Pat]

A prominent local farmer dumped a frozen deer leg on us and despairing of turning the lean, solid stuff into any type of succulent steak we decided to chili it up. We riffed off of Dean Fearing's Sirloin Steak with Black Bean Chili from the seemingly underrated and forgotten Mansion on Turtle Creek Cookbook (lobster burritos: mmmmmmmm).

That is a fine cookbook. I made several recipes from it for Valentine's Day last year, but I have not tried the steak with black bean chili. I'll have to pull the book back out.

[AStern]

I like two kinds of chili- the stuff my Ohio mom makes (not too much heat) and the Texas- style I had while in college @TAMU. When I make my "Ohio" chili, I use a stick of cinnamon, a couple of whole cloves, a couple of bay leaves, sweet Hungarian paprika, chili powder (Gebhardt's if I have it), kidney beans, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, green bell peppers, sweet onion, and lean ground beef or turkey. My Texas chili comes from here: http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2006/10/...art-two_18.html

Though I don't make it quite so spicy and my beer of choice is Shiner Bock. Hmmmm, I think I need to make chili this weekend!

[zoramargolis]

Where's the beef?

Those unique additions were presuming the usual ingredients: beef, onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, oregano, red chile and tomato and beans if you are not a "bowl of red" purist...

[jparrott]

About to set a pot in the oven for a long, long repose. Hand-cut chuck, fresh poblanos, serranos, and jalapenos, dried guajillos, pasillas, japones, and canned chipotles, plus the normal seasonings. Only tomato in is from the adobo sauce in the chipotle can.

[zoramargolis]

About to set a pot in the oven for a long, long repose. Hand-cut chuck, fresh poblanos, serranos, and jalapenos, dried guajillos, pasillas, japones, and canned chipotles, plus the normal seasonings. Only tomato in is from the adobo sauce in the chipotle can.

So, how did your neo-traditional* bowl of red turn out?

*Real cowboy chili was made with dried red chiles and beef. No fresh chiles, or tomatoes or beans, which you didn't use.

[jparrott]

Goooood. Cooked a total of 10 hours, with supplemental additions of dry and fresh chilis about halfway through. I find that the chilis added at the beginning of a long cook do more to build up the earthy complexity of the chili, while later additions are more for heat and definition of flavors.

[DanCole42]

Ordinarily I'd have taken a picture. But really, all chili pretty much looks the same.

Ground chuck (bad parts removed)

Diced sirloin (bad parts removed)

No pork (kosher party guest)

Browned in batches and removed.

Onions and serranos sweated in bacon fat (don't tell kosher guy) and the beef drippings.

Cheap beer and chicken stock. Simmer.

Beef returned.

Homemade chili powder (New Mexico, Ancho, Guajillo, Cascabel, cumin, coriandar - all toasted and ground).

Paprika.

Oregano.

Salt pork (don't tell kosher guy)

Soy sauce.

Smoked tomato confit.

Roasted garlic.

Worcestershire.

...

...

...

Twelve hours and a rest overnight in the refrigerator later...

Salt pork removed.

Chili served with optional toppings:

Onion

Tomato

Cheese

Sour cream

Hickory smoked salt

Additional chili powder

Digestion: proceeding.

[jparrott]

I made chili from kosher beef once. Chuck. Damn good chili, actually.

[Al Dente]

I find that the chilis added at the beginning of a long cook do more to build up the earthy complexity of the chili, while later additions are more for heat and definition of flavors.

True dat. I made two versions of chili on Sunday-- one mild and totally vegan with beans, and the other nothing but cubes of chuck. I intended to make the beef very spicy so that folks could mix the two and come up with something that would suit their taste. So I grabbed 4 different kinds of dried chili, let them sit in just-off-the-boil water for 1/2 hour or so, then pureed it all in the blender with the seeds and membranes to make a paste. This stuff was rippin' hot. But after braising the beef in a healthy dose of the chili paste, my secret blend of herbs and spices, garlic, red wine, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes for about 4 hours, it was intensely flavored but not really all that hot.

The chili(s) was a huge success. Most folks put down a base of the vegan and topped it off with several pieces of super tender beef. I put out crumbled goat cheese, diced red onion, and chopped cilantro and everyone was happy except for the Hindu that thought the beef was lamb. Oh well, can't please everyone!

[DanCole42]

I find that the chilis added at the beginning of a long cook do more to build up the earthy complexity of the chili, while later additions are more for heat and definition of flavors.

I third that. In addition to adding the chilis at the beginning, I also offered some of the leftover powder as a topping for those who wanted it (and it was highly recommended). Some hickory smoked salt also provided the perfect finish.

[jayandstacey]

Shopper's Food Whorehouse carries (or carried) Hard Times spice mix. I get the Cincinnati and make "my own".

[ziv]

My friends and I got into a massive discussion on what constitutes chili the other day and it was kind of interesting to see that what I consider to be chili isn't 'texas type' chili. I learned my recipe from my grandfather, who homesteaded in Northern Montana way back in the day, so I always took his recipe as gospel. He said you start with sliced up side pork for flavor, then add onions, cook a few minutes, then add ground brisket or flank, or you can slice it up small, then add crushed tomatoes, lots of beans and a good dollop of chili powder. He was adamant about the beans, said chili was working food and had to be cheap and filling.

My friends were aghast about the beans. Is this a regional thing? Chili without beans was effete snobbery where I come from, and I have to admit that I like the healthy aspects of adding beans to the recipe. Is chili without beans chili?

[deangold]

From the font of all knowledge, Wikipedia

Traditional chili is made with chopped or ground beef. Variations, either geographic or by personal preference, may substitute different types of meat and may also include tomatoes, beans, or other ingredients.

The full article

[monavano]

My friends and I got into a massive discussion on what constitutes chili the other day and it was kind of interesting to see that what I consider to be chili isn't 'texas type' chili. I learned my recipe from my grandfather, who homesteaded in Northern Montana way back in the day, so I always took his recipe as gospel. He said you start with sliced up side pork for flavor, then add onions, cook a few minutes, then add ground brisket or flank, or you can slice it up small, then add crushed tomatoes, lots of beans and a good dollop of chili powder. He was adamant about the beans, said chili was working food and had to be cheap and filling.

My friends were aghast about the beans. Is this a regional thing? Chili without beans was effete snobbery where I come from, and I have to admit that I like the healthy aspects of adding beans to the recipe. Is chili without beans chili?

I believe Texas-style chili has no beans and the ingredients beyond meat should not be discernable (at least I saw that on a chili cook-off on tv).

I add beans for flavor and bulk. Love them.

[southdenverhoo]

My friends and I got into a massive discussion on what constitutes chili the other day and it was kind of interesting to see that what I consider to be chili isn't 'texas type' chili. I learned my recipe from my grandfather, who homesteaded in Northern Montana way back in the day, so I always took his recipe as gospel. He said you start with sliced up side pork for flavor, then add onions, cook a few minutes, then add ground brisket or flank, or you can slice it up small, then add crushed tomatoes, lots of beans and a good dollop of chili powder. He was adamant about the beans, said chili was working food and had to be cheap and filling.

My friends were aghast about the beans. Is this a regional thing? Chili without beans was effete snobbery where I come from, and I have to admit that I like the healthy aspects of adding beans to the recipe. Is chili without beans chili?

Although I had read Calvin Trillin's work in Playboy, the first piece of food writing that made me want to really cook something was a piece by humorist H. Allen Smith that I stumbled across in the mid 70's (and it was not new then; I believe it dates back to the mid 60's).

It deals in some depth with exactly the question you pose, and I give you the link. Immediately after reading this I hied over to the surplus store in downtown Charlottesville to buy my first Lodge cast iron dutch oven, obeying H. Allen's instructions you will find at the end. This was the first piece of cooking equipment I ever bought for myself; I had reached the age of 21 or 22 relying solely on cast-offs from my mother's kitchen.

Here's the link: http://www.chilicookoff.com/History/History_Started.asp

(After a lengthy period of Texas purism, I'm back to using beans and tomatoes in mine...)

[schulju]

I'm a "no beans" kind of girl, but do add large pieces of onion and green pepper to my chili. I don't saute the veggies, I just add them in when the meat is almost done browning. I like having something other than meat to bite down on.

[ziv]

Southdenver, Thanks for the link! The author is a man after mine own heart, and his recipe is ok, except for the cumin. I have gone on day long rants about the horrendous, nearly criminal, useage of cumin at El Pollo Rico, and to have it thrown in my face in a chili recipe? It surpasses understanding!

And now I have the perfect reason to despise cumin.

Because it killeth dogs.

[mdt]

Southdenver, Thanks for the link! The author is a man after mine own heart, and his recipe is ok, except for the cumin. I have gone on day long rants about the horrendous, nearly criminal, useage of cumin at El Pollo Rico, and to have it thrown in my face in a chili recipe? It surpasses understanding!

And now I have the perfect reason to despise cumin.

Because it killeth dogs.

Why the hatred of cumin?

[ziv]

mdt, I am not entirely serious about the cumin thing, but I stick up for my friends at Crisp & Juicy in the Pollo ala Brasa discussions, and use the cumin that is so noticeable in the El Pollo Rico bird to make the arguement that C&J's bird is the regional champion. I think that the EPR bird is a great meal, but C&J is even better.

I am a lover of food done right, and I find that the way a food was prepared as I was growing up is what I have learned to love best. So while I like texas style chili with no tomatoes or beans, it just doesn't compare, for me, to what was prepared for me as a kid. This applies to steaks, milkshakes, chili, pizza, just about every comfort food I can think of, they all taste better when they are prepared in a manner that resembles the way it was prepared when I was a kid. I get the feeling that this is kind of a universal thing, after talking to New Yorkers and Chicago locals about pizza.

[thistle]

Chili doesn't seem like a restaurant dish to me,it's something you make at home-meat, beans, onions & peppers, chile powder-a basic framework that you can expand almost infinitely, I like mine w/rice & cornbread. Several years ago, I had a neighbor who was a bowhunter, we got in a casual conversation about hunting, & I came home one night to find an entire deer leg in a styrofoam cooler on my front porch. Fortunately, the next day, our neighborhood was having a fall festival, w/ a chili cookoff, & I made a venison chili that was awesome. It was supposed to be a blind tasting, but I did label it as a venison chili, because some folks don't like game...I didn't win, but alot of people told me how much they liked it-& we didn't have to eat venison for a whole week....

[Lola007]

It's kind of a gray area as to whether this discussion should be in Restaurants and Dining (which would optimally be about restaurants that serve chili) or in the Chili thread in Shopping and Cooking (which would optimally be about making chili at home). There isn't a Chile thread in the Intrepid Traveler forum yet, otherwise I'd link to that, too.

I was thinking the same thing! It seems that this thread started out as a discussion of restaurants where you could find good chili and then veered off into a discussion of what good chili is. I would guess that some of the posts about what constitutes good chili could be moved to the chili thread under "Shopping and Cooking".

P.S. On this site, I'm fairly confident that the info will be available somewhere where we can find it. I'm afraid that based on observations and firsthand experience, I can't say the same thing about Chowhound where they are so anal (*sigh*) about staying on topic (and especially about keeping discussions to specific georgraphic areas) that they actually delete posts and info that, while helpful and relevant, in their opinion, don't fit neatly or strictly into the confines of a specified topic.

[leleboo]

You read my mind about cooking vs eating.

But I have to say I was amazed to see that Rovers2000 mentioned chili mac. I grew up thinking that was a regional (midwestern) thing...I'm vaguely tempted to track it down and try it now.

Edited October 29, 2009 by leleboo

[ziv]

Oops. Mea Culpa!

I guess I went off on that tangent because I don't think of this area as a chili town. I have been to Vienna Inn and it is fairly good, but I have to admit that the chili at Giant Foods is, or was, better. I don't like any of the Hard Times chilis, they are just kind of blandified. Ben's chili is the ultimate in ok, there is just no zing to it. Even Beenie Weenie's chili is better than Ben's. This is possibly disloyal to my adopted home town, but with a hot sauce packet or two, even Wendy's chili is better than Ben's.

But, I have to admit that I have never tasted Ben's chili when I was sober. Odd, that.

[Xochitl10]

My people (New Mexicans) don't really make chili. We make green chile stew, usually with chiles (fresh, frozen, or canned (in a pinch)) rather than powder, cubed pork, and cubed potatoes. Ground beef in place of the pork and the addition of beans are options.

[porcupine]

a discussion of what good chili is.

Good chili is chili that you like.

[jparrott]

Good chili is chili that you like.

Ah...the acid-reflux corollary to the most sage words in the drinks business: "The best drink in the world is the drink in your hand."

[zoramargolis]

P.S. On this site, I'm fairly confident that the info will be available somewhere where we can find it. I'm afraid that based on observations and firsthand experience, I can't say the same thing about Chowhound where they are so anal (*sigh*) about staying on topic (and especially about keeping discussions to specific georgraphic areas) that they actually delete posts and info that, while helpful and relevant, in their opinion, don't fit neatly or strictly into the confines of a specified topic.

Precisely the reason that I got fed up with Chowhound and stopped posting there. I almost never look at it anymore.

Chili without cumin is pasta sauce. IMHO, that is.

[Lola007]

On this site, I'm fairly confident that the info will be available somewhere where we can find it. I'm afraid that based on observations and firsthand experience, I can't say the same thing about Chowhound where they are so anal (*sigh*) about staying on topic (and especially about keeping discussions to specific georgraphic areas) that they actually delete posts and info that, while helpful and relevant, in their opinion, don't fit neatly or strictly into the confines of a specified topic.

Precisely the reason that I got fed up with Chowhound and stopped posting there. I almost never look at it anymore.

It's too bad. Once DanielK, Dean, some other people, and I got into a discussion on CH's DC board about corned beef sandwiches, and the importance of eating corned beef on fresh rye bread (I think the thread was technically supposed to be about NY-style delis in the area). The conversation extended to NYC-style delis outside of the DC area (NYC, south Florida, etc.), bread, etc. IMHO, criteria was unevenly applied to maintaining some posts in the thread, while others were deleted (and not even moved, which I found highly inconsiderate--btw, I have no problem if anyone deletes this post here! ). Finally, I think they got rid of the bread comments; someone even joked about wonder bread, which was pretty funny, and that was deleted as well. Certainly (and you probably know better than I do), moderating a board is no easy task, but on some of the CH boards, there are a ton of inconsistencies and an overly narrow view of things on the part of the mods.

Back on topic, Let me say something about chili. LOL, I hardly ever cook it. My preference is for simple, slightly spicy with cumin. In the area, I've had Hard Times', Clydes', Potbelly's and Giant's chili. All are decent IMHO. What I usually do with Giant's chili is to add some white pepper and some times a little red pepper to make it a bit more spicy.

[mdt]

Chili without cumin is pasta sauce. IMHO, that is.

Well that would be pasta sauce with beans.

[zoramargolis]

Well that would be pasta sauce with beans.

Let's split the diff and call it beef and bean ragu. Just don't call it chili if there isn't any cumin in it... in my presence, anyway.

[porcupine]

Hmmm, with the deepest of respect for anyone seeking vegetarian chili for whatever reason...to me (and I speak ONLY for myself here), chili is a meat thing.

For the sake of discussion, I'll throw this in: chili is a chili thing, as in chili peppers. I don't care if the vehicle is meat or beans or grains, it's gotta have chili peppers in it, in some form, and commercial chili powder doesn't count. Fresh chilies, dried chilies that have beeen soaked and ground to make the sauce, even dried chlies that have been powdered (a subtle distinction from "chili powder")... It's about the chili peppers.

[B.A.R.]

Chili seems to be the ultimate "comfort" food and is one of those dishes that is almost always better at home, slurped from big bowls with big spoons, while surrounded by friends and family. Chili should always have meat! For me? I go with a "white" chili. Soak white beans overnight.

Sautee up some ground turkey, pork and veal. Remove from pan. Add some onions, garlic, poblano chilis, jalepenos, ancho chili powder, ground cumin seeds, a bay leaf, S&P and sautee until they are soft. Add the meat back in and half the beans.

In some chicken stock, I cook half of the beans (that were soaked overnight) until just soft, then puree. Add the stock to the beans, meat and chili mixture. It will be very thin at first. Simmer very low for a few hours until the uncooked beans release their starch and the pureed beans really thicken the whole mix. Oh yeah, throw some cilantro in there too.

I'll dice up some habanero or thai chilis and add those to "my" batch as my wife can only tolerate a little heat. Top with some shredded, aged white cheddaAr and sour cream. Delicious.

Sorry for the half-assed recipe but I love chili. Chili is a treasure.

[monavano]

I have a tasty shortcut for making chili-- pop open a box of Hard Times Chili mix. I wasn't a believer in the directions they give for cooking the meat, which calls for cooking it in water, basically poaching it, but I tried it and like it. It allows me to break up the chunks and the meat gets really tender. I also throw in a splash of vinegar that works with the chili and spices to heighten flavor.

I also nixed adding beer because Mr. MV and I found that the flavors are more present without it. Occasionally I'll add a masa slurry to thicken and get that corn flavor whether it's Hard Times chili or my own rendition.

[zoramargolis]

For the sake of discussion, I'll throw this in: chili is a chili thing, as in chili peppers. I don't care if the vehicle is meat or beans or grains, it's gotta have chili peppers in it, in some form, and commercial chili powder doesn't count. Fresh chilies, dried chilies that have beeen soaked and ground to make the sauce, even dried chlies that have been powdered (a subtle distinction from "chili powder")... It's about the chili peppers.

you say chili/chilies and I say chile/chiles. chili is the spicy stew and chile is a member of the capsicum family.

[porcupine]

Zora is right, of course. My profound apologies for my lapse in usage. Hopefully my foodie credentials won't be revoked over this.

[monavano]

Zora is right, of course. My profound apologies for my lapse in usage. Hopefully my foodie credentials won't be revoked over this.

We're changing the secret handshake and you *will* have to turn in your decoder ring

[porcupine]

but can I keep the propeller beanie? please?!

[monavano]

No one can wear that beanie like you can, Porcupine!

[zoramargolis]

In the Dining Forum thread on this topic of chili, there are several mentions, by Jeff Heineman and others, about "grittiness" which Jeff correctly identifies as being the result of adding too much dried, powdered spice. And since we are on the subject of chili, chili powder and powdered chile, I'd like to offer the chili cooks here a bit of applicable wisdom on the subject, acquired over the years and also during my experience of translating my "award-winning" barbecue sauce recipe from small batch to large batches, which I am now making for Bev Eggleston. One of the little tidbits that I left out of my recipe as submitted to the Washington Post, is that I strained my sauce. I found that the ancho chile powder I used made my sauce gritty, and that by straining the sauce, I eliminated the largest of the flakes of the unevenly ground-up chile. This proved problematic when I was making large batches--straining became time consuming and exhausting. Eventually, I solved this problem by doing something that I had been doing with chili for a long time: using whole, dried chiles in place of chile powder. For the bbq sauce, I heat a portion of the total volume of vinegar, and soak the de-seeded and stemmed ancho chiles in the hot vinegar for about 20 minutes and then puree them in the Vitamix blender. I do the same for chili, using hot water. Only for chili, I use primarily guajillo chiles and a couple of anchos. For chili, you still have to use ground cumin, but if instead of using chili powder, you use fresh garlic, soaked dried whole chiles, and whole leaf oregano the volume of ground cumin is not enough to cause the gritty feel that can detract from the pleasure of a good bowl of chili. With or without beans.

[monavano]

In the Dining Forum thread on this topic of chili, there are several mentions, by Jeff Heineman and others, about "grittiness" which Jeff correctly identifies as being the result of adding too much dried, powdered spice. And since we are on the subject of chili, chili powder and powdered chile, I'd like to offer the chili cooks here a bit of applicable wisdom on the subject, acquired over the years and also during my experience of translating my "award-winning" barbecue sauce recipe from small batch to large batches, which I am now making for Bev Eggleston. One of the little tidbits that I left out of my recipe as submitted to the Washington Post, is that I strained my sauce. I found that the ancho chile powder I used made my sauce gritty, and that by straining the sauce, I eliminated the largest of the flakes of the unevenly ground-up chile. This proved problematic when I was making large batches--straining became time consuming and exhausting. Eventually, I solved this problem by doing something that I had been doing with chili for a long time: using whole, dried chiles in place of chile powder. For the bbq sauce, I heat a portion of the total volume of vinegar, and soak the de-seeded and stemmed ancho chiles in the hot vinegar for about 20 minutes and then puree them in the Vitamix blender. I do the same for chili, using hot water. Only for chili, I use primarily guajillo chiles and a couple of anchos. For chili, you still have to use ground cumin, but if instead of using chili powder, you use fresh garlic, soaked dried whole chiles, and whole leaf oregano the volume of ground cumin is not enough to cause the gritty feel that can detract from the pleasure of a good bowl of chili. With or without beans.

Which gets me to thinking that I need to make your 'q sauce again