Here in Napa, we have our nice little group called the Family Farm League. We have seed saver’s exchange potluck and the local high school kids cook chili con carne and it’s usually pretty good.
Maybe the most famous chili is from the now defunct Chasen’s restaurant in Hollywood. Elizabeth Taylor (in many ways, the Britney Spears of her day, although Liz showed signs of talent now and then) supposedly had the chili flown from California to Rome so she could eat it on the set of Cleopatra (a stinker of a movie where the signs of her talent were absent.)
Anyway, I’m cold and hungry and would appreciate it if you have a killer chili recipe. Leave it in the comments section of the entry and let’s see what we come up with. Texans, please humor me and include beans.
I’ve become a fan of no-tomato chili, which is sort of Texas style and gets all the flavor and color from dried chiles. Here’s a basic recipe:
http://www.recipeland.com/recipe/23789/
What??? Britney has no talent???????
; ))
My chili recipe is very ordinary except I throw in cocoa powder to deepen the flavor and use beef chuck cubes instead of smished hamburger! And I second the beans!
love reading your blog!
Um, yeah actually. Posted it recently too. I would jack the amount of dried chile peppers though, can always use more. I used beef flap meat, flank steak along with dried chile peppers to celebrate the flavors of the two.
http://www.cyberbilly.com/meathenge/archives/001239.html
xo
I’m from the Midwest and we make a White Chili that is more of a spiced-up Navy Bean Soup. But I’m sure you have an even better bean that would work here!
1 lb. dry Great Northern Beans
1 T. butter
6 Cups water
6 Cups Chicken Broth
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chiles (I’ve used chopped fresh chiles such as jalepeno or poblano and that works well, too.)
1 tsp. dried Oregano
1 T. Cumin
1 tsp. Chili powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Sliced fresh red or green chile peppers or
sliced green onions.
1. Rinse and soak beans overnight or 6-8 hrs hours; then rinse and drain again.
2. In Dutch oven, saute onion in butter for about 5 minutes until softened. Add garlic, canned chiles, oregano, cumin, chili powder and black pepper. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours or until beans are pretty much done.
3. Stir in the chopped, cooked chicken. Simmer for another 30 minutes and salt to taste.
Just before serving, stir in Monterey Jack cheese until just melted. If you like, serve with fresh chile peppers and/or additional cheese.
Thank you all for these. Does someone have the Chasen’s recipe? Have you ever made it? Is it really worth all the fuss? What kind of chili does Britney Spears like?
These recipes look great. We’re having a weird heating trend here in Northern Calif. but I have lots to keep me busy with the inevitable cold, wet spring here in Napa. Thanks.
There is a copy of my Chili Verde recipe at:
http://www.recipezaar.com/179504
Sorry, no beans in the recipe, but we always serve it with black (turtle) beans and crema, and occasionally we add black beans directly to the leftovers.
It is a pork and tomatillo chili with roasted poblano to balance out the tomatillo. It is one of the few recipes that I’ve actively evolved.