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Chili: Beans or No Beans

  • Beans

  • No Beans

  • What?


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thatjonguy

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Since chili weather is not too far off for those of us up north (and when I say chili weather, I mean eating it at least 2-3 times a week), let's hear your favorite beer pairing and/or recipe.

I personally don't have a specific recipe for chili, I just start throwing stuff together until it tastes right in a big batch. My favorite beer pairing is Moose Drool Brown Ale from Big Sky. SWMBO doesn't understand how I can eat this several nights in a row.

Per a request, I extracted the full recipes out of the thread and posted them below with credit to their respective member.

Beans. This is the recipe we switched to last year.

http://m.foodnetwork.com/recipes/598462


International Chili Society says no beans and I agree.

2.5 pounds ground beef
1.5 pound breakfast sausage
2 stalks celery finely chopped (I pulse mine in the food processor)
3 cups worth of onion diced up in the food processor
red pepper flakes to taste
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 cup chili powder, plus more later on if you think you'll need it
two 28 ounce cans diced tomatoes (I like Western Family brand fire roasted tomatoes)
16 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup TEQUILA! plus a couple shots for the cook
1/2 cup thick and pulpy orange juice
cayenne and paprika to taste
canned chipotles (diced) with adobo sauce to taste

Just brown the meat with a little oil and add everything else and simmer until its done. If you need more liquid use equal parts OJ and tequila. Its a good base recipe that is great to tweak and customize.

Chili

Basic Recipe
2lb ground moose meat (or caribou, sheep, venison or occasionally bison and sometimes bear)
1lb ground sausage (usually moose or caribou here)
1lb kidney beans
1lb pinto beans
1lb black beans
3 or 4 large tomatoes, rough chopped
3 or 4 medium to large onions, rough chopped
3 to 6 large cloves garlic, minced
Couple of quarts of meat stock, (usually homemade)
Jalapenos, Serranos and/or Habaneros
Cilantro, oregano, cumin, chipotle powder, chili powder cocoa powder, kosher or sea salt, fresh ground black pepper; all to taste. We grow many herbs indoors year round, so we try to use fresh cilantro and oregano.
I make 2 big pots of it, 1 is spicy and 1 is mild. Spicy gets the fresh chopped peppers, mild doesn’t.

Sort beans and soak overnight. We keep a lot of dried beans around.
Drain beans, split into two pots (we have 2 10qt stock pots) and begin cooking in the meat stock, just enough stock to cover the beans. We use the beans because it stretches the amount of chili we make and we like it. I do make a version of this with no beans for con Carne.
Brown all the meat well in a cast iron skillet with a bit of bacon grease, moose tends to be dry.
Remove the meat and sauté onions until starting to caramelize, add chopped tomatoes and turn heat down. Cook slowly and add garlic. I usually cook it until it is a dark brownish color, almost a paste.
Place ½ of browned meat into 1 pot and the rest into another. Split tomato/onion between both pots and add herbs and spices and cocoa to taste, in Spicy pot add ½ of your peppers.
Cook low and slow overnight or all day while at work. The rest of the peppers go in about 10 or 15 minutes before finishing.

When you get home, you fry up some fresh thick cut bacon in your cast iron skillet. While bacon is cooling mix up your favorite cornbread recipe, I will use box mix but prefer from scratch. When mix is near ready, crumble bacon into it. I have 3 cast iron skillets and I put some of the bacon grease into a 2nd skillet. In the first skillet I pour the bacon cornbread and then for the second I put some chopped peppers from above into it then pour into the 2nd skillet.

When the cornbread is near baked to perfection, I add the chopped peppers to the spicy chili pot and let it all finish about the same time.
Serve with sour cream, grated cheese, finely chopped peppers and onions on the side.

For a beverage, I will usually choose an Alaskan Amber, Midnight Sun Sockeye Red, Kassik’s Beaver Tail Blonde or whatever I have bottled from my stocks.

This is the recipe I've been going by for the past couple of years. I've just omitted the really hot peppers and did a few more jalapeños. Delicious, hearty and filling!

http://m.foodnetwork.com/recipes/329697

No one has mentioned White chili?
1lb Great Northern beans
1 - med onion
3 - cloves of garlic
2 - 4oz cans of green chilies
2 - tsp ground cumin
1 - tbsp. oragano
1 1/2 - tsp cayenne
salt
2lb boneless chicken breast/ chunked
1/2 can chicken broth
1 cup water

brown chicken breast
Toss everything into crock pot on low/med before leaving for work.

Southwest - no beans
Southeast - beans but over rice
Anywhere the high for the day is below freezing- BEANS and cooked all day in the crock pot.

The most annoying thing I see people doing is filling the bowl with crackers till it makes a chili/cracker paste.

This recipe has taken 2nd place in company-wide chili cook-offs twice. Not a national competition, but the company I work for employs about 8,000 people and there were quite a few entries both times. It's a bit untraditional, but man is it good stuff.

2 lb ground beef - whatever you prefer
2 large onions diced
1 can kidney beans
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 8oz can beef broth
1 8oz can french cut green beans, drained
Chili powder to taste
Cumin to taste
Salt to taste
Basil to taste, dry

Saute the onions in olive oil until tender, add ground beef until cooked. Add the rest of the ingredience and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for several hours.

Serve with any of the following: grated cheese, minced onion, sour cream, tabasco - or some other hot sauce, rice, or pasta, or just plain. Rice, cheese, onions, and tabasco are my preferences, but I mix it up from time to time. The wife doesn't like chili very spicy, that's where the tabasco comes in for me.

My opinion is, if you like beans/no beans, meat/no meat, chili powder/fresh chilis, etc... and what you've made tastes good, just shut up and eat it. I've eaten many different styles of chili and have enjoyed most that I've tried. The recipe above is how I prefer to make and eat my chili.
 
Beans. Always.
I use black and pinto beans in my chili. I also cut sirloin in chunks and use that instead of ground meat. Mmmmmm............time to make chili!
 
No beans! Chili isn't meant to have beans or other "stuff". For example, when you order a bowl of chili in my town, it has pasta in it. Usually, elbow macaroni. That is just plain wrong.

I like my chili HOT. Very very very spicy hot. That's chili!

elbow macaroni in chilli? ewwwww...

And i vote YES for beans. nothing like enjoying a steaming boil of chili with all different kinds of beans.. And then enjoy driving the SWMBO crazy the next day when ur tootin' like a fiend. :p:ban:
 
International Chili Society says no beans and I agree.

2.5 pounds ground beef
1.5 pound breakfast sausage
2 stalks celery finely chopped (I pulse mine in the food processor)
3 cups worth of onion diced up in the food processor
red pepper flakes to taste
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 cup chili powder, plus more later on if you think you'll need it
two 28 ounce cans diced tomatoes (I like Western Family brand fire roasted tomatoes)
16 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup TEQUILA! plus a couple shots for the cook
1/2 cup thick and pulpy orange juice
cayenne and paprika to taste
canned chipotles (diced) with adobo sauce to taste

Just brown the meat with a little oil and add everything else and simmer until its done. If you need more liquid use equal parts OJ and tequila. Its a good base recipe that is great to tweak and customize.
 
International Chili Society says no beans and I agree.

2.5 pounds ground beef
1.5 pound breakfast sausage
2 stalks celery finely chopped (I pulse mine in the food processor)
3 cups worth of onion diced up in the food processor
red pepper flakes to taste
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 cup chili powder, plus more later on if you think you'll need it
two 28 ounce cans diced tomatoes (I like Western Family brand fire roasted tomatoes)
16 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup TEQUILA! plus a couple shots for the cook
1/2 cup thick and pulpy orange juice
cayenne and paprika to taste
canned chipotles (diced) with adobo sauce to taste

Just brown the meat with a little oil and add everything else and simmer until its done. If you need more liquid use equal parts OJ and tequila. Its a good base recipe that is great to tweak and customize.

I'm not a fan of chunky tomato in my chilli, but i'm curious how the OJ and Tequila would go with the flavor.
 
My "secret ingredient" in my best chili is oatmeal stout. Mine isn't really roasty in the "roasty" sense, but instead it's more of a coffee roast flavor in the stout. It makes the worlds best chili, because of the "something" in the flavor that can't be placed.
 
The tomatoes pretty much turn to liquid after they simmer for long enough, especially if you stir it enough. Hard core chili cooks keep the heat so low that it basically just pasteurizes it and never stop stirring. I swear by my dutch oven too, it heats evenly and is perfectly seasoned.
 
I'd prefer lots of meat and just a little beans - so I guess I'm on the fence.

However - we have a crapload of tomatoes on our vines this year. I have a smoker. I hear smoking tomatoes makes for a good chili base, so we're definitely up for some experimenting with the recipe this year. And pairing chili with my soon-to-be-kegged Citra/Simcoe/Centennial IPA.
 
My "secret ingredient" in my best chili is oatmeal stout. Mine isn't really roasty in the "roasty" sense, but instead it's more of a coffee roast flavor in the stout. It makes the worlds best chili, because of the "something" in the flavor that can't be placed.

This reminds me, I have seen someone put coffee in their chili recipe. Not real sure how that would taste.
 
beans of course, it doesnt have to over run all the other ingredients but there has to be some beans. I normally put a 1 to 1 to 1 mix of beef, turkey, and sausage :D also dont really have a spice recipe, just keep adding spices until it tastes right, love cilantro in it
 
My "secret ingredient" in my best chili is oatmeal stout. Mine isn't really roasty in the "roasty" sense, but instead it's more of a coffee roast flavor in the stout. It makes the worlds best chili, because of the "something" in the flavor that can't be placed.

My favorite beer in the chili is abita's turbo dog. It has some chocolate and some coffee. Have also done it with my founders bfast stout clone.

May be heckled but my favorite beer to drink with chili is bud light. The alcohol helps knock back the heat and I dont want beer flavors interfering with the hours of love I put into my "good" chili which includes home ground meat.

And for all that is right in the world, beans do not go in chili. Beans go in red beans and rice
 
If it is truly chili, by definition there are no beans. If you include beans, you are having chili with beans and it should be labeled as such. There should be no debate here. Should a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup just be called a chocolate bar? No. Should an Almond Joy be called a Mounds? No. Almond Joys have nuts, Mounds don't. Nuff Said.
 
Not trying to start a debate, just want to know what the distribution of beans/no beans looks like on HBT. I like beans and no beans, but prefer beans when it gets to be -10ºF without the wind up here.
 
I prefer no beans but my wife always wants them so I give in. I use Alton Brown's pressure cooker chili recipe. Instead of chuck we use tri tip and the chips and salsa are from the Mexican restaurant down the street. Usually I will drink a nice malty beer with it in the colder months and an IPA in summertime.
 
If there's beans in my chili there will likely be a pile of beans in the bottom of the bowl when I'm done.

Beans are for hummus and vegetarians.
 
No beans! Chili isn't meant to have beans or other "stuff". For example, when you order a bowl of chili in my town, it has pasta in it. Usually, elbow macaroni. That is just plain wrong.

I like my chili HOT. Very very very spicy hot. That's chili!

My parents are from the Midwest and I don't think I knew that people ate it without elbow macaroni until I went to college. I still eat it that way.
 
If it is truly chili, by definition there are no beans. If you include beans, you are having chili with beans and it should be labeled as such.

Where is this definition of chili you speak of? I think it's hard to define a basic folk dish that has evolved so much over time. Isn't the full name "Chile con carne" which translates to chili with meat? If you have to be specific that it includes meat, might there not be versions that don't include meat? Does chili have to include tomatoes of some kind? Why or why not? Just throwing a little something into the pot ;)

As long as it's good and has a little heat I will eat it, beans or not!
 
Ground beef, onions, garlic, stewed tomatoes, and ground chili. Cook a little, then pressure can it in mason jars. If you guys were in boy scouts or public school, this is the chili you had. Some of you are talking about Chili-mac, I think it's a Midwest thing.
 
If there's beans in my chili there will likely be a pile of beans in the bottom of the bowl when I'm done.

Beans are for hummus and vegetarians.

Yeeep. I just started eating some of them. I usually make a nice little pile of them. I don't like the texture of them at all.
 
Mine has to have fresh stoplight peppers in it. Those are my 5 minute additions. They add some snap in the bowl and a little sweetness to the chili. Plus it looks pretty tasty.

As for beans, I can go either way. I like beans in my mega chili recipe, but in a green chili; that's not right.

The beans I use usually make all parties involved in consumption sound like ships at sea in the fog. BwaaaaaAaAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhbbhhgghghhhhhhhhh!
 
I like beans and chunky tomatoes in my chili... and always use a few different kinds...

For the meat portion of my chili I start with a base of about a pound of ground beef sauteed first with a ton of onions and garlic then I start adding in the left over bbq from the freezer (there is always leftover que in my house... a byproduct of smoking huge chunks of meat).

The final recipe is always done by taste... I measure nothing going in. Spices include chili powder, cumin, lots of garlic, oregano, black pepper, chipolte powder, cocoa powder, onion powder, and anything else that is in my pantry that strikes my fancy. Left over coffee and a pint of dark beer also get tossed in.

When I start making chili I'm always looking for the line of people to eat it... because I make gallons of it at a time.
 
I always find it funny when I run into somebody who says they're a "chili purist" or whatever and don't put beans in their chili. I ask them what peppers they use and they say chili powder.

Now I know some people grow up without beans in their chili and that's ok. But, I'm willing to bet that a vast majority of people who vehemently insist that beans do not belong in chili either heard somebody say it on TV or read about it on the internet. They probably go back home during a family reunion and cook up a fresh batch of beanless chili for all their kin to impress them on their chili knowledge. Then mom and pop come out with their crockpot bean chili that everyone loves and all the knowledge in the world amounts to less than a hill of beans when it comes to taste.
 
I always find it funny when I run into somebody who says they're a "chili purist" or whatever and don't put beans in their chili. I ask them what peppers they use and they say chili powder.

Now I know some people grow up without beans in their chili and that's ok. But, I'm willing to bet that a vast majority of people who vehemently insist that beans do not belong in chili either heard somebody say it on TV or read about it on the internet.

Actually, I just don't like beans. :drunk:

Black beans are about the only bean I can stand, and only in a very small amount.
 
I like it with beans and in a frito pie presentation with sour cream let the flaming begin! Wife always tells me it's not supposed to have beans but I like what I like
 
Beans.
But chili without beans is delicious too!

So many people put dark beer in their chili... I haven't found a stout or porter I can stomach... so I put a coca cola in my chili... it's awesome, and everyone so far has loved it.
 
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