Chili recipe suggestions. - moved from General Chowhounding board

[nuraman00]

I tried this chili recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/The-Best...

Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1/2 medium onion, chopped
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 2 tablespoons dried oregano
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 2 stalks celery, chopped
* 2 green bell peppers, chopped
* 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
* 3 cloves garlic, chopped
* 2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers, drained
* 2 (12 ounce) packages vegetarian burger crumbles
* 3 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed
* 1/4 cup chili powder
* 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
* 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
* 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
* 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
* 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

Here are some changed I wanted to make, thoughts on what I can do?

* Before I made it, I thought it might be too much tomato. It was. Three cans 28 ounces each made the tomato flavor too strong.

How much should I reduce it by? Should I use only 1 can?

* I wanted it a little spicier. Instead of 2 jalapeno peppers, 4?

Should I try other types of chili peppers? I have read about using ancho chilis, etc. How many?

* I wanted a "darker" flavor. I have read some suggestions about using cocoa power, or baking chocolate? Thoughts? How much? Does it make it too sweet?

* Also, cinnamon, light colored beer, or coconut milk were some other secret ingredients I read about.

* More chili powder?

I wanted to keep this recipe as a guideline, but wanted some tweaks.

Oh, and I didn't use the veggie crumbles.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[gilrain]

I would ditch that recipe and use this one, from the always-solid, frequently-sublime 101cookbooks blogger. This vegetarian chili is way, way better and heartier than it has any right being. My girlfriend and I make it all the time, when the weather turns chili. Actually we make huge batches and freeze it.

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/...

[nuraman00]

I tried this one.

Here were my changes:

* 3 Serrano peppers.
* 1 Jalopeno pepper
* 2 Chipotle peppers
* 1 cup green, 1 cup red, 1 cup brown lentils
* 1 cup bulgar wheat

Thoughts:

* It was hearty

* Somehow, I felt this was less spicy than recipe in the first post

* I don't know if this is the right word, but it tasted a little bitter. Maybe not bitter, maybe it was the lentil flavor that was too strong.

* I like garbanzo beans, but I didn't like them in this recipe. I think the garbanzo beans are too big. I was fine with all beans in the first recipe, though. Maybe the garbanzo beans stood out too much in this one.

* I think I liked adding lentils overall, it gave it a nice texture.

I would have tried cocoa power, but I didn't have enough.

Thoughts? Did I do something wrong?

Should I try cocoa power and lime next time?

[gilrain]

Hm, well it's certainly hearty! I loved how the bulgar gave it both an almost-meaty flavor as well as an almost-meaty texture. I didn't notice any bitterness in my batch. I did add extra chipotle peppers and even a little chipotle sauce, so that extra sweetness and spiciness may have helped.

I also used a stick blender on mine, at the end. Not much, just enough to break down the garbonzo beans.

However, I really enjoy the base recipe. If you didn't care for it much, I'd say it's probably not worth trying too hard to perfect. Everyone has a different idea of what makes "chili."

[nuraman00]

Thanks for the response.

What chipotle sauce did you use?

Maybe I should have used even more chipotle peppers too.

Using a blender on the garbanzo beans sounds like a good idea.

This is only my 2nd time ever making chili, so I"m not sure what I like yet.

I'm just trying to figure out what positives I can take from this, and what I can learn for next time.

I definitely liked the texture the bulgar gave it, agree.

What flavor would you describe that the lentils added? Maybe if I read how you describe it, I can put into context whether mine tasted like that or not, and I can figure out how it was supposed to taste.

There were some good items in that recipe (bulgar, chipotle peppers) that are keepers for sure.

[nuraman00]

I liked this more the 2nd day that I had it, I warmed up to the overall taste.

I'd still like some tweaks, but saying it was "bitter" was too harsh.

[ScubaSteve]

beans? in chili?

[James Cristinian]

Beans, celery, corn?

[gordeaux]

If it was me, I would omit the celery, green pepper, and chili powder.

In place of the chili powder, I would add ground chiles - ancho, a tiny bit of chipotle, pasilla, just a bunch of dark dried/ground chiles. I've never been a fan of storebought things labeled "chili powder." They are normally concoctions of very stale spices and cheap table salt. Also, omitting the chili powder would probably leave out some garlic powder, onion powder, salt and cumin. Take that into account. You might wanna up your fresh garlic and onion.

I think i'd use twice the onion the recipe calls for as well.

Cocoa powder and baker's chocolate will not add sweetness - they are unsweetened. For this cocncotion amount, I think I'd try 1/8 cup of cocoa powder.

Adding heat is completely up to your taste. If the jalapenos you have are firey, then you will know how mych more to add. If they are not hot at all, then adding more won't add any heat. You are the only one who can judge the heat of the peppers you have. They can vary in heat level greatly.

The whole qq about chile peppers is kind of hard to answer. If you are not familiar with the flavors of different chiles, then the short answer is ABSOLUTELY. I normally use fresh jalapenos, and serranos for chili. For dried, I'll use arbol, pasilla, guajillo, chipotle, ancho, pequin, and dundicuts. Pasilla, guajillo, and ancho are milder.

During the last ten min of your cook time, I'd add in the juice of a lime, a nice handful of chopped cilantro and alter the salt.

[nuraman00]

Lots of good suggestions, thanks.

I will try:

* Eliminating the chili powder. I agree with your opinion about a storebought item labeled chili powder. I've never really used it before myself, and bought the chili powder container just for this.

* Add chipotle, pasilla, and other ground chiles.

* Cocoa power. Do you think 1/8 cup is enough? When I tried the recipe in the 1st post, It ended up filling most of a 5 Quart crock pot when

* Lime juice.

* Should I reduce the amount of tomatoes, like I wanted to? If so, how many cans should I use?

[ChristinaMason]

Whole Foods sells a high-quality house brand chili powder that I really like.

[KaimukiMan]

OK, so it looks like you are making a vegetarian chili. that changes the rules substantially. Otherwise you should get rid of about half of the ingredients.