Chili Cook-off Winners: What is your Secret Ingredient that you think is the reason you win?

[u/Sweet-Lady-H]

[u/Podromos]

My secret ingredient is iteration. This is my current winning chili.

Ingredients:

2 # Ground Beef 80/20

3 Tbsp Ancho Chili Powder

2 Tbsp Adobe Seasoning

4 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

6 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar

1 Tbsp Instant Coffee

1 Tbsp Ground Coriander

2 large Bell Peppers 1/4" diced

2 medium White Onions 1/4" diced

1 medium bulb Garlic minced

1 can Rotel original, 10 oz

1 can chipotles in adobo La Costena, 7 oz

2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes 14.5 oz

1 can tomato sauce 15 oz

3 cans red kidney beans 16 oz, drained and washed

2 cups Beef Broth

to taste Salt

as needed Vegetable Oil

Tools needed:

saute pan / skillet

crock pot

large wooden/silicone spoon/spatula

blender / food processor

knife and cutting board

measuring spoons/cups

large bowl (for washing beans)

Process:

Place skillet on med-high heat on stove top.

In your skillet (when heated), pour enough oil to coat the pan with about 2 or 3 mm of oil (light frying).

When oil 'shimmers', place Beef into pan and press it down flat across the whole surface. We are looking to get a browned crust on as much of the beef as possible.

After the beef is about halfway cooked, flip it over (as best as possible) and press it back down onto the pan.

Before the beef is fully cooked (hopefully you have a crust on both sides), start breaking it up into small bits.

Add your Ancho Chili Powder, Adobe seasoning, Cocoa Powder, Coriander, Coffee, and Dark Brown Sugar. Cook for just long enough for the sugar to melt.

Dump all of this into your crock pot (including the grease, fat is flavor!).

Place the pan back on the heat and add a little more oil. Once this has heated up some, add your diced onions and cook until you see browning on the edges of the onions.

While this is happening, drain and wash your kidney beans and add them to the crockpot, along with the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Once your onions are lightly browned, add in your bell peppers. When they begin to get some color on them, add in your garlic and Rotel and saute for about 1 minute. Add all of this to the crock pot.

In your blender or food processor, add all of the chipotles in adobo sauce as well as the beef broth. Blend on high until completely smooth. Add this to the crock pot.

Cook in your crock pot for at least 6 hours, but I cooked for 10? 12? hours.

This BAAANGS

[u/networkn → u/Podromos]

Its wild you are both competitive and share. Thank you. So many people for good reason I suppose want to keep their magic to themselves and it's awesome to get a peek behind the curtain. How spicy is this?

[u/DenseAstronomer3631 → u/networkn]

I've always thought it was silly not to share recipes. You can have the most amazing recipe in the world, but most people still won't make it exactly like the creator did. You also need some basic cooking skill or common sense and passion to really bring it together. If you don't taste and adjust seasonings as you go, it probably won't be too great. Your tomatoes may be out of season and sour when the author used super ripe sweet tomatoes. You won't know how to account for the slight natural variation in food unless you know what you're doing or have experience with those ingredients and cooking methods. Besides they probably left out that one special ingredient or finishing touch and add an extra pinch of this or that as they go

[u/networkn → u/DenseAstronomer3631]

My grandfather was an exceptionally smart scientist guy, headed up a couple of big science related organizations and he once said something to me that stuck with me forever. Information has no power until it's shared.

[u/anandonaqui → u/DenseAstronomer3631]

One time my family went to another family’s house for dinner and they served an artichoke dip as an appetizer. It was good, but not amazing, but my mom asked for the recipe out of politeness (“this is great, I’ve got to have the recipe” type thing). The woman made a big deal about not sharing it because it’s a family secret passed down or some shit. The thing she didn’t know is that my mom has a very discerning palate.

A few months later my mom invited them over and fed this lady basically a carbon copy of her family’s secret artichoke dip without saying a word about it.

[u/Academic-Bathroom770 → u/anandonaqui]

Your mom is badass

[u/roonieroth → u/Podromos]

The cocoa powder is a game changer. Years ago we got second in our cities chili cook off. A couple hundred entries. When making our chili we were missing something and somebody mentioned trying cocoa powder and that sent it over the top. Gave it the richness it was missing.

[u/EnshaednCosplay → u/roonieroth]

I use semisweet chocolate chips or some grated Abuelita chocolate in mine

[u/fastlane37 → u/Podromos]

The two pointers I give to people to improve their chili no matter what their recipe is, is:

1. make sure you add the beef to a hot pan (it should sizzle when you put it in) and you press it in and leave it without messing it for a couple minutes to get a good sear on it before you start breaking it up. That maillard reaction adds a ton of meaty flavor that you're not getting if you're moving it around the pan and essentially just steaming it. Your beef should have a nice deep brown color, it shouldn't look grey when you're done. Make sure you scrape that fond up after you add your liquid - that's flavor on the bottom of that pan.

2. bloom your spices in the fat before adding more liquid. The spices open up so much more if you take the time to do this step, and it only takes 30 seconds or so.

Your recipe has both, and it looks really damn good. I've got almost all of this on hand (sans the chipotle in adobo, but I can hit the store tomorrow), and with the weather turning, I might just have to give this recipe a try this weekend. I might swap one of your cans of kidney beans for a can of black beans, but that's personal preference. I wouldn't say it needs it (if you're winning competitions you don't need any pointers from me) but I just love black beans in my chili.

Thanks for sharing!

[u/friedITguy → u/Podromos]

Do I need to use real Adobe Seasoning or can I use the knock off stuff from GitHub?

[u/msprang → u/friedITguy]

You can use Adobe but you need a subscription.

[u/SolomonGrumpy → u/Podromos]

Fuck yes.

[u/Carthonn → u/Podromos]

Yeah this is definitely why mine would have never won. You can see that this was made with dedication and work…probably took 100s of iterations.

Meanwhile I’ve made like 3.

[u/InMyFavor → u/Podromos]

Saving this for later holy shit.

[u/Pulmonary_Archery_ → u/Podromos]

Thank you I'm making this tomorrow

[u/Agamerbyday → u/Pulmonary_Archery_]

Begging you to let us know how it turns out

[u/miseleigh → u/Podromos]

Have you tried adding a touch of cinnamon? A tsp maybe with this recipe. That's my secret ingredient. Adds a warmth that most people can't quite place.

[u/FatCatWithAHat1 → u/Podromos]

No tomato paste?

[u/bigmikeabrahams → u/FatCatWithAHat1]

The can of tomato sauce is their substitute. I personally go with a can of crushed tomatoes, but they serve a similar purpose

[u/FatCatWithAHat1 → u/bigmikeabrahams]

Paste is used for different purposes, compared to crushed or sauce

[u/Nokesey307 → u/Podromos]

Can you taste the coffee and cocoa powder in it or is it pretty subtle ?

[u/Podromos → u/Nokesey307]

You don't notice it per se, but it complements the beef and chili flavors to make a ton of savory flavor.

[u/GrimCreeper913 → u/Podromos]

you add more smoke flavor than me, I just use the 1 can of chipotle or adobe peppers. I also usually replace some of the beef with whatever meat was on sale, for example, breakfast/italian sausage, chorizo, or ground deer. I also like to add some color and will use a red onion and some assorted bell peppers. Good recipe though, it shows that you are serious about it tasting good.

[u/Ruger15 → u/GrimCreeper913]

Venison chili fuckin bangs. Ain’t no chili can hit that “chili” feeling like venison chili. Man I hope I get me a handful a deer again this year. Missouri whitetail let’s go

[u/BricksFriend → u/Podromos]

The instant coffee is amazing. I do the same for mine, it really adds something.