 |
| Beans, good and good for you |
Recently, a blog I follow, The Money Shot, had a post that evoked day long comments regarding the proper ingredients for chili. It broke down to beans vs. no beans. The no bean people were quick to point out that you can be shot in Texas for putting beans in chili. I'm sure we can get our regular commenter Bill to weigh in on Texas chili preferences. Texas notwithstanding, chili should always be made with beans, ideally red kidney beans, but other beans are acceptable.
Mrs. Grumpy makes the best chili ever. It's her secret recipe; all I know is that it simmers for hours in a crock pot and it takes 2 days of soaking and scrubbing to remove the residue from the pot. That's when you know you have good chili, when it stains everything it touches.
Weigh in on your preference: Beans or no beans. Recipes welcome.
11 comments:
One time I was trying to make my chili so hot with chili pepper I actually felt the stuff on my teeth after we ate it. It was like "I have to go scrape my teeth, now!"
Definitely red kidney beans. Would not dream of making chili without them.
And - NO TURKEY BURGER! That is just wrong! And I think - unAmerican.
Comments on Texas Chili really require an entire blog unto itself but I'll try to be brief. Whether beans or no beans, tradition holds that Texas Chili be bean-less. Still the argument of whether chili is best with or without beans goes back to just after the Civil War when carpetbaggers drifted into Texas, grabbing up land and spilling foreign objects into our chili, mainly beans. Texans prefer pinto beans to kidney beans by a margin of ten thousand to one.
I grew up in a lesser populated part of the state and was well into my thirties when I first heard of Kidney beans and was shocked to hear that some people actually desecrated a good bowl of chili with Kidneys. It was at a purchasing conference in Dallas. We were all shocked except this was one Purchasing Manager from Cleveland... well you get the picture.
Bill is right: pintos are better. I enjoy Gold Star and Cincinnati chili but the best I've had was a califirnia chili with pintos and mucho caliente with jalapenos.
Thank you Bill; I knew you would know the history. I still think a bowl of chili without beans is just a bowl of meat with some veggies thrown in.
I will be trying pinto beans the next time.
I hate Cincinnati style chili; watery, cinnamony, yuck. All from the recipes of Greek immigrants. Nothing wrong with Greeks, but I don't get their idea of chili.
First of all I regret that I went to his blog. The image of his header shot is now burned into my retinas.
Beans and heat. There I've said it.
Yeah, I wouldn't expect you to appreciate the sophomoric humor at The Money Shot.
That header was funny for awhile; now I think they're just too lazy to change it.
Definitely with beans. I think any variety of beans will do. If ya can't fart after a bowl of chili, what is the point? (HA! Just kidding).
Seriously though, I helped a friend recently plant an Edible Forest Garden.(Post to come.) She fed the crew with two crock pots of vegan chile-no meat, but three or so varieties of beans, a bit of corn and peppers, and tomatoes, etc...I must admit, it was wonderful, surprisingly. She had great spices and flavors. So-beans!
Relax, kden, we're all good shits over there. Not too lazy to change it but all the other banners that we had were erased when my hard drive crashed and I don't have another alternative. Laziness wins the day again.
I can't say this enough: Cannelini beans are incredible.
And turkey burgers are terrific.
I agree, turkey burgers are great. So why not turkey chili?
Peruby grabs the sides of her head..outnumbered turkies! Rats!
Anyway...where my roots come from (West Virginia) pinto beans was for brown beans and cornbread. That may be why we never used them in our chili. I love me a good dish of brown beans and cornbread.
Ten thousand to one. LOL!
Post a Comment