Chili - Made quickly, made cheaply.

September 2, 2011 2:59 AM

I want to cook a Chili Con Carne quickly with the minimum of ingredients. Heresy I know, but what's the minimum I need to do this well?

So I'm looking for something I can cook up in 30 minutes or so, and because I don't have any ingredients, I don't want to be spending a fortune buying 20 different kinds of spices.

I'm thinking I can get away with only using chilli, cumin, garlic, kidney beans, onions, mince and tomatoes. What else *must* I use? Any other tips?

posted by seanyboy to Food & Drink (26 answers total)

Salt. Maybe some pepper.

You could eliminate either the meat or the beans as well.
posted by 6550 at 3:10 AM on September 2, 2011

Best answer: You can certainly strip that down further. The beans and tomatoes are most definitely optional (even controversial). According to this Guardian article, the most basic ingredients are beef (not necessarily mince if you can pick up stewing beef cheaper), onions, garlic, oregano and chillis. I'd personally consider cumin a necessity too.
posted by Bodd at 3:12 AM on September 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

I'd not even use beans. chopped fresh, or high-end dried (or a combination of both) Chilis to your taste, cumin, perhaps some ground coriander, finely-chopped good quality (Farmer's market-type) onions (a lot), finely chopped fresh tomatoes (or the best type of canned tomatoes you can buy), and well, I don't use mince, I use a 50-50 mix of cubed pork and beef, with a little fat, and cook everything for many many hours very slowly until everything just falls apart. About the 30 minutes: you make a really large batch and freeze it and warm it up when needed. 30-minutes-from-scratch chili con carne will never be good.
posted by Namlit at 3:16 AM on September 2, 2011

Okay. SO disagrees and says a 30 minutes Chili with mince is fine, according to your ingredients list. I'm a nerd is all. Use black beans then.
posted by Namlit at 3:18 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: IAFSATX, I am from San Antonio, Texas. CUMIN! is the most important part. Try using tomato paste instead of sauce if you're making it quick. The paste is by def. already cooked down. For future batches, when you have time to go to the store, I say get a large can of chilpotle chiles (they are smoked) from the Mexican section, if you have one. They also exist dried, but the sauce is helpful for a quick batch. Among things you already have, use a small, I repeat small, bit of cocoa powder (unsweetened) or some leftover coffee to add complexity. If you add too much cocoa, it will turn into a mole, which is still good, but not what you're after. If possible, thicken it with finely ground cornmeal (masa meal).

For literally 30 min., I would forgo canned tomatoes and beans entirely. It will end up tasting like some kind of Northern vegetarian food (though still not bad).
posted by skbw at 3:54 AM on September 2, 2011 [3 favorites]

If you are serious about the 30 min., I would make the chili and serve it with eggs and tortillas. This is a legitimate food of northern Mexico. Remember that all this was developed as ranch food.
posted by skbw at 3:58 AM on September 2, 2011

I just use ground beef, kidney beans, chopped fresh jalapenos, and a couple of cans of Campbell's tomato soup and canned generic store brand tomato sauce. I add chill powder, salt and pepper to taste, and occasionally some others if I have them around and I feel like it. The non-meat portion costs under $10 even if I'm making a massive pot to freeze for meals for the whole winter. Meat will cost you whatever you're willing to pay depending on fat content and quality.

Now granted I simmer mine for four hours but I imagine you'd be okay in 30 minutes too.
posted by olinerd at 4:06 AM on September 2, 2011

2 lbs of ground beef
Two 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
One 8 oz can of water
One package Wick Fowler's 2-Alarm Chili Kit

1. Brown the beef and then drain the fat.
2. Add the remaining ingredients.
3. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
posted by Houstonian at 4:09 AM on September 2, 2011 [4 favorites]

My learned colleague Houstonian is 100% correct about the 2-Alarm Chili Kit for anyone who can get it. From the location of OP it sounds as though he cannot.
posted by skbw at 4:24 AM on September 2, 2011

Can you use a pressure cooker? That'll make every one of those 30 minutes extra-effective.
posted by easily confused at 4:24 AM on September 2, 2011

Response by poster: No pressure cooker.
posted by seanyboy at 4:25 AM on September 2, 2011

Minimal ingredients I can help you with: I once visited some family friends on a reservation in New Mexico, and they served chili that consisted of beef, dried chilis, salt and water. That's it. It was delicious. Of course, it had also cooked the entire day, so I can't make any suggestions about speed.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:09 AM on September 2, 2011

seanyboy, if you want to experience Wick Fowler's award-winning chili without access to the actual mix, this person measured out the ingredients in the box. When you open the kit, it is just individual packets of spices (making it very affordable and convenient). The ingredients and measurements look right to me: paprika, cumin, onion flakes, garlic salt, chili powder, red pepper, and masa harina optionally. Maybe it is available in the "imported foods" aisle of the grocery store? Worth looking for....
posted by Houstonian at 5:14 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

seanyboy: quickest ever chilli recipe.

You will need:

1lb minced beef

salt, pepper, garlic granules or puree, ground cumin, ground chilli (optional)

half a tin of Eazy Onions

a tin of kidney beans in chilli sauce

a tin of chopped tomatoes

dried chilli flakes (optional)

What you do:

In a large pan brown the mince and when it's nearly done, add garlic to taste, a teaspoon of ground cumin and some chilli powder (although you can leave this out if you don't like it too hot). Fry for another minute or two until the spices are cooked. (This part takes about 10 minutes in total)

Add the onions, the kidney beans and the tomatoes (you can also buy these with added chilli, if you want).

Stir it all round, put the lid on, leave it for ten minutes, taste it, add salt & pepper to season and if it's still not hot enough at this stage, add some dried chilli flakes. Simmer for a further five or ten minutes, while you do your microwave Uncle Ben's rice to go with it.
posted by essexjan at 5:27 AM on September 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

I make Houstonian's recipie almost exactly.

1lb Ground Chuck
1 12oz can tomato sauce
1 packet McCormick Chili Seasoning Mix
posted by royalsong at 6:00 AM on September 2, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions. I didn't want to use a mix (it would be cheaper though).
posted by seanyboy at 6:01 AM on September 2, 2011

Also came in to mention that you can buy a packet of Chili Seasoning.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 8:27 AM on September 2, 2011

Beef, onion, salt, and red chile is all you strictly need. Cumin, garlic, and Mexican oregano are valuable additions you would miss. Your real problem is 30 minutes: chili needs at least a couple hours simmer to really develop flavour.

Don't dismiss the mix too quickly: both Wick Fowler's and McCormick are good. They're basically just measured out packages of spices to save you the trouble of opening several spice jars. I imagine they'd be hard to find in the UK, though. Absolutely do not use "Old El Paso" brand stuff: it's commonly available in Europe, but it's flavourless.
posted by Nelson at 9:04 AM on September 2, 2011

Best answer: I have noticed that when I 'm making quick chili, if I use beer as some of the liquid it always turns out better. (Also if you like tomatoes in your chili-I personally think it's not chili without some kind of tomato product--they contain some flavor compounds that are alcohol soluble so the beer brings that out.) If you use a really good chicken stock as the rest of the liquid, that will up the slow-cooked taste.
posted by Kimberly at 10:25 AM on September 2, 2011 [3 favorites]

How do you feel about Cincinnati chili? I ask because it's supposed to be made with ground beef — so you wouldn't be doing anything inauthentic or committing any sort of heresy by using the ingredients you've already got. (I guess a Texan would say "You've committed heresy as soon as you decide to make Cincinnati chili, so I don't even care what ingredients you use anymore.") It's also cooked for a lot less time than Real Proper Texan or New Mexican chili, and nobody will call you nasty names if you like to put beans in it.

You'd need cinnamon and allspice (both pretty cheap as spices go) and cheddar cheese in addition to what you've already got.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:36 AM on September 2, 2011

Two Items, Beer (already mentioned) and Tortilla chips. Add the beer (maybe half depending on serving size) then crumble in a bunch of tortilla chips (ground in a blender even) to add body and thicken everything up. Since the chips are already cooked they work better then some other thickeners which need to be cooked a bit (flour)
posted by bitdamaged at 12:18 PM on September 2, 2011

Speaking specifically to the 30 min. issue, which is the real challenge here: Liquid Smoke. Don't knock it until, etc..
posted by skbw at 2:13 PM on September 2, 2011

(Americans, please note that there is almost no resemblance whatsoever between the English / Australian / Kiwi 'chilli con carne' and almost anything you might care to call 'chili' in the US. Think cumin-scented fast-food bolognese sauce. Cincinnati chili is a refined, richly flavoured and masterfully prepared dish in comparison.)

Mince, salt, cumin, tomato sauce (I mean like Heinz, not like passata), water, a little flour, maybe a stock cube.

Fry the meat til very, very brown (no, more brown that that) - there should be no grey, no pink and no liquid, just sizzling. Add cumin, stir. Add flour, stir. Add tomato sauce and stock cube, then add water a little at a time to make the gravy. If you want canned kidney beans, add them now and stir til warmed through. Taste - add salt, cumin or tomato sauce as necessary.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 8:57 PM on September 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks everyone.

BTW - I had to serve it up over two sessions, so for the second session got to cook it for an extra 30 minutes. The extra cooking time definitely made a difference.
posted by seanyboy at 2:35 AM on September 3, 2011

If there were tomatoes in it the flavor gets better just sitting in the fridge too!
posted by Kimberly at 10:12 AM on September 3, 2011

Best answer: Seanyboy, this is a moving story of a man called to eat Mexican food even though in a distant exile. Next you should try picadillo. It is reminiscent of chili (also made of "mince") except with different additions: olives and possibly raisins (just a few). It does better with a quick cook than chili does. Here is the recipe my mother uses (from Flavors, the Junior League of San Antonio cookbook, here excerpted in the newsletter of the Grand Prairie Gun Club (PDF), which is why I link it instead of cutting and pasting).

In the listed recipe, omit the apples(!) and add olives and 2 pinches cocoa powder.
posted by skbw at 11:23 AM on September 3, 2011 [1 favorite]