Chili powder...

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Otter

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I want to make up a batch of chili (baby it's cold outside!) and just discovered I have no chili powder. Does anyone have a spice blend substitute for chili powder?
 
Hi Otter! Thought the in-laws were coming Sunday, but they've decided to stay in Knoxville shopping the outlets, so won't be here until tomorrow. (Whew, the cleaning ladies came today!) So anyway, I had a chance to play here a little.

We are having chili tonight as well. I used the McCormack package of chili seasoning. Here's some stuff you can use - taste test as you go along.

cumin (a must!)
hot sauce
a leedle garlic or garlic powder
S&P
onion or onion powder
 
mudbug said:
Hi Otter! Thought the in-laws were coming Sunday, but they've decided to stay in Knoxville shopping the outlets, so won't be here until tomorrow. (Whew, the cleaning ladies came today!) So anyway, I had a chance to play here a little.

We are having chili tonight as well. I used the McCormack package of chili seasoning. Here's some stuff you can use - taste test as you go along.

cumin (a must!)
hot sauce
a leedle garlic or garlic powder
S&P
onion or onion powder
I'm going with those plus a little oregano and basil, but not sure on appropriate proportions of each.
 
mudbug said:
I would go light on those. Otherwise it will make your chili taste like spaghetti sauce.
I use just a touch of each. Just for the heck of it, I did a google on "chili powder" and found a recipe. Think I'll start with that and then add to taste, if necessary. Glad I found it, because I would have forgotten the paprika.
http://southernfood.about.com/od/seasoningrecipes/r/bl30420j.htm
 
mudbug said:
good deal. problem solved, then.

I'm pouring our chili over Tostitos. What are you having with yours?
Won't be having it until Wednesday, but the weather here is going to be brutal over the next few days and I didn't want to have to go to the store again. We like it simply in a big bowl with a lot of Nabisco Saltines.
 
Otter I know that this reply wont help today but in the future the best chilli powder is made from an actual chilli.. All the rest is just seasoning to make something spicey...You can buy dried chillis of your choice..roast them until you smell the aroma...take out seeds and grind into powder. One of the more popular chilli's used is ancho chilli. I started making my chilli w/this method and it makes a difference.
 
An easy homemade chili powder recipe.
INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons garlic powder
PREPARATION:

Combine all ingredients; store in an airtight container.
 
kitchenelf said:
An easy homemade chili powder recipe.
INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons garlic powder
PREPARATION:

Combine all ingredients; store in an airtight container.
Thanks k-elf, that is identical to the one I found, so it must be a winner. I certainly wasn't going to go to the store for a jar of chili powder what with the wind chill being 35 below zero!
 
No BASIL in chili powder!

It's generally ground ancho chiles, cumin, mexican oregano (it's different than Mediterranean) and garlic. Some add salt. Hot chile powder usually adds some dry chile flakes.

I add some unsweetened chocolate to my chili to deepen the flavor -- like a mole.
 
I know basil isn't in chili powder proper, but I usually add a small pinch as a background taste when making chili since I like the flavor. It's in the BH&G New Cookbook - I tried it and I liked it.
 
Yikes Otter - that's chili/chilly weather :mrgreen:

You could have put the baby's talcom powder outside - that would be chilly powder :roll:

I'll give you the bit of advice that I learned from a little girl I used to keep - NEVER, and I mean NEVER leave the baby wipes on the back porch when the temperature dips down into the low 50's.

Went to get them - changed her - she SHREAKED!!!!! "Bicky, dat's berry told" :shock:

Trust me - that's good advice! LOL
 
We had a day last year when the wind chill was -63 - hope we don't get one of those again! The snow actually made an intense crackling sound when you walked on it - sort of like walking on Rice Krispies. Chili has been postponed until Thursday - a friend dropped a pheasant by this afternoon and we're going to have that instead. I must be psychic because I picked up a bottle of Madeira this morning, so will have Pheasant with Madeira Pan Gravy. Yum!
 
Otter said:
kitchenelf said:
An easy homemade chili powder recipe.
INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons garlic powder
PREPARATION:

Combine all ingredients; store in an airtight container.
Thanks k-elf, that is identical to the one I found, so it must be a winner. I certainly wasn't going to go to the store for a jar of chili powder what with the wind chill being 35 below zero!

Wind-chill of -35! That's just windchill. Once you get into your car, and close the doors, the windchill goes away. You must be looking at an absolute temp of around -15 or so, still cold. And that crackling snow, isn't that normal in Minnesota? It is here in U.P. MI.

It warmed a little today, up to around 10 degrees. It was about 2 when I went to work this morning. Last weekend, we had two days of -17. I know what you're talking about. Oh, and if you're a true Northerner, then You have to have at least one sub-zero camp-out under your belt, complete with a pot of chili made in a dutch oven, over a proper campfire built in the snow. ;)

But I gotta say, don't go through the ice. I've done it and am here to tell ya, that water at 32 degrees is colder than any experience I've ever had, including sledding in gravel pits when I was a kid until my clothes were literally frozen solid (happened every weekend unti I was old enough to get my own snowmobile.:D )

Oh, and have you ever raced almost naked (only briefs were allowed to be worn) between ice shacks when it was too cold for other ice-fishermen to be out fishing? When you're 16, and with a best friend, and the fish aren't biting, it can get pretty boring. And you know how competitive teenage boys can get. Besides, at the time, I needed the ten bucks I won from the bet, you know, for gas, for the snowmobile, so I could half freeze myself yet again.

My poor Californian wife jsut doesn't understand these things.;)

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
It's going to start warming up this weekend and finally get above zero with less wind. I know we'll have more nasty stuff, but at least we will get a break from it. Bridget usually wants to drag me half way to Canada on her "walkie" but she has been going out, doing her business and immediately running back to the house.
 
The chili came out awesome. I used the "recipe" for the chili powder and it came out right on the button. A couple other things, however, are what made it really special. Instead of hamburger, I browned cubes of mock tender steak in the LeCreuset. Then I removed the steak and carmelelized the onion in the juices. Recipe then called for adding a half cup of water and adding back the meat and the other ingredients. Instead of water, I used half a cup of Madira. After simmering for 40 minutes, the steak was tender and the flavor was just fantastic. I made a double batch and can't wait to see what the leftovers taste like.
 

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