Need Unique Chili ingredient ideas

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Chief Longwind Of The North

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love chili, but not the sweet kind served in lower Michigan and Ohio. I won a chili contest with this -

Ingredients:
* 24 oz. (3 cups) Great Northern Beans, cooked
* 24 oz. Pinto Beans, cooked
* ½ cup Salsa Verde (available in most grocery stores)
* 1 large white onion, diced
* ½ cup chopped green onion
* 1 tbs. Sriracha brand Pepper Sauce
* 2 tbs. Coriander, ground
* 1 tbs. Cumin, ground
* 2 stalks Celery, sliced with leaves
* 1 ½ lb. Ground Beef (80/20 grind)
* 2 tsp. Kosher Salt, or 1 ½ tsp. table salt
* 3 tbs. fresh Cilantro, chopped
* 2, one-inch Serrano Chile Peppers, minced
* ½ tsp. white pepper, ground (or you can use black pepper)
* 2 cups heavy cream (1 pint)
* ½ cup Masa Harina (can be found next to the corn meal at
your grocers)
* 3 tbs. cooking oil

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the diced onion. Sauté over medium heat while stirring until the onion begins to soften (about 2 minutes). Add the ground beef and flatten out. Let cook for about 5 minutes and then break it up. Stir and cook until the meat has lightly browned. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the Masa Harina, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for two hours, stirring every twenty minutes or so to prevent the chili from sticking. Taste the chili and correct the seasoning to your taste (add more salt if needed).
Place the Masa Harina into an eight ounce cup along with just enough water to form a thick paste. Stir with a fork until all the lumps are removed. Slowly stir in two tbs. more water. This is called slurry. Stir the Masa Harina slurry into the chili, and again cover. Let it all cook over low heat for an additional ten minutes. Stir and test to see if the chili is thick enough for you. If so, then you are ready to serve up a bowl- full or two to your family. But remember, like all great chili, this is even better the next day. So if you can, cool it in an ice bath and place in the refrigerator for tomorrow’s dinner. Serve it with some good cornbread, or nachos.

2 of my kids have used it and were told that it was the best chili in the contest both were disqualified as the chili wasn't red.

So, how do I tweak the above recipe to make it something I can eat? I'm thinking that I can replace the beans with pearl barley, but have no clue what to use in place of the salsa verde (which is made with tomatila), or tomato? I love chii, and want to be able to enjoy it again, even if it isn't my favorite batch of red chili.

Seeeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the Northl
 
So, how do I tweak the above recipe to make it something I can eat? I'm thinking that I can replace the beans with pearl barley, but have no clue what to use in place of the salsa verde (which is made with tomatila), or tomato? I love chii, and want to be able to enjoy it again, even if it isn't my favorite batch of red chili.

Hi, Chief. I'm not sure how to answer because I don't know what your dietary needs and restrictions are. You can't eat beans (any beans at all?), tomatoes or tomatillos, is that right? Is there anything else you can't eat? What about chile peppers?
 
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Hi, Chief. I'm not sure how to answer because I don't know what your dietary needs and restrictions are. You can't eat beans (any beans at all?), tomatoes or tomatillos, is that right? Is there anything else you can't eat? What about chile peppers?

I was wondering the same thing. And, if it is the tomatoes and tomatillos, then I definitely want to hear the suggestions, since I am avoiding most nightshades because they make my arthritis worse.
 
If eliminating nightshades, chili would be impossible to make, since peppers are also nightshades.

There are many versions of true Texas chili with no beans and no tomatoes. None with no chiles.
 
If eliminating nightshades, chili would be impossible to make, since peppers are also nightshades.

There are many versions of true Texas chili with no beans and no tomatoes. None with no chiles.

I said avoiding most nightshades. For some reason, chilies don't seem to bother me. I suspect it's the capsaicin, which has anti-inflammatory properties.
 
I would enjoy the memory of the award-winning chili recipe and create a new recipe for a new phase in my life.

How about chili without beans, more like a Tex-Mex beef stew served over riced cauliflower.
 
If eliminating nightshades, chili would be impossible to make, since peppers are also nightshades.

There are many versions of true Texas chili with no beans and no tomatoes. None with no chiles.

Chief, you may want to do some research on traditional Texas chili recipes. They have very few ingredients, and no beans. You didn't mention nightshades, but a small amount of hot chilis can pack a lot of flavor, and tomatoes aren't part of traditional Texas chili, either.

My own chili is a hybrid, with about half the ingredients of yours, but I like the traditional Texas chili, too, which is even simpler. It is often served over cornbread, which can make up for the loss of beans.

CD
 
I too like the looks of the Salsa Verde. I still think pearl barley would add good texture to a beanless chili.:) And yes, I can eat chilies of all kinds, hot and mild. Peppers don't seem to have the potassium and phosphates in large amounts as do the oteher nighshades.

Thanks everyone.

Oh, by the way, feel free to try the whhite chili, though now I kick up the heat by adding hot peppers, and add more flavor by adding dried japone peppers as well. Make it by my recipe, or change it up. Let me know what you think.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
I've got two great Chili collections, in PDF, too large to download here.......... Anyone who'd like to have 'em, PM me an E-mail addy .........:chef:
 
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