We Tested the Most Popular Chili Ingredients and Found the Winner! Cowboy Chili

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You know, chili has been around for
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[music] a long time, and nothing I like
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better on the chuck wagon on a cold day
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than a good old bowl of chili. Now, oh,
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Cookie, he'd been making it long [music]
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before I ever come along. And he'd make
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it for them cowboys. Could have been out
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of venison, could have been [music] out
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of elk, maybe some jack rabbit, even
0:28
rattlesnake. But today, [music] we're
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making three different kinds of chili.
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Now, one is an old traditional cocoa
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[music] powder chili used so many times
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by Mexican cooks many years ago. And the
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other one is a dark [music] beer chili.
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But then we're traveling all the way to
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Cincinnati. But we're going to go in a
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hurry and come back because [music]
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we're making a Cincinnati chili with a
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little change. Three beans, but it's got
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some great [music] spices in it. So,
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we're putting all these to the test to
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see which one is the best. But today
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we're going to start off with that old
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traditional Mexican chili from way down
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the trail many years ago. Got [music] a
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little cocoa powder in it.
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Well, pound of ground beef 8020 is in
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there. Little seasoning of our original.
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If you ain't got that, use some salt,
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pepper, garlic powder.
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I was going to set that right there, but
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I don't think it'd last long there.
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one white onion.
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And we'll just keep stirring this around
1:33
here and letting it cook till that onion
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softens a little. Then we're going to
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add some garlic.
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Now, I guarantee you going down the
1:43
trail so many years ago, old Cookie
1:45
would have just had this over an open
1:46
fire in a big old cast iron pot
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probably, and it would probably have
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been wild game. There wasn't hamburger
1:53
patties or anything like that. It was
1:55
all just chunk meat, which I think
1:57
really if you cook it right and you get
1:59
it good and tender, it is a really good
2:01
way to have a bowl of chili. And
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speaking of that, if you'll go back and
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check out our video that we filmed in
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the snow last year, Chili Colorado, it
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has a chunked up chuck roast in there.
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Some of the best chili I ever made in my
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life.
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But it is time to add some garlic.
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You always put garlic in right there
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sort of at the to last because you don't
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want it to burn.
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We'll let that just get a little flavor
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incorporated in there. Then I'll meet
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y'all back over to Chuck Box. There's a
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big argument all over the world, but
2:36
mostly just in Texas. Okay. Why do you
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put beans in your chili? Well, I'm
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figuring if old Cookie had a pot of them
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old pinto beans going and he just had
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one little dab of jack rabbit or one
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little dab of rattlesnake, he gonna make
2:49
it go further because he gonna throw
2:50
them in there. That's why I'm doing it.
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Always like to make something appear
2:54
larger than what it is. And this is
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going to be a better meal for it. So,
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first
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regular old canned pinto beans to that.
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[music] Next, we're going to add the
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tomato sauce to Oh, tomato paste,
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forgive me. [music] Now, the reason
3:10
we're putting the beans and this in here
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first is so we can mix this tomato paste
3:14
really good.
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So, into that little brown sugar, little
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sweetness. Here [music] comes the cocoa
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powder. Now, to me, it's going to give
3:29
it, I'd say, not a sweet taste, not a
3:32
bitter taste, but a mellow taste that's
3:34
really rich. And something that helps
3:36
kick that off is what? Ancho chili
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powder because it also brings out a
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chocolate flavor, but you're going to
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get some smoke there with it, too. So,
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we gonna sprinkle some [music] in there
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if it'll come out of there. Cumin just a
3:49
tad. And when you buy oregano, I really
3:53
like to buy this brand. They ain't
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paying me to say it or nothing. Fiesta
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dried Mexican oregano. You're going to
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get more flavor out of it, I think. Now,
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don't just pull them out of here and
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just drop them in there. Give them a
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good crumbling as you put them in there.
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And it's usually to me just two little
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pinches. There's a lot of great flavor
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in there. To that, we're going to add
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some of our chili seasoning.
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And I always make chili like this, but
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then I taste it when we get to going to
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see if I need to add any more.
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That is thick, and that's the way we
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want it. So, we're going to thin it with
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a little water. If you want to use beef
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broth, you can.
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If you're in the house, turn that burner
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on about medium heat. Set it on there.
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Add your meat to it. Let it come to a
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boil. Let it boil four or five minutes.
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And then turn that down to a simmer. Put
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you a lid on it. Stir it periodically.
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I'm going to let it cook about 45
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minutes. And you want to make sure that
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you don't lose any of that liquid. So,
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you may have to add some back to it. But
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the longer it simmers, the better flavor
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it's going to have. Everything
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incorporates the best.
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Same base as before. Ground beef, onion,
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little seasoning. Just let it get good
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and browned over there. And while that
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is sitting there just resting a little
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bit, we're gonna start out this beer
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chili with some Rotel. A lot of people
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say, "I've never seen Rotel. You're
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scaring me. What is it? Is it like
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roadkill?" Close but not hard. Diced
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tomatoes with green chilies.
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Rotel is just the brain.
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Yeah. Brand name.
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Name brand.
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Yeah, that's what we've always called it
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is. Pick up a can of Rotel. So, get you
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one of them. Dump her in there. But that
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is drained. Next, kidney beans. The
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reason I like the Lou kidney beans is to
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me they taste sort of like a pinto bean,
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but they have a little more of a nutty
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flavor to them when I eat them. So I
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like them undrained. Goes right in the
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pot. It does. Cumin. Give it a pretty
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good shake. After that, smoked paprika.
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Now you could use just regular paprika.
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How do you say that?
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Paprika.
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What? Does it taste better with the
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rolled R?
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Yes, it says it right here. I think it's
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got six Rs in it. Paper. [snorts]
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Aha. To me, this is one of the greatest
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spices there is. And I really do love a
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smoked paprika. It gives a lot of
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flavor. Ground mustard. Remember, buy
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this kind of oregano. Don't be getting
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the other kind. Two pinches. Give it a
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little crumble.
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That come from way over the pond. It
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did. Look. What does it say? Guinness.
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Now, to me, I don't like dark beer. If
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I'm going to drink a beer, it's going to
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be really light beer. But everybody has
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told me you need to use a dark beer if
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you're going to cook chili. So, we're
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gonna see what happens. We want about a
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cup. So, we're looking at about eight
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ounces here.
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Oh, that hits your hat.
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Uh-huh. [laughter]
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We're going to call it about that much
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right there. Give it a little stir.
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We got to have chili seasoning. Now,
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when I'm making chili at home, 2 lbs of
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meat, I usually use two to three
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tablespoons of this. So, we going to add
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that to it.
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You kind of got a messy work area here.
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Well, it was them Irish people or
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whoever makes this [music] Guinness
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beer.
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Irish.
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That's what I think that was like maybe
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so an explosive device. I ain't for
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sure. But it got plum up on my hat, one
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eyebrow, but it is good. I'm going to
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take this over to Bertha just like
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before. Going to have it on about medium
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heat. We're going to add the meat to it.
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Be ready to go. Let it simmer about 45
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minutes.
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[music]
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Hey, before we go any further, I think I
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need to give y'all some top chili
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cooking tips. And number one thing is
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chipotle [music] peppers and adobo
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sauce. Probably my favorite ingredient
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to have around. It's always on the
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wagon, [music] always in the house. Now,
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I didn't put it in any of these today
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cuz I wanted to see the difference. And
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number two thing, if you ever need to
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thicken your chili, I have done it with
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cornstarch [music]
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and a little water. I have done it with
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flour. But the best thing is to get you
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some corn masa, sift a little in there,
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get a whisk, and stir it up. To me, it
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gives it really a rich flavor that you
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want to have that old hearty south of
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the border taste. And I think that masa
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does the greatest job ever. Get you some
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dried chilies. Cascel, guilo, [music]
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ancho chili. And if you're looking for
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that heat to just peek it up there on
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the top, chili, they are ball. Take all
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the seeds and the stem out of them. Put
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them in some water. Let it come to a
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boil. Let them soften. Then you can mix
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that in a blender. All them chilies.
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They are so much flavor coming about
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when you have that first bite. But I'd
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love to know what's your [music] secret
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ingredient you put in your chili to give
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it flavor or to spice it up. Leave me a
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comment down there below cuz [music] I
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might want to change my recipe and
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follow y'alls. Next up on the list,
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Cincinnati chili. And I am sure ready to
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try it. It has some great ingredients in
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it that are a little different. and also
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a great history to go along with it.
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Ground pork and ground beef, it's going
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to give it some more flavor, I think.
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Now, when you combine beef and pork
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ground together, you get the taste of
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that beef, but you really get a I think
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to me a good southern dose of what that
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sausage brings out. And that is great
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flavor cuz you buy any kind you want. I
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try to get that that's got a little
9:40
smoke flavor into it. But this is going
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to be something I know is going to
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trigger the winning vote.
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Did you already say you think this is
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the winner?
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I think it is because I made chili a
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long time ago on a ranch and I run out
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of ground beef nearly and had to mix
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pork with it. Everybody said, "Why ain't
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we been having this kind all the time?"
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So, I'm thinking this might be the
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winner. We will add an onion to this
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diced up. And when it gets softened up,
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we'll add some garlic cloves and we'll
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go from there. I'll meet you back at the
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chuck box.
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[music]
10:18
Cincinnati chili traces its roots back
10:20
to Greek immigrants who settled in
10:22
Cincinnati in the early [music] 1920s.
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Many of them opened small neighborhood
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diners and chili parlors, serving dishes
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that blended oldworld flavors with foods
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Americans were already comfortable with.
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[music] To make their cooking more
10:35
approachable, they adapted Mediterranean
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spices like cinnamon, cloves, and
10:40
allspice into a chili style meat sauce
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inspired [music] by Greek meat stews,
10:44
but seasoned for American taste. The
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name comes straight from the city
10:48
itself, but the style is what really
10:50
sets it apart. [music] Instead of a
10:52
thick, chunky chili, this one is
10:54
thinner, almost saucy
10:57
served over spaghetti and topped with
10:59
mountains of shredded cheese. It is a
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true regional dish. born from
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immigration, adaptation, and necessity.
11:07
And a great example of how American food
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culture has always been shaped [music]
11:11
by the people who came here and cook
11:14
what they knew using what they had.
11:17
Cincinnati chili.
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That is a lot of ingredients right
11:20
there.
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It is, I'm telling you. And ingredients
11:22
I've never put in chili. I mean, things
11:24
that I didn't even know you're supposed
11:25
to put in here, but I'm trusting all
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them Greek immigrants from way back. So,
11:29
first we're going to start with some
11:31
black beans, some pinto beans, cuz I
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always call this too a three bean. And
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some kidney beans that were drained.
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Next, what do we got here? Some tomato
11:44
sauce in there. Then some of that
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they're rotail. After that, coriander.
11:52
Now, I have used coriander as a meat
11:53
rub, but I've never put it in chili. So,
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this we're going to see what happens.
11:58
Cinnamon. Now, this goes back really to
12:00
old Mexico because a lot of them old
12:02
cooks down there put cinnamon and cocoa
12:04
both in their chili. So, in it goes. But
12:07
also something I've never put in chili.
12:11
Oh, we might have done it right there.
12:13
Oh, is it?
12:14
It was ground nutmeg.
12:15
Uh-oh.
12:16
And it's supposed to be ground cloves.
12:18
Good thing I looked. Mhm. So, in it goes
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some brown sugar. We'll give that a stir
12:23
and then we'll add the chili seasoning.
12:26
So, smoked paprika
12:30
and some chili seasoning.
12:36
I think if we had a flour tortilla right
12:38
now, we'd just quit eat this because
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oh, there's a lot of flavor over here.
12:43
I'm going to meet y'all over at Bertha.
12:45
We'll add the meat to it. And to that
12:47
meat, I have roasted me a jalapeno and
12:49
diced it up and laid right in there cuz
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we're going to kick it up a notch.
12:53
Another ingredient we're going to throw
12:56
in here, some butter. To that, we're
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going to add the meat and the jalapeno
13:01
and the onion and the garlic.
13:05
And I don't want to let none of it jump
13:06
out.
13:09
We're going to let this simmer like the
13:10
rest of them about 45 minutes covered.
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And then we will have the taste testing.
13:27
I thought I knew who was going to win
13:29
right off the bat when I put it
13:30
together, but now I really have mixed
13:33
emotions because it's so close. It is.
13:36
I I'm just going to leave it up to them
13:38
judges that are coming and let them pick
13:40
because this is the closest horse race
13:42
there's going to be. It is a photo
13:44
finish.
14:03
Well, the judges have arrived. First one
14:06
down there in that blackhead is a dear
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friend of mine, Jimmy Deir, who has
14:09
probably eat more bowls of chili than
14:10
the law would allow. And our next judge
14:13
is Darren Hooker, former police chief
14:15
here in Riosa and a member of the
14:17
Village City Council. But are you
14:19
feeling a little dirty and you might
14:21
need a little pampering? Hey, that
14:23
Darren Hooker, him and his wife own the
14:25
soap store down there. You can bathe
14:27
every night of the week there with a
14:28
different bar of soap. Well, there is
14:31
the first one to judge. Now, all these
14:33
[music] chilies are different. I just
14:35
need you to just get in there, take a
14:37
hold, tell me what you think, the
14:39
flavors that you encountered, how you
14:41
feel about it.
14:42
All right,
14:44
go for it.
14:52
So, right now, that first bite there,
14:54
that's pretty smooth. Doesn't have a lot
14:56
of heat to it. Goes down real easy.
14:58
Oh, it's really smooth. And it's sweet.
15:02
Has a sweet taste to it. I'll agree with
15:04
his sweet now that he said that. I like
15:07
it to heat though.
15:08
Mhm.
15:08
Hotter the better for me.
15:09
Oh yeah.
15:10
New batch, new taste.
15:12
All right.
15:20
Right away. Maple or Mhm.
15:23
a syrupy. Most definitely. And it's got
15:26
a little more bite than [music] that
15:27
other one does.
15:29
Really good.
15:30
What's your feeling on having the beans
15:32
in it?
15:34
You got to have beans and chili. Yeah,
15:36
the beans don't bother me at all.
15:40
Well, here be the last one in
15:42
contention.
15:43
All right.
15:58
Very good. I can taste the onions in it.
16:00
Mhm.
16:03
I'm going to say this something overall
16:04
this one I'm liking this the best if I
16:06
can say that
16:07
you can't what what's what's standing
16:09
out to you
16:10
I don't know that just
16:14
it tastes more traditional maybe
16:19
I'm going to have to agree with you
16:21
and if y'all need to talk about it but I
16:23
don't know but are y'all in together on
16:26
who is the winner of this horse race?
16:29
I I think we are.
16:30
I think we are. I think we're
16:31
this one right here.
16:32
The third The third one that we had is
16:34
probably the best one.
16:36
I would or the traditional one.
16:40
Clear winner.
16:41
Clear winner.
16:41
Clear winner. Clear winner.
16:43
Oh, they didn't pick Cincinnati.
16:45
That's the second one.
16:47
Oh, interesting.
16:48
Hey, I'm like y'all. You got to have
16:50
beans in chili. It always made things go
16:52
further. [music] We always added them to
16:54
it. So, this is just one pinto bean
16:56
only. That's the only kind it's got in
16:58
there. [music] But it does have some a
17:01
little bit more of a bite to it. But the
17:03
thing that I think really threw y'all
17:05
for a loop that you didn't know what
17:06
that taste was [music] is a dark beer
17:08
that it is cooked in.
17:10
So it's just a Guinness stout which is
17:12
really creamy and rich. [music] But
17:14
that's where all the flavor I think
17:16
after you let that simmer and it comes
17:17
to you. But that is y'all's overall
17:19
winner
17:20
that you know beer is the ingredient in
17:22
the win as the winner. What are your
17:24
thoughts? Like can you taste it now or
17:26
so? I I still wouldn't be able to taste
17:28
the beer in it, but I can see where that
17:31
does give it the flavor and the
17:34
consistency that you talk about.
17:36
Well, all of them are a winner to me,
17:38
but my favorite, too, is the beer chili.
17:40
I really just like the way it tastes. It
17:42
is sort of a traditional taste to me. I
17:45
would probably heat it up a little more
17:46
with some more jalapenos or a little
17:48
adobo peppers in there. But you can't go
17:50
wrong with any three of them. Uh y'all
17:53
try them. Make them at home. Leave me a
17:54
comment. Let me know which one y'all
17:56
like the best because they're all good.
17:58
Chilly. Uh I think you could put them on
18:00
your table and be proud to serve them.
18:02
So, I tip my hat to all the servicemen
18:04
and women and all the veterans that have
18:05
kept that old flag of flying over camp.
18:07
We commend you all. Rest of y'all get on
18:09
up in here close. I'm going to give you
18:10
a big old hug. God bless you each and
18:13
every one and I'll see you down the best
18:15
[music] chili trail ever.

We Tested the Most Popular Chili Ingredients and Found the Winner! Cowboy Chili

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We Tested the Most Popular Chili Ingredients and Found the Winner! Cowboy Chili

kentrollins.com