Chili lovers all have their favorite chili recipes. Some like it spicy while others like a milder version. There are even vegetarian chili recipes for people who don't eat meat. Most chili recipes have the same ingredients in common: beef, tomatoes, onions, and chili seasoning. The variations in chili come from adding different spices or sauces to make it hot or tangy.
Ingredients and Proportions
Most chili recipes use about 2 pounds of ground chuck. You may not want to make a whole pot of chili for hot dogs, so start with a half pound of ground chuck to make enough chili to spoon over six hot dogs. Chop all of the ingredients finely and cook them over medium heat until they're done. Some hot dog chili recipes contain beans while others are just a sauce. To add beans to a small recipe, use canned pinto beans and mix a handful into the pan while the other ingredients are cooking.
Seasoning Chili
Some hot dog chili recipes use prepared sauces for seasoning while others create the same flavors with other ingredients. The simplest way to make chili uses ketchup or tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes, while other recipes call for prepared steak sauce or barbecue sauce. All of these variations are a matter of taste. You can create similar flavors by using fresh tomatoes and vinegar, mustard, or a very small amount of molasses or brown sugar. Adding other spices, like black pepper, celery seed, cayenne, and mustard powde,r will make the chili's flavor spicier and more complex, and cooking time is only increased by a few minutes.
Cooking Chili
Cooking times for chili vary greatly, but both slow-cooked and fast-cooked chili are easy to make and they need about 15 minutes of prep time. If you're making a fast chili recipe to use for hot dog topping, cook it in a saucepan for 10 to 15 minutes until everything is well-mixed and cooked through. To make a larger amount of chili, consider a slow-cooked method. Slow-cooked chili ingredients are usually sauteed together at a higher heat to soften the vegetables and brown the meat, then stewed for up to two hours at a low heat in a slow-cooker or Dutch oven. Slow cooked chili will taste richer than fast chili because the spices will be released and mellowed in the heat, but the fast recipes will be on your table in about half an hour.
Tags: chili recipes, while others, fast chili, fresh tomatoes, ground chuck, make chili