I told you so.
 

I told you that the sugar would make the difference. Not many people use sugar in their recipes because they think it is a bad thing, but it really does make a huge difference in the taste. Glad to hear that your first batch turned out great. Now you can be more adventurous and try a few different things to change it up. What a bunch here on RCM, eah?

One of my first meals to learn was oven baked chicken. I always get the boneless/skinless chicken brests, because I don't like dealing with the bones. At first I just put some butter on top and a little bit of seasoning and bake it in the open oven for about 30 minutes. Great cheap meal with some mixed veggies. Now I put a whole slew of stuff into an oven casserole dish and season it with some of my favorite things. The whole family just loves it, and it only takes about 90 minutes from prep to serve. Easy meal to throw together in a short time.

Last night I wanted to celebrate with the wife. So I grilled two Filet steaks along with two lobster tails and baked potatos and in 45 minutes we had a superb meal, with a bottle of wine of course. The kids ate leftovers.

Wow, coming from the state the originated chili I am a purest and I like a good simple chili.

Chili powder, not a name brand but local brands that take more care making the powder is best. Meat, preferably venison, but beef is fine, not ground but chopped up. Salt to taste, garlic, and onion. Mix and slow cook all day. It's best about 5 days after it's made.

Beans go on the side and should never be put in the chili, and the only acceptable ones are pinto beans. No kidney beans like my friends in Tennessee use, that's just freaking nasty and sacrilegious to chili fanatics. No tomatoes, no bell peppers, not other crap like that.

Eaten over hot steamed rice is fantastic or try it Texas spaghetti style over spaghetti noodles. My favorite is with home made tamales!

Some of the best recipes I have found tend to surface around central to south Texas.

Yea yea yea
 

YEA YEA YEA We know everything is done bigger and better in Texas. Just a bit biasd don't you think? This is one recipe that has been around for a very long time and there are surely 100 versions of how to make it. I am sure that none is all that much better than any other. I have tried various versions and alot of them are pretty good. Of course we all settle on what we tend to like best and stick with it. A good effort none the less hippie.

Don't take it personally, just my opinion. :D

I just get tired of places claiming things are chili when they are wild creations of god knows what and taste more like some kind of stew concoctions than chili. Plus, it's funny when some have chili with no chili powder and or chili peppers in it.

Down in San Marcos, TX in the second week of September there is the big Chilympiad competition which features all sorts of concoctions from around the world. The winner their goes the the World Chili Championship in Terlingua, TX.

I also forgot the cumin in my last post.

Same here man.

I love cooking too. Always creating new recipes, but I never write them down. I can go on and on....Food porn is addicting:whistle:

Some older pics of stuff we make at home.http://cid-a56d77a3a3fbcf6f.skydrive...food?ct=photos

Im cooking my second batch of chili tommorow. I bought a couple of those annaheim peppers you mentioned . How much should i use ?. Im just looking for a little flavo & maybe mild to low heat . Im cooking in a 6 quart cooker . That will be filled to the top . Also do you take out the seeds or leave them in ?.

OMG man, all that stuff looks amazing. I'm sitting here waiting for my rice to finish cooking, and I'm dying looking at that.
I'm not really into sweets, but everything looks great.
What is this? http://cid-a56d77a3a3fbcf6f.skydrive...d/DSCF6816.JPG Some chicken and shrimp recipe? Looks fantastic and the onions are done perfectly.

What type of food is most of that? Looks Vietnamese or so to me.

I love cooking too, and I would be very happy when my things come out looking half that good. :great:

I roast them, 4-6 depending on size, over the stove tops flame a bit for some smoke flavor. Then I usually let them cool before I slice them up, I remove the seeds, but try to leave most of the insides intact. This adds the initial heat to my chili, then I use dried chili powder for the rest of the heat. I vary from cayenne to a few asian dried peppers. My recipe serves about 6-8 people in a 4 quart cooker. I rarely use beens in mine. I am not too much of a fan of beans. I usually serve it on buttered white rice with bread for dipping. I know two carbs in one meal but what the heck.

If you have left overs, stick in a package of cream cheese and let it melt down to a stable consistency. Serve with tortilla chips, perfect game day snack.

I bought two of them . They are 6 1/2 by 1 3/4 . so how much should i use ?. I cant roast them on the stove because mu stove is electric & not gas.

Both, no worries on the roasting.

I assume the smaller i chop them the better ?. Also do they soften up after cooking, or will they stay firm like they are ?.

It is a matter of taste, the smaller you chop the less you notice them. They will still have some crunch but should be pretty soft by the end of the cook time.

So are you saying if i chop them small, they wont have the same effect as if i left then a little larger ?.

Small medium or large, depends on how much chunk you want in your spoon type thing. As for heat I haven't experimented enough to tell if size difference relates or not.

I think i would like the chunk's towards the smaller end of things. I would'nt think the size of chunks would effect the heat . I mean whats the difference if the chili had two peppers worth large chunks or two peppers worth of small or medium chunks. It is the same amount of peppers . But the smaller chucks would have better coverage thru out the chili .