Good Cincinnati Chili Recipes?

[TheBigLebowski]

I was born in Cincy but moved to Florida when I was 3...lived here ever since, although I visit as much as I can. My girlfriend is a born and bred Floridian who is a trained chef - obviously a very good cook. She's heard me yammer on and on about cincinnati chili but she's never had it and I am not a good enough cook to make it from scratch; at least, not good enough to do it justice. I know you can order the seasoning packets or the frozen stuff, but it's just not the same. So, if any of you know of a good, replicable cincy chili recipe I can give her to make, I'd appreciate it.

[Revering4Blue]

Originally Posted by TheBigLebowski

I was born in Cincy but moved to Florida when I was 3...lived here ever since, although I visit as much as I can. My girlfriend is a born and bred Floridian who is a trained chef - obviously a very good cook. She's heard me yammer on and on about cincinnati chili but she's never had it and I am not a good enough cook to make it from scratch; at least, not good enough to do it justice. I know you can order the seasoning packets or the frozen stuff, but it's just not the same. So, if any of you know of a good, replicable cincy chili recipe I can give her to make, I'd appreciate it.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/laurens...e7=Home%20Page

[Caseyfan21]

There are quite a few Skyline restaurants in Florida as well....

Clearwater
28798 U.S. Highway 19 N (727) 791-6887
Map this location » Smoke Free

Ft. Lauderdale
2590 North Federal Highway (954) 566-1541
Map this location » Smoke Free

Sunrise
2834 North University Drive (954) 741-3929
Map this location » Smoke Free

Ft. Myers
5100-323 South Cleveland Avenue (239) 278-3929
Map this location » Smoke Free

Naples
710 Ninth Street North (239) 649-5665
Map this location » Smoke Free

[reds1869]

Originally Posted by Caseyfan21

There are quite a few Skyline restaurants in Florida as well....

He said good Cincinnati chili recipes.

[okpanda]

I'm a vegetarian, so I always have to make my own. Here's a good recipe online that you could just sub real beef for if you're a meat eater. I leave out the beans and have tweaked some of the ratios, but it's a great starting point.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cincinnati-style-chili/

[DirtyBaker]

Originally Posted by okpanda

I'm a vegetarian, so I always have to make my own. Here's a good recipe online that you could just sub real beef for if you're a meat eater. I leave out the beans and have tweaked some of the ratios, but it's a great starting point.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cincinnati-style-chili/

no meat? no beans? How can you call that chili?

[mdccclxix]

Two crucial steps, if you're using beef, are:

1) put the raw beef in the water, don't cook it first. this breaks up the meat into that fine consistency it's known for. you may need some other flavoring in this stage, but not close to all of it.

2) you have to decide how much fat you want in the chili. if you want it to have a consistency closer to a stew, leave the fat in and skip this next step. if you want to have chili closer to Skyline chili or Camp Washington or Blue Ash, take the beef and water from the stove before you add too much of the flavoring and cool it off in the fridge. When it's cold, the fat will harden at the top of the water, skim it off and begin cooking again.

I prefer skimming the fat just because it gets you closer to the Cincy style, but I'll admit the first batch I made without skimming was tasty as well.

[texasdave]

The only tip I would add is that the longer you let it simmer, the better it tastes. If I want Cincinnati Chili for dinner I start cooking it in the morning.

[yab1112]

Originally Posted by Revering4Blue

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/laurens...e7=Home%20Page

I'm gonna try this one out. Surprised that chocolate is one of the ingredients. Is that typical for Chili recipes?

[*BaseClogger*]

I'm giving this one a shot this weekend:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/authent...cinnati-chili/

[Stray]

Originally Posted by yab1112

I'm gonna try this one out. Surprised that chocolate is one of the ingredients. Is that typical for Chili recipes?

For Cincinnati style chili it's pretty typical. A lot of recipes use cocoa powder instead though. That mix of cinnamon, chocolate flavor and cloves are what gives it that different kinda taste.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by yab1112

I'm gonna try this one out. Surprised that chocolate is one of the ingredients. Is that typical for Chili recipes?

Supposedly it helps balance the flavor of tomatoes. I've heard fans of tex-men chili balk at the idea of using chocolate, but what they don't realize is that chocolate is also commonly used in Mexican cuisine, with mole sauce being the prime example.