The New Cook’s Illustrated arrived today. In the contents: Best Beef Chili: Supermarket Ingredients, Deep Flavor.
Everyone seems to have a chili, but I don’t. I’ve been searching and I’ve tried dozens of versions. Former Governor of Minnesota Arne Carlson’s version. Patricia Cornwell’s Chili with Mexican Beer Version and plain old crockpot chili.
But I haven’t been ga-ga over any them—and chili is something over which, I could, conceivably, go ga-ga.
This Cook’s Illustrated version looks promising. It calls for dark red kidney beans, which I think are better than pintos or light red beans for chili, 6 whole cloves of garlic, and lime wedges to be served on the side--a novelty for me, but immensely appealing.
I always puree any tomatoes a chili recipe calls for because I don’t like a chunky tomato-soup kind of chili; I prefer it dark and smooth.
This recipe calls for the garlic to be minced of pressed through a garlic press. But it seems to me I’d read somwhere that garlic presses were bad idea, better to press the garlic gently with the flat blade of a knife or with a mortar, and then mince. I can’t say I’ve noticed anything objectionable when using a garlic press; perhaps I’ll try this chili both ways.
2:21:42 PM 
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