Since I now live in the UK, it’s European oregano - the latest batch from Piemonte (Italy) where I was for the early Fall. Chillies, Verde or otherwise, are pretty hard to find here. So I’ve learned to adapt!
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Pretty basic for me, no set recipe. Beef(chili grind or just regular ground chuck usually), onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, New Mexican red chile powder, often chipotle powder, sometimes ancho powder, sometimes Folgers Crystals(I’m not a coffee drinker but I keep that around as a recipe ingredient), sometimes chocolate, sometimes whatever hot sauce I decide to dump in, often some masa-ish ingredient(pulverized tortilla chips or Fritos probably), occasionally some tomato product, salt.
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I am also a fan of using ground turkey and kidney beans are a must for me. I love beans, and this is just a great way to pack them in (more fiber, protein, what’s not to like?). My chili is otherwise boring, and probably as gringo-ish as you can imagine. I use crushed tomatoes and add a bit of salsa in my recipe as well as good ole “chili seasoning” – that’s what the jar reads. 
I always add onions, garlic, cumin and some additional flavorings and some added heat. I’ve brought it to parties, and my friends seem to like it - both as a hearty dish in bowl, or as a filling dip for nachos.
I realized I haven’t made this for a while, and now I’m in the mood for some chili.
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Nope. Just your average USA non-Texas chili (tomatoes, kidney beans, ground beef, etc.). He also adds frozen corn kernels and a bit of beer, I believe.
Interesting. I’ve never put lime in tomato chili
Here’s an additional question.
What do you make your chili in?
Deep sides or shallow?
Cast Iron, enamel ware, stainless steel, or?
I realize my mother always used the same stainless Rival pressure cooker for 50+ years.
Funny thing is, I never remember it being used as a pressure cooker. It was always the Chili Pot.
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Cast iron dutch oven that must be 100 years old.
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I usually do a stainless pot. I brown my meat and then add the ingredients. So I save all the browning fat/juices. I think that makes a better chili but there a a million variables when making chili and tons of different opinions
There are no wrong answers to my questions.
If there’s an American dish everyone has an opinion on and a certain way it should be made and eaten, I would venture that Chili fills the bill.
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Chili, pizza and cheeseburgers…there isn’t any right way to make them, just your way 
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I’m a half and half kind of guy. Pizza is almost always half cheese half Eyetalian sausage. If I make a burger at home it sometimes has half cheese on it always medium rare, no cheese in restaurants.
Believe or not we have some good pizza down in Houston and yes I’ve been to NYC, upstate New York, and Chicago.
I have three on my rotation, two are run by real, actual Italians. Antonio’s has been here since the 80’s and he hails from New Haven via Italy.
Romano’s has cousins Frank and Vinny from
edit coming
Cousins Frank and Vinny from Queens. Frank is kind of scary looking.
I don’t buy chain pizza but will choke down a piece or two when they buy it for us at work.
I’ve got some Wick Fowler’s in the pantry but I’ve never tried it.
I imagine the feeling is mutual on regional food. I don’t eat pizza out of NJ/nyc. I’m guessing if you put a Texan a thousand or 2 miles away they will feel the same way about brisket, tex mex or chili. I really want to get to h town to try some cuisine. I enjoy reading the Houston forum a lot
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Yep. I’ve read seen on tv some good looking brisket in NYC, pork spare ribs is another issue.
What passes for Tex-Mex outside of Texas or Oklahoma is criminal.
The last time I ate chili with beans was New Year’s Eve 1968 and they were thrown up in the middle of the night, can’t pinpoint if it was 1968 or 1969.
A friend had invited me to his house to watch The Incredible Mr. Limpet
with Don Knotts. His mom made chili with beans and I lost it on the carpet in the hallway in the middle of the night.
It gave his mother something to do as she was listening to music by herself while her philandering husband was out catting around.
Haven’t had chili with beans since.
I can’t really blame the chili as it turns out I had the flu. When I got home my brother also had the flu and we watched the 1969 Rose Bowl in our twin beds on our Monkey Ward black and white tv with the foil on the antennas.
Somebody named OJ Simpson had a big game but the Trojans fittingly lost (I looked it up).
This is a true story, nobody could make this up. Names were left out to protect the innocent, except one.
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The Incredible Mr. Limpet
Rocks.
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That’s some dangerous stuff. I’d have to knock off a few tablespoons and hope the Wifeacita comes by to pry my hands off it before I destroyed the whole thing.
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So did The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.
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Catching up on this thread this morning and totally in agreement with your sentiment, johnny.
My wife is the Chili brewer in our family. It’s the only “complex” dish she makes that she doesn’t use a recipe for. She probably does two / three adjustments to the chili to balance it taste-wise, before serving.
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I like making chili on sunday. Everytime I get a beer I can check on it, sample it and make some changes if needed .
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… and that way you can pour a bit in the kettle with every new bottle.
