Is Cincinnati Chili even really chili or is it simply a meat sauce? Time to settle the debate.
Okay, quick background on Cinnci-style chili. It's definitely a uniquely American tradition.
Its origin is actually attributed to the Greek immigrants who settled in Cincinnati. Empress
Chili is a chili parlor largely credited for first ladling their Mediterranean spice creation
over spaghetti, claiming to be quote "the first edition of a Cincinnati tradition." Growing up in
Cincinnati I'm a personal fan of Skyline Chili. Probably because I've eaten more Skyline conies
or three ways than anything else. I love the connection I have to Cincinnati-style chili,
but in general as a beef guy I have some criticisms. It's just not spicy enough, it's
watered down and just not beefy enough. So here's the deal. Here in the Certified Angus Beef brand
Test Kitchen we've constructed, tweaked, tasted, reconstructed, a version that is the best version
of Cincinnati-style chili. A long list of spicy ingredients will let you in on the secrets,
including traditional Mediterranean allspice and cinnamon, but also some heat, but the greatest
improvement, high quality Certified Angus Beef, because If it's not CERTIFIED, it's
not the best. And no water added. We're not going to water this down, we're going to put it together
and make the traditional offerings. We'll do a three-way, a four-way, a five-way, and a coney.
So is it chili or a great meat sauce? Make it with me and we'll see what you think. Let's get
it started. Here we go now, don't be intimidated by that long list of spices here. This comes
together pretty quickly. A little oil in a Dutch oven and the heat at medium. We'll start with the
star of the show, Certified Angus Beef ground chuck. The perfect choice for the best flavor.
We'll start by searing the beef. You can do this in batches with the same pan or set up another
skillet like I'm doing here to brown the beef. If we dumped all in the same pot we're missing
out on the chance to build extra flavor by searing and properly browning the ground beef.
Notice I separate chunks of beef to give space for steam to escape avoid the temptation to stir
at this point and let a good mahogany colored sear develop on one side, about eight to ten minutes.
While the beef sears I'll get some garlic minced. About three average cloves or one
massive one like this chopped fine and into the pan with the beef.
Now that we're browned nicely, let's bring the beef together in the Dutch oven to build
everything in one pot. The heat here is staying at that medium heat, stir
a bit and into the pan with Worcestershire and cider vinegar, about three tablespoons of each.
Alright here we go with the spice blend. The main components are chili powder and cocoa powder,
but we've also got cumin, paprika, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne, and clove. I have found
that in the right ratios this is the perfect Cincinnati chili spice blend. Together with
some coarse salt we'll mix the spices together and head into the beef and stir things around.
I like to have this spice blend made ahead of time actually, because when
I have it in my spice drawer ready to go I can cut prep time nearly in half.
Okay last few ingredients, here tomato paste and a can of tomato sauce and finally chicken stock.
Stir things around until everything comes to a boil then put it on a simmer and close the lid.
All these wonderful flavors will come together as it simmers about two hours. Now check on this
occasionally to make sure you've got the heat low enough, and stir to make sure the beef isn't
sticking on the bottom of the pan. Your kitchen will smell amazing. Now to get the consistency
smoother. For traditional Cincinnati chili I pulse with an immersion blender not completely pureed,
but still pourable. Notice I didn't remove any beef fat that's risen to the top,
it gets blended in. I intentionally keep that for added flavor. You know one thing I used to do as a
kid while we were sitting at Skyline, they always give you oyster crackers. When we bite the top off
and we'd see how many drops of hot sauce we could fit in the oyster cracker,
and it would just make our little bowl of oyster crackers last longer. While the spaghetti finished
cooking do us a favor hit that Like button, hit the Subscribe also. Appreciate it! All right let's
build some plates of Cincinnati Chili. Break from tradition here, and cook your spaghetti properly,
meaning keep it al dente and don't overcook it. The next tip is to ladle some of that chili right
into the spaghetti you've strained. This will keep your spaghetti from sticking mix things up
and put it on the plate. Put the spaghetti down first and ladle a good amount of Cincinnati chili
over the spaghetti. Now for a three-way we just top with a heaping portion of shredded cheese.
It's as simple as that. Now a quick Pro tip on the cheese, get a block of sharp cheddar and grate it
by hand through the fine holes of a box grater. It makes the perfect airy piles of shredded cheddar.
For a four-way we put either raw onions or beans. So when you order you would say four-way onion or
four-way beans. Finally a five way is both onions and beans so here we have the onion sprinkled
over the chili along with hot red kidney beans, and just like the three-way we top with cheese.
Now a Coney is pretty simple, you either get it with yellow mustard or not, then top with the
chili. I'm starting of course with Certified Angus Beef all beef franks here. A huge upgrade and
finally a pile of pillowy sharp cheddar cheese. So here it is, my personal connection to Cincinnati
Chili makes this for me, not just a sauce, but a chili because it's chili how I came to know it.
The chef in me says it's an amazing meat sauce, but not technically a chili. What do you think?
Well hit us up in the comments. Do you think this is legit chili or is it just meat sauce?
See you next time here in The Test Kitchen.