I'm so proud of myself tonight!!

[hippywife]

I came down here to OK from Ohio. One of the things I really loved and used to cook when they DH would eat meat was Cincinnati style chili. Loved it! I used to have my mom mail me the spice packets for it because they don't sell it down here.

I decided to try to make it with Morning Star Farms crumbles and do the spices myself. It came out great!! Instead of the usual one-way, two-way, etc. I do it my-way. LOL Topped with the usual cheddar cheese and diced onions but with the addition of diced tomatoes (used some really good organic grape tomatoes,) sliced black olives, small dollops of sour cream and a few splashes of Frank's Red Hot. OMG! Just like I remembered it! Couldn't tell that the crumbles weren't ground beef at all!

:woohoo:

[NMDemDist2]

1. don't ya love it when a plan comes together?

hope you made good notes, so you can recreate it (my downfall)

[hippywife]

2. I sure do!

And no notes. Just flew by the seat of my pants again for the most part. Used a clone recipe I found on the internet and used it only for the list of spices without regard to amounts because it made a huge batch and I just wanted a small one. Added a few more things to it, left few out. I bookmarked the site so I can probably do it again without a problem.

[mtnester]

3. Everyone does Cincy chili their way

we use buffalo (oh yes, we love it) and some diced tomato...there is some argument over how much bean...I like more beans, hubby not so much

That said, once we get it all cooked up, we like it with crushed up Dorito Cool Ranch chips, and a ton of cheese.

[hippywife]

4. Hi, mtnester!

I can't remember if we've chatted before. I grew up in Columbus and Westerville. Used to live in Dublin just before I left. :hi:

Yeah, I definitely have never been a real bean fan. I do like them in regular chili but not in the Cincy chili. When I used to eat it at Skyline, I'd just have the cheese with onions and the oyster crackers and hot sauce at the table. My sister and her ex were the ones that started making it at home, with the spice packet, and cut up all the additional non-traditional toppings like tomatoes, olives, and the sour cream. We also boil the meat in tomato juice rather than browning it first so it really broke down and always had that very fine consistency.

It's really good stuff, tho. Very nice for a change of pace, especially in a place where it's totally unheard of.

[mtnester]

5. I am a lifer from Fairfield County - specifically Pickerington

and where you moved, chili Cincy style is considered blasphemous I believe :)

And I agree...the consistency of the mat needs to be like ...shoot...almost like polenta...as broken down as possible...I found you can get that much easier with a very very lean grind like buffalo or sirloin..

It is always interesting to see the combos of things people put in this type chili, at Skyline or when they make it at home.

Brother and sister in law live up off Sawmill Rd north of 270 now...so we get up that way more frequently...and of course it would not be a proper month if I did not take a peek in the fresh market on henderson or whole foods up on sawmill and a stop into Penzey's spices on kenny rd.

[hippywife]

6. I was up there in October

and I noticed there was a Trader Joes on Sawmill, too. And I did see Penzey's. I miss having a lot more choices in food and ingredients and restaurants but I do love living in the country. I do manage to do pretty well in cooking my own variations of things I can't find, tho.

That whole Sawmill/270 area is a nightmare now! Too many people and too many stores! Eeek! The traffic was horrid! I used to work right there and could see 270 from my office window. Glad I'm not dealing with that anymore.

Most people down here haven't a clue what I'm talking about when I say Cincy chili. And then they're totally aghast when I tell them what's in it. LOL

[mtnester]

7. Oh yeah..if it is not cubed meat

and BEANS...beans..oh the horror! :)

Yeah, Sawmill is crappy traffic wise..of course all the Columbus burbs suck as far as traffic go...since there is really ZERO mass transit here.

Sigh...to have lite rail from Newark to Delaware to London to Lancaster..it would be sweet.

[hippywife]

8. Much better mass transit there

than here. It's totally non-existent where I live, but then I chose to live in the country. And it ain't so hot up in Tulsa, either. Doesn't go to any of the burbs, except one that I know of.

I am thankful, tho, that we do have a couple of really good organic farmers' markets from October to April and a food co-op, which I just joined. I used to shop at the permanent ones south of Tulsa, and still do on occasion, but most of their stuff is trucked in, even during the summer months.