Jun 02, 2008
I made this recipe exactly as written. (Well, to be precise, the package of ground beef I used was 2.01 lb.)
The beef used was 90% lean, the beans were light red kidney beans, and the black pepper was freshly ground.
I also opted for the habanero and the sugar. I cooked the chili for only 45 minutes (the low end of the range given in the recipe) because I was really hungry.
This was also the first time I'd ever cooked with both masa harina flour, and a fresh habanero.
I thought this chili was okay, but I guess I'll only give it a 3-star rating because the competition is fierce in the chili-recipe world. Corn is not a common ingredient in chili, and though I like corn in general, I would've rather it hadn't been in this chili. On the other hand, the masa harina made the chili somewhat thick, which is a plus in my book, since I hate watery chili. The chili had a somewhat undesirable sweetness to it, so if I make this again, I wouldn't add the "2 tsp. white sugar" after all.
Lastly, I used my new electric chopper (not quite a full-fledged food processor) for the first time, and with only a few "pulse"s, the vegetables were pretty finely chopped. Next time I would chop or mince the veggies by hand, since I prefer chili to have a little chunkiness to it, vegetable-wise.
In summary, this chili was decent, pretty meaty, and fairly hot with the added habanero.
I think I will make another batch of this, since I have the other half of the red onion left, and with the changes mentioned
—NMChef1
