I got into Bloody Marys a few months ago. They fascinate me because there are so many different variations, and many people and restaurants have "the best." Chili is similar, with the variations, restaurant specialties, etc.
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| Before the long cook... looks kinda cool at this point. |
First I conducted a bit of Bloody Mary research. I had to get a feel for what the traditional Bloody Mary was all about, what typical/common variants exist, and what ingredients to use. It was horrible. I had to make different Bloody Mary recipes, drink them, and repeat.
From the research, I came up with this list of ingredients/flavors that my chili had to have:
- Vodka
- Tomato juice (or similar)
- Lemon juice
- Pepper
- Celery / celery seed/salt
- Pepper sauce like Tabasco or Sriracha
- Worcestershire
- Pickle
- Beef stick
For ratios of spices, I based it a little on a couple of Bloody Mary recipes I found and liked (soon to be posted). I also tried to swap out ingredients with my normal chili recipe... celery instead of black beans, beef stick instead of ground beef, etc.
Spices
- 1 Tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2½ tsp celery seed (ground)
- 2 tsp black pepper
Sauté
- 5 jalapeño peppers
- 2-3 sweet onions (two large or three small)
- 1 Tbsp Mexican oregano
- 5 cloves garlic
Browned
- 1½ lbs ground turkey
Simmered
- 4 cups celery, sliced (about 6 stalks)
- 4 Tbsp Sriracha
- 16 oz chopped sausage stick
- (I used two 8 oz packages of Old Wisconsin Snack Bites... one beef, one original sausage)
- 5 Tbsp prepared horseradish
- 3 Tbsp tamari (soy sauce)
- 6 oz vodka
- 30 oz kidney beans
- 45 oz diced tomatoes
- 2 anchovy filets, chopped
- 18 oz tomato paste
At the End
- 10 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup lemon juice (preferably not from concentrate... Lakewood brand is ok)
- 1 cup pickle juice
Process
I made this chili how I make my normal chili: saute the peppers, onions, garlic, and oregano. Brown the meat. Mix all that and everything else and simmer for 90 minutes. The only change is I added a few things at the end. I didn't want the acids from the Worcestershire, lemon juice, and pickle juice to cook off.How It Turned Out
Overall it tasted okay. At first I was not a fan and wasn't sure if I could work through the 10 servings I made. But it grew on me. More detail:- It was a little bitter / sour, I think from the pickle juice.
- It was also a little salty.
- The vodka didn't do a lot. According to Serious Eats, alcohol does more for aroma.
If I did it again, I may add more celery seed, more tomato, and less pickle juice.
Until next time...
