Review: Cin Chili Mix
It’s no secret that I love a good chili. Hell, I love bad chili – it’s still chili after all. So naturally, one of my finds at the 2006 Fiery Foods show was Cin Chili. Now, before you think exactly what I thought, it’s not a Cincinnati Chili Mix. In fact, I think I rather insulted Cindy herself with that question. But she was gracious enough to explain to me that the name is a play on her name (Cindy) and has nothing to do with Ohio.
Cindy Reed is a two time winner of the CASI International Chili Championship, so she certainly has the qualifications to back her up. After 2 weeks of being home here in NYC (sans chili) I cracked and decided to take Cin Chili Mix for a test run.
Ingredients: Chili powder, onion, garlic, salt, cumin, silcon dioxide (anticaking agent), less than 1% monosodium glutamate.
The instructions are simple: (from the package) Brown 2lbs ground beef (or your favorite meat). Drain. Add 14oz. of beef broth. Add 8 oz. can of no salt tomato sauce. Bring to a full boil. Add Cin Chili Mix. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. For more heat add cayenne pepper. Serve with cheese, onions, beans, crackers if desired.
So here we go:
Small picture of beef, cause it’s just not that pretty rare.
After the beef has browned, drain and then stir in the beef broth and tomato sauce.
Add Cin Chili Mix – stir and let the chili simmer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, we now have a nice looking bowl of red.
Mmmm Cin Chili
Overall: This is a great mix to cook up chili within an hour. All together it took me less then 45 minutes, although I let it cook a bit longer then recommended (excess liquid). It’s certainly not hot for an average chilehead, so I recommend adding the cayenne pepper or even some fresh – though those are hard to find in Manhattan in March. This chili is also a chili that tastes much better the next day. One package prepared according to the directions feeds about 4-5 hungry people.
