Ben's Chili Bowl in D.C. chili recipe

Does anyone have a recipe for making the chili at Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington D.C.?
If not how about some in-sight, is it spicy, is it thick. I watched an episode of Man vs. Food and Adam was there for the chili dog, it looked really good.

Here is one I found on yahoo answers, can't attribute it to anyone specific it was the "Best Answer" from yahoo voters. The person asking mentioned that she thought the ground beef was boiled before adding the rest of the ingredients.
 
INGREDIENTS:
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 lbs ground beef (or use half ground pork)
2 medium garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups beef broth
5 Tbsp. chili powder
6 Tbsp. corn meal or masa harina
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 bay leaves
PREPARATION:
Heat oil and saute garlic and onion until light golden, about 7 to 9 minutes. Add chili powder, sugar and cumin. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add ground beef and cook, stirring, until evenly browned. Stir in remaining ingredients; reduce heat to low and simmer until very thick, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Makes about 20 servings of hot dog chili on chili dogs.

The above recipe looks real good but, I've never been to Ben's Chili Bowl and I'd love to have their chili recipe if anyone has it.

Twinwillow


The above recipe looks real good but, I've never been to Ben's Chili Bowl and I'd love to have their chili recipe if anyone has it.

I'm working on a clone right now. So far it tastes really good, not having had the original I can't say how close it is. If anything I've come up with a really tasty new chili dog sauce. I'll post the complete recipe this weekend after I make some dogs tomorrow night, I like for chili to refrigerate over night to let the flavors really develop. It's a very interesting recipe, I did notice that one of the ingredients is curry powder.
Enough said.

I'll look for your recipe when posted. Thanks.

The episode of Man v. Food has a couple of clues, but not much. It looks like they have a touch of curry powder, as well as dehydrated onions.
 
http://www.youtube.com/wa...Ts&feature=related

 

Root-Beer Man


The episode of Man v. Food has a couple of clues, but not much. It looks like they have a touch of curry powder, as well as dehydrated onions.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...Ts&feature=related

Yea, I picked up on those clues. I was going to wait to post this until I've had it on a hot dog, but here's what I have so far. It tastes really good. Can't wait to try it out on some dogs.
 
Ben's Chili Bowl chili clone
by Tom Jones 2011

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dehydrated onion
2 tsp beef bouilion powder
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp Masa Harina

1 bay leaf
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 cups water

1 lb ground beef (80/20)


PREPARATION:
Mix the first 9 ingredients together in a bowl. Put the ground beef in a pot with the
water. Stir the beef and water to break up the beef into very fine bits, add the dry
ingredients the bay leaf and tomato paste, stir to combine well. Bring to a boil and
simmer on low for 50 minutes.
 
 

Trinidad, eh. I'll bet there's some allspice in it as well. Ya think?

Twinwillow


Trinidad, eh. I'll bet there's some allspice in it as well. Ya think?

Could be. This is just a start, it took me several years of experimenting to uncover the secrets to Texas Hot Weiner sauce that's found in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Like I said, I've never tasted the chili. I'm hoping someone who has had it could provide some input on the flavors.

Probably a good place to ask is in Recipes and Cooking Techniques.

I did some more research, although allspice is one of the main ingredients of Jamaican Jerk recipes it doesn't seem to be widely used in Trinidad. They seem to be big fans of curry though.

tdj_tx


 

Root-Beer Man


The episode of Man v. Food has a couple of clues, but not much. It looks like they have a touch of curry powder, as well as dehydrated onions.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...Ts&feature=related

Yea, I picked up on those clues. I was going to wait to post this until I've had it on a hot dog, but here's what I have so far. It tastes really good. Can't wait to try it out on some dogs.

Ben's Chili Bowl chili clone
by Tom Jones 2011

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dehydrated onion
2 tsp beef bouilion powder
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp Masa Harina

1 bay leaf
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 cups water

1 lb ground beef (80/20)


PREPARATION:
Mix the first 9 ingredients together in a bowl. Put the ground beef in a pot with the
water. Stir the beef and water to break up the beef into very fine bits, add the dry
ingredients the bay leaf and tomato paste, stir to combine well. Bring to a boil and
simmer on low for 50 minutes.

I'll bet no curry, cayenne instead, Oregano, no Masa Harina, granulated black pepper, no bay leaf, no water, I don't care what the clip shows, beef broth.

chewingthefat



I'll bet no curry, cayenne instead, Oregano, no Masa Harina, granulated black pepper, no bay leaf, no water, I don't care what the clip shows, beef broth.

Why would you say no curry, Adam said he could smell it. Cayenne doesn't smell like curry but there could be cayenne in the mix. The originator of this chili was from Trinidad and curry is widely used there, it just makes sense that he would add it to his recipe. The clip shows only water was used but it would be my guess that beef bouillon powder is in there. I can't comment on the original chili, haven't had it, but the chili sauce I made tastes really good. Having chili dogs tonight, we'll see how the whole thing comes together.

Ok, the proof is in the tasting and they tasted fantastic. Not sure how close it comes the original but it's a really good sauce none the less.

... and yes there is a hot dog in there. A grilled Nathan's all beef, classic yellow mustard, minced onion and a huge amount of chili. You could taste the curry but it wasn't over powering. Might add some cayenne next time just to give it more kick.

tdj_tx

chewingthefat



I'll bet no curry, cayenne instead, Oregano, no Masa Harina, granulated black pepper, no bay leaf, no water, I don't care what the clip shows, beef broth.

Why would you say no curry, Adam said he could smell it. Cayenne doesn't smell like curry but there could be cayenne in the mix. The originator of this chili was from Trinidad and curry is widely used there, it just makes sense that he would add it to his recipe. The clip shows only water was used but it would be my guess that beef bouillon powder is in there. I can't comment on the original chili, haven't had it, but the chili sauce I made tastes really good. Having chili dogs tonight, we'll see how the whole thing comes together.

Because I very recently ate the 1/2 smokes at Bens, I didn't taste any curry, I could be wrong, but who knows?

chewingthefat

tdj_tx

chewingthefat



I'll bet no curry, cayenne instead, Oregano, no Masa Harina, granulated black pepper, no bay leaf, no water, I don't care what the clip shows, beef broth.

Why would you say no curry, Adam said he could smell it. Cayenne doesn't smell like curry but there could be cayenne in the mix. The originator of this chili was from Trinidad and curry is widely used there, it just makes sense that he would add it to his recipe. The clip shows only water was used but it would be my guess that beef bouillon powder is in there. I can't comment on the original chili, haven't had it, but the chili sauce I made tastes really good. Having chili dogs tonight, we'll see how the whole thing comes together.

Because I very recently ate the 1/2 smokes at Bens, I didn't taste any curry, I could be wrong, but who knows?

The curry taste is pretty mild, but it gives it an very good flavor. It would be easier to smell it in the dry mix. We had this sauce the other night, can't say how close it is to Ben's but it was really tasty. Try making it an let us know.

Does anyone think there's any cinnamon in the recipe?

tdj_tx


Ok, the proof is in the tasting and they tasted fantastic. Not sure how close it comes the original but it's a really good sauce none the less.

Triple yummo!
 

Twinwillow


Does anyone think there's any cinnamon in the recipe?

Could be, if I tasted it I could tell. You can order it from them online but it's over $50. Don't think I'm that committed, anyway this is a really good chili dog sauce even if it's not the original.

tdj_tx


Ok, the proof is in the tasting and they tasted fantastic. Not sure how close it comes the original but it's a really good sauce none the less.

Looks good, your sauce is far less red than Ben's, if you used curry that would explain it and also why I don't believe they use it as I first mentioned, as curry tends to brown a red...In any case it does look real good! Ya got a half smoke under there?

chewingthefat


Looks good, your sauce is far less red than Ben's, if you used curry that would explain it and also why I don't believe they use it as I first mentioned, as curry tends to brown a red...In any case it does look real good! Ya got a half smoke under there?

Yea, you are right it doesn't look as red. Curry is a pretty generic term, I just used a curry powder that I had in the pantry. I added some sweet paprika thinking that would redden it up more. It's a work in progress. No half smoke, they seem to be a local D.C. thing. I used my fav Nathan's all beef.

Here is the closest thing I could find in Texas to a half smoke. It's Hillshire Farms smoked bratwurst, it's a smoked beef and pork sausage. It was pretty good, nice snap to the casing, very mild smoke flavor. It has a coarser texture than a hot dog but not as coarse as a sausage. The next step is to try it with the sauce, which I froze the leftovers.

This experiment will come to an end tonight. I have the sauce, which I froze the leftovers, and the Hillshire Farms smoked brats. I will now be as close as I can get to a half smoke from Ben's Chili Bowl.

Let's keep it simple:
 
1 can Wolf's Brand Chili for Hot Dogs
Add cinnamon and sugar to taste.

MetroplexJim


Let's keep it simple:

1 can Wolf's Brand Chili for Hot Dogs
Add cinnamon and sugar to taste.

I doubt that tastes like Ben's Chili Bowl chili.

Bob and I had a Hillshire Farms "polish" the other night. Found it fatty -yuck. Didnt finish  it.

tdj_tx

MetroplexJim


Let's keep it simple:

1 can Wolf's Brand Chili for Hot Dogs
Add cinnamon and sugar to taste.

I doubt that tastes like Ben's Chili Bowl chili.

 
Actually, I was not kidding.