Foodie Newbie looking for the perfect bowl of blessedness or "the lady in blue"

Hello all,
 
I am a fan of Roadfood and find myself riding along the pleasures of taste and adventure with each report.  I have a challenge that is coming up and I am seeking some inside advice.  I have made a CHILI challenge to benefit a local charitable function and I want to be at least close in the runing.  How do you develope more depth of flavor in chilli/chili?  I would appreciate any advice along these line from anyone who enjoys the art of creation for this "bowl of blessedness".
 
 

Tomato anything in chili? What's next on the road to depravity? Beans?

Cubed beef?  I never have used cubed beef before.  I have always "thought" about it, but never tried it.  I picked up some fresh dark green Ancho peppers last night and need also to figure out on how to roast them.  I have been reading about light brown and dark brown chilli powder.  I never have seen that in the stores in south Mississippi where I am located.  The browning to develop the "fawn" or "fond" (the brown stuff at the bottom of the pan after the sizzel was what I was thinking.  Thank you for taking your time to contribute.  What I am doing is for fun and for a good cause, so it will be fine either way, but I am going head to head with a professional in what we hope will be a chilli/chili throwdown lips smaking good, matchup in the round pot.  I am figuring on about 4 gallons for my part.  I welcome any and all suggestions and thank you again for your contributions to this cause.
 
Thunder  

Cubed beef?  I never have used cubed beef before.

 
a friend of mine use to use cubed beef ... it was "chuckwagon chili" .. made sense to me, you know they didn't grind beef on a cattle drive

Well, my 1st test batch is complete.  It has a very deep rich smokey beef flavor that is sandwiched inbetween the roasted cumin and heat on the back side (finish in the mouth).  I began with beef shanks about 5 lbs, and dusted them with a commercial brand chilli powder, and some black pepper.  These were placed in a zip lock bag for a day.  Using a cast iron pot, I brased and browned on all sides these shanks and removed them from the pot leaving the rendered fond and fat.  Then to the same pot I added 4 cups of ice crystal looking minced white and yellow onions combined with a tablespoon of chopped garlic, and 4 sundried tomatoes and 3 pinches of mexican oregano, and sauted until the onions were clear.  5 lbs of ground beef (3lb chuck and 2lb round) were cooked in small batches until the red was not seen and removed to drain the ground beef fat.  Then back to the cast iron pot I returned the gray beef, and stirred and stirred.  I added 2 teaspoon fulls of beef base and 1 teaspoon of chili powder and 1 teaspoon of cumin.  I took the beef shanks and trimmed off the meat.  The meat from the shank was coarsed chopped to give the chili more texture.  To the shame and disgust of chili heads everywhere, I added 3 cups of crushed tomatoes that had cooked for 8 hours on a very low heat until thicken.   Then I added 5 dark chili peppers that I reconstituted in beef broth and beef shank bones and ground in a coffee grinder until a paste was formed.  I finished with more chilli powder and cumin that was mixed with crushed blue corn chips.  Not bad I thought for an pre amateur chili contestants.  Thanks to all for your tips and suggestions.  I'll keep you posted as we improve.     

Got Tea,
WOW!! That was a lot of Work1 I'm Impressed! How did it Taste compared to other Chili you have eaten?

The flavors were darker or deeper since my emphasis was on the depth of the meat.  I was trying for a technique of percentages in ingredients.  I was going for a 5,4,3,2,1 blast off kind of recipe. with the base being 5 lbs of meat, 4 cups of onion, 3 cups of tomatoes, 2 cups of broth, and 1 cup of seasonings kinda.  I liked the way I minced the onions to a stage of fine ice crystals, and I like the sun dried tomatoes and garlic being minced in together with the onions.  It made the onions turn red but the tomatoes sugars helped tone down the onions and the oregano also was a good neutralizers for the acidity.  Since I have only had  Wendy's chili to compare, I would say mine attempt was competitive, honest, and had some good potential.  I am going to dabble with adding some small batch "George Stagg" bourbon that I have not opened in my broth, and mix some "ZING ZANG" with my tomatoes.  I cooked the crushed tomatoes forever, and this reduction with a bit of cream would have been excellent as a tomoto soup or bisque of sorts.  I will also cut back the cook time, since the depth was more than what I might have desired.  I need to go to one of these Chili Cook offs to do an honest comparison.  I also think that the chili powder is a key factor, and all I was working with was MEXENE which has salt.  This benefit is also going to be for about 100 people, so I will also have to think about the numbers as it relates to actual cost vs. outcome.  I will keep ya'll posted.   

Thank you for this tip.  I got these fresh Peppers but to be honest was a bit timid with what to do with them.  Thanks for your tip. 
 
Thunder

What Great Ideas!.  Here is the latest.  The ZING ZANG was too sharp.  Wonderful flavor but really to much Zing for Chili.  5 pepers per Pound of meat was a great tip.  I tried the broiler trick on the POBLANO and using the back edge of a chef's knife the skin peeled right off.  I sliced it and put it in a mini food processor and added it to my TOO SHARP ZING ZANG sauce.  The Zing Zang was cut with about 20 oz of V8.  But it was still too sharp and would not open up on depth.  Then I   ruined the mess, by adding some lavender buds to the tomato mixture.  I was heart broken and livid at my own stupidity.  Why would I do something like that?  Well, last year I entered a Chili contest  with about 15 others and even though the  Chili was not ready, I still one 2nd place with what I called Lavender and Lime Chili.  I thought I could luck up and use the flower to knock out some of the zing.  What came about was that the perfume flavor "pickled" the base.  I chaulk this up to poor judgement and wreckless stupidity on my part.  
The latest is that I have a sitting Judge that will be on of the judges along with members of the fire department, and a group of "reformed" bikers.  It should add a bit of entertainment to our event even if I get my pan handed to me so to speak.  Well, back to the kitchen for my redo of my test batches.  Thanks again to all for your kindness and input.  

Well Ladies and Gents...I am ready...There are 6 Gallons of Red ready to go.  I have contacted the fire department and will have the crew on standby as judge and jury.  The ballots have been printed.  Now comes the hours of preparation for setting the tables, making the tea, and getting things prepped and ready for the Showdown in Downtown.  Thank you all for your assistance with this endeavor.   

I made it once using Alton Brown's Good Eats recipe.  It was different.  It used cubed beef, lamb and pork.  The lamb and pork stood up to the spices while the beef was overwhelmed.   

Well that contest was a success.  We raise over $1,000.00 for our charity in about 1.5 hours.  We entertained the group of just under 100 folks with the Big Fire Truck with sirens blasting pulling up the building with the firemen in full gear, axes, ect...busting through the doors and yelling.."I hear the CHILLI is on fire, and we're here to put it out!"  Our contest had the element of presentation and we all got our "kesters" handed to us.  The professional chef got concerned after others tasted my chili, and through out all the stops.  He used a hand made tortilla shell bowl, and added a bell pepper overstuffed with everything that has ever been used to compliment chili other than the beer.  I took a white bowl and rimmed the edge like a frozen mexican drink with coarse salt, dried onion flakes, chili power, black pepper and dried parsley, which looked different and I topped it with cheese, and multi-colored tortilla strips which matched the rimming.  Nice try, just not good enough for the top spot.  Out of 260 points between us I was only 3 points away from the win.  The judges didn't believe my story of La Dama de Azul or the lady in blue or Sister Mary from the 1600's being the first to introduce chile to the United States.  I was penalized 5 points for "BSing the judge, who was a real sitting judge.  It was fun and we raised some cash for a good cause.  Thanks again to all.
 
Best,
JOHN       

Here is the best chili I have ever made or tasted; Emeril mails it!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-live/texas-style-chili-recipe/index.html
According to the reviewers, a number of chili competitions have been won with this.