No, no, and no. My neighborhood hamburger joint serves a mean beanless chili. My old friend from college cooked a saucy chili that contained nutmeg, onions, and cumin, but no chili powder. My landlord makes a to-die-for pork chop chili that has absolutely no tomato sauce. Rather, he claims the gravy is what makes his chili the best!
What is the difference between chilis and soupy dishes sporting names like tortilla soup, taco soup, and enchilada soup?
Really, it seems that they're just a thinner chili. Most contain beans, some sort of meat (although they don't have to!), and some sort of spicy factor (green chilis, red chilis, chili powder, red pepper flakes, taco seasoning packets, cumin). Then they're thinned out with broth, tomato soup, tomato sauce, or cream to seem more soupy.
I have asked myself these questions over and over during my years of making southwest-style chili and soup dishes. There are literally endless variations to a chili, as the neighborhood Halloween chili cook-offs can verify.
In my opinion, they are all just southwest soups. And they are all delicious!
History of Chili
From what I have read, the history of chili is extremely enigmatic. A few things history and legend agree upon, though: it originated in Texas (not Mexico); it was a dish for the poor, the traveler, or the incarcerated; and it generally consisted of red meat (venison, goat, or beef), red chiles, and maybe onions, tomatoes, beans, or other spices.
I Before E...What Was That Again?
As I've tried to understand the difference between chili with an "i" and chile with an "e", I became more confused than before. I'd link the references, but none are clear on anything except for the fact that this subject is highly debated. For the sake of clarification here, let's just say that chili with an "i" means the stewy dish, and chile with an "e" (chee-lay) means the spicy pepper that usually goes into the dish.
Overall, I say, call it what you want. If you feel like bein' fancy and giving a surname to your soupy southwest dish in the ballpark of Tex-Mex meals (Enchilada Soup Surprise, for example), then be my guest. If you feel like it's Southwesty, then it probably is. Bring it on!
Bringing it All Together
To break down this veritable bean and spice jungle, I have come up with a few building blocks to explain my love of cooking in this genre, and also to share some of my favorite variations.
The Base
Tomato sauce
Tomato soup
Chicken broth
Cream of chicken soup
Simple White Sauce
Pork or beef gravy
The Bean
Black beans (my favorite!)
Pinto beans (Mr. Sillypants' favorite)
Great white northern beans (Golden Grahams' favorite)
Red beans (same as chili beans)
Garbanzo beans (same as chickpeas)
Corn (not a bean, but it's not an aromatic, either...white or yellow, frozen or canned, the variety is wonderful)
The Meat
No meat
Shredded chicken
Shredded turkey
Canned chicken
Canned turkey
Ground turkey
Ground beef
Cubed pork chops
The Aromatics
Chili powder
Cumin
Taco seasoning packet
Canned green chiles
Canned smoked chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Colored bell peppers
Onions
Celery
Carrots
So, now that you have the building blocks, let's talk turkey chili. I was at a concert once in Park City, Utah, a few years ago, where the outdoor venue was serving cups of colorful turkey chili with cheese for five dollars (outrageous!). I was famished, so against my financial better judgment, I bought some. I liked it, but I felt it could use a little something, so when I got home, I got to work on making my own variation of the dish. I decided to include both red chile peppers, as well as green ones. That did the trick. Plus, I had some canned turkey in my food storage, so that made the chili tasty and convenient!
If you don't know what chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are, then it's about time you discovered their greatness. Virginia was the one who introduced me to them in the first place, when we were roommates. Her prowess in the Asian kitchen caught me onto this delectable little canned good. They are dried and smoked red jalapeno peppers in a spicy tomato sauce that come conveniently in a can. Find them! Use them! Keep them on hand! I first was able to locate them in the Hispanic/Asian section of a normal grocery store when I was in college.
The best way to use the smoked chiles is to take one out, split it down the middle, then scrape the seeds out with the flat side of the knife (the seeds are too hot for my liking!). Dice it, then use it in your soups, along with some of the spicy sauce they are swimming in. The rest of the peppers you can freeze in a small tupperware container and use later. Be careful not to use too many! I used five in a chili the other day, and it was far too spicy! I'd say two for a medium to large pot is sufficient.
My absolute favorite Southwest soup is inspired by my Golden Grahams. She called it something like "White Enchilada Soup," and it tastes delectable. Of course there are a million variations on a soup like this, which is why I like cooking in this genre so much. The key to this one, though, is the canned green chilis. I just can't get enough of them! The base is a simple white sauce, or you can go with cream of chicken (or low-fat cream of chicken). Golden Grahams swears by using shoepeg corn, by the way, and she loves topping it with Monterrey Jack cheese. Mr. Sillypants and I tried this the other day, but added pinto beans instead. Boy, was it tasty.
Other Recipes to Try
Remember, you could take any element, or variety of elements, from any of the above categories and make a great soup. Play around with it! Great accompaniments always include tortilla chips, Fritos, cheese, sour cream, cornbread, or breadsticks. And remember, canned goods and the Crockpot are your friends!
Savory Traditional Chili
Spicy Red Chili
Sweet Homestyle Chili
Frank's Pork Chop Chili
4 Bean Veggie Chili
Red Taco Soup
