Carroll Shelby of “A.C. Cobra and Ford Mustang’, fame had another passion besides racing. He was a world class chili competitor. He is one of the original founders of the “Texas Terlingua World Chili Championship” competition. In 1972 he cashed in on his fame and created “Original Texas Brand Chili Mix”. This recipe was based on his award winning chili. In 1986 Carroll Shelby sold his brand to Reily Foods. It has been rumored that the recipe has changed since. This chili mix has been around for a long time and I have never tried it. Lately there has been a buzz surrounding this mix and it was time to give it a try.
A trip to our local Wally-Mart found our chili kit.. The packaging of this chili kit blended in with the multitude of other chili mixes on the shelf. It was kind of embarrassing and I probably will have to burn my “Man Card” but I had to ask a clerk for directions. I took a glance at the box labeling and instructions.. The expiration date on this box was dated January 22, 2015. This raised a flag because I believe all chili spices should be as fresh as possible.How old was this box? The kit also claimed it was ‘All Natural’ and gluten free. The chili making process seemed very simple and fast. Thirty five minutes will be the fastest chili I have ever made.Other ingredients that are needed were water, tomato sauce and two pounds of meat. The cost of this mix was unbelievably cheap; $2.99.
I am the first to admit that following instructions can be a challenge. We wanted to experience this chili the way it was meant to taste so we will comply with all directions. The mix does give options of salt, corn flour and cayenne pepper each wrapped in separate pouches. The amount of cayenne is barely ¼ teaspoon. This is an amount that Ms. Goofy puts on her corn flake in the morning.. The salt package is approximately two teaspoons. This is not an excessive amount but if you are watching your salt intake it is nice to have that option. The corn flour is to be used as a thickener and will add a flavor component. We used about half of the masa (corn flour) to change the chili texture from soupy to thick and hearty. The meat was browned and the main spice package, salt, and cayenne were added. I tasted the main spice package. It was sweet. I also tasted cumin, salt, and chili powder. Water and tomato sauce were added for a 15 minute simmer. Cooked black beans were added for 5 more minutes. A slurry of the masa flour and water was added to finish.
Our chili was served over rice. “Drum roll please!” This was a good looking bowl of red. Ms. Goofy loved it. She said it was well balanced and had a lot of chili flavor. I thought if was very decent and enjoyed it. Was it award winning chili? No, but it made for a hearty satisfying dinner. In my opinion the actual chili flavor was lacking. I want to taste chile and all of its glorious flavor and heat. The mix of chili, cumin and sugar was on the sweet side. The spice packets use no preservatives (good thing) and I am wondering about freshness and shelf life. The optional cayenne heat was barely noticeable. This was the fastest chili I have ever made. Overall Carroll Shelby’s Chili Kit is a convenient, quick, decent tasting way to make chili.
13 comments:
Glad you liked it, made as the directions say. We liked it, too, even though we strayed from the directions a bit.
Zoomie, Yes we did like it. I know you are allergic to following directions. I guess we all are a little bit.
I will have to try it again, it has been years. How about a mix of ground beef and ground bison? Sounds good to me, now where did I put those saltines...
I'll have to give this a try. But, while I have a "base" chili recipe, it is never the same any one time. It will be very hard to follow directions when making chili...
That's so cool that you gave it a try.
The kit comes in a box now? It used to come in a little brown paper bag. And that's my excuse for not buying it anymore. :)
I like it too. I keep one in the pantry. I would use canned chili but most have my dreaded arch enemy green bell pepper.
Toons, You have physic powers. We did use one pound ground beef and one puund of buffalo meat. I did not mention it. Buffalo has great flavor.
Three Dogs BBQ, I have award winning recipes and my pantry is stocked with fresh Chili powder from New Mexico.This was just an experiment to try this mix. I try to follow ratios and taste. To be fair I wanted to follow the instructions.
cookiecrumb, I was looking for the bag and could not find it. The clerk had to point out the box. Embarrassing!
Greg, I should probably buy another kit. They sure are convenient.
I looked up the original award-winning recipe online and apparently what this one lacks is suet to start the browning process and cheese added at the end. Still, for something so easy, it was tasty.
Stand by for the white chili kit - I made that last night.
Zoomie, Not sure what white chili is. Now green chili and you would have my attention.
Cranky bought a kit today. Ha ha!
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The recipe has definitely changed since the company was sold. I've been using this product for years, and since they started packaging it in the box, it tastes bland. I wish I could find an old bag so maybe I could figure out what they have left out.
I always add a whole diced brown onion and a whole green bell pepper, and kidney beans at the end. This is a super easy and good tasting chili, and is only sorta of hot. Add more Chili pepper if you want it hotter.
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