Chili--Help!

[newyearspromise]

Hi All!

I decided to try the chili recipe on the recent thread from this past week.

I made it as the directions said, but it has this very strong, botter taste. I know there must be too much of something and not enough of something else.

Can someone help me? I am having a guest over for dinner tonight and hate to have to give this to her...it's not very good...

[newyearspromise]

Tried adding some avage and salt to it. For some reason I thought this might help--it did, it tastes good now, but just not very much like chili!!

????

[RowanC]

I did the chili recipe and it turned out great! I ground the carrots and other hard veggies until they were pretty small.. maybe lentil sized.

I was thinking, you could add sprouted black beans to this and it would be awesome. The recipe lasted me 3 days. YUM!

[SamuelWilson]

First of all, did you use 4 cups of sprouted barley?

If so, did you rinse often, otherwise, the result of soaking barley with out rinsing is a bitter taste that you can't rinse off in the end. It becomes hydrated with the bitter water. This bitterness is a defense mechanism against animals to keep them from eating the sprouts. Another words, during your six hour soak, you should have rinsed them every couple of hours so they become hydrated with non-bitter water. I usually change out the water after the first half hour of soaking because that is when the barley discharges the most bitterness. I rinse them well under the faucet in a mesh basket in between water changes. I find that by doing this, that I have much better tasting sprouts in the end.

This is only a personal preference, some people just soak them over night and then that is it. They eat them as is and have no problem with any bitterness. However, your taste buds may be more sensitive than theirs. You might want to try my rinsing ritual on your next batch of Alissa's Chili.

I really do think that is what your tasting in this recipe. You are just tasting the natural bitterness of sprouted barley. The only other thing I think it can be is the curry powder. Curry powder is potent and you can easily add too much of it. If you don't believe me, try tasting it before you put it in a recipe and you will agree, it is not the most pleasing flavor by itself. It does help recipes when used in moderation.

One tip that will really help your next batch of Alissa's Chili is to add a pinch of fresh ground saffron, I use a mortar and pestle to grind the threads into a powder. Now only a pinch mind you, don't put too much. This will give your raw chili more of that satisfying SAD flavor of simmered beans.

Another tip is to taste the recipe as your making so you can pin point the source of the bitter flavor.

Last but not least, add 2 finely diced habaneros to that recipe if you can handle it. This will make it fiery hot and your tongue and mouth will be burning so bad you will forget about the bitter taste.

[RowanC]

Samuel, thanks for that post. It answer the question I had on another post about the issue of sprouts being bitter. So it seems maybe I'm not rinsing them often enough. I've noticed a few of the things I've made with sprouted grains have a bitter taste.. maybe this is why. I'll try again and rinse more often.

This is one reason I love this website!
Thanks!

[newyearspromise]

I did not put barley in mine, but I did put curry...so I am betting that is the problem.

I will try watering it down a tiny bit and try the saffron and the pepper...grab those at the store on my way home this afternoon.

Thanks for the advice. I have some wonderful corn chips I made for eating with this, and a great salad, and would have been soooo sad to see it all go to waste. She has never eaten raw, and what a bummer if she eats something that even I, A RAW-FOODIE don't like!!!!!!! :o

[SamuelWilson]

newyearspromise, just leave the curry out if think it is the source of the bitter taste. Also, frontier is the only company that makes a good curry mixture (that I have tasted at least). I make my own curry powder, but it is way too complicated and requires too many ingredients for most. Brands like McCormick make low grade curry powders that do not enhance raw cuisine in my opinion.

I think for your chili recipe, I would just leave out the curry. You can add a teaspoon of ground cumin and this will give your chili more of a SAD Taco Bell'ish taste. I use cumin in my raw chilis and I anyone who has tasted my chile really likes it. I usually make one batch spicy hot for myself an then another batch that is not hot for other people.

[newyearspromise]

Well, I think maybe I just don't like raw chili... :o

The reason is that last night I had my pastor come over. I had added agave to it so it was a sweet chili. Mary, my pastor, really loved it. I wasn't too fond of it still. Well, while we were eating, I accidently left it in the crock pot (where I had heated it and monitored the temp for a couple of hours--I never let it get over 115F).

When Mary left, I realized that I had left the chili warming the whole time and it had actually cooked, not hot, but over the raw limit. I was curious, so I tasted it.

Ok, it tasted great then... ??? I think I just didn't like the raw taste of it, which is a little odd to me because I usually do. :confused:

But next time I will leave the curry out and see if I like it better. I also need to try some other soups.

I also made some raw corn crackers for it, but the sodium in them made me soooo bloated. I finally am back to myself, but it took all night and most of the morning to get all of that sodium out of my body. I am just not used to it anymore, I think! So next time I make raw crakers I am just going to leave the salt out. I love the sweet corn taste anyway...

[Rawkinlocs]

Newyearspromise,

Did you make the chili that was posted HERE (the one with the avocado, carrots, celery, etc) or did you make Alissa's from her book?