Fan Art

[shadowinthelight]

I'm beginning to think MIB was created to deal with Bud's culinary skills...

Are you saying the organization is all about Managing Ignited Butts?

[Jabberwonky]

Are you saying the organization is all about Managing Ignited Butts?

[DinkyInky]

Doing an archive binge during Pablo's big move.

I'm beginning to think MIB was created to deal with Bud's culinary skills...

Is it bad that now I want to try some of Bud's Chili? I LOVE spicy stuff(think Sydney from GrrlPower).

[Dave]

Is it bad that now I want to try some of Bud's Chili? I LOVE spicy stuff(think Sydney from GrrlPower).

Not bad at all, no... but you do have to make some choices.

• With or without beans? (the use of beans in chili is quite authentic but I gather that many Texan chili fans scoff at it)
• With or without fire ants? (formic acid, for that extra kick)
• Cow meat, buffalo meat, deer meat, or dog meat? (the latter is believed to be a very old mesoamerican traditionsl recipe, very little used these days)
• Which pepper or peppers, and how much of each? (Cayenne is the traditional, of course, for flavor but not so much hot. Habanero and Scotch Bonnet and savina have that distinctive frutescens flavor, and lotsa hot. Ghost peppers for the adventurous and/or suicidal. Wax-coated Guatemalan Death Peppers if you have a point to prove and have time for a trippy out-of-body experience afterwards.)

[Jabberwonky]

Is it bad that now I want to try some of Bud's Chili? I LOVE spicy stuff(think Sydney from GrrlPower).

Not bad at all, no... but you do have to make some choices.

• With or without beans? (the use of beans in chili is quite authentic but I gather that many Texan chili fans scoff at it)
• With or without fire ants? (formic acid, for that extra kick)
• Cow meat, buffalo meat, deer meat, or dog meat? (the latter is believed to be a very old mesoamerican traditionsl recipe, very little used these days)
• Which pepper or peppers, and how much of each? (Cayenne is the traditional, of course, for flavor but not so much hot. Habanero and Scotch Bonnet and savina have that distinctive frutescens flavor, and lotsa hot. Ghost peppers for the adventurous and/or suicidal. Wax-coated Guatemalan Death Peppers if you have a point to prove and have time for a trippy out-of-body experience afterwards.)

Dave...I worry about your culinary choices...

(I like flavor and spicy enough to tease, but when it's THAT hot... )

[NOTDilbert]

I prefer the Wicke Fowler chili spice mix - don't know if it's still available, but I've got the recipe somewhere....

As an expatriate Texan:
1) Chili SERVED with beans = okay; chili COOKED with beans = no.
2) Cayenne, dried chiles, and jalepenos are all good in, and as you said, the rest if you're out to prove something.
3) Personal preference: onions cooked with the meat (and served raw as garnish, along with more fresh or pickled jalepenos).
4) Thickened with a slurry of masa harina for the last 30 minutes.

Serve with saltines, tortillas, tortilla chips, slabs of cheddar/monterey jack, or quesa fresca (will not melt - it's not supposed to), onions and jalepenos, salsa - and BEER.

And Tums.

[shadowinthelight]

Wax-coated Guatemalan Death Peppers if you have a point to prove and have time for a trippy out-of-body experience afterwards.)

I myself am not actually a fan of spicy food but if they can help me find my soul mate I'm all in.

[MerchManDan]

With or without fire ants? (formic acid, for that extra kick)
Cow meat, buffalo meat, deer meat, or dog meat?

You've played one or more of the Fallout games, haven't you Dave?

[NOTDilbert]

With or without fire ants? (formic acid, for that extra kick)
Cow meat, buffalo meat, deer meat, or dog meat?

You've played one or more of the Fallout games, haven't you Dave?

I thought Formica ants were the ones that used formic acid? Do fire ants use it as well, or some other toxin?

[Dave]

With or without fire ants? (formic acid, for that extra kick)
Cow meat, buffalo meat, deer meat, or dog meat?

You've played one or more of the Fallout games, haven't you Dave?

Actually, no. I do know at least one or two people who are into eating "unusual" meat, though. One relative of one of my wife's friends has successfully consumed quite a bit of roadkill. She insists on getting it fresh, of course, and the park rangers in her area are willing to collect and refrigerate such examples as they happen to see in the course of their duties.

I thought Formica ants were the ones that used formic acid? Do fire ants use it as well, or some other toxin?

No, you're quite correct. It's other ants (including red ants) which generate formic acid. Fire ants use a very different toxin. I had mis-remembered this detail.

In fact, it turns out that formic acid neutralizes the fire-ant toxin. "Crazy ants" have evolved the ability to use their own formic acid as a counter-agent against fire-ant venom, and as a result they're actually invading and wiping out fire ant nests in some parts of the Southwest.

Many years ago, when I was still in junior high school, our school's natural-science teacher (Joe Cadbury) took our class out on a nature expedition to one of Philadelphia's larger parks. He encouraged us to sample some red ants... and I can attest that they taste more than a bit like lemonaid. Formic acid isn't bad, in very small doses.

(Joe was also an avid bird-bander, and had a 7' boa constrictor named Suzy that he occasionally fed the odd pigeon who'd gotten caught in his bird-banding capture net. He was willing to let us take Suzy out of her cage and carry her around, if she was in a good mood.)

[shadowinthelight]

Oh crap, they're back.



The Vampervs will never get old. (literally, they're immortal)

[AnotherFairportfan]

I prefer the Wicke Fowler chili spice mix - don't know if it's still available, but I've got the recipe somewhere....

As an expatriate Texan:
1) Chili SERVED with beans = okay; chili COOKED with beans = no.

a) I start with Carroll Shelby's mix - i'll use Fowler's if CS or Brown Bag are not to hand.
b) pork. not ground - cut up in 1/2" or smaller cubes.
c) beans. cooked in (though not the whole time) - as per CS's recommendation.
d) chopped Japanese chilies added, and also tossed in while browning the meat.
e) minced garlic - again cooked in and added while browning.
f) onions - and maybe chopped green peppers - if i feel like it.
g) Ro*Tel diced tomatoes w/green chilies - one can hot (with habaneros) one with lime and cilantro
h) beer cooking liquid - a good stout or porter; preferably Sam Smith oatmeal stout or Taddy Porter, or Theakston's Old Peculier if you can find it.
serve over rice.

[NOTDilbert]

I prefer the Wicke Fowler chili spice mix - don't know if it's still available, but I've got the recipe somewhere....

As an expatriate Texan:
1) Chili SERVED with beans = okay; chili COOKED with beans = no.

a) I start with Carroll Shelby's mix - i'll use Fowler's if CS or Brown Bag are not to hand.
b) pork. not ground - cut up in 1/2" or smaller cubes.
c) beans. cooked in (though not the whole time) - as per CS's recommendation.
d) chopped Japanese chilies added, and also tossed in while browning the meat.
e) minced garlic - again cooked in and added while browning.
f) onions - and maybe chopped green peppers - if i feel like it.
g) Ro*Tel diced tomatoes w/green chilies - one can hot (with habaneros) one with lime and cilantro
h) beer cooking liquid - a good stout or porter; preferably Sam Smith oatmeal stout or Taddy Porter, or Theakston's Old Peculier if you can find it.
serve over rice.

....Conditional approval
Cubing the meat by hand is always better than hamburger grind, although some some stores and most butchers will do a coarse or 'chili' grind. I prefer - if using beef - stew meat, cut small, or a shoulder roast cut up.

Shelby's Mix is good too, although not available in some regions (as is Fowler's).

I'm a fence-stradler on cooking with beer; I'd rather cook with water and drink the beer, but I've had good beer-chili. Same with adding tomatoes; I don't, but I've had good that does.

Pork = The Other Chili Meat <3

[MerchManDan]

Oh crap, they're back.
vampervs.png
The Vampervs will never get old. (literally, they're immortal)

"Bird years?!?"

[DinkyInky]

Oh crap, they're back.

The Vampervs will never get old. (literally, they're immortal)

If they aren't careful, she might serve them stake for dinner.

*deposits a complete hardback collection of Anne Rice Novels in the pun jar*

[Catawampus]

With or without fire ants? (formic acid, for that extra kick)
Cow meat, buffalo meat, deer meat, or dog meat? (the latter is believed to be a very old mesoamerican traditionsl recipe, very little used these days)

You've played one or more of the Fallout games, haven't you Dave?

Actually, no. I do know at least one or two people who are into eating "unusual" meat, though. One relative of one of my wife's friends has successfully consumed quite a bit of roadkill. She insists on getting it fresh, of course, and the park

I used to casually snack on ants and aphids and the like when I could catch them, though not so much any longer because people give me rather horrified looks. I can't say that fire ants or any other ant I've tried was actually spicy, more sweet or sour. I suppose you could use them in place of the vinegar that some recipes use.

Dog meat was indeed a very popular dish among many of the Plains tribes (if you ever read Lewis and Clark's journals, the explorers picked up the habit from the locals and quite enjoyed it), though I'm not sure how it was viewed by the Mesoamerican tribes. I know that the Comanche, who lived between the Mesoamericans and the Plains tribes, viewed eating dog in about the same way that most current day Americans do. No word on what Comanche sphinxes think of the practice.

Perhaps we need a new topic devoted to chili recipes. . .

[shadowinthelight]

No word on what Comanche sphinxes think of the practice.

Phix thought as highly of werewolves as she used to of vampires. (just finished my archive binge last night so it is still fresh in mind)

[AnotherFairportfan]

Dog meat is fine. (Well, i mean for edibility and - i understand - flavour. Never tried it myself.) Don't eat the liver, though. (Or polar bear liver.) Concentrates enough Vitamin A to be toxic to humans.

Sturgeon's The Dreaming Jewels revolves around a little boy...

They caught the kid doing something disgusting out under the bleachers at the high school stadium, and he was sent home from the grammar school across the street. He was eight years old then. He’d been doing it for years.

(He's eating ants.)

Great story, Sturgeon's first novel.

[shadowinthelight]

It's a dance party.


Yes I considered it but was too lazy to make this into a proper animated GIF.

[Dave]

Yes, that is just disturbing. "Your favorite characters, as foods."

Shelly deserves better than to be part of a cheap sandwich. I'd think "Goulash of the Titans" at the very least.