Okay, I went about 10 steps outside my comfort zone with this one: I signed up to participate in a chili cook-off! While I love experimenting in the kitchen, being in any sort of spotlight makes me get all "
Bob Wiley" to some degree--"It just makes my lips numb to think about it."
First things first: I am in no way, shape, or form a chili expert. I tend to prepare the dish in a way that might make others scoff: with corn, tomatoes, beans, and whatever else is in the fridge that day--the way my mom taught me. My fiance, T.C., and I recently moved to a mountain town of California, and I thought participating in the cook-off could be a way of getting to know my community a bit better. And, I like the challenge.
I hadn't considered how difficult it would be to decide which type chili recipe to follow. Did you know that when you type "chili recipe" into the search engine, Google generates 31,300,000 hits? 31,300,000, we're talkin'! Well, consider this 31,300,001. Since I only had experience making 'untraditional' chili, I wanted to get my hands on the most classic recipe type I could imagine: Texas chili--which generates 1,510,000 hits, if you're curious. After a long search, I finally found two recipes (from
MomsWhoThink and
BlogHer) that seemed promising. I combined them, and then tweaked them to fit the ingredients I could find in my community.
Let me tell you that the research, experimentation, and hours of labor paid off. Handsomely. T.C. even rated the dish 5 beards (e.g., stars). To me, that's saying something. Let's hope that it is a success at the chili cook-off tomorrow!
This is a "must taste along the way" kind of dish. *That is, once the meat is cooked through. Though, I'm sure I didn't have to tell you that.
5 bacon slices
1 lb. pork Italian sausage
2 1/2 lbs. leanest ground beef
1-12 oz. can lager/beer
1 c. coffee, brewed
1 large onion, or two small-medium onions, diced
3 tbsp. garlic, minced
3 c. warm water, divided
3 Guajillo chili peppers, dried, reconstituted
1 tbsp. Pasilla chili, ground
1 tbsp. California chili, ground
3 tbsp. standard chili powder
2 tbsp. cumin
2 tbsp. instant beef bouillon (or 6 cubes)
1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa, or 1/3 c. Mexican hot chocolate tablet, grated
1 tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves, ground
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. coriander, ground
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. sugar
*Note: For the dry spices, please feel free to use or or less, depending on your taste.
1/4 c. masa harina, or yellow corn meal
Green onions
Sour cream
Sharp yellow cheddar
In a large, heavy cooking pot (preferably a Dutch oven), cook bacon until crisp.
While the bacon is cooking through, place the dried peppers in a bowl and cover with boiling water for approximately 15 minutes. Place a spoon, or something equivalently heavy to submerge the peppers.
Dice onion and set aside. Remove bacon, and leave its juices in the pot. Brown Italian sausage and ground beef in the bacon grease. Drain.
Crumble the bacon and place in pot with the pork and beef mixture. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic to the pot.
Cook the garlic and onions on medium heat until cooked through, or clear. The chilis should be relatively soft now.
Seed the chilis, as as much as desired. Remember: the seeds are where the heat lies. Throw the chilis, the chipotle peppers in Adobo, as much sauce from the can as you can spare, and one cup water into a blender. Pulse until well pureed.
Add the chili puree, coffee, beer, and 2 cups water, dry spices, powdered cocoa, and sugar into the pot with the meat mixture. Turn on high to bring to a boil.
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| Brewed Coffe |
Once the chili begins to boil, turn down the heat to low and let simmer for approximately five hours, stirring occasionally. The time gives the ingredients a chance to marry and complement one another (aw, how sweet). Make sure to taste about once an hour to see if there is need for adjustment--you know, the fun part! Feel free to add more of any of the spices, or water to reach desired consistency.
After approximately five hours have passed, scoop out 1 cup of the chili broth. To a measuring cup, the one cup chili broth and cornmeal (or masa harina).
Whisk until well blended and reincorporate it back into the pot. The cornmeal/masa harina combination will gradually thicken the chili. Stir until thickened.
Allow the chili to simmer for approximately 30 more minutes. When done and tasting delicious, serve with green onions, grated yellow cheddar, and (for those who would like to cut the spice a bit) a dollop of sour cream.
Your turn: Have you ever entered a food contest of sorts? If so, how did it turn out? Tell me your story.
