Chili Cookoff

[treesmacker]

Chili cookoff coming up at my work. Any recipes you'd like to share? Medium to medium hot please.

[RonB]

Whatever recipe you use, I suggest either using pulled chuck roast, or cubed chuck roast or brisket.

[EdF]

Or short ribs ;-)

Hmmn, Orygun - that means you can add beans! Maybe black beans!

[texastweeter]

EdF "FOUL" FLAG ON THE PLAY!

[EdF]

Lol!

[tbob4]

I think Jhirshon just won a chili cookoff. If he doesn't want to share a secret recipe , I'm sure he has good advice on timing, serving and set-up.

[Jhirshon]

First question - is this an ICS or CASI cook-off? If not, I will give you a very different set of guidelines.

[treesmacker]

Not an official cookoff; just a small number of participants at my work bring a gallon or so of chili, small cups with a colored tag to identify which chili, and everyone taste. Each taster gets a ticket to drop in cup in front of Chili of their choice. Most tickets wins bragging rights for a year, and maybe a small prize (I think the prize last year was a batch of meat from a good local butcher).

[Jhirshon]

Ok, so you have a LOT more freedom than if you were at an "official" sanctioned cookoff.

My basic tips:

use tri-tip as your meat. partially freeze it, then cut into 3/8" cubes. Use a good chili powder as your base (i like Gebhardt's) and add as many different chili powder blends such as cayenne, ancho, chipotle or guajillo as suits your palate. It needs to be spicy! Some beer never hurts!

[JeffJ]

Just buy a few cans of Hormel and throw it in a pot.

[JonnyB]

I will eat no chili out of a can that does not say "Wolf Brand Chili No Beans" on it.

[Mr. Bones]

If I eat chili from a can, it is Wolf's...

[Lock Stock and Barrel]

Oatmeal anyone? See ingredients!

[CaptainMike]

ecowper has a pretty good method.

[treesmacker]

Yeh, his looks like it could be a winner - I would leave out the corn. https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...-grilled-chili

[Jon Liebers]

there is a recipe in the Big Green Egg cookbook that makes unbelievable chili in the egg, so it has a little bit of smoke on it.
howtobbqright.com/2017/11/02/smoked-chili-recipe

[NoogaQ]

Funny thing, I was just looking at that recipe yesterday. Looks like a good one!

[treesmacker]

That does look good. Thanks!

[lemayp]

Some of my favorite home batches have used pre-smoked meats, chuck, pulled pork, and / or brisket. Haven't tried smoking the chili as a whole, but doing it in a cooker under a chunk of something could be fun. I always use a variety of fresh peppers and powders. Habanero, jalapeno, and chipotles make it into most of my attempts but lately I'm going a much hotter. Good year for the ghost and reaper plants here...

[ClayJones]

Had to check real quick to see if you were in my office! I came here to post the exact same thing! LOL I'm hoping to be at a new job soon so I want to blow the doors off this office cookoff one good time before I leave Will be watching this thread closely.

[Nate]

If you are going to a new job then why not blow the doors off the restroom instead. Make a chili guaranteed to burn them twice!

[ClayJones]

This guy gets it.

[Mosca]

Cookoff recipes get more and more complicated, so it is sometimes a good idea to go back to the source. Don't worry that this will be bland; it is actually amazing.

Tolbert’s Original Bowl of Red Chili Recipe:


Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours

Yield: serves many



Ingredients:
3 pounds lean beef, cubed
1/8 pound rendered beef kidney suet (if you want to go for it)
1 teaspoon each oregano, cumin powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and Tabasco
3 tablespoons chile powder (optional)
4 hot chile peppers
At least two chopped cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons masa harina, cornmeal, or flour (optional)*

* The masa adds a subtle, tamale-like taste, but it also thickens the chili. Masa Corn Mix is a tradition Mexican whole corn flour that is found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores (not to be confused with corn meal)

Instructions:
Sear beef in a large soup pot or cast-iron Dutch oven. You may need a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. When the meat is all gray, add suet, chile peppers, and about two inches of liquid (you can use water, I use beer). Simmer for 30 minutes.

Add spices and garlic, bring just to boil; lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes. NOTE: Add more liquid only to keep the mix from burning. Skim off as much grease as you can, and add masa harina. Simmerfor another 30 minutes. Taste and adjust spices if necessary.

This is a spicy chili, so leave out some of the spicy stuff in the beginning if you have a tender tongue. At this point, I refrigerate the chili overnight which allows the chili to mellow and you can skim off all the grease.

[Mosca]

When I make this, even I can't leave it alone. I add onions and fresh hot peppers, usually serranos or jalapenos. The flavor profile is the same, but the onion adds a little sweet.

[Nate]

I agree... a good base recipe that you can make your own will serve you best.

[Jetski]

I don't have a recipe to share but a couple of things that I have adopted over the last couple of years that I think have made a big difference in my chili. I did get second two years ago and tied for first last year at our work chili cook-off. Keep in mind this was judged by 4 people (I think), not certified judges, and not a very big representation of the overall amount of people that actually ate chili at the cook-off. Maybe it really sucks

I use chuck roast now, and always smoke it on the grill before using it in the chili. I've seen many others on here doing the same. I love the results.

I also make a chili paste instead of using powder. Start by using dried chilies, "roasting" them in the oven for a very short time, adding them to a beef broth (or water) and simmering them on the stove until the chilies are soft, and then pureeing them to make a paste. Be careful not to add too much of whatever broth is left when pureeing (my opinion is that makes it too soupy). You can do a little research on the web to find some chilies that work well, but generally something sweet (Anaheim, New Mexico, etc.), something spicy (Cascabels, Arbol, etc.), something smokey (Chipotle, Guajilla, etc.) and something rich and fruity (Ancho, Pasilla, etc.).

I always use beer in my chili. I like using a chocolate stout or chocolate peanut butter stout. I started using Stone Brewing Xocoveza recently and I think that goes really well in chili. It's a little pricey for adding to chili but I like the results.


Anyways, that's my two cents worth. Good luck, have fun!

[Mr. Bones]

treesmacker I've used Guinness Extra Stout fer long many years; cain't claim it's th penultimate beer to utilize, but I've always had great results, an it's almost Universally available...

[ILikePigButts]

I have a small craft beer store in my town that always seems to have Xocoveza. I think it may be the same six pack. They have a reputation for not having the freshest beer at times. It was like $16 or $17 though, who pays that for beer?

[JGo37]

Shout out to STL!! Anyway - I used to live next to Stone. Oaked Bastard. That's the beer to use, and if you add hot sauce, that's the hot sauce to use. Check the web...

[ClayJones]

Mannnn... These suggestions though! No WAY I don't win. I'll post pics of the trophy here.

[Craigar]

This recipe posted by LifebyC is a pretty good one: https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...sriracha-chili

[Potkettleblack]

Think beyond the beef. Pork back ribs make amazing chili.

[cptnding]

Smoked first I assume?
I like that idea!

[Potkettleblack]

Yeah, smoking is not necessary, but is a bonus. There was a recipe in GQ that I made many years ago, and then I just started using it in a New Mexico style chili I had been making.

[JGo37]

That's how I usually make chili - pork...

[treesmacker]

Thank you all for the great suggestions and recipes. I'l be studying them this weekend and making some choices!