Food Blog

I’m training for a chili contest on Super Bowl Sunday. I’ve been trying out a few variations on what I want to do.

I should mention that this contest at Nevin’s Pub benefits the North Shore Ulster Project and is a good opportunity for pub patrons to try a few dozen free chilis. While I’m giving them a plug, I might as well mention the $25 all you can eat & drink game package deal

I’ve only been involved in one of these before, and if it had been judged by whose chafing dish of chili was finshed first I would have won. The winner that year was a variation of Cincinnatti Chili. The Cincinnati style has a ton of ingredients, and the winner also used peanut butter is his recipe. I’m not giving awy my recipe just yet, due to the highly competitive nature of these things, but mine will have quite a few ingredients, with my own grind of ancho and chipolte peppers, and a better cut of meat. Unlike some very strict Chili competitions, I have a feeling that a unique chili, that can stand out among 15 or more entries, has a better chance. In a competition, you have to make the chili keeping in mind the judges only get a few ounces of it, so it has to be very bold (not necessarily hot), thick and maybe a bit over-seasoned. When you cook 2 gallons of the stuff I tend to prepare it for the way I like to eat it - with lots of different veggies, meat and beans floating around in a sauce thats going to flow over rice or macaroni and will get sopped up by bread, and coated with cheese, sour cream, etc. I’ll have to keep in mind the difference between Competition Chili vs. Eatin’ Chili