This weekend I entered into a chili cook-off and won 2nd place! It was so fun. I had a slight crock pot malfunction so my chili was only warm and did not get hot. The judges later told me that had my chili been warmer in temperature that I would have won 1st place. There were so many different kinds of chili's but one of my favorites was a white chili with shredded chicken. So so good. Jackson ate about 5 bowls of different kinds of chili.
Jordan is our resident ground beef browner and she did a great job. One judge told me that my meat had a great flavor. We don't eat a lot of red meat, but for chili I use real hamburger from a little store that has the freshest meat in town.
The judges were so serious. One of them claimed that he could tell at what time in the cooking process the beans were actually put into the pot. He was a bit critical of all of the chili's, but I don't care because 2nd place was a surprise for me.
In response to Mom #1: Mea culpa!
It really is a very simple recipe:
This makes a very large batch. Can be halved or quartered.
5.5 lbs of real hamburger
9 cups or 80 oz dark red kidney beans
4 cups diced tomatoes
4 6oz cans tomato paste
1/4 cup minced celery
1/2 cup diced or minced onion
1/8 cup diced chili peppers
LAWRY'S® Seasoned Salt
garlic powder
salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper
Brown hamburger with onions, Lawry's, pepper, pinch of garlic, pinch of cayenne. Drain about 3/4 of the fat off. Prepare your beans as you normally would or if you use canned, rinse well and add to hamburger along with all other vegetables. With the tomato paste I added about 1-2 cans of hot water per can or until you have your chili as soupy or thick as you like. Season to taste with garlic, salt, pepper and cayenne. Simmer on low for 30-40 minutes.
I think one of the things that helped me is that I made my chili on Saturday afternoon and refrigerated what I was going to take to the cook-off so it sat all night giving the ingredients time to mingle and get to know each other very well. ~Smile~
We like our chili with Cheez-It® crackers. I did hear from 1 of the judges that he did not like the crackers as they took away from the flavor of the chili.
That's it.
