My work has an annual chili contest, this is the 2nd year I’ve submitted a chili. In the past years, judges always complained the chilis are too hot. So this year I tried to tone it down a little with only 2 habaneros and 4 fresnos. Chili is hard to judge – ours was judged based on consistency, color, smell, and taste. The consistency aspect is a little easier, the chili should not be watery, or thick like a paste. The color and smell however are harder – I guess it shouldn’t be black… but what’s a good chili color, and what makes one chili’s color better than the next? I am not a huge fan of the chili smell, there are much better smells in my opinion, like bacon sizzling in the oven… mmmm bacon. I don’t really know why and how to judge if a chili smells better than another chili. Taste is pretty subjective to the taster, this year apparently all the judges wanted more spicy and none of the chilis delivered! So this year, most of the contestants toned down the spiciness of their chilis, and it just happens that this group of judges wanted spicier chilis!! Oh cruel timing, I should have added those two extra habaneros that I purchased.
I am sad that I didn’t even get the hottest chili like last year because I held back. The hottest chili award went to a chili with only 1 habanero and a few comments that it wasn’t hot enough. I loled. Next year, they are all going to PAY. At least 5 habaneros… at least.
So I don’t believe in Chili recipes – Chili is something that you make by throwing a bunch of stuff into a pot. Here is the stuff that I threw into the pot.
- Ground Turkey
- Pork Belly
- Beef Stew Meat
- Onions
- Canned Tomatoes
- Canned Kidney Beans
- Canned Chiles
- Chili Powder
- Cayenne Pepper Powder
- Habaneros
- Fresnos
- Green Pepper
- Tomatillos
- Onion Flakes
- Garlic Powder
- Brown Sugar
- Cumin
- Salt
I didn’t get the consistency out of the pork belly that I wanted. I wanted it to just melt in your mouth, and the way that it cooked in the chili was disappointing, it was a little too much like pork chunks. Next time when I incorporate pork belly into a chili, I’m going to stew it first in the oven for a few hours and then add it to the chili.
Chili is definitely something you through together. When I make an Italian version I just use extra oregano.
woah Italian chili, that sounds awesome!