Chili Time!

Yes, mi amigo's, it's that time of year once again. There's a touch of "cool" in the air in Texas here lately. Crisp, nippy mornings are beginning to welcome us, the leaves are falling and football is in full swing. And when Texans get that first burst of fall we know it's time to get out the chili recipe's.

 

I went out on a limb and tried a new recipe this year on the occasion of my very first chili cookoff competition. And to my surprise and dismay, it pulled the "Hottest Chili" award. I thought sure the flavor would garner the favor of all of the judges, but it wasn't meant to be for my first event.

 

I spent the better part of two weeks looking for a new recipe that suited my Texas Palate. I finally ran across one that caught my eye that was listed on the website of a local North Texas chef. 

 

Myself and two co-workers were teamates in this event so we put all of the ingredients of the recipe in the mix and a few of our own and what came out was the prettiest deep, rich, dark crimson bowl of red that you've ever seen. It has a deep, rich, earthy flavor from the New Mexico, Guajillo and Pisilla peppers and it's nice and thick and hearty.

 

 

Everyone at the competition that sampled our recipe was very taken by the taste, the color and the OH MY GOSH heat. It, uh, turned out a tad bit hotter than what we expected... and quite by accident. When we were putting the mix together, I sampled the base and there wasn't one bit of heat in it. So we decided to put in the last jalapeno we had bought, to try and boost the heat a bit. Well, it worked like a charm. It turned into the prettiest deep, rich, dark crimson BLAZING bowl of red that we actually had not planned on. Our strategy was to go for the best tasting category, but instead, quite by accident, we won the "Hottest Chili" award for the event. That wasn't a problem though, because if it hadn't been for that lone jalapeno, we would have went home with nothing but a good case of heart burn and gas.



 





But, as they say, "all's well that ends well" and we had a fantastic time at the 1st Annual Midlothian Chili Cookoff. And we'll definitely be back next year.

 

So drag out those "Red Recipe's" fellow Texans and Texans at heart. The cooler weather is calling out to the "chili heads" to enjoy yet another year of good, hot red, chili.

 



 



And before ya'll ask, no the hat's not that big, it's just that my head is that small. May the cooler weather bless your part of the country and may your chili be hot and red!

 

 

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...