Chili Cookoffs

Chili Cookoffs

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I think the chili cookoffs are this mo. Does anyone have any of the winning recipes from cookoffs before?

Feb 8, 2003, 12:21 PM

Post #2 of 19 (1896 views)

Re: [Ed] Chili Cookoffs

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Chili cookoffs in Ajijic: February 14, 15, 16 at the corner of the carretera and the libramiento. Y'all come.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Mereja

Feb 8, 2003, 3:55 PM

Post #3 of 19 (1876 views)

Re: [esperanza] Chili Cookoffs

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What kind of Chili is it? Is it Mexican Chili, or Texas chili? The kind that has hamburger, tomato sauce, chili powder, etc? Just wondering?

Feb 8, 2003, 4:13 PM

Post #4 of 19 (1878 views)

Re: [Mereja] Chili Cookoffs

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TOMATO SAUCE???.............Arraaaaagghh!

pedro naco

Feb 8, 2003, 4:43 PM

Post #5 of 19 (1870 views)

Re: [Mereja] Chili Cookoffs

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will there be any offal in it

Feb 8, 2003, 8:40 PM

Post #6 of 19 (1861 views)

Re: [pedro] Chili Cookoffs

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Pedro,I like to use refried groundhog intestines for the meat,and rabbit brains.Sounds offal doesn't it. .

Feb 8, 2003, 9:14 PM

Post #7 of 19 (1857 views)

Re: [Ed] Chili Cookoffs

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The ad in the paper said green chili, red chili, and some other thing, I forget. It's the 25th anniversary of the Chili Cook-Off and apparently a big deal. It's not an event I go to...but I did know the dates, since I just read the paper before I made the first post. You might try posting the question in the Ajijic forum.

And Pedro, I do believe the 'Off' in the title refers to offal. ; )

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Mereja

Feb 8, 2003, 9:17 PM

Post #8 of 19 (1865 views)

Re: [Uncle Jack] Chili Cookoffs

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I don't really use tomato sauce. It is just that when I first got married, I told my husband I was going to make chili. When he sat down to eat, he said, "what is this?" I told him it was the kind of chili people would make when I was growing up. He informed me that THAT is not chile. I already knew that, but I figured it was time for him to learn about other kinds of food besides Mexican food. I guess it is Tex-Mex food.

(This post was edited by Mereja on Feb 9, 2003, 1:35 PM)

Feb 9, 2003, 7:21 AM

Post #9 of 19 (1857 views)

Are we talking chiles here, or CHILI?

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Chiles are an integral part of the cuisine of Mexico and most of the southern United States. Chiles of all kinds; large, small, red, green or yellow are tasty, nutritious, healthful and often very exciting. The Mexicans were eating chiles centuries before Columbus ever even thought of sailing to India.

CHILI is something else. CHILI is a Texas invention. Best research indicates that CHILI first came on the scene in San Antonio around the 1840s. CHILI contains meat, (usually beef) red chiles, onions, garlic, oregano, cumin??, salt, pepper, and sometimes epazote for the more enlightened. These are the ingredients that were available in and around San Antonio at that time. Remember, most Anglos/Europeans, other than the Italians, still considered tomatoes to be poison in the 1800s.

Real Texas CHILI does not contain: tomatoes, bell peppers, celery, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, A-1, beer, Jack Daniels, rattlesnake meat, Tequila, or any of the other crap commonly found in cutsie-poo recipes out of Sunset or Gourmet magazines.

Now, some of you may like tomatoes and bell peppers and rattlesnake meat, and that’s just fine. Your Mamas may have been feeding you some concoctions made with hamburger, tomato sauce, and canned kidney beans since you were a kid and I’m sure that it is tasty; but it ain’t CHILI

Beans, usually pinto beans, are almost always served with CHILI, but as a side dish, not in the CHILI. When you add beans or any of the other ingredients mentioned above, you no longer have CHILI; you are cooking vegetable/beef stew. Do yourself a big favor. Don’t ever tell a real Texan that you put tomatoes in CHILI

Now, Chile Verde is a whole nuther ball game.

(This post was edited by Uncle Jack on Feb 9, 2003, 9:05 AM)

Feb 9, 2003, 9:07 AM

Post #10 of 19 (1845 views)

A good start

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Two Meat Chili

· 2 pounds beef shoulder, cut into 1 1/2" cubes

· 1 pound pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2" cubes

· 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or lard

· 2 medium onions, chopped

· 6 cloves garlic, minced

· 1 quart water or stock

· 2 ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed

· 4 dried red New Mexican chiles, stems and seeds removed

· 1 serrano chile, stem and seeds removed, chopped fine

· 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, freshly ground

· 2 tablespoons Mexican oregano

and a little corn meal or masa for thickening

Lightly flour the beef and pork cubes. Quickly cook the meat in the oil, stirring often. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until soft. Add the water or stock and simmer for 1 hour.

Soak the anchos and dried New Mexican chiles in hot water for 15 minutes. Pureé them in a blender with a little of the water and then strain. Add this sauce to the meat mixture along with the remaining ingredients and simmer for an additional 2 hours. Add corn meal mixed with a little water to thicken. Lower heat as the corn meal has tendency to burn on the bottom if the pan is too hot.

Serve with cooked pinto beans and tortillas on the side. Chopped onions and grated cheese to sprinkle on top if wanted. A couple of cold beers don’t hurt either.

Feb 9, 2003, 10:24 AM

Post #11 of 19 (1839 views)

Re: [Uncle Jack] Are we talking chiles here, or CHILI?

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UJ, it's chili...so it must be Texas. One of my major pet peeves is so-called knowledgeable foodies (Gourmet Magazine, Chowhound.com posters, etc) who insist on talking about chiles as CHILIS. I know, I know, it's picky, but...

I got so irritated at a recent double-page foofoo slick-elegant ad for Lexus automobiles that compared driving a Lexus to a chile habañero...habañero, for god's sake...that I emailed their PR department. Surely they pay people huge sums of money to spell-check copy before it goes into national publications. They didn't offer me a new Lexus for my troubles, however~although they did email back in blush mode. Sheesh...but I digress, this is actually a Mexican Kitchen post combined with a Learning Spanish post.

C'mon over, UJ, I'll make you some chile verde to swoon over.

I'm gonna miss it here. *Sigh*

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Feb 9, 2003, 10:38 AM

Post #12 of 19 (1838 views)

???	Can't Post \| Private Reply

"I'm gonna miss it here. *Sigh*"

¿Dondé via?

UJ

Mereja

Feb 9, 2003, 1:57 PM

Post #13 of 19 (1824 views)

Re: [Uncle Jack] Are we talking chiles here, or CHILI?

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I guess I have been taking lessons from Jennifer Rose too long. He..he...he... What I was trying to say is that since this forum is about Mexico I wasn't sure that you all were talking about chili, (as in chili con carne) from Texas or if they were going to have a chile cookoff to see who can make the best chile salsa. For some reason, I can't imagine seeing very many Mexican cooks in the Chapala area entering the contest if it is a chili cookoff. (They may show up with chile to enter in the contest thinking that those gringos don't know how to spell chile.)

I remember the chili they use to serve at school in the 60's, at least in Montana. No wonder I hated beans when I was growing up. And then they would make you eat them or you wouldn't get to go outside for recess. What was even worse was the baked beans, you know the kind with brown sugar, etc. (sorry to all who like these). Whenever they served them I wouldn't get recess that day at all. A lot of people were surprised when I married a Mexican. They would say "what are you going to do if you go visit his family in Mexico? Are you actually going to eat beans?" By then I liked the the kind of beans that Mexicans eat, and I have eaten some chili that I like too. Anyway, that is why I started all the confusion.

Feb 9, 2003, 2:11 PM

Post #14 of 19 (1826 views)

Chili Cook off

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Mereja;

From what I can find out, this is pretty much a Gringo fundraiser event at Lakeside. I get the feeling that it's kinda like a knifefight....there are no real rules. Everybody is more interested in having a good time and no one really worries much about recipes. It appears that they are doing both Chili con Carne and Chile Verde.

When were you in Montana?....Patty and I spent 10 years in Bozeman.

Talking about school cafeterias....I always hated the chili, wouldn't eat the baked beans, but loved that crap they called tamale pie. To this day, I don't know what was in in and probably don't want to know.

UJ

Feb 9, 2003, 5:53 PM

Post #15 of 19 (1814 views)

Re: [Uncle Jack] ???

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A dónde voy? No sé...but somewhere where I don't have to pay-per-view.

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Feb 9, 2003, 5:55 PM

Post #16 of 19 (1811 views)

Re: [esperanza] ???

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When you land somewhere, let me know.

UJ

Feb 9, 2003, 6:41 PM

Post #17 of 19 (1810 views)

Re: [Uncle Jack] ???

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*Sigh*

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Mereja

Feb 9, 2003, 7:00 PM

Post #18 of 19 (1807 views)

Re: [Uncle Jack] Chili Cook off

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Bozeman is one of the prettiest places to live. I lived in Saco, Montana Pronounced like the word "seco" (dry) in Spanish and that it is. Dry, barren, rolling hills with towns few and far between. I can't for the life of me figure out how both sides of grandparents choose to live there. (Sorry Brent T. from Saco if you happen to read this). There are some beautiful areas in Montana but Saco is not one of them. You want to know what they do on a Saturday night to have fun? This is not something that I have seen in Mexico yet, but they put a chicken in a gunny sack and they have a 4 foot by 4 foot cage. On the botton of the cage it is wood and there are little squares with numbers painted on them. After an hour or so of drinking, dancing and betting on the numbers, they turn the chicken loose in the cage. And guess what??? Yep, you guessed it. The dirtiest number wins all the money. I went back to visit a few years ago and actually saw saw this. (When I lived there I was still a little to young to go out at night). There is a street dance after that. My husband actually liked the place, but not enough to move there.

(This post was edited by Mereja on Feb 9, 2003, 7:03 PM)

Feb 9, 2003, 7:22 PM

Post #19 of 19 (1813 views)