Contest Chili

As you might guess from the name of this blog, I’m a chili head!  I make no apologies to any foodie when I say that chili is one of the best dishes ever to come out of America.  I mean really, how many dishes can we claim as our own?  Certainly not pizza, not barbeque, not even apple pie!  No my friends, when you think about it, we just don’t have that many dishes we can call our own.  You say, “As American as apple pie”, I say, “As American as chili”!

For the record, I’m a chili purist.  We’re talking about authentic southwestern style chili con carne here. Chili as we know it was almost certainly a product of the American south west and provided nutrition for early frontier settlers. Historians are almost unanimous in their view that chili originated in America.  It is not a Mexican dish!  Like many things food, there is some controversy about the original ingredients, but all agree that chili originally contained beef, dried chili peppers, wild onions, fat and salt.  Many historians say that oregano and cumin should also be added to that list.  Please note that they are also unanimous in the view that it did not contain tomatoes or beans! In fact singer, songwriter, Ken Finlay wrote a song called, “If You Know Beans About Chili, You Know That Chili Has No Beans.”  Amen!  If you like beans in your chili, and I occasionally do, then add them as a garnish at the end. 

The recipe that follows is not your typical homemade chili.  I originally formulated this recipe to compete in chili cook offs.  Like most modern day contest recipes, it contains no fresh ingredients, but instead relies almost entirely on high quality dried herbs, spices and vegetables.  This is done to insure consistency from batch to batch, which is very important in the contest world.  Using fresh ingredients, onions and garlic for example, you never know how those you buy today will compare to the ones you purchased last month. You might find this month’s onions more or less sweet, or the garlic might be more or less pungent.  Using dried ingredients eliminates this problem.

You will also notice that the various ingredients are added in stages, or as they are referred to in cook off lingo, “dumps”.  This is done to insure that every flavor component is in perfect balance at the moment the judges taste it.  In the home kitchen, this probably is not necessary and you can add all the ingredients at one time.  The only exception would be the arrowroot, limejuice and vinegar thickening, which should be added at the end.  In addition, I would hold off on the cumin until the last hour of cooking, as cumin can become bitter if over cooked. 

Finally, you will notice that my recipe contains a small amount of tomato sauce.  In this case, it‘s used as a seasoning rather than a fundamental ingredient. If you did not know it was there, I doubt that you would be able to detect any tomato. It rounds out the flavor and helps tenderized the meat.  As a chili purist, I stick by my statement that tomatoes have no business in chili!☺

That’s it, try this and let me know what you think.  Remember, this is a “contest’ chili, sort of a race car among chilies. If you prefer a more street-legal chili, feel free to change it up.  Fresh onions and garlic work great and you can experiment with different chili powders. Just, please no tomatoes or beans!☺

Red Rocket Chili - Contest Brew

Cut 2 pounds of Tri Tip into 3/8” cubes.  Sprinkle with ½-teaspoon season salt, set aside. 

In large Dutch oven, fry 2 strips thick bacon, cut into 1/4” dice until well rendered.  Remove bacon.

Brown meat in bacon fat.  Drain any excess liquid.  Add:

• 1 Can (14½ oz.) Swanson Beef Broth
• ½ Can Swanson Chicken Broth (Add remainder only as needed)
• 1 Can (8oz) Hunts Tomato Sauce
•  1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce

Bring to boil and add Packet #1:

•   1 Tbsp. onion powder
•  2 tsp. garlic powder
•  1 Tbsp. Mexene Chili Powder

Cover and simmer for 1 hour and add Packet #2:

•  3 Tbsp. Ancho chili powder
•  1 Tbsp. California chili powder
•  ¼ tsp. Jalapeno powder
•  2 tsp. ground cumin (toasted)
•  1 tsp. Mexican oregano
• 1 tsp. Marjoram
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• ¼ tsp. white pepper
• 2 Tbsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. chicken bullion crystals
• 1 packet Sazon Goya

Continue cooking with lid on for 30 minutes. Add Packet #3:

• 1 Tbsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 Tbsp. Mexene Chili Powder
• ¼ tsp. brown sugar

Continue cooking with lid on for 15 minutes.  Add:

• 1 Tbsp. arrowroot mixed with ->
• Juice from one lime
• 1 Tbsp. white vinegar

Leave covered and simmer for an additional 15 minutes, or until meat is tender.  Adjust seasoning and liquid.

Serve with standard toppings.