Entered a chili contest

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Our church is having a trunk or treat with a chili contest. I decided what the heck.
Now I looking for ideas. The wife has done the contest and is helping.
Im looking at using Ancho Chilis. Never used those before.
Other ideas I have seen are to use unsweet chocolate.

This will be fun.
 
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Originally Posted By: Leo99
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
I made this for work a few years back and won the contest.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/dragons-breath-chili-recipe-1945276


That recipe contains the secret ingedient I was going to share with you. Bacon grease. Slowly cook down some bacon and use the grease in the chili.


I was thinking of grinding bacon with the beef chuck, but adding bacon grease. Oh yeah!
 
Sounds like some good advice already! Ideas ive tried..cinnamon, cholula hot sauce, maybe use a good quality chili spice? I always top mine with green onions, cheese and sour cream, not sure what this contest allows but maybe make a big practice batch and play around with small samples and see what works. I like mine a bit of sweet a good dose of heat(medium) and lots of flavours.jalapenos, dark beer? Cilantro, brown sugar, mmolasses, fire roasted tomatoes...so many components to consider! Either way, keep us posted on how you do and please do share the recipe with us afterwards! Good luck!
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How much effort are you willing to go to? I've got a recipe that a friend gave me years ago, and have spent the last 15 years perfecting it. Here are a couple of the secrets to it.

First, and probably the most important, is make your own chili powder. The store bought chili powder is worthless. Or rather, flavorless - at least in comparison to what you can make. I use Negro Pasilla, but you can use your Ancho peppers. Also throw in a few California or Colorado, and a few Arbol and Cascabel. Seed and stem them, then lay them out on a baking sheet and roast in a preheated oven at 300° f for about 5-6 minutes. After they cool, grind them in a food processor or blender (I prefer a food processor) until a fine powder.

Second is the Cumin. Start with Comino seeds. They can be roasted at 300° in the oven, just like the peppers, but I like to do mine in a frying pan on the stove, so I can watch the color and smell them. When the aroma is rich and the seeds are a light brown, take them off the heat and let them cool. I grind them in a mortar and pestle, but they can be added to the chili pepper and ground in the food processor. They are too small to grind in the food processor by themselves.

There are more secrets to an award winning chili, but these two steps will set yours apart. Hint: Don't use ground beef! Use a roast and cut it in small bite sized pieces. Brown (not stew) the meat in hot oil made from the fat of the roasts.

Okay, here is the rest. Saute the onions in the same hot oil, left over after browning the meat. Add the garlic to the onions at the very end.

Combine it all with your preference of tomato sauce, crushed or diced tomatoes, and beans if you like. Add salt, black pepper, oregano, and smoked paprika to your liking.
 
I like to run one those little cans of chipotles in adobo sauce through the blender. It adds a nice, smoky heat and great flavor. I'm talking those really little cans. Add to much and it can end up too hot for general consumption. I also use hand cut chuck, not ground. It takes a while to cut it up into tiny cubes, but the texture ends up being awesome.
 
Cook a whole lean roast rather than burger. Brown it on a skillet then cook it in a slow cooker. I like to make rough 1"x.5" slits for the jalapenos to rest in while it cooks. Do this on the entire surface so it's speckled green. Once that's cooked, put it in your chili fixings however that may be.. then it'll cook even longer. I like to use ~half a cup of a stout beer too while it's slow cooking.

A guy at work has a chili cook off and I planned on doing something like this.
 
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Cook a whole lean roast rather than burger. Brown it on a skillet then cook it in a slow cooker. I like to make rough 1"x.5" slits for the jalapenos to rest in while it cooks. Do this on the entire surface so it's speckled green. Once that's cooked, put it in your chili fixings however that may be.. then it'll cook even longer. I like to use ~half a cup of a stout beer too while it's slow cooking.


Do you shred it after cooking to make it more "chili like" or just serve it as a chili roast? I really like this idea and plan to try it soon.
 
Chili cook offs are awesome. I enjoy a good crock of traditional chili but my wife makes a white bean chili which gets me every time. So good.
 
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