Chili: you have met your match

Every spring my church hosts a chili cook-off. And before you say, “Oooo a cooking competition!” let me tell you, there is virtually no prize for winning. BUT it’s a competition. AND I have lost the last three years. LOST. THREE. YEARS.

Now, in my defense I’m not much a chili guy. I mean, I like it and all that, but soups, and chili, and stews……I’m not a big fan. So when the year comes around again, I suddenly remember the bitter sting of defeat and vow anew, “Victory will be mine!” Here’s the rub: I only make chili once a year. And only for this competition. Don’t judge me. I spend the other 364 days eating pizza. More on that in another post.

I try a new recipe every year. And by new, I mean, I concoct a new recipe off the top of my head each year. Last years recipe included lentils instead of red or black beans. It was a bad choice. This years recipe was based on two things: coq au vin and pot roast. I enjoy the bacon and mushroom aspect of coq au vin and I like the shredded beef aspect of a good pot roast. Hmmmm.

I rendered thick sliced bacon, and then sauteed mushrooms, onions, red bell peppers, jalapenos, and garlic. I situated the pot roast on top of the veggies and added beef stock. I covered the pot and baked it in the oven at 300 for several hours.

Separately I soaked red beans. I’ve never cooked beans from scratch. Stop judging. I like beans. I do. From a can, they’re so much easier. After they soaked for 6 hours, I removed the roast from the oven. I shredded the beef, add that to the beans, and then added the rest of the chili “broth”.

My chili is now resting happily in the fridge. The flavors are mingling in a bath of chili joy. Tomorrow morning I shall place the chili in the crock pot and let it heat the rest of the day. If all goes according to plan, the beans will be cooked through, the flavor will be complex, and the roast will be beefy.

I’ll post pictures of my chili tomorrow when it’s all done. I’m sure you all are just dying to see it. Second place finish, here I come.