On the Art of Making Contest Chili

This contest chili may sound like heresy to many native Texans, who claim the dish as their own, but it won a prize in a big chili contest many years ago. It was also the only chili the judges chose to eat a bowlful of themselves after tasting several dozen pots. To the author's way of thinking, that was the highest honor they could have bestowed.

Rather than using cubes of beef, which is the usual way with contest chili, this recipe uses brisket or chuck roast. Of the two cuts, chuck is normally cheaper, but brisket is more uniform in consistency and tends to "pull" better than chuck. The meat is braised for a couple of hours to the consistency of pot roast. It is served on a plate with rice and your choice of beans on the side.

This contest chili also uses fresh ingredients. Fresh peppers, tomatillos and tomatoes (a sacrilege, I know, but the flavor one is looking for is more like that of mole poblano), onions, fresh herbs and garlic, and finished off with cocoa, cumin and fresh cilantro. When you make it right you get a good balance of flavors with zingers of herbs and spice, and a nice depth and roundness from the bitter chocolate countering the heat going down. It is a bit like having a symphony orchestra playing in your mouth.

Anyway, back to the chili contest. As the judging proceeded a unique thing happened; one of the judges tasted this chili and beckoned to the others to come taste it, too. Soon all five of them hovering over this one pot of chili. They inspected it carefully, wondering at first what the fresh green herb was. One judge knew it as cilantro, which most of them had never tasted. It was well before one could find it in any suburban supermarket.

In the end, this contest chili was judged "most creative." It did not win the top prize largely because of the inclusion of beans. It was the author's first and only contest and he was unaware of the unwritten rules for making contest chili.

Eddie's gourmet chili recipe.

Brisket or Chuck Roast 2 - 3 lbs. (Venison or Wild boar, if you hunt)
Large onion 1
Roma tomatoes 3
Tomatillos 5 or 6
Fresh Chilis 5 0r 6
(Ancho, Anaheim, Jalapeno, Serrano, Habenero - One Each)
Olive oil 1/4 cup
Fresh Garlic 2-3 cloves (to taste)
Oregano 1 sprig
ground cumin 1/2 tps.
ground coriander seed 1/2 tps.
clove 1 or 2 to taste
Ale, porter or stout 1 12 ounce bottle

cocoa powder (bitter) 1/2 teaspoon
Fresh Cilantro 1 small bunch
cumin seed 1 teaspoon


Preparation

Remove the seeds from the chilis and chop coarsely.
Peel the onion and chop coarsely.
Remove the skins from the tomatillos and wash carefully until the stickiness is removed.
Quarter the tomatillos.
Wash and quarter the Roma tomatoes. Don't use canned (too much liquid).

Cooking

In a dutch oven, or covered brazier, preheat the olive oil and garlic cloves, then add the chopped onion and peppers. Cook gently until tender and browned.

In a large skillet, sear the meat with salt and black pepper to taste.

When the onions and peppers are brown and tender, add the meat to the pot with the oregano and powdered herbs and clove. Pour in the beer and braise, covered, on low heat for two to three hours until the meat "pulls" easily.

Remove the meat and toss the garlic, clove and oregano. Quickly boil off any excess liquid. Add the cocoa powder and cumin seed, well bruised in a mortar and pestle. Stir in chopped cilantro.

Pour the sauce over the meat and serve on a plate with rice and beans.