What a delicious selection of chilies we had at our 3rd Annual Chili Cookoff! Thanks to our 16 contestants for being such great sports and amazing chefs! With over 120 people to sample the 16 chilies, you can imagine the excited buzz and energy as everyone sampled and compared and discussed the merits of each chili.
The sweeter chilies were popular with the young ones and, of course, there were more unusual chilies for the braver souls – kangaroo & ostrich chili, and turkey chili. Sorry, folks, no bug parts in our chilies this year! (Thanks, Paul, for your 3rd place traditional chili that proved that people prefer insect-less food!)
Everyone was given a cup of beans for voting. At the end of the voting period, three bean counters carefully weighed and counted the voting beans to determine the top three chilis of the night.
Third place went to Paul Wolfe’s traditional chili which was thick and a little sweet with just enough kick. Second place went to amazing 11 year old Benjamin B. who had a little assistance from his father; at this rate, Benjamin will probably take first place next year! First place went to a very surprising enterprise of cooks who literally just gathered together their supplies on the afternoon of the cookoff and cobbled together their own unique version of chili – kudos go to our Young Adults group for a delicious, sweet and bean-less chili! Their recipe follows at the bottom of this blog post, although we’re not sure how to interpret their measurements and are pretty confident that their secret ingredient was fun, lots of fun. (And we should mention that the young adults decided not to vote for their own chili, to be fair.)
Come to our Sunday morning worship service this weekend (January 28th) for the official crowning of the chili champs! (January 30th update: Click here to see video of the crowning)
We look forward to next year’s chili cookoff! Thanks to our organizers for dreaming this up and making everything run so smoothly. Thanks also to our generous and adventurous chefs who dared to pitch their recipes in this friendly rivalry! And thanks to everyone who came to eat and judge and just hang out and have fun!
Honourable mention goes to the Circle of Sisters House Church who rose to the challenge and had the most chili entries of any house church. Thanks for being such great sports!
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- The winners of our 3rd annual Chili Cookoff!
THE PRIZE WINNING CHILI RECIPE!
Below is the detailed description of the Young Adults’ Chilli! To prepare the prized Chilli of the year, one must be ready to partake in a slightly odd methodology.
Time to prepare: Begin only two hours before you need to serve, for maximum flavour.
You will need:
1 package of lean ground beef
1 packet of chilli seasoning
2 cans of crushed tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste sauce
1 sweet potato (boiled and mashed)
1 can of baby food – carrot flavour
1 onion diced
1 cup chopped green onions
A handful of red hot pepperettes, diced
16 Crushed BBQ flavour potato chips
2 cups of mixed vegetables pre-boiled (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots)
Maple Syrup (4-5 swirls around the crock pot)
Preparation:
To begin, brown ground beef in a frying pan, add the packet of chilli seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. In a slow cooker add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and sweet potato. As these begin to cook, add in the beef and pepperettes. Mix in onion, green onion, baby food, mixed veggies, BBQ potato chips and conclude by adding in the maple syrup.
Wait for two hours – enjoy group conversation, games, and laughter before sampling and serving.
Additional Comments: One may also enjoy deep frying plantain to serve on the side.