Chef Monsta: I cook, therefore I blog

I would like to begin this story by saying I have never made chili [I have made stews before]. My buddy asked me this morning if I would like to participate in a chili cookoff this evening, so natch, I said yes! I knew I needed beef, onion, beans, and heat…..but I researched some chili recipes to see what else would go down. As a huge fan of Top Chef (and Masters), I asked myself: WWRBD? [What would Rick Bayless do?] He is the number one Mexican chef in the country and a frequent winner on Top Chef Masters. Rick told me to use pinto beans and dried Ancho chillies, so I listen. At the supermarket however, there were no Ancho chillies so I bought Ancho paste instead, and figured that would suffice for my heat component in my first chili ever.

Here is what I ended up creating. The details for the actual cookoff will follow the recipe.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 diced onion
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lb ground beef
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp cumin
2 red bell peppers, diced
1/4 c vegetable stock
1 can 15 oz pinto beans
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Ancho chili paste
1 tbsp Siracha chili sauce
1 tsp hot paprika (or cayenne)
1/4 c semolina flour (to thicken)
more salt and pepper, to taste

Chop up onion and garlic, heat up vegetable oil.

Saute onions and garlic.

I seasoned the beef with cumin, salt and pepper, then mixed/pounded the seasoning in there.

I was feeling crazy, so I made it into a giant meatball. Saute meat over medium flame.

While meat and onions are browning, dice up 2 red bell peppers and add to meat mixture.

Add 1/4 c veg/chicken stock.

I whipped up a “spicy sauce” to add for my heat component. Please note that I know one should use fresh jalapeno, habanero peppers, or Ancho chillies but I got excited by the Ancho paste and wanted to spice it up with some international ingredients. I mixed the paste with some Japanese chili sauce (Siracha) and some hot paprika from Israel. I drizzled a tsp of olive oil into the mixture and whisked it into a sauce, then added it to my meat and peppers. *Please note that this spicy sauce matches my red nail polish perfectly.

Add 1 can of diced tomatoes.

I then added 1 tsp of sugar to balance out the bitter tomatoes.

1 can of Pinto beans are added…

Followed by some Semolina flour as a thickening agent (also provides texture, since semolina is a grainy flour).

And here is the dish!

So we went over to my buddy’s apartment and there were three of us in total who had made chilies! We had 4 judges (friends, of course) and a score card that judged 4 categories: taste, heat, appearance, and overall score. Each category has a potential of 5 points to be scored= maximum of 20 points to be had. (Very Top Chef Masters, if I do say so myself).

Moral of the story: I did learn that chili is cooked low and slow to develop flavors. Next time I make it, I will definitely keep that in mind so a richer color could result.

And the winner was………..Chef Monsta! Moi! With 67 points….Second place came in at 58 points and third place at 51.

My first chili EVER is a prize winner! [Although there actually was no prize] It was great fun, and definitely a Tuesday night to remember.