Last night our congregation hosted a fund raiser for girls camp and incorporated an auction for baked goods, doodads and services and combined with a chili and cornbread cook-off. Wow!
As usual we brought 2 kinds of chili. Mom's non-spice white chicken with beans stew and Dad's throw-everything-in burnt offering. We skipped the cornbread this year due to time constraints. Fortunately, many people brought cornbread. Sis. Anderson won the cornbread challenge, as she does every year. Sis. Valenciano won this year, even though Br. Valenciano wins most all other years.
I love to participate. Each batch of chili I make is different. I learned to make chili from scratch at BYU in the cougareat cafeteria as the Mexican Prep supervisor. The recipe started with 200 lb of fresh ground beef (really fresh! because they just ground it that morning across campus). It was great, but there was no variety. After leaving BYU I tried to scale the recipe down, the recipe was so delicate that even the slightest variation in process would change the flavor, texture, heat, etc. It was a good enough base that I could experiment. And, what has transpired since is a long history of amazingly unique and tasty chili. I like most every one and I try to improve upon it each time.
This last round used more than a dozen types of pepper and to me was the best balance of heat and heart that I have made. I must admit that earlier this year I made a 20 pepper chili that was my best ever. It was a little on the medium side for heat though and I knew that I had to bring the heat to be considered during last night's competition, so I chose to use two of my favorite heat peppers to light the flame, yellow manzano and green serrano peppers. For variety and color I chose 2 bright red Fresno peppers also. For the roasted peppers I chose a special blend of 10 peppers that I had blended into a mix. I sautéed a yellow and white onion with the fresh peppers and a pound of bacon, added 1Table spoon garlic powder and some mild chili powder. With this as a base I then browned 3 lbs lean ground beef in the cast iron skillet. I added it all to a pot with some water, bacon and red beans that I had been cooking in the slow cooker since the night before, and 1/4 cup almond butter to round out the flavor. I tasted it... ...barely licked it... ...my mouth warmed... ...my nose numbed... the flavor was just right. Now I had to have a full spoon full with the meat! It was good. I knew the flavors would continue to combine as it cooked so I sat down, cooled off with some black cherry koolaid and rested. After my nap, it had simmered enough to barely burn on the bottom giving it a perfectly smokey flavor.
Off to the church! Cornbread and chili filled the tables. I placed my pot at the end of 4 tables lined along the wall in the gym. I could not wait and got myself a sample. I was sure I had a shot.
The night progressed and I placed bid for deserts. I wanted the berry pie! The Auction was set up so the highest bidder got to choose a desert first, so I bid $30 to ensure that I would have a chance. I joined the family to see how they were doing and learned that GrandDad also wanted the berry pie. He bid $50. I went back to the table and bid again--$51.50. Then I hedged my bets with two more bids for $5 so I could get something for the girls. When the names were read I was announce first! I sat down with the berry pie, then heard my name again and then twice more. I had a stack of deserts and some ribbing for bidding so often. I shared some of the pie with GrandDad who traded me with some of his strawberry cheesecake. Cream puffs and cookies were also good.
I did not win the cook-off, but had a great time. Food can enhance life greatly. There was some chili left over and I put it together in layers of cheese and corn tortillas to make a chili lasagna. What a wonderful breakfast. I love good food, and the endless ways to combine it for variety. Though we will not need food as resurrected beings, I wonder if there will be things that will delight us as much in heaven? Surely, there will be.
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