now that's a spicy chili
last night, before we moved the sink (and after), i was busy making a chili for today's cookoff at work. now, usually, i make 2 or 3 different ones, but by the time i got the first batch going, and was cleaning house, and talking to people who came over to help move the sink, it was bedtime, and i didnt feel like staying up late to make more.
so, it was kind of hot. not my hottest, not my best, but hot.
i didnt follow my recipe this time. i went vegetarian, and added cactus and roasted red pepper. no crumbles, either. 5 beans, tomatoes with onions, tomatoes with jalapenos, tomatoes with green chilis, cubanelles, fresh cayenne, fresh chipotles, and diced green pepper, onion, and garlic. to that, i added 3 kinds of chili powder, cumin, and white pepper.
the chili was hot and full of flavor, but still missing something. could be cocoa powder, which i do usually add. could've also been brown sugar. could've also been beef. but it was definitely a miss on my scale.
fully expecting to lose, i brought my chili into work. and, much to my surprise, there were only 6 other competitors. usually, we average between 10 and 14. sad, but apparently because of the lack of bobbleheads in the prizes, nobody wanted to compete for hottest.
and i won. wtf. this is probably my worst entry in a long time, and it won??? Dar won judges choice, too! has the world gone topsy turvy? (to be honest, hers was the best, in my opinion, and she almost won people's choice too, although that went to another first-time winner.)
Without The Body and Fish who won year after year, I guess it was time to have a new winner... and for even my mediocre hot chili to win Hottest. The judges all agreed it had great flavor, and wasnt just "hot for hots sake."
I won another something for my parents... as usual. They can decide to keep it or give it to my friend Becky -- world's biggest Buckeye fan.