I'm a winner

The annual Utah Court of Appeals Chili Cook Off is a serious matter, complete with written rules, typed out voting ballots and strict codes of chef-anonymity to ensure against  heckling and lobbying the voters... everything you'd expect from a contest run by Judges. This year's eighth annual chili cook off was no exception. I enlisted myself as a chili cook- one of six- and already went down in the chili record books as the first intern who actually cooked for the contest. Other records were broken too- this year resulted in the first ever first place tie and second place three way tie. Leading the pack with eight votes each was, you guessed it, my chili. I tied this other guy Brett, who was the reigning champion from last year. He doesn't use a recipe and decided to throw cocoa powder into his chili broth this year, it was pretty amazing! The three way second place tie went to the three Judges who cooked- all of which hoped to break the Judge losing streak that spans the entire life of the cook off. That's right, no Judge has ever won and this year three, an unprecedented amount, participated as chili chefs and despite having strength in numbers, all three today were out-chilied. 

My winning recipe, which I have to name for it to be recorded in the chili record books, is a three year work in progress. Rob started cooking it in Brighton, I guess he got it off the Internet, and we each slowly modified it for our tastes and for our pantries until, it became what it is today- a total winner. 

And now you can all be winners too: 

Ingredients: 

• 1lb ground beef
• 1lb ground pork
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, I prefer to slap-chop it, but dicing works too.
• 1 large bell pepper, diced, chopped, whatever you like
• 1-2 Serrano chilies (omit if you don't want any heat, or at least omit the chili seeds)
• 1 14oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 14oz cans diced tomatoes (OR 3.5 cups of diced fresh tomatoes, about 7 of the on the vine tomatoes)
• 1 6oz can tomato paste (Rob uses seasoned tomato paste, I haven't tried that yet)
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• 2 12oz cans of dark red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
• cilantro, about half of a bunch from the grocery store, chopped. Use the remainder, un-chopped, for garnish by just using the leaves hand picked off the stems.
• 0.5 teaspoon cayenne powder (omit if you don't want any heat, add more if not hot enough)
• 1 tbs sugar (I start with one tbs & add more later if necessary)
• 1.5 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• dash of Worcestershire sauce
• olive oil for coating pot 

Cooking Instructions:

• On medium heat, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a large (4 quart or larger) pot.
• Combine onion, garlic, bell pepper, Serrano chilies and simmer until onions are translucent (about 10 minutes)
• Raise heat to medium-high
• Add meat, cook until browned
• Add remaining ingredients and mix together in the pot.
• Once a simmer is reached, turn heat down to low.
• Simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
• Serve garnished with cilantro, also good with cheese sprinkled on top and to eat with tortilla chips in place of a spoon. 
• Makes about 2.5- 3 quarts of chili. Also freezes really well.