Award Winning Chili...Not Mine...Someone else's

I love spicy food. I like to have my tongue screaming, my face burning red, my eyes streaming and then having that endorphin rush afterwards. It's great. Pain for pleasure.

So it follows that when I found Chile Pepper Magazine at my local news stand I was giddy. Plus it was delightfully entitled "The Recipe Issue, November 2007". A whole book full of spicy concoctions. Oh yeah.

The drawback of these recipes is that peppers in all their beautiful shapes and varieties and flavours aren't widely available. Especially not up here in the True North strong and free. But at least you've got the internet and substitutes. Finding a substitute wasn't necessary for the following recipe however. I found it under the Internation Chili Society's portion of the magazine where two award winning chili recipes were interpreted...they would never divulge the true recipe of course. That's just sacrilege. Thankfully, even the interpretation was fantastic. I'm used to chilis that look more like spaghetti sauces than chili. Ground beef, lots of tomatoes and veggies, and kidney beans. Supposedly a no-no in the professional chili world. Who knew?

P.S. It might seem like alot of chili powder and cumin but it's absolutely essential. Chili powder and cumin make a chili. Chili powder. Chili. Get it? ;)

Butterfiled Stage Line Chili
Adapted from Fred and Linda Drexel's 1981 World's Championship recipe and taken from Chile Pepper Magazine.

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 pound beef brisket, cut into 1-inch cubes (I used a big honkin' blade roast)
1 pound lean ground pork
1 large onion, chopped fine
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp diced green chiles such as jalapeno or serrano
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 beef bouillon cube
1 (12 oz) can or bottle beer, such as Budweiser or, in my case, Pump House Cadian Cream Ale
4 to 6 tbsp Gebhardt chili powder (or whatever chili powder)
2 1/2 tbsp cumin
1/8 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp brown sugar
pinch of oregano
dash of Tabasco

1. In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the oil, and brown beef, pork and onion, working in batches so as not to crowd the pot (in true idiot fashion, I crowded the pot...grrrr). Season with salt and pepper.

2. Add the remaining ingredient, along with 1 1/4 cups water. Stir well. Cover and simmer 3 to 4 hours, until meat is tender and chili is thick and bubbly, stirring occasionally.

3. Taste and add more salt, pepper and Tabasco if necessary before serving.

Portobello Chilli

The recipe I have for portobello chili says that with the presence of this meaty mushroom, you won't even notice that there isn't any meat. Though that is not entirely true, it does make for an interesting take on chilli...anything that's vegetarian and can still be called delicious is a hit by my standards.

Considering the fact that chili is a southern thing - or "thang" - I accompanied the dish with some corn bread. I took a bit of the easy way out here by using Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods gluten free cornbread mix but had I done it from scratch scratch the result would have been the same. A cast iron skillet, some cornbread mixture, pop it in the oven and voilà! Serve with chili, gumbo, jambalaya or other such southern fare and you're in business.

Portobello Chipotle Chili

1 large onion chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 Tbsp. olive oil
8 oz. portobello mushroom caps, coarsely chopped (about 4 cups)
2 chipotle chilis, chopped
1 28-oz. can whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 15- to 16-oz. can red kidney beans rinsed and drained
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. medium or hot chili powder
Dairy sour cream (optional)
Chopped cilantro (optional)

1. In a large saucepan, cook onion and garlic in hot oil until onion is tender. Stir in mushrooms. Cook and stir 3 minutes more. Stir in undrained tomatoes, kidney beans, cumin, and chili powder.

2. Bring chili to boiling; heat. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. If desired, top individual servings with sour cream.