Chiliheads, an assist if you would?

[Jester]

Forget not baking MUCH, I don't bake AT ALL.

But surprisingly, I DO have molasses in my kitchen. Not surprisingly, I got it when one of my roommates moved out and left it behind. But really surprisingly, I have used it for something I was cooking. Please don't ask me what, though, as I really don't remember.

[Jester]

So, as usual with me, I got this whole thing started late. I wanted to have it done by Wednesday or Thursday night, so it could sit in the fridge and all the ingredients could just get friendly and cozy with each other, but either I was too damn tired or too damn lazy, so I am cooking it now (though I did cut up a lot of the stuff last night).

And what happens? The fucking smoke alarm goes off. Twice. The second time, I pulled it out of the ceiling. I mean, come on, if you can't sautee onions, peppers, and garlic in your kitchen without your smoke detector going off, something is seriously wrong.

So now I have the smoke detector out of the ceiling, the stove fan on (like that does diddly), and the sliding glass door to the balcony open to help dissipate the minor smoke I have going on.

I love cooking!

[Jester]

I fucking RAWK! The chili is awesome, cooling off and in the fridge as we speak. I could make it better....but only if I was even more godlike than I am!

(Yes, I am very happy with the way it turned out. Whyever do you ask?)

[MaggieTheCat]

That's awesome! Congrats on a successful batch, even if the smoke detector did try to thwart you. Did you put the seeds of everything but the habanero in?

[Jester]

I ended up using the serrano seeds. I didn't use the anchos at all (I didn't like their texture or consistency), I didn't use the poblano seeds or red bell pepper seeds because neither pepper has much spice factor to it, and I didn't use the chipotle seeds because I think that would have oversmoked the chili, as the chipotles were really smokey....I could SMELL the smoke from them when I took them out of the bag. So just the serrano seeds, and I like the way the chili turned out.

Hey, it's only the second time I've ever made chili, so I'm pretty stoked.

[MaggieTheCat]

Write down everything that you did soon, if you haven't already, so you don't forget. If I improvise a recipe, I tend to think, "Oh, I'll remember it for next time," or even, "Oh, I'll remember in a couple days," and in both cases I usually forget.

[Jester]

Maggie, that sounds like me. But this time, I cobbled the recipe together from my old notes from last time, and actually made it more of a recipe. I need to adjust a few things, but I'll do that later today or tomorrow......I LIKE my chili!

[trailerparkmedic]

Once you write down your chili recipe, can you post it here? I'm always looking for new things to cook!

[Jester]

Out of 16 in the traditional category, I took fourth place, and won a new crock pot.

I'm trying to be positive, but frankly, I tried the 1st place winner, and I was not really impressed. I guess I went a bit too upscale for "traditional." Also, the only two in the traditional category that I tried that I thought were on level with mine did not even place.

Amusingly, I had more heat in my chili than 5 of the 7 "caliente" ("hot") category entries.

Twice I've made chili. Twice for chili cookoffs. I have a second and a fourth to show for it. And I am Not Happy. I know, I know...for someone who's NEVER made chili (other than for these two cookoffs), I am doing awesome. But awesome is not enough. I would trade my shiny brand new crock port for that two inch tall 1st place trophy in a heartbeat. I SO wanted that.

To my credit, I did win in one unofficial category: crowd favorite. Mine was one of the first two pots that were empty (not sure which was first), and I had people who I did not even tell which one was mine coming up to me complimenting me on my chili. Sadly, the judges did not see it the way the crowd did.

I look forward to the next one with baited beef and excited peppers.

[crazyofficeclerk]

Earlier this year I was involved with making lots and lots of chili as in I made at least 13 or 14 roasters full of chili. The woman who I was helping surprised me by putting ketchup in her chili. She put in lots of spices and it was spicy, but there was a sweet kick because of the ketchup.

[Jester]

Ketchup. In chili.

Bleah.

Pardon me as I look down my chipotle at that.

Of course, to be fair, I am rather biased, as I don't like ketchup at all. But ketchup? In chili? That is just so wrong on so many levels!

[AdminAssistant]

Actually no, it's not.

Ketchup is essentially tomato paste and sugar. Tomato paste (or sauce) is a pretty common ingredient in chili, and many recipes, mine included, call for a small bit of sugar. So, to me, ketchup makes a lot of sense.

[Jester]

Okay, I did use tomato paste, and I did use light brown sugar.

But as I said, I am biased against ketchup to begin with.