World Chili Championship

THE PILGRIM

THE PILGRIM

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i have been searching for the history of the Chili Champion Cookoff.
I know it was started by Frank Tolbert and Wick Fowler, two Dallas guys who both thought they were the best. Car designer Carroll Shelby was also involved. At that time Carroll owned a 220,000 acre ranch near Terlingua, Tx.
So they decided get out of Dallas and have a cook off on neutral ground. That turned out to be Terlingua, TX.
That went on for a while before they was some kind of disagreement.
The cook off was moved to a CA ghost town.
That's where the 1977 Chili Champ that I know, Jay Pennington won.
Then it apparently moved around, the number of 'championship' cook offs multiplied, and so far I can't really follow exactly figure it all out.

ICS | International Chili Society
 
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I think they should move it to New York City.:D
 
Just remember, there are two kinds of chili. There's competition chili, and eating chili. Competition chili is a concoction that usually contains meat, chiles, salt, a liquid and little else. Samples are given to judges, who look at it, take a bite or two, and judge it on color, texture, taste, and heat. Eating chili can have almost anything in it, be almost any color, and is usually judged by friends and relatives who come back for seconds.
 
wbraswell said:
Just remember, there are two kinds of chili. There's competition chili, and eating chili. Competition chili is a concoction that usually contains meat, chiles, salt, a liquid and little else. Samples are given to judges, who look at it, take a bite or two, and judge it on color, texture, taste, and heat. Eating chili can have almost anything in it, be almost any color, and is usually judged by friends and relatives who come back for seconds.
Click to expand...

Just like the difference between competition BBQ and eating BBQ.
 
Don't know about the "contest" but I do know that I have been using Carroll Shelby's chili spices for almost 30 years and still liking it better than anything else out there...............
 
Have you guys looked at any champion recipes?
Heres the 2013 winner.

POOLS BREW CHILI

Ingredients:
2 ¼ LBS CUBED TRI-TIP ROAST (TRIMMED OF FAT)
1 14.5 oz CAN SWANSON BEEF BROTH
1 14.5 oz CAN SWANSON CHICKEN BROTH
1 8 oz CAN TOMATO SAUCE
2 SUNSWEET PITTED PRUNES
CRISCO SHORTENNG
WATER (used FARMERS BRANCH, TX)

1ST SPICES

1 TBSP AMERICAN PAPRIKA
1 ½ TSP ONION POWDER
1 TSP GARLIC POWDER
2 TSP BEEF GRANULES
1 TSP CHICKEN GRANULES
½ TSP SEASONED SALT
½ TBSP NEW MEXICO CHILI POWDER
½ TBSP NEW MEXICO GROUND CHILI PEPPER

2ND SPICES

3 TSP GROUND CUMIN
½ TSP GARLIC POWDER
½ TSP SEASONED SALT
1½ TBSP GEBHARDT CHILI POWDER
1½ TBSP TEXAS STYLE CHILI POWDER
½ TBSP NEW MEXICO HOT GROUND CHILI PEPPER
½ TBSP NEW MEXICO LIGHT CHILI POWDER

3RD SPICES

2 TSP TEXAS STYLE CHILI POWDER
1 TSP GROUND CUMIN
¼ TSP GARLIC POWDER
TABASCO® SAUCE (AS NEEDED FOR HEAT)

COOKING TIME - 3 HOURS

Instructions:

BROWN MEAT IN 2 TBSP OF CRISCO SHORTENING. PLACE MEAT IN COLANDER AND DRAIN OFF SHORTENING. RINSE MEAT WITH WATER AND RETURN MEAT TO POT. ADD BROTHS, TOMATO SAUCE, PRUNES AND 1ST SPICES. COOK APPROXIMATELY 2 HOURS, REMOVING PRUNES AFTER 1ST HOUR (PRUNES MAY EXPLODE IF LEFT IN LONGER). ADD WATER IF NECESSARY. COOK LONGER IF MEAT IS NOT TENDER. 30 MINUTES BEFORE TURN IN, ADD 2ND SPICES. 15 MINUTES BEFORE SRVING, ADD 3RD SPICES. ADD SEASONED SALT FOR TASTE. FOR HEAT, ADD TABASCO® TO TASTE.
 
I ain't putting prunes in chili. I accidently put cinnamon in it one time, because the container was the same color and brand as my cumin. I threw a lot of that out.
 
A little history here... Frank X Tolbert used to write a column in the Dallas Morning News called "Tolbert's Texas".

Every year he would write a fictional account of various armadillo events held in the remote South Texas location of Terlingua. These included armadillo races and armadillo beauty contests... all these sponsored by the fictional Texas Armadillo Breeders Association.

Some crazy Texans decided to find Terlingua and create their own events... some of which included cooking and judging chili. This took hold and in subsiquent years fathered the actual events.

In this case, Texas fiction begat Texas fact... instead of the other way around.

BTW, in Texas... armadillo's are know as possum on the half shell.

graphics-armadillo-686161.gif
 
Howdy

Howdy,
Maybe it's just me, but if I'm cooking and anything needs garlic or onion it isn't going to get it in powder form.
Thanks for the recipe none the less.
Mike
 
mstuhr said:
Howdy,
Maybe it's just me, but if I'm cooking and anything needs garlic or onion it isn't going to get it in powder form.
Thanks for the recipe none the less.
Mike
Click to expand...

OK. How bout them prunes?
Hell will freeze over twice before I put prunes in chili.
 
Some chili is good, some isn't. Personally I find it much ado about very little. The sum is usually less that the number of ingredients and time spent. Give me a bowl of hot New Mexico Green CHILE over a prize winning bowl of red any day and for God's sake, no beans!
 
Ahhh, chili... Reminds me of a little off topic story..

My ex-wife couldn't and wouldn't cook to save her life. She could burn a can of soup - I have seen her do it.

We move to a small town in PA, and the local bar has a chili contest posted in the paper. Apparently, it is a very big local deal. Been going on for 20 years, and grown men have had fist fights in the parking lot over the results.

So my ex decided she is going to enter it. Never cooked chili in her life. Gets a cook book, finds a recipe, and makes a crock pot full. Day of the contest, there are about 100 crock pots lined up, and the place is standing room only, outside the door. They announce the winners, and she comes in second. Picture in the local paper, people asking her for her "secret recipe".

To this day, I am still dumbfounded when I think about it. I wish she would have cooked like that for me...

Larry
 
I might try it sometime but I don't know

THE PILGRIM said:
OK. How bout them prunes?
Hell will freeze over twice before I put prunes in chili.
Click to expand...

Hi Pilgrim,
I play with my recipe all the time. I've been know to finely dice taters in a pot of red. A lot of folks around here go for bell peppers or celery in chili. I'd take a prune over either of them and might be better off with out all three.
I'm kinda like Chapparito that I love a verde over a red but like em' both.
Have a good week end
Mike
 
I'm one of those people that are hated by chili purists. I use a spice mix that I purchase.

I grew up two blocks from the chili man chili factory. We woke up to the whistle blowing every morning at the start of day shift and could literally sit on the front porch and smell the chili when it was cooking.

In my town it's a cult following. Most everyone used the chili man seasoning.

It's a two time world champion recipe too.


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