Tomorrow is the Chili Cookoff at Wind River Cellars. I worked on my entry last night, and it's 'resting' in the fridge til I do the final phase in the morning. I searched the local grocery store for just the right 'secret ingredient', and found the perfect addition. My secret ingredient is usually a brew of some kind. It changes based on where I live. I wanted to use the local brewpub's Scottish ale, but the weather has been so bad, we didn't go over to Hood River to get some. SO plan B was in effect, and Rogue Brewery from Newport, OR came through with their Chipotle Ale. No lie. Chipotle Ale. How perfect is that?
Back in our Nigeria days, a group of us started the Annual Alamo Day Chili Cookoff, which also included salsa and margarita competitions as well as chili. The feast was followed by a "Run for the Border", the brainchild of the creative teachers at the American International School- we stole it for the cookoff. It was an obstacle course around the pool area that involved tequila checkpoints. Ah, good times, good memories. Anyway, I found my sheet of winning recipes from the 1997 event the other day while cleaning out my recipe box. That year Kim and I sent my driver and her cook to get bush meat for our entries in that category. Jean came back with a gazelle in a cooler (it was a small gazelle, big cooler) for Kim, and Kayode had some cane rat (we called them Nutria in Louisiana) for me. Needless to say, Kim and Jean concocted a winning chili that year. My bush meat special (I wasn't gonna call it cane rat chili) was an also ran. I will say it tasted alot better after the margarita competition. Guaranteed, my Rogue Chipotle Chili will be MUCH better than that. I stuck to beef and pork for my meat ingredients...
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