StarBulletin.com

Cooks concoct new dishes to win chili championships


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POSTED: Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The chili world has some new champions, the winners of Monday's Memorial Day cook-off held annually at the Roundtop Drive home of Dr. Jack Scaff, known both for this event and for training marathon runners.

First place for green chili went to Mark Conching of MC Consulting; first place for red chili to Kevin Foley of Galveston Island, Texas. The day's prize for best salsa went to Darla Hochhalter, a sales representative for Armstrong and Featherlite.

The Great Hawaiian Chili Cookoff is sanctioned by the International Chili Society. The winners go to the national finals in October to compete for a $25,000 top prize.

The winning recipes:

Kevin Foley's Texas Chili Company

Kevin Foley

2-1/2 pounds cubed or coarsely ground (chili grind) beef
Vegetable oil
2 cups EACH beef broth, chicken broth, water and tomato sauce
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon paprika
I tablespoon Gebhart's Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder (or less for a milder chili)
4 tablespoons chili powder (your choice of brand)
1 tablespoon ground cumin

Brown beef in oil; drain.

Combine broths, water and tomato sauce in 4-quart pot. Add onion and garlic powders, salt, paprika and Gebhart's Chili Powder. Add meat and simmer 90 minutes.

Add cayenne pepper powder, chili powder and cumin. Simmer 30 to 40 minutes until meat is tender and “;gravy”; reaches desired consistency. Add salt to taste. Serves 8.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (using 1 tablespoon oil and not including salt to taste): 300 calories, 17 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 100 mg cholesterol, 700 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 30 g protein.

Chili Verde

Mark Conching

4 pounds pork, diced to 1/4-inch cubes
3 tablespoons shortening (such as Crisco)
1-1/2 onions, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
7 fire-roasted, skinned, chopped tomatillos
7 fire-roasted, skinned, chopped and seeded jalapenos
70 ounces chopped fire-roasted green chili, seeded and skinned, or to taste (available frozen in buckets from It's Chili in Hawaii)
4 cups ham hock broth
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 ounce ground cumin
1/3 ounce ground oregano

Brown pork in shortening. Add onion and garlic. Simmer uncovered.

Add tomatillos and jalapenos. Simmer uncovered.

Add green chilies, broth, salt and pepper, cumin and oregano. Simmer uncovered; mixture will cook down a lot. (Entire simmering/cooking process will be 2 hours and 45 minutes.)

Add green Tabasco if needed for more heat. If chili needs thickening add 2 tablespoons masa.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including salt to taste): 200 calories, 7 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 70 mg cholesterol, 750 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 24 g protein.

Salsa Winner

Darla Hochhalter

2 14-ounce cans Hunt's Fire-Roasted Diced Tomatoes
2 packages Desert Garden Hearty Salsa Mix
2 large Hawaii-grown tomatoes
1 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon cilantro

Blend canned tomatoes with salsa mix; chill 36 hours. Twelve hours before serving, add fresh tomatoes. An hour before serving, add lime juice.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving, per 2 tablespoons: 10 calories, no or cholesterol, 150 mg sodium, 1 g carbohydrate, no fiber or protein, 1 g sugar.


Nutritional analyses by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.