modom gets whupped again

modom said:

You can't fault me for not trying. Two years back, I entered the Cow
Hill chili cook off and lost badly. My error that time was in making
chili with red wine. It was pretty good, but it was also a mistake to
serve red wine to red necks.

Last year I had a conflict and wasn't able to enter the contest. This
year, however, I tried again. These are the ingredients of my contest
chili.

Two huge round steaks, timmed and cut to 1/4 inch dice.
about 1/3 of a chuck roast, ditto.
5 ancho chiles
3 pasilla negra chiles
one cascabel chile
one chipotle chile
about 3 tablespoons Spanish smoked paprika (sweet)
about 1 1/2 tablespoons Gebhardt chili powder
one tablespoon oregano
6 cloves of garlic
2 bottles of Shiner Bock beer
one quart of prepared beef stock
about 1 1/2 pints water
salt
scant 1 tablespoon brown sugar
enough masa to thicken the broth

I toasted the chiles (not the chipotle) and rehydrated them. After
tasting the rehydrating liquid to determine that it wasn't bitter, I
buzzed them with my stick blender (voltage converter plug-in for my
car) and strained them to remove the seeds and skins. I lightly
browned the meat in a little rendered beef fat. I added the beer and
the water and the stock. I skimmed the beer-induced scum off. I
simmered it for a while and added the chile puree. Simmer, simmer. I
added some oregano after a bit. D was there to help, so were some
friends. That's a lot of beef chopping for one person. She grated
the garlic with a microplane and we added it with the smoked paprika
and some Gebhardt's. Stir, simmer, taste. Salt. A little brown
sugar. Taste, simmer. More salt. The chili cooked from about 9 a.m.
till almost 2 p.m. with constant tasting and monitoring of flavors.

I'm telling you it was good. Eleven competitors placed. And I
didn't.

Oh well. Dinner tonight was huevos rancheros with loser chili.
Here's a picture: http://i2.tinypic.com/t9xrnp.jpg

That's not chili... not nearly enough cummin in 1 1/2 tablespoons
Gebhardt to qualify... and no pork, gotta have pork... and so many
types of peppers you essentially made mud. Next year enter my chili
recipe, it's in the book... and if tx doesn't permit beans just omit.

Sheldon

On Sat 08 Apr 2006 06:31:18p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it modom?

Quoted message said:

You can't fault me for not trying. Two years back, I entered the Cow
Hill chili cook off and lost badly. My error that time was in making
chili with red wine. It was pretty good, but it was also a mistake to
serve red wine to red necks.

Well, Michael, it looks good and it sounds good. I'd have gladly eaten it!

Damn, I sure do miss making and eating chili since I've been on Weight
Watchers. I have had any since December '05.

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
_____________________

Sheldon said:

modom said:

You can't fault me for not trying. Two years back, I entered the Cow
Hill chili cook off and lost badly. My error that time was in making
chili with red wine. It was pretty good, but it was also a mistake to
serve red wine to red necks.

Last year I had a conflict and wasn't able to enter the contest. This
year, however, I tried again. These are the ingredients of my contest
chili.

Two huge round steaks, timmed and cut to 1/4 inch dice.
about 1/3 of a chuck roast, ditto.
5 ancho chiles
3 pasilla negra chiles
one cascabel chile
one chipotle chile
about 3 tablespoons Spanish smoked paprika (sweet)
about 1 1/2 tablespoons Gebhardt chili powder
one tablespoon oregano
6 cloves of garlic
2 bottles of Shiner Bock beer
one quart of prepared beef stock
about 1 1/2 pints water
salt
scant 1 tablespoon brown sugar
enough masa to thicken the broth

I toasted the chiles (not the chipotle) and rehydrated them. After
tasting the rehydrating liquid to determine that it wasn't bitter, I
buzzed them with my stick blender (voltage converter plug-in for my
car) and strained them to remove the seeds and skins. I lightly
browned the meat in a little rendered beef fat. I added the beer and
the water and the stock. I skimmed the beer-induced scum off. I
simmered it for a while and added the chile puree. Simmer, simmer. I
added some oregano after a bit. D was there to help, so were some
friends. That's a lot of beef chopping for one person. She grated
the garlic with a microplane and we added it with the smoked paprika
and some Gebhardt's. Stir, simmer, taste. Salt. A little brown
sugar. Taste, simmer. More salt. The chili cooked from about 9 a.m.
till almost 2 p.m. with constant tasting and monitoring of flavors.

I'm telling you it was good. Eleven competitors placed. And I
didn't.

Oh well. Dinner tonight was huevos rancheros with loser chili.
Here's a picture: http://i2.tinypic.com/t9xrnp.jpg

That's not chili... not nearly enough cummin in 1 1/2 tablespoons
Gebhardt to qualify... and no pork, gotta have pork... and so many
types of peppers you essentially made mud. Next year enter my chili
recipe, it's in the book... and if tx doesn't permit beans just omit.

Ah! I forgot to list the cominos in my ingredients roster. I put
about 1/2 tablespoon of cumin in the mix about 90 minutes before the
turn in time for judging.

I considered pork, and I usually do use it. But this time I went for
the beef alone because I have a lot of it in the freezer.

The mix of chiles did not produce mud. You should find a better
source of peppers if your experience leads you to that conclusion. As
a matter of fact, the rehydrating liquor had a slightly sweet and
earthy front-end taste with a rich glow at the finish. It was well
received as a flavor by my teammates and by some of the neighboring
competitors I offered tastes to. Note that I'm talking about the
water the chiles soaked in, not the resulting stew. The pureed chile
blend was richer still, but unfortunately not to the judges' liking
today.

If you have no experience with pasilla negra chiles, you might try
them some time.

Your chili recipe calls for celery. It calls for green pepper. It
calls for bay leaves. It calls for parsley. Beans aren't half the
problem.
--
modom

Wayne Boatwright said:

On Sat 08 Apr 2006 06:31:18p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it modom?

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Damn, I sure do miss making and eating chili since I've been on Weight
Watchers. I have had any since December '05.

LOL... I almost felt sorry for you and then I though: 3 months. I
haven't had chili in the last 3 months either.

<snork>
put away that tiny violin
--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.

On Sat 08 Apr 2006 09:06:16p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it sf?

Quoted message said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

On Sat 08 Apr 2006 06:31:18p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it modom?

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Damn, I sure do miss making and eating chili since I've been on Weight
Watchers. I have had any since December '05.

LOL... I almost felt sorry for you and then I though: 3 months. I
haven't had chili in the last 3 months either.

<snork>
put away that tiny violin

Yeah, but...you could make some and eat it, couldn't you? I don't dare right
now. BTW, I weighed in at WW this morning...down a total of 41-3/4 lbs.
Sometimes keeping one's mouth shut pays off. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
_____________________

Quoted message said:

Yeah, but...you could make some and eat it, couldn't you? I don't dare
right
now. BTW, I weighed in at WW this morning...down a total of 41-3/4 lbs.
Sometimes keeping one's mouth shut pays off. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬

And you've done that without having a hissy-fit, too. At least none that we
know of <grin>.

Wayne, what an accomplishment! You must feel wonderful!
Dee Dee

On Sat 08 Apr 2006 09:51:43p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Dee
Randall?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Yeah, but...you could make some and eat it, couldn't you? I don't dare
right now. BTW, I weighed in at WW this morning...down a total of
41-3/4 lbs. Sometimes keeping one's mouth shut pays off. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬

And you've done that without having a hissy-fit, too. At least none
that we know of <grin>.

Actually, no hissy-fit. :-)

Quoted message said:

Wayne, what an accomplishment! You must feel wonderful!

Thanks, Dee. Yes, I'm feeling really good these days, better than I've felt
in years. I still have a long way to go, but I'm really determined this
time.

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
_____________________

Quoted message said:

Thanks, Dee. Yes, I'm feeling really good these days, better than I've
felt
in years. I still have a long way to go, but I'm really determined this
time.

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬

You'll do it.

Everytime I'm looking at cookbooks at the library or bookstore and see a WW
cookbook, I always think of you and wonder if you use them.
Dee Dee

"Wayne Boatwright" <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sat 08 Apr 2006 06:31:18p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it modom?

Quoted message said:

You can't fault me for not trying. Two years back, I entered the Cow
Hill chili cook off and lost badly. My error that time was in making
chili with red wine. It was pretty good, but it was also a mistake to
serve red wine to red necks.

Well, Michael, it looks good and it sounds good. I'd have gladly eaten
it!

Damn, I sure do miss making and eating chili since I've been on Weight
Watchers. I have had any since December '05.

Ehy Wayne !!! Will you eat on Easter? Or you will be on a diet ?

--
Cheers
Pandora

Quoted message said:

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
_____________________

modom wrote:

<snipped for brevity>

Quoted message said:

I'm telling you it was good. Eleven competitors placed. And I
didn't.

Too bland sounding.
Needs onions and some other flavorings, maybe celery, sun dried tomato,
things to add a little "zip" to it. :-)

Oregano is okay but tends to be a bit musty. I use Marjoram, or mexican
oregano.
A bit of thyme would have been good and just a fraction of a pinch of
cinnamon.

Oh. You also left out the Cumin/Comino. That is a MUST for chili!!!

And always serve beer to rednecks, not wine. <lol>

Quoted message said:

Oh well. Dinner tonight was huevos rancheros with loser chili.
Here's a picture: http://i2.tinypic.com/t9xrnp.jpg
--
modom

Modom, that is one of the most beautiful pics you've taken yet!
VERY nice!!!!!!! and I mean that. :-)

Cheers!
Om

Sheldon said:

That's not chili... not nearly enough cummin in 1 1/2 tablespoons
Gebhardt to qualify... and no pork, gotta have pork... and so many
types of peppers you essentially made mud. Next year enter my chili
recipe, it's in the book... and if tx doesn't permit beans just omit.

Sheldon

Shel',

Would you mine e-mailing me your recipe?

Pretty please? :-)

Cheers!
Om

Wayne Boatwright said:

On Sat 08 Apr 2006 09:51:43p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Dee
Randall?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Yeah, but...you could make some and eat it, couldn't you? I don't dare
right now. BTW, I weighed in at WW this morning...down a total of
41-3/4 lbs. Sometimes keeping one's mouth shut pays off. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬

And you've done that without having a hissy-fit, too. At least none
that we know of <grin>.

Actually, no hissy-fit. :-)

Quoted message said:

Wayne, what an accomplishment! You must feel wonderful!

Thanks, Dee. Yes, I'm feeling really good these days, better than I've felt
in years. I still have a long way to go, but I'm really determined this
time.

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬

Well done indeed! :-)
I lost 50 lbs. last year low carbing but then stalled out.
Turns out I went TOO low carb for too long so quit and gained back
about 20 lbs.

I'm still 30 to the good and striving to get back "on the wagon", so
the scale is beginning to go down again. I really need to start a good
walking program, and/or get back to the gym in the mornings.

I've been having a lot of trouble with pain tho', (chronic tendonitis
and arthritis) so it's discouraging. It's hard to make yourself walk a
couple of miles after you get home from work when you already hurt.

More ibuprofen at around 5 am might do the trick. :-P

Cheers!
Om -> also on the eternal quest for the great shrinkage thing..... <G>

Quoted message said:

_____________________

modom said:

Two huge round steaks, timmed and cut to 1/4 inch dice.
about 1/3 of a chuck roast, ditto.

You should have some pork and vary the dice size.

Quoted message said:

5 ancho chiles
3 pasilla negra chiles
one cascabel chile
one chipotle chile
about 3 tablespoons Spanish smoked paprika (sweet)
about 1 1/2 tablespoons Gebhardt chili powder

scratch Gebhardt and get some pure fresh ground chile powder.

Quoted message said:

one tablespoon oregano
6 cloves of garlic

Quoted message said:

2 bottles of Shiner Bock beer
one quart of prepared beef stock
about 1 1/2 pints water

This is WAY to much liquid and why you chili looks watery. Chili soup
never wins.

Quoted message said:

salt
scant 1 tablespoon brown sugar

add some chocolate

Finally Texas chili judges are well .. a cabal.. you may never win
even with great chili. <lol>

On Sun 09 Apr 2006 12:42:10a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Pandora?

Quoted message said:

"Wayne Boatwright" <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> ha scritto nel
messaggio news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sat 08 Apr 2006 06:31:18p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it modom?

Quoted message said:

You can't fault me for not trying. Two years back, I entered the Cow
Hill chili cook off and lost badly. My error that time was in making
chili with red wine. It was pretty good, but it was also a mistake to
serve red wine to red necks.

Well, Michael, it looks good and it sounds good. I'd have gladly eaten
it!

Damn, I sure do miss making and eating chili since I've been on Weight
Watchers. I have had any since December '05.

Ehy Wayne !!! Will you eat on Easter? Or you will be on a diet ?

Oh, I will definitely eat on Easter, Pandora. I will have some ham, sweet
potato, and fresh asparagus. But I will still watch carefully, and will
probably not have any bread, and definitely not any pastries.

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
_____________________

On Sun 09 Apr 2006 04:27:55a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it
OmManiPadmeOmelet?

Quoted message said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

On Sat 08 Apr 2006 09:51:43p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Dee
Randall?

Quoted message said:

>
> Yeah, but...you could make some and eat it, couldn't you? I don't
> dare right now. BTW, I weighed in at WW this morning...down a total
> of 41-3/4 lbs. Sometimes keeping one's mouth shut pays off. :-)
>
> --
> Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬

And you've done that without having a hissy-fit, too. At least none
that we know of <grin>.

Actually, no hissy-fit. :-)

Quoted message said:

Wayne, what an accomplishment! You must feel wonderful!

Thanks, Dee. Yes, I'm feeling really good these days, better than I've
f elt in years. I still have a long way to go, but I'm really
determined this time.

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬

Well done indeed! :-)

Thanks, Katra!

Quoted message said:

I lost 50 lbs. last year low carbing but then stalled out.
Turns out I went TOO low carb for too long so quit and gained back
about 20 lbs.

That seems to have happened to several people I know at work who were
following Atkins. I'm doing WW, but I make sure that I don't consume too
many points in carbs, so I'm not really "low-carbing" as such.

Quoted message said:

I'm still 30 to the good and striving to get back "on the wagon", so
the scale is beginning to go down again. I really need to start a good
walking program, and/or get back to the gym in the mornings.

It's hard to get back "on the wagon". This is the 3rd time that David and
I have joined WW. We each lost about 30 pounds the first time. Then
David went in for quadruple bypass surgery, and while we were following a
very healthy diet after that, we weren't really controlling quantities.
We went back to WW a couple of months after his surgery, but we didn't
continue. For some reason we couldn't stay motivated. This time we are
highly motivated, so I think we'll make it.

Quoted message said:

I've been having a lot of trouble with pain tho', (chronic tendonitis
and arthritis) so it's discouraging. It's hard to make yourself walk a
couple of miles after you get home from work when you already hurt.

I was having some hip pain if I did too much walking, and David was having
some serious knee pain. Mine is gone and David's is improving, so the
weight was definitely a factor. We've been doing some low impact exercise
in the pool, which helps.

Quoted message said:

More ibuprofen at around 5 am might do the trick. :-P

Cheers!
Om -> also on the eternal quest for the great shrinkage thing..... <G>

I haven't found a miracle yet, but I keep hoping. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
_____________________

"Wayne Boatwright" <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote

Quoted message said:

Yeah, but...you could make some and eat it, couldn't you? I don't dare
right
now. BTW, I weighed in at WW this morning...down a total of 41-3/4 lbs.
Sometimes keeping one's mouth shut pays off. :-)

I'm so proud of you! What an accomplishment, I had no idea.

nancy

On Sun 09 Apr 2006 05:34:19a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Nancy Young?

Quoted message said:

"Wayne Boatwright" <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote

Quoted message said:

Yeah, but...you could make some and eat it, couldn't you? I don't dare
right now. BTW, I weighed in at WW this morning...down a total of
41-3/4 lbs. Sometimes keeping one's mouth shut pays off. :-)

I'm so proud of you! What an accomplishment, I had no idea.

nancy

Thank you, Nancy. It's always extra encouragement to hear good words.

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
_____________________

"Wayne Boatwright" <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sat 08 Apr 2006 09:06:16p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it sf?

Quoted message said:

Yeah, but...you could make some and eat it, couldn't you? I don't dare
right
now. BTW, I weighed in at WW this morning...down a total of 41-3/4 lbs.
Sometimes keeping one's mouth shut pays off. :-)

That is so impressive! How can you know so much about cooking, and still
diet? I've never succeeded at dieting, but I have no trouble going to the
gym, I'd live there if I could. I love it.

Jen

"Wayne Boatwright" <wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sun 09 Apr 2006 12:42:10a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Pandora?

Quoted message said:

Oh, I will definitely eat on Easter, Pandora. I will have some ham, sweet
potato, and fresh asparagus. But I will still watch carefully, and will
probably not have any bread, and definitely not any pastries.

What about the Easter eggs? Surely Easter Bunny will bring you some eggs,
and you'll *have* to have at least one.

Jen