Chili contest heating up for seventh year
The Munster Chamber of Commerce has asked me to return as one of their judges at the 7th Annual Chili Cook-Off contest on Oct. 14, reuniting with
Brent Brashier of Doc’s BBQ for the scoring panel. Last year, there were 14 participants preparing their signature chili recipes to compete for top honors and awards.
The event will be held from 6-8 p.m. in the dining room at the Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road, in Munster. Admission is $10 at the door for the delicious sampling of the chili recipe specialties on parade and there are also various raffles, silent auction items and other prizes that await. Guests also get their vote on the awards to select a tasting favorite by submitting votes for the crowning of a “People’s Choice Award.” For more information, call 219-836-5549 or www.munsterchamber.org.
As for the criteria used by the judging panel, we use a scoring card which rates each of the “blind” chili tastings based on color, aroma, consistency, flavor and lingering taste, with each of the categories worth five points for a possible perfect score of 25.
Throughout my years judging chili contest, one unique, nontraditional ingredient, which is sometimes used, is chocolate, both milk chocolate and the dark variety.
When TV cooking personality Paula Deen brought her live stage cooking show to The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond in September 2010, we talked about chili recipes that include chocolate. She said one of her own personal favorite chili recipes includes cocoa powder, which she said enhances both the flavor contrast and the color of the chili providing a rich and delicious result.
“My favorite recipes are the ones with easy steps that use basic ingredients,” Deen said during our interview. “Life is already tough enough with all of the everyday stress we face every time we walk out that door. Our own homes, and especially the kitchen, shouldn’t be anything too complicated when we should be relaxing and enjoying our lives.”
An entire generation grew up watching Deen and other TV kitchen celebrities, including Sydney Small, one of my students this semester at Purdue University Northwest. Small demonstrated her favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe as a speech assignment for her class last week.
“I decided to make my demonstration speech like one of the cooking shows on Food Network,” Small said. “Everyone should know a basic cookie recipe, and baking is a relaxing and fun activity for spare time. I’ve been baking since I was very young and even used to sell my cookies to family and friends as a way to raise money while growing up. Making cookies instead of buying a store-bought package is much more rewarding.”
Small said of the seven billion cookies made each year, half of those are chocolate chip cookies.
“My recipe has just 10 steps and very basic ingredients,” she said. “This is a recipe that never disappoints.”