"Pig Chili"--North Carolina*

Tonight's chili was, indeed, pig chili with two pounds of pork tenderloin. I should have known by now to reduce the amount of sugar (since the authors seem to go a little overboard) but, instead followed the recipe to a "T". My cooking partner was too busy with homework so I was on my own. Of course, any chili that uses the ancho chiles has an edge, so it earned a 3.16. With a little less sugar and a little less apple cider vinegar it would have gone much higher. This chili would have actually made a really delicious pork barbeque sandwich (Ed, I think you would have liked it) since it was not saucy at all and the spice level was perfect.

The most amazing part of this meal was the cornbread. We've been searching for the best cornbread recipe and I happened to come upon one from a "Food and Wine" January 2007 magazine. It had a little bit of scallions in it and had the flavor we loved from the spoon bread. The texture was what we've been looking for.

Keeping with the "autumn" motif we started last week with the pumpkin beer, we paired this chili with Sam Adams' OctoberFest beer. The kind of beer that leaves you really thirsty. I don't think we'll go back to that one.

*Chili Nation, page 106.

Buffalo Beef and Weck Chili*--New York

Friday Night Chili report is a little late--it's been a busy weekend. We didn't know what to expect of this chili. Apparently the weck is a type of roll topped with kummelweck (caraway seeds). The description made it sound like a deli sandwich/chili kind of thing, made with deli roast beef, prepared horseradish, served on a slice of seeded rye bread. Once again the chili's downfall was the addition of brown sugar and the ancho chiles were processed with gingersnap cookies. Too sweet. Our sweet lover didn't like it for another reason--the addition of caraway seeds. Proof is in the fact that the leftovers are still in the fridge. Mike took one bite and that was all he needed. Buffalo Beef and Weck earned a 2.5--probably a bit generous at that.

We washed the chili down with Harvest Blue Moon Pumpkin ale. Sounds funky, but actually was the best part of the meal.
 

*Chili Nation, p. 104.

No Chili This Week

For all the followers of my Friday Night Chili Blog (all three of you) who have been waiting anxiously for my chili report, I'm sorry to report that there will be no chili this week. Two reasons, we went to the beach for a short holiday and we ran out of some key chili peppers and the order hasn't come in yet. Now wait, my three followers already know this because they are my family. Oh well, it's nice to imagine that someone else might care!!

We'll be back again this coming Friday.

"Mesilla Valley Bowl of Green,"*--New Mexico

I anticipated that this chili would be a good one. According to the cookbook's notes, New Mexico is the chili state. But here's the dilemma. New Mexico's chili was so salty that it almost seemed like the 1-1/2 Tablespoons of salt was a typo. I even hesitated when I poured it in. It was actually hard to notice anything other than the salt. We decided that we had to rate it according to the recipe just like we would if we thought that there was too much spice or not enough veges as we have with all the others. As a result,  the final tallied score was only a 2.77.

As we were preparing the chili we decided that we might need some rice at the bottom of the bowl. The only rice I had in the cupboard was a bag of black & mahogany rice. This was a godsend because it did serve to somewhat cut back the salty flavor.

Our beer was "Walt Wit" unfiltered Belgian White-Style Ale made in Philadelphia. It was a very nice beer that sparked the conversation as to what claim Philadelphia had to Walt Whitman. He lived the last part of his life in Camden, New Jersey just across the river, but that would give Camden claim, not Philly. He did write about Philadelphia as "...a broad tumble of clouds, with much golden haze and profusion of beaming shaft and dazzle" I guess, as he looked at it from Camden. And one end of the Walt Whitman Bridge is in Philadelphia. That's about it though. I think Camden gets to claim him.

Despite the low rating of this chili, I would still like to go to Hatch, New Mexico's chili festival. It sounds like they go gaga for chili like mad!

*Chili Nation, p. 100