[CH] Chili Cook-off

Dave Hendricks (bvdrangs@enter.net)
Mon, 31 Jan 2000 06:04:33 -0500

This past weekend, my church held is Second Annual Chili Cook-
off, which I entered. This year, on a dare, I entered a Seafood Chili. 
Althoughthe stuff was quite good, it was just too unusual to win. 
The top three places went to one made with beef cubes (tasted 
much like a beef stew) and two from ground beef, which were pretty 
good. Since these were not judged by a panel but by everone one 
attending, it was tough to place against the beef ones.

Comments on my chili ranged from "the best" to "Yuck, this one 
has squid in it" to "I like the taste but it has fish in it". It was pretty 
funny to read the comments, especially those who thought it was 
from chicken!.

My goal through the whole thing was to make a chili with seafood, 
which looked and tasted like chili and not a seafood stew. I did well 
in that respect. In fact, the base without seafood, made a pretty 
good vegitarian chili. For those whose mouth is watering, here is 
the recipe. Crank up the heat a you see fit. We used Melinda's at 
the table on our's.

Seafood Quartet Chili*

3 Medium Yellow onions 
4 cloves garlic, minced 
2 Large Green Bell Peppers (roasted, peeled, seeded and 
chopped) 
2 Large Red Bell Peppers (roasted, peeled ,seeded and chopped) 
4 Sun-dried Tomatoes 
1 Can Rotel tomates with green chilies, 10 oz (drain liquids and 
reserve, chop tomatoes) 
1 Can Furmano whole tomatoes 14.5 oz (drain liquids and reserve, 
chop tomatoes) 
2 TSP Dried Oregano 
2 TBL Dried Cilantro 
2 TBL Chili Powder 
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin 
2 TBL Herdez Salsa Verde (canned green salsa) 
2 Cups Cooked Beans (kidney, pinto, whatever) 
1/2 Lb Scrod fillet 
1/2 Lb Shark steak 
1/2 Lb Scallops 
1/2 Lb Squid, cut into rings 
To make the base: 

Soften the sun-dried tomatoes buy simmering them in about one 
cup of water them, remove them from the water and chop (reserve 
water). Chop the onions and saute them in the olive oil until slightly 
translucent. Add the minced garlic and then the sun-dried 
tomatoes and chopped peppers. After a few minutes add the two 
cans of tomatoes and all reserved liquids. Add the oregano, 
cilantro, chili powder and green salsa. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. 

At this point you can refrigerate the base (or freeze it) to make the 
chili later. 

To make the chili: 

Reheat the chili base and add the cooked beans. Simmer for about 
15 minutes to heat the beans. Add the seafood and simmer 
another 10-15 minutes. 

Serve garnished with tortilla chips, chopped green onions and 
grated Monterey Jack cheese. 

Notes: I used some dried Ancho chiles, which I ground to 
substitute for some of the chili powder. I also made a triple batch,  
substituted some red onions for the yellow and added 1.5 pounds 
of chopped mushrooms. You can pretty much substitute other fish 
and shellfish in this recipe. Put in what you like but try for a mix of 
textures. *For those of you really interested in what a seafood
quartet consists of, it contains the following: two fiddler crabs, one 
red drum and a sea bass. (insert cymbal crash here) 



Dave Hendricks....Booming to beat the Devil
bvdrangs@enter.net
http://www.enter.net/~bvdrangs/index.html