Community Care 9th Annual Chili Cookoff

On a cold but sunny morning a dozen vendors set up their tables in the Farmer's Market building in downtown St. Catharines. It was March 6^th 2015, and the Community Care 9^th Annual Chili Cookoff was about to open to welcome the public in with the warm aroma of chili. This was the first large fundraising event for Community Care in the new year.

Community Care began its life of supporting those in need in 1919 when Leone Taylor recognised the need to support those in her community who were struggling. Today Community Care distributes some 4,000 pounds of food daily. They have helped 1,500 children with back to school support through the 2014 Snacks 'n Sneakers program and provided 1,850 households access to food security each month. Yet this was not the sum and total of what this organization is. With 17 different programs and some 206 volunteers totaling 30,900 hours weekly, Community Care never stops working with and for those in need.

March 6^th brought out a dozen groups from restaurants, schools, private businesses and myself to put out chilies for the judges and public to vote as the best on the day. Each of us who came did so first with one goal; to help this incredible organization raise money for the work that they do for our community. None of us can ignore the true state of hardship and each of us at the Chili Cookoff came first with that in mind.

As cooks each of us has a certain degree of ego as far as our work goes. We prepare food, especially if it is for public consumption, with a belief that our individual effort is the best at the time. As in any competition there will be winners chosen in the end but each of the entries began as a winner for the time and effort given freely to such an event. This is not meant to sound corny or soppy, it is a fact.

I brought an unusual recipe with me this time. My chili was beanless in the Texas Chili category, but it had more in character than simply the absence of kidney beans. Absence may make the heart grow fonder, though not in my chili. Instead, an unusual ingredient was added, one that brought smiles of surprise when revealed to each who tasted it. What was the unusual ingredient? Dark chocolate ice cream!

It is the soothing property of the coco bean that tames the fires of chili powder, cayenne pepper and jalapeno. As each individual who tasted my chili first swallowed they felt the fire, yet this heat quickly dissipated into the air, leaving only warmth and a memory of the visit. After tasting my chili, no one walked around Market Square with a dragon's breath.

Still, at the end of the day voting was needing to be tallied up and winners announced. I am proud to announce that my team, Team Sobeys, was called up twice. We had won the overall judge's vote with 3^rd place, and then in our category of Texas Chili we were honoured with 1^st place. Without hesitation I accepted these awards with pride and a promise to be back for the next cookoff in 2016.

A big thank you to both Shannon Munro and Nancy McIntosh and all the volunteers at Community Care who organized and worked on this event. Next year the Chili Cookoff will reach double digits with many of us coming back for more, and I hope some new faces behind the tables.

To finish this all off I now give you the recipe for my chili, being sure that you'll love it just as much with your family and friends.

Quiet Heat Chili

2 lb lean ground meat – beef

1 lb hot Italian sausage meat, pulled from casing

1 large sweet onion, chopped/minced

220g mushroom, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1 15oz can tomato puree

1 large can diced tomato

3/4 cup ground chili powder

1 tbsp cumin ground

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp coriander

1 cup red wine

1 cup dark Haagen Dazs chocolate gelato

Chop the onion, garlic and jalapeno pepper

(pull seeds and membrane from the jalapeno pepper first).

Put half chopped onion and garlic into blender. Blend till smooth, empty into skillet.

Place remaining half of chopped onion and jalapeno pepper into blender,

blend till smooth and empty into skillet.

Chop the mushrooms and bell pepper add to minced garlic, onion and jalapeno pepper, and cook on high for approximately 5-7 minutes. Empty into pot.

Place ground beef and hot Italian sausage meat into saucepan on high, keep breaking up and cook till all pink colour has gone from meat. Add to pot.

Add all spices and diced tomato with tomato puree. Mix well.

Now add red wine. Mix well and allow to simmer on medium heat for 45 minutes.

Add the dark chocolate ice cream and mix well, simmer for another 15 minutes to cook through the ice cream and serve.

The key here is the dark chocolate's properties which help calm down the heat levels leaving the full bouquet of the spices. 

Event Highlights

(click to enlarge)