VCAHU Chili Cook-Off Review(and winning recipe)

"Challenge Accepted."

The words uttered before the first annual Chili Cook-Off, put on by the VCAHU team, made way for a friendly competition of the best chili in the lands. Spoiler alert LAAHU won the challenge, and gave us bragging rights until next year.

This wasn't the only competition. On the floor, among 9 other contestants, My Dickerson team won the Chili challenge (Mike Coscolluela, Wendee Laker, Kristine Petrosyan). I felt like a double winner that day.

Make that a triple winner since Stephanie Berger and the rest of the VCAHU crew did this for a good cause. As with many of the AHU events, it's about doing something good, with the added bonus of learning more about the industry and how it can affect you. Joining your location association provides you with insight you need to be a knowledge resource for your clients, and gives you access to thousands of brokers who've been in the industry for decades. Learn from us and ramp up your business quicker than the rest.

Visit CAHU.org or contact me and we can have a chat about how to grow your business and network with like minded professional like yourself

Below are a few pictures of the event, you can see more at: https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=%23vcahuchili

I've got links to everyone I was able to interact with below, and if I missed you at the event, be sure to say hi at the next one!

Be sure to read below for the recipe of the LAAHU winning recipe = )

See more at https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=%23vcahuchili

Special thanks to everyone who said hi, if you don't know these folks, get to know them, they're all great people.

Stephanie Berger, Mike Coscolluela, Wendee Laker, Kristine Petrosyan, Brian Sullivan, Mike McCarey, Cathy Baldwin, Michelle Doster, Kristen Barthiaume, Jesse Campbell, Amy Canchola, Chris Messing, Jolene Bibian, Randy Hunt, Steve Wood, Josh Kaufman, Andrew Orr, Janice Hollander, Jacqueline Bockar, Brandan Martin, Joe Navarro, Neil Crosby, Greg Clure, Rob Guenther, Kim Foote, Tamar Arouchian, Debbie Blander, Vanessa Monarrez, Ruth Haskins, Chris Denton, Colleen King, Dawn Mcfarland, Robert Hilgerman, Craig Barton, Korey Platt, Koko Mekari, Dick Manning, Cindy West, Peter Seibold, Raul De La Nuez, George Garcia

Now, for the chili recipe that won bragging rights over VCAHU for the next year

True Grit two meat Chili.

This is a recipe that originated mid 1800's in mexico as a peasant stew. Local bars would include this for free to weary travelers looking for a stiff drink. It has been updated and modified over the years as the recipe was handed down, leaving this spicy, savory, and sweet Chili dish bound to win over your friends too.

What You'll need (feeds a family of 4-6)

• 1/2 pound Spicy Italian Sausage
• 1/2 pound ground chuck (ground hamburger meat)
• 2 - 3 Habaneros
• Fresh Dill 1/2 cup (usually comes in pre-packaged stocks, just buy 1)
• 1 stock of cilantro
• 1 stock Thyme
• 2-3 bell peppers, red, yellow and green for color
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon tumeric
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1-2 tablespoons ground ceyenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2-3 teaspoons salt (you can add more for additional flavor)
• 6 ounces of corona (1/2 bottle)
• 8 ounce can of tomato paste (start with half a can and add more if you need to)
• sweet baby ray's honey chipotle barbeque sauce, 1/2 cup
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 stick of butter

Prepare: Take the spices, butter, Dill, Cilantro, Thyme, tomato paste, and beer and pour it into a big pot and set aside. Cut the bell peppers and sweet onions into LARGE chunks. Put the Bell peppers, onion, and habanero on a charcoal barbeque. Create a char (blackening the skin) on the vegetables. it's better if you use wood chips as it adds a more smoky flavor. this should take about 10 minutes. once a good char is on them, remove the vegetables from the barbeque. remove the seeds from the habanero and cut them up into tiny pieces. throw the vegetable and habanero into the pot with the other ingredients. Cook the Ground beef over a stove top pan until brown. pour the cooked beef, fat and all, into the big pot. Next, cook the Italian sausage in the same pan until brown, once brown, pour the sausage into the big pot, fat and all.

Cooking: once all of the ingredients are in the big pot, turn your stove on high. Stir the ingredients in the pot constantly until it starts to boil. You can add more tomato paste, barbeque sauce, or beer if the consistency is too dry for your liking. Once it starts to boil, reduce to a low heat and cover the pot. Let simmer for at least 2 hours to let the veggies soften and the flavors to infuse. I recommend 3 1/2 to 4 hours personally, but that's if you have time. Stir occasionally and add additional spices and salts until you get the flavor you want.

Serve with some sweet cornbread and for added flavor, use white cheddar cheese.