Chili crook-off - Prankster steals contest prize

myinky ^ | November 11, 2003 | KARIN BRULLIARD

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Chili chefs everywhere are reeling at the news -- who could have imagined a chili crook among chili cooks?

It started as a prank, said Don Eastep, an Illinois retiree. When his brother Larry couldn't make the International Frank X. Tolbert-Wick Fowler Memorial Championship Chili Cook-Off in Terlingua, Texas, Eastep, 64, went under his brother's name.
But he had no chili. So on cook-off day, he scooped up spoonfuls of chili from some of the 80 or so contestants' pots and entered the mishmash in his brother's cup.

He figured he had no chance, but the judges loved it. And when he was declared the winner, Eastep was rendered speechless. "Maybe I was afraid if I would have said something at the time, a Texas lynch mob would have come after me," he said.

Suspicious contestants told the judges that no one had seen Eastep cooking chili. When confronted, Eastep fessed up and turned over his winnings -- trophy, engraved necklace and hand-painted stove -- to the runner-up, a Dallas dentist.

In the future, said judge Tom Nall, cook-off participants will be required to show photo identification. And Eastep will be banned from the competition.

"That rotten, no-good scoundrel," Nall said. "We've posted guards around the Texas border to keep him out."

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Can anyone share a good Chili recipe?
I'm not going to try this stunt, but I need a contest winner!

[stainlessbanner]

3-alarm ping

[StatesEnemy]

Old News (already gaseous)

[LibWhacker]

Funny story. My favorite chili is El Cid Chili. Lady won a national contest with it. Also, see these championship chili recipes.

[Fierce Allegiance]

I'm in connecticut. you think they got good chili here? That's why i am on your ping list, to find the good stuff.
Food here (except seafood) is like english food.

Boy do i miss being the southern regions estimator for my old company, but only for the travel into the good part of the country & it's food & people.

[Political Junkie Too]

"That rotten, no-good scoundrel," Nall said. "We've posted guards around the Texas border to keep him out."

While they're at it, can they also keep the fleeing state Democrats in?

-PJ

[stainlessbanner]

Thanks for the great links, LibWhacker - I'm hungry now!

[RiflemanSharpe]

Do these people realize that we have hanged people for less in this state?

[MarkL]

Can anyone share a good Chili recipe?

I'm not going to try this stunt, but I need a contest winner!

Well, I've never really cooked "home made" chili, but I've always enjoyed using Mickey Gilley's chili seasoning "kit," along with a few other odds and ends, like a can of Rotel, lots of fresh onions and garlic, and a little bit of instant coffee (only if I'm cooking with beans).

Mark

[EagleMamaMT]

Mine's not a contest winner, but my husband and boys like it and I never have leftovers:

I usually use about 3 pounds of ground round, a 2 or 3 pound chuck roast cut in small cubes (I cut out as much of the fat as is possible) and some ground up deer meat, 1 or 2 pounds, if I have it. If not, sometimes I put in a roll of ground pork sausage. I brown the chuck roast separately from the other meats, keeping the juices from the browned chuck roast, and discarding the juices from the other meats because of the fat in the ground meats. I combine all the meats (and the chuck roast drippings) in my biggest pot and then I hit them with a couple of tsp. of Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning, black pepper and red pepper (about 1 or 2 tsp. of black pepper, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of red pepper), 3 or 4 T chili powder and 2 or 3 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. or so of garlic powder (depending on how much you like garlic!) and a tablespoon of dried minced onion. I combine this in my biggest pot with a 32 oz. can of diced tomatoes, a couple of cans of tomato paste, a can of beef broth and a quart or so of water (we like really, really thick chili). I simmer this for an hour or so, making sure to add more water or beef broth as it simmers to keep it from burning. I taste it after an hour to see if it needs more chili powder, cumin, etc., and then I put in salt to taste. I let mine simmer at least two hours, preferably more.

You can, of course, add more tomatoes or tomato paste or sauce, depending on how much tomato flavor you like. We prefer a meaty, chili flavor over the tomatoey flavor. You can also cut mince up an onion and brown with the meats instead of using dried minced onions - it's a matter of your own preference. I also like to drop a whole hot jalapeno in mine, too, while it's cooking because we all like hot stuff - even my 5 year old!

A word of warning about red pepper: The longer you cook it (including reheating it), the hotter the food becomes. Use your own discretion with the red pepper.

Hope you enjoy it!

[technomage]

Wow, did you see the name of this cook-off?

International Frank X. Tolbert-Wick Fowler Memorial Championship Chili Cook-Off

or the IFXTWFMCCCO.

[RedWhiteBlue]

I love that chili -- that is the recipe that I use (except I leave out the cinnamon). If I remember correctly, the contest that she won had over 14,000 entries.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I would, but we kinda wing it, and there are no measurements. We use half ground sirloin, half ground pork, dried chili peppers, salt, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, corn, kidney beans and a can of tomatoes. It is served with sour cream and cheese.

[LibWhacker]

In that case . . . Check these out, too:

http://www.pepperfool.com/recipes/chili_idx.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3afdfea35623.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b3b19fa2857.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/537911/posts
http://www.chilicookoff.com/
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/555030/posts
http://web.foodnetwork.com/food/web/searchResults?searchString=chili&site=FOOD&searchType=Recipe

Bon Appétit!

P.S. Can I come over when you make these recipes? :-)

[LibWhacker]

. . . the contest that she won had over 14,000 entries

Thanks for that . . . It's been a long time since I saw the show and I had forgotten all the little details like that one. I remembered it was a big contest but that's about it. All I know is everyone I've made it for has loved it.

(Uh-oh . . . I think I'm gonna be bookmarking another chili thread!)

[stainlessbanner]

Excellent! Now don't forget the cornbread!

Southern Cornbread

3 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups white cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Liberally grease a 10-inch cast iron skillet and let it preheat in the oven for about 10 minutes while preparing the cornbread batter. Mix soda, baking powder, salt and sugar with cornmeal. Add buttermilk and beaten eggs and mix well. Stir in melted butter. Pour into the hot skillet and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

[LibWhacker]

Mmmmmmmm . . . Cornbread! Yummy. Thank you! :-)

[Lando Lincoln]

....."That rotten, no-good scoundrel....."

Gotta be a Bears fan!!!

[WorkingClassFilth]

I have a very good standard recipe that I'll type out tonight. Simple, true to origins and hot as hell.