And the winner is......

GLENDA!!

Your chili is awesome..when you get back from your trip, let me know what size tee.

Thank you to everyone who entered!


Just a heads up - work is fixin to be a bit crazy for the remainder of this month so don't expect much by way of posts and recipes. I will still answer emails though :)

We will back in July with new recipes (still owe y'all the smoked chili recipe or you can email me and I will send it to you), new contests, new prizes and some CASI history ...oh and of course, ME! Yay!

Til next month....

Howdy ROOOoooooOOOOOoOoOOOOOO!

Contest Deadline..

Just a quick note to say if you haven't gotten me your chili recipe it's a little late :) Entry deadline was Monday at 11:59pm. Thank you to everyone who participated!!! We are currently rustling through our entries. We have some cool judges lined up ( a special thanks to Brian for volunteering)and will have the winner announced by June 12, 2010!

I tried out a new recipe over the weekend and folks say its pretty awesome so I will have that posted sometime between now and Sunday so check back for some amazing smoked chili!

ps- if you tried the recipe and are reading this blog.. don't be shy... let folks know what you thought ...awesome... right? right? right? :)

Night night and Howdy ROOOOooooOOOOOooooo :)

Scrap Chili recipe -Finally!

Sorry for the delay but at long last... the much anticipated...much hyped....SCRAP CHILI (yayayayayyayayay)!

Too dramatic? :)

What is scrap chili? Basically its chili made from whatever you have leftover in the fridge...its quick...its easy... and usually its yummy.

Anyway-here it is... especially for my buddy Brandon...the king of strange leftover meats..

Scrap Chili

What ya need:

2 cups either chicken or beef broth
2 cups tomato sauce
2 TBS chili powder (whichever one you like)
2 tsp cumin
1 small onion chopped
1 clove garlic minced
1.5 cups of black beans-rinsed
2 TBS olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 lbs or so of whatever isnt moldy in the fridge ( Even alligator Brandon)

Ok I have me this stuff... what do I do with it??

Heat the oil in a skillet (pan ..its a pan.. really).

Stir in the onion, garlic, cubed mystery meats and 2 tsp of the chili powder...if you're really adventurous, you can add a smidge of black pepper.

Cook, stirring constantly, until the onion and meat are tender.

Dump the whole thing into a pot along with the remaining ingredients.

Cook about 2 hours on low heat or less on a higher heat adding any additional spices you might have laying around.

OR

Toss the whole thing in the crock pot with some cubed eggplant and a little more liquid...just a suggestion...

Then eat and enjoy....it freezes really well for weekday lunches too!


Oh and dont forget- This months chili contest! (scroll down for details).. I have judges lining up drooling on my shoes... which is really gross since I wear sandals....

Howwdyyyyy RoooooooOOooOOooOoo!

New Contest (and a humble apology)

Howdy Roo Folks!!

Yes I am going to keep saying it .... its fun to say.... go head and try it.... you know you want to...all together now..howdyyyyy roooooooo...see. fun. so there.

First off, I am offering an apology for my neglect...been a little crazy at work so I haven't kept up with posting. Thank you to those who emailed me with your concern :) I promise to have my recipe for "Scrap Chili" tomorrow night.

Now onwards->

***May Contest Info***

It is time for our monthly contest yay!! (cue cheering crowds and adulations).

Submit your best chili recipe and you could win one of our fine Rivercat Chili Tees.

Contest is open from right now... right this minute..ding... until 11:59 pm on May 31,2010.

Winner will be drawn on June 12, 2010 (need time to try these chilis!) and announced right here!

Easy right?

Now for the fine print...

1. It must be your own recipe...no swiping one from your neighbor or some random dude on the internet!

2. One entry per person .. so make it a good one!

3. It has to be easily adjusted... can make it for one or two or twenty.

4. Anyone over the age of 16 can enter.. yes, even if you know me personally, or work with me or won last month's contest.

5. I will be testing these recipes so a little easy on the heat lol.. no 7 alarmers!

How to enter...

Easy peasy- just send me an email with your recipe. You can find my email under my profile (hint its under my picture on the profile page) or, if you're a facebook friend, just send me a message with your recipe.


If you have any question, post a comment or send me an email!

Howwwddyyy rrrrOOoooOOOoooo ... hehehe too much fun :)

A CASI Style Recipe!

Howdy :)

I really meant to get this out last night but sleep won so pardon the slight delay!

I am trying to decide if I want to compete in ribs at the Manchaca competition these weekend-opinions? Its been two years since I have done BBQ and I am a little bit rusty…;)

Maybe I will do chili too….decisions decisions decisions…
anyway…..


Also, new contest coming at the end of the month! I will have all the details soon! Congrats to Michelle for winning the last contest and lovely Rivercat Chili Tee!

This week’s recipe is a “CASI Style” recipe. It is a little heavier than my traditional chili and it is mostly red. I hope you enjoy it!

If you have a recipe, you would like to see here- shoot me an email from the link under my profile and I will get it on here.

Lightly brown (not cooked all the way through) 2-1/2 pounds of cubed beef chuck tender in 2 TBSP Olive Oil

Add :
1 Can - Beef Broth
1/2 Can - Chicken Broth
1 - 8 oz Can - Tomato Sauce
Float 2 Serrano Peppers

Bring to a boil and add the following:

2 TSP Granulated Onion
1/2 TSP Cayenne
2 TSP Beef Granules
1/4 TSP Salt
2 TSP Chicken Granules
1 TBSP Light Chili Powder
2 TBSP Red Chili Powder
Cover and cook 1 hour - squeeze peppers and discard pulp

I highly recommend using tongs to handle the peppers!

Add the following:

2 TSP Ground Cumin
2 TSP Granulated Garlic
1/4 TSP Hot Sauce
2 TBSP Chili Powder
1 TBSP Light Chili Powder

Adjust liquid with remainder of chicken broth, if necessary

Cover and cook 30 minutes

Then add:

1 TBSP Chili Powder
1 TSP Ground Cumin
1/4 TSP Granulated Garlic
1/4 TSP Cayenne
1/4 TSP Brown Sugar
Reduce heat to a slow boil
Cook 10 minutes

Adjust Salt, Cayenne, and Chili Powder to taste

Howdy Rooooooooo

Ok, so yesterday was the 39th annual Howdy-Roo Chili Cook Off in Marble Falls, TX. This is one of my favorite events and I look forward to it every year. It’s run by the Highland Lakes Pod who happens to be the nicest group of folks I have ever encountered in CASI chili. And I don’t just say that because I am a member of said pod lol.

What’s a pod? What’s CASI? Sorry, I should explain these things. CASI is an acronym for Chili Appreciation Society International and a pod is a group of folks who organize and help promote chili. Usually a pod is regional filled up with regional folks.

History lesson for this week is now over :) Next week we can talk about Terlingua and the rivalry between CASI and Tolbert Chili. Or the week after. We will see :)

Yesterday morning, we jumped into Jon’s car and headed on over to Marble Falls. It was a little weird going without the pop up or the pit or chili makings but we had a mission. No cooking for us …We were going to judge!

Oh and by the way, turn in time for chili is 2 pm not 12 pm…2 pm…sheesh.

We pull up, hop out of the car, and head over to the chili pavilion. I headed over. Jon headed to the BBQ pavilion because he was looking to judge BBQ. But we really don’t care because, well, it’s BBQ. Everyone and his brother does BBQ. Heck, even I have done it and placed pretty high. Got the trophies to prove it :).

My goal was to judge semi finals. Nope, not doing the preliminary rounds. No crappy chili for my taste buds! After speaking to Ruby (head honcho for the pod), I learned there was 126 teams competing and it was going to be a wait to judge for semi finals. She told me to come back at 2:30 ..which I did but nope not ready yet… or at 2:45….or at 3. Apparently judging 126 chilis is time consuming.

Finally, semi finals!!!! Whoo hoo. And I got to taste 3 really great chilis! I tasted 12 chilis but only three were good. It was over way too quickly but I did get the information on taste I was after so all is good.

So now I have lot to think about. Time to redesign my recipe and see where that leads me. I am open to suggestions….

Oh and I want to give a quick shout out to a terrific couple I met-Leslie and Ziev. They wandered into the competition out of curiosity and ended up being judges. Good folks and very pleasant to talk with. And friends, stop gasping out loud. Yes I socialized and it wasn’t awful. I blame the darvocet.

Next week, we are heading over to the Manchaca VFW post for a Tolbert cookoff and hopefully to judge again. I will try to interview some of the cooks, so if you have any questions you want me to ask, shoot me an email.

Also, if there is any chili topic you would like to see covered here or recipe posted, let me know.

Howdy-Roooooooo til next time!

Eggplant Chili Recipe

Ok- because a few folks have asked me nicely...here is a starter chili recipe :)

This recipe is for eggplant chili and can easily be made as completely meat free using soy crumbles (which is what I usually do) instead of ground meats.

Since chili is subjective, remember to taste often and adjust seasonings as needed.



Eggplant chili


3 medium eggplant, peeled and cubed

1 each chopped red and yellow peppers

1 14 oz can FF chicken or vegetable broth

2 8 oz cans of tomato sauce

1 can white beans drained and rinsed

1 lb ground turkey (or soy crumbles)

1 chopped onion

1 clove garlic diced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 TBS Chipotle chili powder

2 TBS Red chili powder

1/4 tsp cumin( I list spices I usually use but spice to taste)

2 tsp olive oil

powdered onion and garlic to taste.




Saute peppers, onion, garlic and a tsp of chili powder in olive oil for about 5 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Add meat and cook until meat is brown.


Transfer meat mixture into a medium pot and add remaining ingredients.


Add remaining spices.


If you like a little bit of a Kick add some ancho chili powder.


If you like more of a kick, add more ancho chili powder.


Cook on low for about 2 hours, stirring occassionally.


Powdered spices tend to cook out easily so feel free to add more spices to taste and some extra liquid if needed.


Cook for about another 30 minutes until the eggplant and beans are soft.

If your chili is a little too soupy throw in a little cous cous ( a little goes a long way!)

Remove from heat an let sit for about 10 minutes so the flavors can soak in.



Enjoy!