Chili Cookoff at the Office

Every year in Tucson, the whole town celebrates the Rodeo by having a big parade and 4 days of Rodeo fun. At the office, they held a chili cookoff and asked anyone who wanted to compete bring their best chili recipe.

I submitted a Southwestern Pulled Pork Chili Verde and won second place! It was a recipe that Scooter helped inspire that I created the night before and it seemed to be a big hit. The winner had a traditional red beef with beans and tomatoes chili and third place was a mild red turkey chili.

Here's the recipe I submitted:

• 1 Lb. pork rib meat
• 2 Tbs. favorite pork or lamb rub
• 6-8 canned green chilies, diced
• 1 Lb. tomatillos
• 1 half white onion, diced
• 1 bay leaf
  
• 2 jalapeños, seeded and cut in half
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 2 cans white beans
• 2-4 Tbs. cumin; to taste
• Dash salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• Cubed jack cheese
  

1. Place rib meat covered with rub, and diced green chilies into crock pot and turn to medium.
2. In large pot, bring tomatillos, diced white onion and bay leaf to boil, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
3. Strain tomatillos and onion, discard bay leaf and place into blender. Add jalapeños and blend until smooth.
4. Heat oil in pot, and add puree. Boil until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add mixture to crock pot and cook 3-4 hours.
5. Shred rib meat with a fork, add beans, cumin, salt and pepper and return to crock. Continue cooking until all flavors meld; about 1 hour.
6. Serve with cubed jack cheese.
   

A sampling of the entries.