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
- Place rib meat covered with rub, and diced green chilies into crock pot and turn to medium.
- In large pot, bring tomatillos, diced white onion and bay leaf to boil, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
- Strain tomatillos and onion, discard bay leaf and place into blender. Add jalapeños and blend until smooth.
- Heat oil in pot, and add puree. Boil until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add mixture to crock pot and cook 3-4 hours.
- 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.
- Serve with cubed jack cheese.
A sampling of the entries.
