On Saturday June 28th, Alex Cone will host the second annual CodeFab WebObjects Chili Cook-Off! This event is designed to bring together Apple geeks who develop using WebObjects (and this year we add iPhone developers too!) with connoisseurs of spicy food for a no-holds-barred, knock-down, drag-out chili cook-off that will smoke the surface of your tongues right off and do more psychic damage than the famed Guatemalan Insanity Pepper.

Alex will throw a batch or two to get things rolling - Chicken Mole? Chili Verde? - plus a batch of his famous Habenero Cornbread. An asbestos taste-bud mandatory rematch with last year’s winner Bojan will be sure to entertain all.

Email Alex Cone if you want to be a judge. To compete just bring your best batch of chili (a batch for about 20 people is a good start). There is a big stove, so you can get time to reheat and tune your spices the day of the cook-off.

Donations of beer, wine, sodas and anything else to cool the tongue definitely appreciated.

The party starts at 7:00 and cooks needing some time can come earlier.

If you guys like good country food this recipe of my mother’s is great! Note for the lazy: I have a sister that uses canned biscuits instead of making the dough.

Chicken and Dumplings

Put the roasting chicken (hen) in a big pot with lots of water and season it with chicken bouillon. Let it cook until it is tender then take it off the bone and remove the skin. Keep the broth for the dumplings.

Put about 4 to 5 cups self rising flour in a large bowl. Mix some of the hot broth in and be sure you get some of the fat from the broth. Add broth until it is just moist enough to stick together. Roll the dough out using lots of flour until the dough is very thin. Next, cut the dough into strips about 1/2 inch wide.

Make sure the broth is boiling hot then add a can of evaporated milk to the broth. Taste it to see if it needs salt and if it does, add more chicken bouillon in place of salt. While the broth is boiling, drop the dumplings in. Let them boil for a couple of minutes then put on the lid and remove it from the heat and let it sit. If you let them cook they will get tough. I never stir the dumplings because this makes them break so just toss them with a spoon.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY, Sunday, April 1st, 2007 — CodeFab today unveiled a radical shift in it’s business model, abandoning custom software development and reinventing itself as product company. The new company will produce and sell CodeFab Extreme Hot Sauce, an extraordinarily flavorful and spicy hot sauce developed in secret over the last two years. The robust condiment is habenero lime based and comes in three variations: Rojo, which is the basic hot sauce, Reposado, which is aged for up to a year, and Anjeo, which is aged for two years. The sauce is aged in oak tequila barrels, which produces a unique and unforgettable flavor.

“There is no question that the Web 2.0 bubble has burst,” said Alex Cone, company CEO and master hot sauce maker, “we felt we needed an exit strategy and we have been pouring all our spare time and profits into this top secret development effort.” While some of CodeFab’s staff are involved in the formulation and testing of the artisanal hot sauce, most will be developing and maintaining the company’s new on-line hot sauce store. Revealed today, the new WebObjects and WireHose based store uses the latest AJAX technology and cutting edge design to produce an exceptionally user friendly shopping experience, rich in interactivity and social networking features.

“Our business is still primarily with individuals and small to medium sized restaurant businesses, but Extreme Hot Sauce is industrial strength and scales extremely well, so we are making a big push to sell to the enterprise customer,” said Cone, who had just returned from Cupertino, CA, where he negotiated a key deal to incorporate the new product in Apple’s campus cafeteria food service.

This is one of the first chili recipes I wrote down, mostly because I couldn’t ever find a good recipe in any of my chili books and I kept having to re-invent the dish every time I made it. Since I first penned this, chili cook-offs have started including a chili verde category, so I expect there are now more good recipes out there, but I am so pleased with this one I haven’t done more research.

It is important to have a large quantity of good fresh tomatillos for this chili. If you cannot find them, give up and revert to a red chili. There is really no substitute. If you are unfamiliar with tomatillos, they are a mexican fruit that is a cousin to the tomato (both members of the nightshade family. Yes - that nightshade family.) They look like small green tomatoes, with a papery husk. Chose firm fruit with a dry, tight fitting husk. They will last for up to a month in a paper bag in the refrigerator, so if you spot them, grab them and then start looking for an excuse to make chili.

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless pork loin, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
6 large yellow onions, chopped coarsely
4 long green chili peppers (mild), chopped coarsely
2 jalepeño peppers, chopped finely
2 habenero peppers, chopped finely
6 large cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
1 pound fresh tomatillos, chopped coarsely
1 12 oz bottle beer (dark mexican is good)
2 cups chicken broth
12 oz medium or hot green salsa with tomatillos
12 oz canned chopped green chilis (mild)
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons coarse ground corn meal

Directions

Cut up the pork

Chop the onions

Chop the peppers and combine in a bowl

Chop the garlic

Remove the tomatillos’ husks, wash and chop

Take a large chili pot or dutch oven (about 12 quarts) with a tightly fitting lid and thick bottom. Cover the bottom of the pan with oil and heat until hot.

Add pork, 2/3rds of the onions, peppers, chili powder and the cumin.
Cook on high, stirring frequently, until the meat is browned and the onions are clear. Scrape the bottom of the pan to make sure nothing sticks and burns.

Take a large roasting or lasagne pan and cover bottom with remaining onions. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat and vegetables from the chili pot to the pan.

Place the pan under the broiler and roast until the edges of the meat and onions are crispy. Watch carefully and turn frequently so nothing burns.

NOTE: it is important that everything cooks well at this stage and that there are plenty of crispy crunchy bits.

Drain the oil from the chili pot, leaving any leftover bits from the browning process. Add beer, stock, tomatillos, salsa, canned chilis, cilantro and the broiled ingredients. Add fresh ground pepper and salt to taste.

Using the slotted spoon, transfer the roasted ingredients back to the chili pot. Take a potato masher (or any flat bottomed implement) and mash the ingredients until the pork cubes come apart.

Simmer covered for 2-3 hours. Stir from time to time, making sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

After the chili has simmered for a while, thicken by adding the corn meal, stirring until well mixed. Simmer for 30 minutes more.

Taste before serving. If the chili is too hot, add sugar or fruit juice. If the chili needs extra heat, add crushed dried chili peppers (chipotle peppers are best). If too acidic, add more cornmeal. Give any adjustments at least 20 minutes to cook into the mix.

Serve with rice or tortillas!

Serves 6-8 people.

Download plain text version

Copyright Alex Cone 1990-2006, All Rights Reserved.

This chili is a variation on the winning recipe in the 1980 International Chili Cook-off, credited to William Pfieffer of Arlington VA. I’ve been tweaking it for years but the original chef deserves much credit.

This is a classic Texas cook-off chili, which is traditionally no-bean, tomato based and smooth consistency. I’ve heard professional circuit chefs swear that 1/8th inch cubes of meat is the biggest thing judges want to see in the chili.

You can do beef and pork combination, as described here, or all beef. I find best is a mix of ground and cubed, as the ground meat tends to come apart and become part of the sauce, while the cubed meat stays identifiable and forms the backbone of the chili. Sharpen your big knife to get the 1/8th inch cubes - partially frozen meat may also be easier to slice into even slices before cubing.

If you cannot find mole, you can substitute cooking chocolate, but really, real mole is best. If using chocolate, beware of burning at the bottom of the pot.

This recipe calls for jalepeños, but I find it is very nice to toss in a handful of other peppers. Half a dozen whole thai mouse dropping peppers and a habenero will give an excellent round heat (and may take the top of your guest’s heads off).

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoons paprika
9 heaping tablespoons chili powder
4 heaping tablespoons cumin
4 cubes of beef bullion, crushed
2 bottles of dark Mexican beer
1 cup water
3 pounds ground beef (lean chili ground chuck is best)
2 pounds ground Pork (lean chili ground is best. if you cannot get it, add some extra ground beef and some extra cubed pork)
1 pound beef cubed to 1/4-1/8th inch (london broil or similar)
1 pound pork cubed to 1/4-1/8th inch (pork chops or similar)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large yellow onions (chopped fine)
10 cloves garlic (chopped fine)
1 tablespoon mole (powdered or in oil)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon coriander
6 jalepeños, seeded and de-veined, or 2 jalepeños and an assortment of other peppers
24 oz can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon corn meal flour
Salt to taste

Directions

Get a very large, thick bottomed pot - probably the largest you own. Everything will end up in here so we need it big enough to hold everything and it needs a thick bottom to distribute heat well and minimize sticking or burning as we cook.

In the pot, put the oregano, paprika, chili powder, cumin, beef bullion, one bottle of beer and the water. Simmer on low.

In a large skillet, brown 1 1/2 lbs meat with 1 tbsp oil until lightly browned. Drain and add to the simmering spices. Repeat until all the meat has been browned and added to the big pot.

Saute the onions and garlic in 1 tbsp oil and add to the simmering spices and meat. The mixture should be thick enough to stand a spoon in. Simmer for 2 hours, adding the second bottle of beer as needed to keep the consistency right.

Add the mole, sugar, coriander, peppers and tomato sauce and simmer for another 45 minutes.

Dissolve the corn meal in 1-2 tablespoons of warm water to make a paste and add to the mixture. Add salt to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes longer.

Taste before serving. If the chili is too hot, add sugar or fruit juice. If the chili needs extra heat, add crushed dried chili peppers (chipotle peppers are best). Give any adjustments at least 20 minutes to cook into the mix.

Serve with grated cheese, diced green onions and/or cilantro as optional toppings. Great with cornbread for dipping!

Serves 12-15 people.

Download plain text version

Copyright Alex Cone 1990-2006, All Rights Reserved.