Chili Queens

Mindy and I cooked dueling hot chilis yesterday afternoon for the squadron's annual chili cook off hoping that at least one of the two would defend my co-title from last year of BEST HOT CHILI. I HEART cooking with Mindy, so that was the real treat of the day.

Mindy's Chipotle Beef Chili defended the co-title of BEST HOT CHILI and it was really yummy and chipotle-ish - for someone (Mindy) who doesn't like chili she kicked some serious chili ass and her pot was empty pretty quickly.

My chili won BEST OVERALL CHILI! Dethroning once and for all the two year title holder. Even though John said mine wasn't going to win because it was too weird... Who listens to him anyways?! I stuck to my guns and made Green Chili with Pork from where else but epicurious! The beauty of it is that it takes all of 30mins to make - which means it will end up in our standard recipe pile.

I will post my recipe and make Mindy post hers!

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Green Chili with Pork
(4 main course servings)

ingredients::
1 medium white onion, quartered
2 (3- to 4-inch) fresh jalapeño chiles, stemmed and quartered, including seeds*
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (14 fl oz)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 lb ground pork
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14- to 15-oz) can white hominy (also called pozole), rinsed and drained
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

preparation::
Purée onion, chiles, and garlic with 1/2 cup chicken broth in a blender.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown pork, season meat with salt and pepper or Adobo while browning, stirring and breaking up clumps with a fork, just until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot.

Add remaining 3 tablespoons oil to pot and heat over moderately high heat until hot, then carefully add purée (it will spatter), cumin, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is thickened and most of liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes.

Add pork, hominy, cilantro, and remaining 1 1/4 cups broth and simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Serve chili sprinkled with pumpkin seeds and cheese.

*For more heat add 1/2 or 1 jalapeño extra to the recipe.