I'm Number 2! I'm Number 2!

That's right folks...I'm number 2. I won second place in tonight's Section 6 chili cook off. I'm excited about this because I've decided to treat it as winning first place- no offense Trip Neil but that was a total fluke. I don't feel bad about saying that because Whitney Neil entered the party saying- "Don't eat our chili. We didn't know what we were doing and it's not good." I tasted the chili anyway and the barbecue Fritos saved it :)

For all of you waiting in suspense for what I cooked here is a picture and the recipes:

White Bean Chicken Chili

(a conglomeration of several recipes I found online and my imagination)

5 boneless skinless chicken breasts

6 cans chicken broth (I'm sure you could use boxes but I don't know how many that would be, 2 maybe)

2 jalepenos

3 habeneros

3 cans diced tomatoes

2 large onions

2-3 cans roasted green chiles

1 can navy beans

1 can great northern beans

2 cans cannelloni beans

1/4 c. flour

1c. half and half

4T minced garlic

salt

1t ground cumin seed

1 stick of butter

1-2 bay leaves

1/2 c. olive oil

(sorry these aren't in order, I was writing as I remembered)

1- boil chicken breasts in 1 and 1/2 cans chicken broth in a medium saucepan. When done, shred chicken and set aside

2- while chicken is boiling, saute 1 diced large onion and 2T garlic in 2 T butter, 2T olive oil and cover with salt and chili powder I'd say probably 2 T chili powder and 1/2T salt and set aside.

3- in a large soup pot, make a roux using flour and cream, stir constantly for three minutes then add 1 can chicken broth, green chiles, cumin, bay leaves, salt to taste and bring to a boil. Add in sauteed onions, chicken and one can of tomatoes and return to boiling.

4-drain and wash all canned beans and add to boiling mixture

5- as you see fit, continue adding canned tomatoes and chicken broth until chili reaches desired consistency

6- cut peppers in half and roast in oven until black spots appear. Put in blender with 1/2 onion, 1/2 can chicken broth, 1 can tomatoes, 1T minced garlic, and salt to taste then puree. You may want to add a splash of vinegar.

7- depending on the desired heat you want to add to your chili, add in pepper sauce that you prepared above.

8- I really have no idea exactly how much chili powder I added, I just poured it in until it tasted right.

The trick is to make this chili the morning before or even the night before you cook it. The longer it sits, the better the flavors combine together. I cooked mine for at least 4 hours.

Now for the best part- recipe courtesy of Dad...

Mexican Cornbread Waffles- I'm pretty sure this is not actually the way they cook it in Mexico

(I came up with the waffles part myself...I'm pretty sure this is the only reason I actually placed in the competition)

2 c. white corn meal

2c. flour

2 heaping tsp baking powder

1/4 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

2c. grated cheese (I use cheddar and monterey jack)

1 can green chiles

some shakes of garlic powder

some cranks of a pepper mill

1 can yellow and white corn (drained)

4 pieces of bacon cooked and crumbled

4 eggs

a bunch of buttermilk

(this makes a double batch...it feeds several people)

waffle iron

1- mix dry ingredients

2 - add in cheese, peppers, bacon, eggs, corn and stir together

3- as you stir, add in buttermilk. you just add buttermilk until the mixture becomes slightly thinner than pancake batter, it should still stick to the spoon but not clump together.

4- once your waffle iron is hot, spray with cooking spray and make waffles just like you would make breakfast waffles.

Tip: I cut each square into triangles because these waffles are more dense than regular breakfast waffles so a whole one might be too much for one serving.

To serve, ladle chili into a bowl, add a sprinkle of cheese, a dollop of sour cream and a dash of left over pepper sauce and place warm waffle on the side of the plate...It's a second place winner every time :)

...and that's all!