Leyden Street Chili Cook-off

Before I give you the winning recipe, you might be interested in the second and third place entries. I was prepared to hate the second place entry which was a ground beef chili with black beans. It looked, frankly, like sloppy joes and all of the judges thought it would be boring – in truth, on it’s own it was a bit one dimensional. But the creator, Nora Neureiter, suggested we stir this creme fraiche with lime zest into the chili, and that made it a winner. The recipe came from a local friend (a family recipe) and Nora made a few adjustments to that when she created her Leyden Lime Success Chili. The third place winner, Julie Michalek, created Buff Chick, a chicken based chili using her hometown favorite hot wing sauce, using a recipe she found on the Internet with a few tweaks. I’m not a hot wing fan – too greasy gross for me – but this chili mimics all of the flavors of hot wings with nice shredded white meat chicken instead of a pile of skin and bones. She was mistakenly told she couldn’t adorn the chili, but with some thinly sliced celery and a few blue cheese sprinkles on top, this would be a fun party chili.

Part of the fun was calling up the finalists (including two runner up spots and a best name winner) to tell them what we appreciated about their entry – nice smoky taste, good kick, etc. But in the end, Doug’s posole, which he said he worked to recreate after tasting a similar recipe at a restaurant, took first prize. I was lucky enough to pick up some on Sunday to photograph for this post, so got to enjoy it again for lunch. And after the second tasting, I can confirm it’s a winner!

Doug’s Green Chili Posole Stew
Adapted from Doug Wulf – titled “Holy Posole Batman” for the competition
Serves a crowd

4-5 pound boneless pork shoulder roast
5 tablespoons Mesquite Liquid Smoke
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 14-ounce cans beef broth (low fat, low salt)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 28-ounce cans cooked hominy
1 bunch cilantro, leaves only finely chopped
4 ounces hot green tomatillo salsa
2 14-ounce cans stewed Mexican tomatoes
3 bunches scallions (about 20), finely chopped
1 tablespoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste
2 14-ounce cans green enchilada sauce
3 6-ounce cans chopped fire roasted chilies
Shredded Mexican cheese, for garnish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using a knife or long tined fork, spear pork roast all over, then place on a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Mix together liquid smoke, salt, cumin, coriander and chili powder and pour over roast. Seal tightly, then wrap 1-2 more times in foil. Place in a baking dish with an inch of water in the bottom and bake for 3 hours. Remove from oven, let cool slightly while still wrapped in foil, then shred pork into bite sized pieces, discarding any chunks of fat or gristle. Put shredded pork into a large pot or crock pot and add all remaining ingredients except the cheese. Stir together, cover and let simmer for an hour to bring all of the flavors together. Serve with cheese as a garnish.