Chili Spices Up a Dull End of Winter

What is it about chili that guys love?

A lot, judging by the way they were making and devouring the offering's at last week's for Avon police officer Pete Soto.

Chili is a classic man dish in many ways. It's all about meat, and spice. It's not fancy, but everything's all in one pot. It's great left over.

It also has cowboy roots, which tie it to riding the open range, cooking over an open fire, and no girls allowed.

Yep, chili's pretty butch.

But you don't have to be a guy to love chili. Melissa Brown, wife of Lorain police sargaent Bob Brown, made chili from her own recipe for the cook-off.

Each of the participants -- Lorain police, , , Lorain County Sheriff's Office, and the Warthogs Motorcycle Club -- brought something special t0 the table.

For Brown, what made her chili stand out was the meat. Instead of ground beef, she uses small slices of top round.

The Avon Fire Department made a black bean cowboy chili. Lorain County Sheriff's Office used a recipe created by vehicle maintenance specialist Bob Iski.

"This is the result of 50 years of experimentation," Iski said. "Use good ingredients and don't skimp."

The Warthogs brought a barbecue grill/smoker for their New Orleans-inspired chili made with pulled pork.

Avon police officer Eric Bergen cooked up an old family recipe created for the Crock Pot about 40 years ago. The secret ingredient? Sugar.

"It takes away some of the acidity from the tomatoes," he said.

Many of us start with a chili recipe from a cookbook, or ripped out of a magazine, or from a friend, and make it our own. That's what I did.

I started with the recipe for Texas Red Chili from the cookbook "Dinosaur Bar-be-que: An American Roadhouse." The Dino was my favorite restaurant during the five years I lived in Syracuse, N.Y., and was recently voted best barbecue in America in a "Good Morning America" poll.

Like Brown, the Dinosaur recipe does not use ground beef. I like the texture of beef sirloin, or stew meat, cut into one-inch cubes. Another option is the chili meat at . It's a much coarser grind than hamburger meat, about as big around as a drinking straw, and makes a meatier chili.

If you're cooking your chili in a slow cooker, go with dried herbs like thyme and oregano rather than fresh. They'll last better over the long cooking time.

I like the rich, deep flavor of ancho chili powder over traditional chili powder. Another flavor twist is using Penzey's Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cinnamon. It's a strong flavor -- smells like Red Hots -- and adds a kick. Instead of jalapenos, I use chipotles in adobo for a smoky flavor.  I add a half-teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa that surprisingly accents the sharp, smoky flavors in the chili. And, following the Dinosaur recipe, I use 1 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar.

As far as beans or no beans go? Do what you like. Just don't serve a chili with beans to a fundamentalist Texan. They tend to take the no-beans thing seriously.

One of the great things about chili is that it's even better the next day. And it freezes well for those weeknights when we want a break from a cooking.