Sunday, October 2, 2011

"Sleeping Alone Tonight" Wins Big at the Front Porch Chili Contest

Sleeping Alone Tonight is now available for sale at Atlantic Bagel Company (Atlantic Highlands)
 



Your arsenal of great recipes must include one for chili  (mine sure does) and  I take a lot of pride in being able to make a great one.

I was reminded on Thursday that our local chili cook off was this Saturday.  I have always been busy in previous years, but at the last minute I decided to go for it.  

If you know me well, you know I play to win.  I called in Rocco, my partner in all things ridiculous, and we teamed up to make a big first showing at the competition this year.

Despite the rain, there were 400 people at the event with 40 different hopeful chefs, all of them bringing their A game in hopes of taking home the trophy.  There was a band, beer tent, rum bar, and all sorts of chili.  The kids had a great time and they even worked the crowd for me.


There were three categories of competition:  Vegetarian, which we did not bother with (Vegetarian chili is not actually chili, but rather some form of bean casserole, I suppose.  If you find yourself making vegetarian chili, do us all a favor and don't call it chili. Chili has meat in it.), Judges' pick (one of the judges, Marie, owns our local (and my favorite) bakery ), and People's pick.  Of the two categories we were eligible for — Judges' Pick and People's Pick — "Sleeping Alone Tonight" won both categories.

Dozens of people asked if we would be selling "Sleeping Alone Tonight" at Rocco's bagel shop.  We talked about it this morning, and we are going to make it available to the public starting this week.


Award winning chili, available at Atlantic Bagel Company, coming soon!


This might be our best video yet.  Check it out:







3 comments:

  1. Had the pleasure to sample (and vote for!) your chili this past weekend. Though I tried about 20 others, I kept coming back for more from you guys! Between the charismatic cooks talking it up to the crowd, and the fact you were the ONLY cooks willing to share their recipe, it wasn't even close. 'Sleeping Alone' deserved that win. Congratulations to you all, and thanks so much for making it available at the Atlantic Bagel Co. Fall/Winter's looking much better knowing I can get an awesome bowl of chili in town!

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  2. Thanks Brett. The chili should be available starting Thursday at both bagel shops. - Neil

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  3. Couple of modifications by Uncle Bill.

    - add a bottle of Octoberfest beer. (I like Otter Creek)
    - add a little cilantro
    - add a Chipotle pepper with some adobo sauce

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