Chili Today

I'm visiting my family for the holidays, which means that my kitchen time is limited--usually Dad makes dinner, while Mom does the majority of the holiday cooking. I'm left to my own devices for breakfast, but since I eat the same thing every morning, there's not much experimentation afoot, and lunch is covered by leftovers. Yet culinary adventures abound here, often in the unlikeliest places. 

For example, today I went to visit my parents at work. Mom sent me home with a tub of cookie dough, but Dad's office was a little more intense: they had a chili tasting for lunch. Although I showed up with a reasonably satisfied stomach, I was still thrown into the fray and ended up sampling four chilis. 

There was a white chili made with chicken, which retained the chili taste but was creamier; personally, I'm partial to chicken, anyway, so I liked it. There was also a spicier beef chili, which had a nice texture. One guy made a venison (that's deer meat, for those of you who remain uninitiated) chili, very akin to the kind I grew up on; it was somehow sweet--to good effect--and very consistent. Then there was Dad's.

I grew up on his chili, and in fact, for a very long time, it was the only chili I would eat. I still love it very much, whether it's made with beef or venison. This time around, I was a little nervous about eating the chili, though. All the ingredients I'd come to love were there, plus one: bear meat. 

Say what?

Don't worry; the bear used wasn't anything like this guy. But he was surprisingly delicious; in fact, I couldn't tell the difference. The only thing I had to do was tell myself, before chowing down, that it was all in the name of research. Turns out it was totally worth it.

What do you put in your chili?

Image via here.

-Cate-