I was recently a judge at the Trader Joe’s Chili Cookoff. A competition between store employees at the Algonquin Illinois market.

Each participant created an original recipe with ingredients found in the store (spices could be purchased elsewhere if not available at Trader Joe’s).

With 12 zesty recipes to try, I stocked up on water and oyster crackers to cleanse the pallet and cool my tongue between each tasting.

All entries were scored on overall taste, texture, appearance, and aroma on on a 1 to 5 scale .

I worked with a diverse group of judges…

From left to right in the top picture:

Steve, a retired GM from the printing industry who has loved cooking since he was a kid, developing recipes over the years for family and friends.  He was also featured in the Herald newspaper as cook of the week, and has judged previous Trader Joe’s Chili Cookoffs.

Penny, a chili connoisseur having judged several chili contests and a chili “purest” who believes that real chili does not include beans.

Nancy, a culinary student and employee of a local catering company and as an art teacher who thought this event would be fun.

Me, Brad, Baconaholic and chili lover.

Jenise, who has a Culinary Arts/Pastry Arts degree and ran a small catering business in New Hampshire for several years.  She has judged the Village of Sleepy Hollow Chili Contest for the past 2 yrs.  Jenise also won a chili contest in 2009 using a recipe with fresh ingredients from her garden, including 10 different varieties of peppers.

Bill, a dedicated home chef who is currently working on the second edition of his family cookbook .  He has some formal culinary training and has given cooking demonstrations at several area high schools.

After the scores were tallied, the winning recipe was…

Rich’s Chili (print recipe here)

Rich was inspired by the ingredients available at Trader Joe’s, but used Dixon Chili Powder as his secret ingredient.  He kept the recipe simple and simmered the ingredients for about 3 hours.

…the second runner up was….

Carol’s Chili (print recipe here)

Carol’s recipe was made up of all Trader Joe’s ingredients and she was surprised at coming in second place because she felt her recipe was very basic.  Carol has always loved cooking, and creates a lot of “concoctions” off the top of her head.

…and in third place…

Lia’s Chili Carnitas (print recipe here)

Lia was inspired to use as many Trader Joe’s ingredients as possible to come up with a chili that was quick, easy, delicious and somewhat healthy.
She likes to cook and always tries to come up with a dinner that is healthy, tasty, and on the table in an hour or less.

Every chili I tried was unique and flavorful, thanks to all of the employee’s who participated in this heated event!

Brad