Alliance for Animals Chili Cook-Off: Holy Mole Seitanic Chili

On Saturday I participated in the 6th Annual Alliance for Animals vegan chili cook-off. I love going to these types of events because I love trying new ways to cook up old favorites, like chili.  Among the six entries, my “Holy Mole Seitainic Chili” tied for the People’s Choice Award with Mark Dwyer’s “Magischer Klumpiger Furz-Chili” (which, in case you’re wondering, translates to “Magical Lumpy Farts”.) Isthmus features editor Linda Falkenstein swept the Judge’s Choice Award with her Half-Centry Chili, complete with a name placard of an old photograph of her grandmother.

It was great to partake in an all-vegan cookoff.  Even though I’m not vegan anymore, I can still appreciate the struggle of finding (or cooking) good vegan food and let me tell you, there was no shortage of that on Saturday.  Linda made a comment that no matter how she makes a chili it always tastes like her chili.  I’m the same way — there are certain components, like beer and ancho peppers, that always seem to work their way into my versions of chilies.  What I enjoyed about this even was tasting chilies that were all delicious in their own right and simultaneously very different from each other.

This was my first chili cook-off and the recipe I used was actually a modified version of an old standby that I found online some years ago.  As I’ve played around with it, my version has evolved into a thing of it’s own, but I have to credit the original for bringing the idea of chocolate in chili into my realm of consciousness.

Actually, the original recipe combines three of my favorite things: chocolate, coffee, and beer.  I nixed the coffee in the recipe I submitted for the cook-off because I wanted to make some more radical changes to emulate a mole-meets-chili experiment.  Chocolate in chili immediately took my brain to mole, a chocolate-ly pepper sauce used in Mexican cuisine.  I love the subtle notes of bitterness and sweetness muddled together with the slow burn of peppers.  I gambled with some of the ingredients, such as the pigeon peas and raisins, but the people have spoken and the final verdict seems to be a thumbs up.

One important thing to note is that the recipe below was designed to feed A LOT of people.  Due to the proportions of ingredients (for example, it would be difficult to buy certain ingredients in lesser quanitities) it is probably most efficient to just make the big batch as opposed to cutting it in half.  This chili was one of the first to run out during the cookoff, so don’t worry, it won’t be hard to get through all of it, but you will need a very large stock pot.

Holy Mole Seitanic Chili

Makes about 2 gallons.

• 8 hot chilies (I used a mixture from the farmer’s market — habenero, black beauty, serrano, jalepeno, poblano, etc.)
• 10 tomatillos, husks removed
• 2 heads garlic
• ¼ c. olive oil
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 7 oz chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
• 2 large anchos, minced
• 4  oz unsweetened Ghiradelli, broken into pieces
• 2 6oz cans tomato paste
• 28 oz crushed tomatoes
• 4 12 oz bottles chocolate stout (I used one made by Fort Collins Brewing company)
• 15 oz green pigeon peas, drained and rinsed
• 15 oz Dominican red beans, drained and rinsed
• 28 oz black beans, drained and rinsed
• 28 oz pink beans, drained and rinsed
• 28 oz pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 TBS fresh oregano, chopped
• 1 c. raisins, chopped
• 2 TBS cumin
• 2 TBS chili powder
• 4 tsp coriander
• 2 tsp Ceylon cinnamon
• 1 tsp cayenne
• Salt to taste
• One batch of seitan, torn into bite-size pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the tops off of the heads of garlic to expose the tips of the cloves. Drizzle about 1 TBS of oil over each head.  Wrap each head individually in foil.   Place chilies and tomatillos in two separate dry baking pans.  Put the pans in the oven with the garlic.  Bake the garlic for 40-45 minutes until soft and fragrant.  Bake the chilies about 10-15 minutes until blackened (flip them a few times during baking.)  Bake the tomatillos about 25-30 minutes until blackened (again, flip them a few times during baking.)

Mash the garlic into a paste and set aside.  Mince chilies (remove seeds if you want a milder chili) and dice the tomatillos (try to reserve the juice as well) and set both aside.

While the garlic, chilies and tomatillos are roasting, heat the remaining oil over medium heat in a large stock pot (the bigger the better, or cut the recipe in half.)  Add onions and fry until soft and golden, about 15 minutes.  Add garlic, stirring about 1-2 minutes.  Add chilies, ancho peppers, chipotle peppers (and adobo sauce), and spices and cook an additional 1-2 minutes.  Add tomatillos, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and chocolate, stirring frequently and making sure that the chocolate doesn’t burn.  Continue to stir until the chocolate is melted, about 2-3 minutes.  Add beer, beans,  raisins and seitan.  Raise heat to high and bring the pot to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, partially uncovered, for about 45 minutes.