Stardock's Chili Cook-off!
Thursday, October 21, 2021 by Tatiora | Discussion: Stardock Blog
I am a lover of soups, stews, and chilis.
The very second the weather dipped below 60 here in Michigan, I popped my head out the door and bellowed "SOUP SEASON!"
...you think I'm exaggerating or being dramatic, but I'm not. My friends (and my poor neighbors) will attest.
Anyway, I'm not the only one who loves this time of year around here! Fall sees all sorts of fun activities popping up at Stardock, from visits to Cider Mills, to Halloween costume contests, and of course also chili cook-offs. We missed out on pretty much all of these things last year, so we're hitting 2021 with a vengeance.
Last week was our annual chili cook-off, and we brought our best offerings to share with our coworkers and appeal to their better judgments. Some people even teamed up and took to google to find the ultimate recipe for the competition! We had a lot of delicious chilis to taste that day.
Our six competitors were:
- Bacon's The Bomb Chili - Traditional style red chili with ground beef and bacon
- Chili.lua - Dark chocolate chili with stout and beef stew chunks
- Dance Magic Chili - White chicken chili with green chiles, cream, and cumin
- Verde Chicken Chili - Chicken chili with green chiles
- Winning Chili - Traditional red chili
- M-34 Chili - Dark chili made with beer
After vigorous taste testing (and some precarious balancing acts trying to get all the tasting cups back to our seats!), we voted via a QR code that Raeann, our one of our brilliant members of the Operations team, set up for us. A dramatic drumroll or three later, we had our winners!
Debbie's Bacon chili came in at 3rd place, followed by Max and Jacob's dark chocolate chili. Their medal is being beautifully modeled by Scherzer, one of our resident office doggos. 
My white chicken chili took 1st place, and the trophy is now nestled on my desk next to several other Stardock prizes and mementos I've collected through my years here.
We do cook-offs occasionally here, and it's always fun to see what different tastes and experiences everyone brings with their cooking! Some of us bring tried and true family favorites, while others do some online research, find one that looks good, and gives it a whirl. Every method is valid and delicious - I'm looking forward to whatever our next cook-off is going to be!
Do you have a favorite chili recipe? Have you done cook-offs at work or with friends before? Tell me about it!
Reply #2 Thursday, October 21, 2021 6:07 PM
After all, BACON is a food group. Dark Chocolate too!
Reply #3 Friday, October 22, 2021 7:26 AM
i just finished off a big pot of traditional ground chuck, italian sausage, bean, onion, and tomato juice chili. i absolutely love the stuff but the older i get the less it loves me. tomato juice wrecks havoc on my stomach anymore. i started making white chili a few years ago and it may be my go-to chili from here on out. i found a Paula Deen white chili recipe that calls for collard greens but i'll substitute baby spinach and kale for that. i may make that next week. saturday, i'm planning on making some zuppa tuscano soup. it's always a crowd pleaser. anyway, congrats on the big win! i'm sure everyone eating at stardock hq that day were the big winners though.
btw, to whoever had the instant pot, way to go! i love my instant pot and air fryer. i'm always looking for new recipes to try in the those two "appliances".
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Reply #1 Thursday, October 21, 2021 2:01 PM
Mmmm, chili. Big fan of chili.
My chili is your basic beef and bean chili with a decent amount of fire to it. Like to throw in a can of corn sometimes too. To me the main thing is to use a good chili powder, cheaping out on the powder will wreck it.
All those look good, I do like Verde Chicken but never fool with it. The one that caught my eye was the beef with bacon. That sounds really good and it's never occurred to me to throw some bacon in there. Now that's something I would do.