Marvin "Phil" Phillips has many culinary specialties that he makes at home, but on Monday night his greatest triumph was his Dr. Phil's "Souper" Four-Bean Chili.
Phillips' chili won the Chestatee Chorus Souper Chili Cook-off from a field of six entries. It was his use of hot peppers and cilantro -plus hand-ground pork and beef tenderloin - that helped his chili bubble to the top.
I was joined by Debbie Wilburn, Hall County Extension agent, in judging the contest, which benefitted the Chestatee High choral department that will be attending the Regional Choral Competition in Orlando, Fla.
We were looking for color (it had to look appetizing), smell (good aroma) and consistency (not too watery or too chunky). Plus, the aftertaste shouldn't leave your mouth too hot.
And of course, the winner had to have good taste.
Phillips said he achieved his award-winning taste from high-quality ingredients and the time it took to cook the chili.
"I started grinding the meat last night about 9 p.m. and got everything on the stove and sauteed," said Phillips, who used black beans, chili hot beans, pinto beans and kidney beans. "This morning I put it on low and left, and it's been cooking all day. And about 4:30 p.m. I put the rest of the seasonings."
He added a little more cilantro and some Liquid Smoke flavoring before taking it to the competition.
"It's based on about three award-winning chili recipes," said Phillips, who started by cooking the hand-ground meat. "It's got red and yellow onion that have been sauteed until they caramelize, and then it's got fire-roasted poblano peppers, jalapeño peppers, red and green bells ... they were fire roasted and then peeled and caramelized with the rest of the green (vegetables).
"Then the meat was added. It has home-grown, home-canned tomatoes ... lot of cilantro. In fact, I finished it with cilantro at the end ... it's probably got 10 or 12 cloves of garlic."
Phillips said if he were cooking the chili to eat at home, he would have made the dish hotter.
"I would like more presence on the front side heat; this has it on the back side," said Phillips, who tops his chili at home with guacamole, sour cream and cheddar or Monterrey jack cheese.
As judges, we were only allowed to choose one winner. But if we could have awarded a second place it would have gone to Kathy Brechter, who made Firehouse Chili.
The recipe was the traditional meaty, ground beef-based chili with lots of beans and the perfect amount of spices.
"I use the usual, like chili powder. ... The key is sautéing the onions and peppers first, preparation before you put the chili together," said Brechter, who has a child in the Chestatee chorus. "It cooks a long time; it probably cooked three hours last night and one hour today."
Brechter uses Rotel, a canned mix of tomatoes and spices, in her chili. Sometimes she even adds pasta.
"I think I used the mild (Rotel), it wasn't quite as hot as usual," she said. "Sometimes I even liked to cook bow tie pasta and mix it in with it, but my husband said I couldn't use the pasta in a chili cook-off."
About 120 people bought tickets to the first installment of the Chestatee Chorus chili cook-off, and chorus director Beth Bowen called the event a success.
"I definitely learned a lot ... so next year we can expand on that," she said. "It's something that the community can get involved in by celebrating the hard work that these students do every year. ... We can celebrate good cooking and good singing."
One thing that made the event even better for Bowen was her love of chili.
"I like spicy but not too spicy; I love beans," she said. "I like mine more with steak than ground beef and of course sour cream and cheese."