Chili Recipes for your Super Bowl

It’s that time of year… chili cook-off season. Where the chefs of the house don their aprons and gather their crockpots with friends and family to be judged.  And what better time to share your masterpiece than during the Superbowl this Sunday?

According to the International Chili Society, there are strict rules and regulations if you want to be recognized as a chili champion. So if you’re like me and don’t care if the salsa is homemade, or that the cooking time is a minimum of three hours, then I might have just the recipe for you. It’s not your traditional chili… it calls for chicken breast and broth for the base ingredients.

Santa Fe Chicken Chili (recipe from Taste of Home)

  • 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 cubes
  • 4 medium sweet red peppers, chopped
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
  • 2 cans (16 ounces each) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 jar (12 ounces) salsa
  • 1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
In a soup kettle or Dutch oven over medium heat, saute chicken, peppers, onions and garlic in oil until the chicken is no longer pink and vegetables are tender (about 5 minutes). Add chili pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Yield: 14-16 servings (4 quarts).

If you prefer beef based chili, then I highly recommend this recipe by Morton’s co-founder, Klaus Fritsch.

What will you be making this Sunday for the big game?

Photo credit: Taste of Home

How to Blind Taste Wine from an Entry-Level Cork Dork

Being a part of a large fine dining restaurant group, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with incredibly talented leaders in the wine industry. My mentors Tylor Field, III and Sara Fasolino have successfully managed an award winning wine list and created a vibrant culture for wine and spirits. Their close partnership with The Court of Master Sommeliers (the authority for wine education) helps to accomplish this.

In 2010, I was fortunate enough to be selected from a handful of managers in our restaurant group to take the introductory level examination by the Court of Master Sommeliers. There is a four-level education and examination process (Introductory, Certified, Advanced and Master). Understanding the wine world would greatly contribute in my role as marketing manager to effectively market our wine program and events.

I spent months preparing for the exam. My best study resources were guildsomm.com and The World Atlas of Wine. The two day exam was hosted by Master Sommeliers. The process included lectures, wine tastings and*gulp* the 70 question examination. I joined approximately 40 other wine apprentices from around the region for a crash course in wine. We blew past power point after power point of wine regions and variatels (this was more for a refresher course… attendees were expected to have this memorized beforehand). But what we spent most of our time on was how to blind taste wine… I enjoyed it so much I thought I would share a few basic lessons on how to blind taste wine.

Before you begin blind wine tasting, it’s helpful to first know a little bit about grape varietals and regions.

Why blind taste wines, anyway? Each of us has differing sensitivities and abilities, and the blind wine tasting method allows all tasters to discover their strengths and weaknesses to gather the most complete set of descriptors in order to skillfully analyze and identify wines. By doing so, the taster becomes adept at understanding the style, character and quality of wines.

Use the deductive tasting method:

1. Sight  (provides information on wine’s age and condition): Generally speaking white and blush wines grow darker with age, red wines grow lighter with age and pigments and tannin in red wines precipitate into sediment with age.  Green hues = young or cool climate white wines.  Orange, yellow and brown in older red wines.

 Viscosity (aka legs/tears): Thin, quickly moving legs or sheeting in the glass = low alcohol.  Thick, slow moving legs = higher alcohol.

2. Nose:  This is where it gets fun…  express the smell of the wine with creative descriptors.   It’s best to separate the smell into three categories Fruit (or non-fruit), Earth and Wood.   

Fruit: Citrus, tropical, black fruit, candy, jam, peach skin

Non Fruit: Flowers, spices, herbs, lemon grass

Earth: Dirt, damp earth, mushroom, barnyard, forest floor

Wood: Leather, spice, tobacco, brown spice, vanilla, carame, coconut

3. Palate: FINALLY, you get to sip the wine. Sweet vs dry body (light medium or full). Think of it like drinking skim milk, 2% or whole milk. After sipping the wine, confirm the taste with the smell (Did it taste like the fruit you described when you smelled? Anything new?)

4. Initial Conclusion: Based on the evidence from sight, nose and palate consider: Is it old world or new world (ID keys: acid level, earthiness and use of wood)? Cool, moderate or warm climate (ID keys: acid level and alcohol level)? Grape Variety or Blend (ID keys: knowing the markers for grape varieties and styles of wine)?

5. Final Conclusion: Grape Variety or Blend. Region. Appellation. Vintage.

Example: Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, Saint Helena, 2010

During the introductory sommelier course, I blind tasted about 40 different wines. It was an incredible experience and really doesenhance my enjoyment of wine. The more often you do it, the easier it gets! Oh, and for those who might be wondering… I did pass the first level examination. So, I’m a humble freshman in the school of wine with the hopes to someday to become a certified sommelier. 🙂

Cheers to all my fellow wine nerds!

3 simple rules for brands using social media (and why to follow them).

Representing a brand online sounds easy enough… start a facebook fan page and hire an intern to manage it, right? Wrong. But we’ve all heard of similar situations even at a time when companies are allocating 25% of their total marketing budget to digital marketing. As social media manager for a large restaurant group, I can tell you that a successful brand in the social media sphere follows these 3 simple rules:

  1. Acknowledge: How fortunate is a brand to have a direct connection to our customers? It’s invaluable. Customers can tell us about their experience (directly or indirectly). So when a customer mentions your brand, acknowledge it! Reply to their comments, ask them to share more about their experience, or broadcast their message to your fan base. Customers deserve to be heard and who doesn’t like to be called out on social media (why else does Klout exist)?
  2. Add value: As much as your customers want to be acknowledged, they ultimately follow or like a brand for the inside scoop. If you’re a restaurant, share recipes or wine pairings. If you’re a hotel, provide travel tips. Entertain while you educate. Providing that mix of ‘edu-tainment’ along with your brand’s specific product or service offers inevitably makes your followers a brand ambassador.  It’s a privilege that customers choose to let us into their newsfeed so it’s up to the brand to make it worth their while.
  3. Drive sales: Bottom line, if a brand isn’t bringing in revenue from its social media efforts, than it’s time to reconsider the investment. A good social media manager will have a pulse on your customers (not to mention a good pulse on marketing, PR and customer service) and will be able to give you concrete examples of conversions from social media to transaction. Use facebook insights, google analytics, impressions and these twitter resources to further evaluate.

Following these three rules do for the brand will gain a loyal following, create brand ambassadors, bring in repeat business and customers will provide their feedback and opinions.

What do you think? Do these three rules provide enough direction for a brand to make a positive impact in the social media sphere?

%d bloggers like this: