Nature Connection and Mangia Mangia Win This Year's Chili Cook-Off

By Jonathan Kleyer

Downtown Kalamazoo’s Chili Cook-Off, held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on January 23rd, had 32 stores and restaurants competing.

Split into two categories, retail and restaurant, each of the downtown businesses managed to come up with their own unique variety of chili, even if that meant resorting to the use of rather non-traditional ingredients.

By the end of the competition, the event’s organizers had 2,004 votes to tally, a good showing of the crowd drawn by both the competition and the “Great Winter Adventure” it was paired with.

According to Vicki Kettner of Downtown Kalamazoo, the restaurants and retail businesses were split into categories to try ensuring fairness in the competition.

“We put them into categories so that professionals are competing together and the amateurs, if you will, are competing together,” Kettner said.
Even so, after the votes were tallied, Downtown Kalamazoo announced that retailer Nature Connection not only took first place in the retail division, but was also considered the best overall by voters.

Mangia Mangia took first place in the restaurant division with its peppery chili recipe that incorporated a can of lager beer.

Nature Connection’s recipe, which featured the unique addition of a cherry salsa, has been used by the business for the competition since they first competed in 2007. The recipe has generally placed well, winning in the retail division that first year, and placing second in the division for the next two years.

Laurie Russell, co-owner of Nature Connection, said that this is the first time that they’ve won overall.

“I concocted the recipe based on three different recipes. We wanted to come up with something that uses Michigan products and aims to let kids have fun getting involved with the cooking,” Russell said.
She explained that this was one reason why the recipe does not involve any cutting.

“The cherries give it sweetness,” she added. “Some people will add more if they want to make it even sweeter. It’s kind of our secret ingredient.”
As secret as any ingredient could be, in this competition, anyway— “Chili Passports” were handed out to those attending the competition so that they could pick up copies of the recipes used by the various competitors. The recipes are also available online at Downtown Kalamazoo’s website.
Since the competition used small, two-ounce cups of chili for tasting, Russell estimated that Nature’s Connection managed to spread their chili out to serve about 600 people.

As for the overall event, Russel observed, “I’m active on the event’s committee, and being downtown, it’s fun to participate in a lot of the events down here. Events like this take a lot of cooperation between all the businesses.”

In the future, she said that she would like to see the competition challenge the winners to donate some money to a food-based organization.
For more information about the Chili Cook-Off, and to see the recipes used by most of the competitors, go online to www.downtownkalamazoo.org.

Nature Connection’s Michigan Cherry Chili

1 lb. ground turkey or beef; or 1 package “Smart Ground Original” or other meat substitute product
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz.) Delmont Petite Cut Tomatoes with Green Pepper & Onion
1 jar (9 oz.) Cherry Republic Original Salsa
2 tsp. chili powder or to taste
1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese or cheese substitute for garnish
Salt to taste
Brown the meat or prepare the meat substitute according to package directions. Put the “meat” and all of the canned/bottled ingredients into a crock-pot. Add the chili powder, stir it up and give it a taste. Add more chili powder and salt as desired. Plug in the crock-pot and go have a “Great Winter Adventure” for an hour or so. When you are ready to eat, serve into bowls and add about ¼ cup of the cheddar cheese or cheese substitute to the top of each serving as desired for garnish.
This chili is on the mild side; you can use the new “Cherry Republic Hot Salsa” if you want more spice. You can also add a can (15-16 oz.) of kidney/chili beans. Some varieties of chili beans come in different spiciness levels, so you can choose the level of “heat” you want. We often serve with tortilla strips and more salsa, yum! Serves 4, but only if our Cousin John isn’t in the group!
SPICE RATING: MILD

Nature Connection
359 S Kalamazoo Mall
269-567-2873
www.natureconnect.com

Mangia Mangia’s Chili 2010

1 10oz.can chili beans
1 10oz can kidney beans
1 10oz can pinto beans
(all beans drained and rinsed)
2 medium green peppers
1 medium red pepper
1 medium yellow pepper
2 jalapeño (seeded) fire roasted
1 large white onion diced
1 bunch finely chopped cilantro

Base:
6oz tomato paste
1 #10 can peeled tomatoes not drained
2 tsp salt
1 ½ tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup tomato ketchup
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 can lager beer

1 lb. ground beef
½ lb. ground pork
½ lb. chorizo
2 bulbs minced roasted garlic
Mix with lovin’!

Mangia Mangia
209 S Kalamazoo Mall
269-226-3333
www.mangiamangia-kazoo.com