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Community Corner

A Chili King Is Crowned

Brian Watson's "Chili Verde" is awarded first place honors at Sunday's chili cook-off.

A spicy Mexican-style green chili pepper recipe took the top prize at the annual Chili Cook-Off on Sunday.

Thirteen contestants arrived at the market by 6 a.m. to prepare their chili from scratch under the monitoring eyes of contest officials. Some batches came complete with their own eye-catching names.

“Our chili is called ‘Arrogant Bastard Chili’ after my brother-in-law in Cincinnati,” said Sharon Muthu, who teamed up with chili partner Noshir Dalal but didn't take a top prize.

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Muthu said that people in Cincinnati think they make the best chili. It was ultimately her brother-in-law's recipe that she used.

Contestant Julie Stout, with assistance from her children Alice and Leo, used fire-roasted green chilies from her home state of New Mexico. Stout's recipe is more than 80 years old and is handed down from her grandmother.

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“I have childhood memories of eating this chili for breakfast with eggs,” she said. “Now I pass it down to my children.”

But it was Brian Watson who collected a grand prize of $250 for his "Chili Verde" creation.

“The secret is to use good ingredients, cook it slow and to have my daughter Chloe nearby stirring the pot,” Watson said.

Second place and $150 went to Melinda Weiss. Robert Trejo won third place and $75.

Mayor Barry Brucker, who was on the judges panel, announced the winners and presented each with an oversized check. Other judges included TV food personality Aarti Sequeira, and "Chicks with Knives" chefs Rachael Narins and Suzanne Griswold. The judges nibbled on grapes between tasting the chili batches to cleanse their palates and soften any fiery ingredients.

“I look at the chili to see if the color is pleasing and if there’s a unique ingredient that stands above the others,” Brucker said.

As outlined in the official chili cook-off guidelines, only amateur cooks were permitted to participate. Professional chefs and restaurateurs were welcome to enter the corn shucking contest. Market manager Greta Dunlap awarded each corn shucking winner $20 in coupons that are redeemable at any market vendor.

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