Chili Today...

     I believe almost every culture has a variation of chili.  As I perused my 3 ring binder of recipes under the Chili tab I found several that are my favorites.  There is white chili made from cubed chicken breasts and cannelloni beans, sausage chili with spicy andouille and porter beer as a base, Texas chili that calls for chunks of beef chuck and omits any inclusion of beans at all, and turkey chili with diced cooked turkey mixed with chopped red onions & celery and corn.  Chili recipes are like those for beef stew and potato salad in that everyone has their own favorite and they vary from region to region and from family to family.
     Yesterday was a damp and dreary day here.  So I thought it was a perfect day to make up a batch of chili for dinner.  But this time I reached for a recipe passed along by a friend and culinary master, Bill Berardelli.  His chili recipe is a regional one as well, from Cincinnati.  Little did I know that this Ohio town had such an eager cult following for their own version of such an All-American meal.  Cincinnati Chili is distinct in that it incorporates chocolate into the list of usual ingredients.  As you will nota bene in the recipe, shaved chocolate or cocoa powder is called for.
     But as I searched through my pantry and spice cabinet I came up empty.  I had no cocoa powder and only some very outdated baker's chocolate hiding in the deli drawer of the 'frig.  But then with a stroke of genius I recalled a Christmas gift I received from Rudi - a chili flavor chocolate bar!  I'd been nibbling at it and knew it deftly combined sweet and hot so it would be the perfect substitution for the only ingredient I lacked.  I happily broke off a few slivers and added it to the mix so I could concoct a unique style of chili.
     Oh yes, and there's one more thing that makes Cincinnati Chili unique.  It's traditionally served over spaghetti.  Here's my plate at serving time: