This recipe won the first COMDEX Chili Cook Off.

The next year it won the People's Choice award.

It has been retired. If I were to enter it again

I would lace it with pure ancho powder as that

seems to be the direction that the competition

is going: exaggerated ancho flavor.

DVORAK's

Tex-Mex Four Bean Chili

Ingredients:

1/2 pound smoked ham, diced

1 3/4 pound boneless chuck cut in 1/2-inch cubes

1 large torpedo or two red onions, diced

28 ounces of ground whole tomatoes (canned)

30 ounce can of Hunts Red beans

15 ounce can of pinto beans

15 ounce can of Great Northern beans

27 ounce can of kidney beans

4 ounces of fresh de-seeded jalapeno peppers choppped

1 TBL chili powder (prefer Grandmas brand)

1 TBL crushed red peppers

1/4 cup Dry Sack (sherry)

4 cloves of garlic

Concept:

This is a spicy bean stew that shows off a mixture of four distict

looking and distinct tasting beans. It was developed over ten

years of trial and error testing. Canned beans make the dish

easier to prepare. CAUTION: It is hard to stop eating this dish

once one begins.

Directions:

Saute the onion in butter. Separately and in a large pot put the

ground tomatoes, add all of the beans and the crushed red peppers

and heat to simmer. Meanwhile when the onions are half cooked

add the sherry and boil down by 2/3. Pour mixture into pot of

beans. Add more oil to saute pan and brown beef and garlic with

ham. Add TBL of chili powder to cooking meat. Continue cooking

for 3-5 minutes, then add to pot of beans.

Add chopped jalapenos to bean, meat and tomato mixture. Add

tomato sauce (optional). Heat for 10 minutes. Serve in bowl

accompanied by cold beer.