When it's cold and a little wet and windy outside, like at this very moment in our town, there's only one sensible food remedy.
Chili.
You want to know the definition of comfort food? It's chili on a day like today. As it happens in an instance of perfect timing, I attended a chili event at church on Sunday evening. The community pastor took credit for his ernest prayer resulting in the cold and rainy night making for perfect community chili eating. It was difficult to argue with him.
Here's the quandary, though, that I'm having on this chili day: is there any way that a restaurant can beat homemade chili? This is, after all, a restaurant blog.
I mean, even given my culinary limitations, I can make a mean batch of chili. I own a crock pot with which I turned out chili that was served at our tailgate party prior to the Baylor-Oklahoma football game. And then the Bears beat the Sooners. I'm not taking credit for that, but …
And where did I obtain my chili recipe? From my friend Jeremy, who created his Jeremy's World Famous Chili from Wisconsin when he lived in Milwaukee. And why did Jeremy develop his tasty blend? Because Milwaukee provides a heck of a lot more days like today, days when staying inside has endless appeal, than our town here in the middle of Texas.
So it seems that chili is stay-in food. But that doesn't mean that restaurants don't make great chili. It's just that I'm not sure where I would dine out on chili. Delis serve chili usually. It seems like barbecue and Mexican food joints should but don't necessarily feature chili. I need your help.
You tell me. Who makes the best chili in town?
