Chili, Lots of Chili
 Twila Crawford - PVNN
December 24, 2009
| | Sid Goodman tells us how to make Chili Con Carne for 115 people. | |
Puerto Vallarta - Executive and inventor Sid Goodman and whale researcher Keith May throw a special holiday party every year with monetary gifts given to charity by the guests. Sid begins preparation of his famous chili weeks in advance to serve their more than 100 guests in their home.
Here's Sid's explanation of how he makes his chili... made with enthusiasm.
"How does one make Chili Con Carne for 115 people? Well, I started by buying a giant pot at the restaurant supply company and a giant wooden stir paddle at the Tlaquepaque store. Then the hardest job is finding all of the ingredients, 20 in total.
I begin six weeks in advance, making sure that suppliers are lined up. Have you ever tried to find kidney beans in PV? It's easy if you just need one can at Rizo's and are willing to pay $42 pesos a can (and they're not always in stock). But I need 12 pounds of kidney beans for this recipe.
It's also hard to find plain old Chili Powder, and I need more than a pound, not to mention about 50 pounds of ground beef and sausage. Fortunately, this year I found a great commercial restaurant supply who stocks much of what I need in commercial quantities. That will make next year that much easier.
At the last minute, I realized that the place I usually buy the fresh dill was no longer in business so I began a futile search for the weed and was totally unsuccessful. Every store was out. I wound up calling a friend who does catering, and she had what I needed in her freezer. Of course, I learned later that the one store I did not get to had plenty on the shelf. Viva PV!
The ground beef, ground sausage and onions are cooked up a few weeks in advance and frozen in four separate packages. Now there is no way to make this all in one batch, so I make four separate batches the morning of the party, starting with the frozen beef, which I defrost the day before.
Adding 20 cans of tomato paste, 30 pounds of whole plum tomatoes and 11 (really) herbs and spices, all topped off with 7 pounds of pitted whole black olives... and voila, chili for 115. Put it all into the giant pot, 'cause there's not enough room on the cook top for four pots, stir with the giant wooden paddle, and keep it hot until the crowd arrives.
Serve the chili in a bowl on top of a bed of mashed potatoes (another story for another time), and top it with sour cream, shredded Monterey Jack cheese and chopped onions... and you have a Chili Sundae!"
Thank you, Sid, for sharing your chili-making. We all appreciate your fabulous chili, made with caring and friendship.
 An award-winning journalist, Twila Crawford lives in Puerto Vallarta, where, in addition to contributing articles to BanderasNews, the PV Mirror and other local publications, she writes Out and About in Puerto Vallarta, an informative column that offers inside information about who, what, why, where and when it's happening around Banderas Bay.
Click HERE to read more articles by Twila Crawford. |
Vallarta Weddings
Vallarta Living | December 2009 
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