Last weekend’s Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. Chili Cook-off turned up the heat, but brought some sweetness to Peconic too.
“We had a really wonderful crowd, not only locals but fans from far and wide,” says Rich Vandenburgh, co-owner of Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. “The cold weather outside and the warm chili inside was a good combination.”
On the restaurant side, Ellen’s on Front was victorious and for the fire department portion of the competition, Southold came out on top.
Both first place-winners were consistent across the people’s choice vote, where attendees sampled chili and gave a token to their favorite chefs and a blind tasting judges panel.
The panel included Carolyn Iannone, owner of Love Lane Kitchen; Adam Kaufer, co-owner and executive chef at Grace & Grit; Rich Rosenthal, executive television producer of the Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil; Jaymee Sire, food and style writer for the North Fork Sun and host of the podcast Food Network Obsessed and Lihn Trieu, former owner and chef at Wednesday’s Table and currently private chef and travel advisor.
(Photo credit: Greenport Harbor Brewing Co.)
“All the participating restaurants and fire houses did an amazing job with their chilis and really showed the strong culinary talent we have here on the North Fork,” says Trieu. “The sense of community out here on the North Fork is truly something special and events like these that Greenport Harbor [Brewing Co.] puts together really do so much to foster that sense of community, so we are so grateful for the whole team there.”
Chef Jennie Werts at Ellen’s on Front was raised on East Coast chili but brought in her love for Texas-style too.
“I think the problem with an East Coast chili is often the heat comes from cayenne and/or crushed red pepper, which doesn’t have much flavor — it just provides heat but no depth,” says Werts. “I don’t use any cayenne or red pepper flakes. I use a variety of dried chillies, ancho, guajillo, pasilla and make a paste out of it, which provides mostly smokiness and a bit of heat, and then add in fresh minced chillies like jalapeño and serrano for that ‘fresh’ heat.”
Her brisket-ground beef combo makes for good texture, she says. And with the addition of Mexican chocolate, cinnamon, kidney beans, cheese, sour cream and crispy tortilla strips, it packs a punch.
“There’s a great depth to Ellen’s chili,” says Rosenthal.
Iannone and Sire agreed that the unique cinnamon addition made this recipe stand out.
“Ellen’s just really nailed all the notes,” says Iannone.
“It had the perfect balance of heat and flavor,” says Sire. “I might just have to add some cinnamon to my next batch.”
Southold Fire Department’s chili, made and served by a six-person team, also added a sweet touch with some Mexican chocolate on top.
“It was a very nice touch,” says Kaufer.
That — and their Dorito salad topping with lettuce, cheese, Dorito chips and dressing — was about as much as the department revealed about their “secret recipe,” however.
“It was inherited by one of our teammates and we’ve stuck with it the last few years,” says firefighter Matthew Dadonna. Both Ellen’s on Front and Southold Fire Department serve their chili specifically for the event, but lucky restaurant-goers got to try Werts’ award winning concoction as a special last weekend.
Learn about more upcoming events at Greenport Harbor Brewing Co.’s Peconic location here.
