California Rancher Chilli Mix - Taste test

Since our first outing at Grillstock (www.grillstock.co.uk) we have been lucky to meet some really great people. We have been lucky enough to be asked try out some fantastic new products before they become commercially available. 

Jon Finch who is the one of the main people behind Grillstock BBQ and Blues festival is one of the people we have had the pleasure to meet who is truly passionate about all aspects of BBQing, so much so that in 2010 out of a love of experimenting with BBQ seasonings and sauces, Jon and his colleagues set up California Rancher (www.california-rancher.com)

Inspired by the early California Settlers cooking food over an open fire, their range of seasonings and sauces are a wonderful blend of smoky and hot rubs and sauces that work well in a variety of dishes. 

Within the first year, Taste of the West awarded the newly established BBQ seasoning and condiment company a GOLD Award for its Oaky & Smoky BBQ Sauce and a SILVER Award for its Santa Maria BBQ Rub whilst the Guild of Fine Food awarded them GOLD Great Taste Awards for each of the two products.

Having recently purchased the rubs to try out at one of our Sunday practice sessions I was absolutely delighted to be ask to taste test their new Chilli Con Carne Mix.

Chilli has been the one dish that I have served for every party I have catered. It is cheap, simple to make, filling and can be served with a variety of side dishes and most importantly tastes better the longer it is cooked. Having tried almost every commercially available mix, I became frustrated that I was just paying for what tasted like a chilli power in fancy packaging - I then received Jamie Olivers American Cookbook and tried the Chilli Con Jamie. Instead of using mince I started using cuts of beef that could be shredded when cooked – I experimented with variety of cuts including shin, oxtail and my favourite ox-cheeks – My experimental recipes included chocolate, cinnamon, molasses, whiskey, coriander and a variety of dried spices. Unfortunately my style of cooking is 'on-the-fly' so recreating the dish time after time was impossible. Combined with the time it took to combine the ingredients and the mess I made concocting the chilli, I started cooking it less and less.

Last night, with the suggested recipe from Jon and a packet of his California Rancher Chilli Mix I set about recreating a dish I have spent years tinkering with. Jon's recipe isn’t complicated, in fact, treacle was the most exotic ingredient (there were only 9 others!)

I have spent years trying various recipes, trying to find the right balance of heat and smoothness (I eventually used a shot of espresso to generate rich dark aromas!) while at the same time striving to create something that was different to a chilli anyone had tasted before. Last night I found the solution. 

California Rancher Chilli Mix will replace days of experimenting with Chilli Con Carne in the coming years, giving me time to find even more uses for the product. From now on, I will simply open the packet and cook with Jon's creation, knowing that my party guests won’t have tasted such a developed flavour in a chilli before. The mix certainly has some heat - but not too much. What is fantastic is how the smokiness of the mix combines with subtler flavours that I have subsequently learned include oak smoked sea salt and cocoa powder. 

The good news is that this will soon be commercially available - perfect timing now that the clocks have changed and comfort food is the order of the day. The great news is that I get to try it all again at our Factory Bonfire Night on Thursday when I cook it for 70 others!

I will let you know their thoughts.

How it all began....

It is probably best to start where it all began, at Grillstock in 2010.

Tim, the passionate South African friend I had made while playing cricket for a rural Worcestershire league team and I decided that we should enter a BBQ competition. This decision was not made because we are chefs and thought we had a chance of winning, it was made because we loved cooking bbq - for friends, family, the cricket club - in fact, anyone who wanted to eat we would love to cook for them. We have no formal training, only knowing what we like and our friends love (some of it trail and error)- we have both been involved in all types BBQ in various forms for over 20 years.

Tim loves to ‘braai’ - from Boerewors, Chops, Sosaties the obligatory Pap and Sous he is adamant that if it can be cooked in/on the oven it can be cooked on the BBQ and in doing so change and enhance the flavour, let alone the social side of all gatehirng round the ‘braai’ sinking a few ‘pots’.

I have cooked a variety of dishes but the most fun I have is cooking for large groups of people. I think this all started when I was roped in with my father to cook for 200 girl guides at one of my mothers "Girl Guides Association" camping trips. We had 2 small bbqs and still managed to feed everyone burning only 1 sausage!

Tim and I visited Grillstock in 2010 and saw the range of people cooking on a range of BBQ's many of which we had never seen before. They ranged from the most sophisticated kitchen smokers to a trailer water bowser that had been converted to a smoker. At that stage we had never cooked slow and low but knew that with a bit of practice we had a chance of making some tasty ribs and brisket.

With a winter of research behind us we had our first opportunity. Tim spotted a beaten up Pro Q Excel 20 for sale on Ebay - it wasn't my idea of what a smoker BBQ should look like, it was bullet shaped and about 3.5ft tall. Tim managed to buy it for £60 and he immediately set about smoking some gammon on it.

After early success I spoke to Ian McKend at Macs BBQ who went through pros and cons of various types of smoker. Because of his helpful insight and non-biased synopsis I decided to order a whole load of wood, thermometers and 1 Pro Q Excel 20 - I couldn't have been happier.

For 4 months we practiced week in and week out counting down the days until Grillstock..