A Sunday afternoon filled with delicious chili, awesome beer, good company, and great music… what could be better?

I’m not sure I can think of much, which is why we decided to head on down to the Ninth Annual WMSE Rockabilly Chili Contest at the MSOE Kern Center this Sunday afternoon.

Rockabilly Chili is one of Milwaukee's most popular, one-of-a-kind culinary fundraisers.  The event, which raises dollars for FM 91.7 WMSE Radio, features a unique selection of both vegetarian and meat-based chilis from area restaurants and caterers.  

There really is something for everyone. 

The 2011 line-up featured 50 competitors serving up 63 varieties of chili (both meat & vegetarian/vegan), all competing for People’s Choice awards in four categories: 1) Best Meat Chili; 2) Best Vegetarian Chili; 3) Best Heat; and 4) Best Table Presentation & Display.

In addition to chili, patrons enjoyed a variety of brews being served up by the Milwaukee Brewing Company, along with a fantastic array of music spun by WMSE DJ’s Jonny Z (The Chicken Shack, Fridays 9am-noon) and Dietrich (Saturday Morning Car Tunes, 6-9am). Patrons were also invited to purchase a trifecta of awesome promo items, including bottles of "Rockabilly Red" hot sauce, Rockabilly Chili beer cozies, and the brand new Rockabilly Chili Cookbook complete with 91.7 recipes.

But, let's get back to the food!

Of the 63 options, I somehow managed to sample ten chili flavors before giving it up to complete chili overload.  I focused my sampling on some of the most unique chili flavors in the group.

• Roots Restaurant’s Pig Head & Sweetbread Chili with smoked chicarones:  The ultimate in porky deliciousness, this “out of the box” chili featured unctuous pieces of sweetbread, deliciously tender white beans and awesomely crunchy smoked pork rinds
• Ball 'n Biscuit Catering’s The Devil’s Taint: A “hotter than hades” chili featuring tart sweet tomatillos, creamy white beans, smoky Spanish chorizo and excruciatingly hot ghost chiles.
• The National Café’s Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili with green apple chutney:  This vegetarian chili paired savory black beans with tender sweet potatoes and a lovely tart apple chutney that played nicely off of the smoky beans.
• The Palomino’s Peter Piper’s Pistol Chili:  This 12-pepper and pork chili was complex and meaty with deliciously sweet notes stemming from what I suspect were candied chiles.

• Noble Provisions Catering’s Old Timey Chili: A crazy compilation of lamb, beef, chicken, and pork cooked in bacon and topped off with Old English Malt Liquor, this chili came with a cumin-corn cookie and a free mustache!
• Chili Lili's Chili Bar’s Espresso Bean Chili:  This awesome vegetarian chili made the most of the rich flavor of black beans and coffee. The flavor was deep & dark with plenty of deliciously bitter chocolate notes.
• The Fast Foodie’s Indian Curry Chili with Chicken: Chock full of vegetables & chicken pieces, this mild sweet chili was perfectly seasoned with Indian curry powder.
• Palms Bistro & Bar’s Duck & Tenderloin Chili:  One of the most complexly flavored chilis, this meaty chili balanced the deliciously rich flavors of braised duck with the tender meatiness of beef tenderloin and plenty of smoky chile flavor.
• Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub’s Pork & Green Chile Chili: A classic chili verde with plenty of pork plenty of sweet/tart tomatillo flavor. 
• Roots Restaurant’s Summer Squash Mole with lime crème fraiche: Lovely and complex mole flavor showcasing sweet squash, creamy white beans, and a hint of kick.

Were you there?
If so, what was YOUR favorite chili?

Mine was probably a toss up between the  Duck & Tenderloin Chili & Peter Piper’s Pistol… though Roots Restaurant really won points with me for originality with their Pig’s Head & Sweetbread Chili.

UPDATED to include the final People's Choice Winners:

Meat: The Palm

Runner up: Red Rock Saloon

Vegetarian: Riverwest Co-Op

 Runner up: Brewed Cafe

Display: Brewed Cafe

Runner up: Red Rock Saloon

Runner up: Ball 'n Biscuit

Didn’t make it down to the Rockabilly Chili Contest this year?  Well, save the date for next year’s event – which always takes place the first Sunday in March.

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Ninth Annual WMSE Rockabilly Chili Contest
Sunday, March 6, 2011
11AM - 4PM
MSOE Kern Center
1245 N Broadway