Aliquity’s Chili Fest 2011 Awards Top Trophy to Bell Shoals Animal Hospital

By chance came the winner of Chili Fest 2011, hosted by the Greater Brandon not-for-profit Aliquity business and networking club at the Winthrop Pole Barn in Riverview.

The winning entry went to and its chili entry concocted the night before.

That’s when members of three families — the Ligoris, the Correas and the Taylors — met to determine which of the group’s three chili meals was the best to enter into the contest.

“We all had really good recipes and so we just took the best parts of each one,” said Steve Correa, who was identified as the chef.

John Ligori and his wife, Erin, own and work at Bell Shoals Animal Hospital, where Ligori is the veterinarian. The hospital is one of the eight member groups of Aliquity, which allowed for the chili taste-test winner to determine which charity would benefit from proceeds raised.

The charity to benefit is Dogma Rescue, Erin Ligori said, whose motto is, “A dog from Dogma will give you good karma.”

In second place was the GFWC Brandon Junior Woman’s Club (for which Brandon Patch will post soon a feature article featuring the people, work and mission of the 55-year-old club, one of Brandon’s oldest, meeting at 129 North Moon Avenue, in an historic landmark home.) The group’s obvious charity of choice was the club itself.

In third place was the “Hillbilly Chili” entry of John McGourty and Corey and Sandy Canfield. Their charity of choice: Instruments of Change, out of in Brandon. The organization’s goal is “to profoundly impact the lives of disadvantaged children through the gifts of musical instrument donation, instruction and performance.”

Dottie Dunn, a founder of Aliquity, said the group is “for business owners to be involved in the community in different areas.” The group, now a not-for-profit, focuses more on community efforts and less on its founding networking mission, she added.

Dunn, an area manager for Arbonne International, said she would give back to the community on her own, but realized working with other businesses “I could do a lot more than just by myself."

Her husband, Brian, entered his own chili entry, hoping to win money to send to the American Red Cross for its efforts in helping the people of Japan.

“I keep tweaking it,” Brian Dunn said of his chili. “I go from beans to corn to beans back to corn. This one has corn in it."

So, too, “a lot of onions and peppers and beef."

Corey Canfield described the trio’s chili entry as “a fine mix of heat and sweet.”

“There’s a little heat on the finish and a little sweet up front, and so you’ll want to take another bite,” he said. The mixture of chuck and ground roast “is for texture,” Canfield added, and the sweet comes from “a little bit of dark chocolate and brown sugar.” The heat is attributed to chipotle, jalapeno and poblano peppers and cayenne.

Bryan Cannon, of Aliquity member Surface Off, entered his chili on behalf of the “Give ‘Em Heaven Ministry” out of the Faulkenburg Academy, which Cannon said is “a faith-based state-run facility for juveniles.”

“This is a Texas chili,” Cannon said of his recipe. “No beans, no tomatoes.”

The secret ingredient?

“Dr. Pepper,” Cannon said. “I cook a lot with Dr. Pepper, actually. It has 27 different flavors in it. Obviously, it’s sweet, and has some sugar in it. I use it a lot in pork and steak marinades, instead of molasses and sugar. Plus it’s carbonated and the acid in [the soda] helps to tenderize the meat.”

Lisa Turner of said her group’s entry was based on the recipe of her mom, who grew up on a farm as one of six siblings. The recipe, Turner added, “is not by the book but by memory, having cooked with my mom for my entire life.”

“It’s a sweet and spicy Irish chili, is what she told me it was when I was growing up,” Turner added. Included is chipotle, jalapeno, cayenne “and some brown sugar to add to the sweetness.”

Matthew Wortman, of on State Road 60 in Valrico, said his personal chili entry “is a good hearty chili with several different spices in it."

His secret? “We let it sit and let the flavors come through,” Wortman said. “Growing up, my parents made chili and I really liked it so I started making my own.

The best part about chili?

“It goes with everything,” Wortman said. “It’s good on hot dogs, on top of fries, you can put it on burgers. It’s delicious."

• Coming soon: Five things to know about cooking good chili and what you need to know about the GFWC Brandon Junior Woman’s League.

ALIQUITY CHILI FEST 2011 SPONSORS:

• Trish & Randy Waller / Signature Realty
• The Compounding Shop
• Jill Ann Photography
• You Say When Yogurt Shoppe
• Bell Shoals Animal Hospital
• Arbonne International (Dottie Dunn)
• Jascab Production (Web design)
• Surface Off