In this episode of the Feed Your Fire Podcast, The New Frontier is Spicy, a day trip to Dallas and a chili cookoff come together as a spicy new recipe to spark innovation. In this episode, we discuss breakthroughs, perspective about what's on the horizon, and how we bring our A game to the table.
Listen on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, and Amazon.
Feed Your Fire Podcast Episode Transcript:
Hello, and welcome to Feed Your Fire. I'm your host, Kim Baker. Today, we're gonna talk about being on the frontier of something, where challenge gives way to achievement, and at the same time moves the goalpost, creating an ever-replenishing space for discovery. Inherent in this concept is the idea of competition. So we're gonna partake in a little competition of our own, a cook-off, if you will, inspired by a trip to what was once part of a new frontier, as we talk about what it means to bring our A game to the table.
This past week, I took a day trip to Dallas to kick off a new client assignment for work. The client was entering a transition point in their growth, and I was there to navigate them through that experience. For them, it was a new frontier. For me, it was the start of something that I had done many times before.
And yet the path to success is a discovery in and of itself, and it requires the combination of knowledge with nuance. And this is what I believe defines an A game. It's a unique recipe that is, to some degree, un-replicable. It's born of unique perspective and a set of variables. In this case, with my client, it marks the evolution of their brand, their unique company story at a specific moment in time, and dynamic opportunities in front of them.
And we too face new frontiers in our personal and professional lives. We each have a narrative and experiences. We're at different stages of life, and we're navigating an ever complex world. And whether it's an American Airlines flight touching down in Dallas, a new career path that you step into, or the Starship Enterprise on a voyage to the final frontier, success requires figuring out how to break through. The place where knowledge intersects with application, where perspective and understanding become differentiators, and we have to boldly step into something, at least a little uncertain.
As it turns out, the day after I had gotten back from my trip, I had signed up with my friend Emilie to volunteer at a chili cook-off at the Visual Arts Center here in Richmond.
Now, chili's origins trace back to the Wild West. It was created from the ingredients that were abundant on the plains, and the first recorded chili contest was in 1952 at the State Fair of Texas. It's spread around the country with everyone having their own favorite recipe. And that personalization is part of what gives chili its magic. And it certainly was part of what made that chili cook-off so fun. And in the spirit of that competition and the inspiration from my trip to Dallas, we're hosting our own chili contest, one that fully embraces the intersection of knowledge and nuance.
Historically speaking, it seems appropriate to remember that that time of westward expansion and manifest destiny was fraught with conflict and uncertainty. But it proved to be just a chapter in history, which is important perspective as we navigate the times we're living in today.
Now, of course, for today's chili cook-off, we're preparing a Texas big red chili, which is made of chunks of meat, no beans, and no tomatoes. And its flavor comes from peppers. Texas chili is thickened by a chili paste made with masa harina. There are a lot of other kinds of chili, and in Illinois, they even spell it with two Ls.
So our challenger to the Texas chili is going to draw inspiration from all of these other recipes. We're going to use ground beef in this one, and just a little bit of black bean. We're going to flavor the broth with fire roasted tomatoes, sweeten it with a little bit of brown sugar, and balance that out with some black coffee. We'll be here all day if I walk you through each step of making these chilies. And the truth is that it was such an organic process that I didn't really measure much. So today we're going to talk in broad brush strokes.
Texas chili begins with lots of red meat. It's a cowboy chili, after all. You'll want to get some stew meat or a hunk of a chuck roast and saute cubes of meat and a little bit of oil. The meat should be generously seasoned with salt and pepper. I also added a little bit of garlic powder. Sear it in batches so the meat gets some color on it.
Remove it from the pan and add in some onions and a variety of chopped peppers. I roasted an anaheim pepper and a poblano, and I used a few fresh peppers for my garden, along with one seeded and diced jalapeno. I seasoned those veggies with some oregano, some cumin, some cinnamon.
While that's sauteing, you're going to make a chili paste. Grab some chipotle, and if you're up to it, some rehydrated chili peppers with the seeds and stems removed. Blend that up in a processor with a tablespoon or two of masa harina. Cornmeal is also a good substitute.
Combine that chili paste with the veggies, add the meat back in, a little bit of chopped garlic. I also added a dash of brown sugar and a little bit of apple cider vinegar. And then I poured in a bottle of beer and some chicken stock, and let that puppy cook for hours.
While that was cooking, I prepared a second chili. This time, I used ground beef. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and a little bit of oregano. Once the meat was seared, I took it out of the pan, and again, I sautéed some onions and peppers. This time, I only used the ones from my garden. I added in some tomato paste, brown sugar, fire-roasted tomatoes, broth, a little bit of apple cider vinegar, and a splash of coffee. I let it cook for about an hour, and then I added in a little bit of black beans, and I let it cook for just a little bit longer.
Both of these chilies, of course, were accompanied by some cornbread, where I used that masa harina again, which gives it a really unique corn tortilla taste. We had, of course, all the fixings. Sour cream, avocado, cilantro, and parsley.
Even though it was a bit more work to make two chilies, it really added to the fun. And at the end of the day, the winning chili was a combination of both chilies. It was neither one or the other, and together, they were fabulous. Our eyes were watering, our noses were running. That Texas chili has a kick. And over the course of the next couple days, we ate every last spoonful. And I think that the idea of the best outcome coming from the combination of these two recipes is relevant. What started as a competition really became a harmony.
Though this meal was inspired by the Old West—what was once the New Frontier, it's meeting us right here in this moment as we face another New Frontier, one that's transforming the limits of technology and our world order.
While these New Frontiers emerge on a macro scale, breakthroughs are occurring each and every day in our professional and personal lives. And it reminds me of the natural phenomenon that the horizon actually moves. Its placement is dependent upon our altitude—and in that sense, it's dependent upon our perspective. And it's subject to illusion. There's something called the Fata Morgana. It's a mirage that can occur at the horizon from refracted light. And as these layers of air bend the light above the horizon, distorted images can appear. It's like a siren song, and it's the source of mythical legends. And what it tells us is that not everything on the horizon is real.
One of the most powerful things about a new frontier is not just reaching it, but the new runway that forms when you reach what had been up until that point, your limit. And suddenly, there's an entirely new frontier in front of you. And if you zoom out, each breakthrough is just a small progression.
We can't separate breakthroughs in our personal life or professional life or the world. They are ever interacting, and they're dependent upon each other.
What are some experiences in your life that have made you redefine what's possible, or helped you overcome a barrier to growth?
One of the things that the Chili Cook Off, where I volunteered, reinforced wasn't just the subjectivity of preference, but the subjectivity of creation. There were 26 versions of chili present that day. Each one was someone's personal take, and there were two different winners. One from the judges table, and the other the people's choice. What we bring to the table is an un-replicable recipe, a harmony of knowledge, experience, and interpretation. A formula that is one of one.
It's impossible for me to end this episode without an homage to my brother. As a technologist, he lived his life at the front end of innovation, and his passing literally changed the way I see the world. My family and I learned to live on this new frontier, and it's provided a valuable perspective. And I think he would really love me quoting Captain Kirk right here, encouraging us to boldly go where no one's gone before.
Until our next episode, I say so long.
Feed your Fire, where food nourishes growth.