The annual chili competition is tomorrow (~12 entries). I've entered three times. I took home first once and didn't even place twice. There is no time limit, I just need to have 2qts ready to go tomorrow at noon.

In year's past I've gone with my standard recipe which is a beef/pork/lamb mix, AB's chili powder, roasted red pepper, coffee, chocolate (more or less). The key was always to heat it up and allow it to cool three times (lid sealed whenever in danger zone, refrigerated as soon as low enough temp, and reheated for a substantial time before the final serving).

This year I want to try something different. I'm looking for some advice on plan of attack, and have a few solid questions. Let me start with the questions, my hypothesis, and then get to the recipe which will reflect how I plan on trying to address these questions.

I like making the powder, and I will toast up a batch in case it is needed for late-stage seasoning, but I'm going with Kenji's method here: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/01/the-best-chili-recipe.html

Do the fruitier chiles lose there bouquet over prolonged heating? In beer brewing, you have an early addition hops and a late addition hops, this is because during the course of your boil the aromatics of the hops are destroyed leaving only the bitterness, and late additions, or even dry hopping allow for the citrusy and floral aspects to come through. I'm going to go with a late addition of roasted red pepper, and fresh poblano to hopefully carry more of the fresh, fruity pepper through to the final product.

Do all the meats flavor carry through? In the past I've used ground meats of lamb/pork/beef. I think this year I want to use cubed tri-tip and ground pork, and leave it at that. I can't say I've ever really tasted the lamb in it, but I always did get a hearty meat flavor. How much of that do you think was attributable to the lamb?

Is masa worth it? I've always thickened with masa, and like the body it gives chili, but it's not really a great thickener. It sort of just rehydrates to thicken, there is no starchy-action going on there. I think I'm just going to reduce this batch to desired consistency and then a masa to taste.

How important is umami with the flavor of the meat? I'm thinking of going with some pureed anchovies with this. However, I've never quite isolated in my palate what umami is. That said, I love chili with mushrooms, and I think that may have been why. Advice here is much needed.

Ok - the plan:

Prepare the chile pastes - Seed and toast the flesh of 1/3 ancho, 1/3 gaujillo, 1/3 arbol chiles (ratio by weight, I think this will be about 3/4oz each, but will update when I see it on the scale) in a dry cast iron skillet. Transfer to pot, cover with chicken stock and a shot of vodka, simmer until rehydrated. Transfer all liquid and chiles to blender or food processor and puree with 3-4 anchovies, 4oz chopped carrot, 4 oz chopped celery, 4 oz chopped onion (mire poix).

Prepare the powder - Same combination, toasted, and ground in a coffee grinder. No cumin, garlic, oregano, or salt here, those can all be added independently, this is just chile powder.

Cube the tri-tip in 1/2-3/4" chunks and brown in pork or beef fat on very high heat. Each side needs to get a really good sear, without drying out the meat. Salt as desired. Set aside.

Brown the pork in small batches reserving fat. I'm using ground pork here to vary the texture of the end product. I'm contemplating just getting pork shoulder and cubing it in 1/4 chunks? Thoughts?

1 c. finely diced onion gets carmelized in the same pan and transferred to the stock pot.

4 cloves finely crushed garlic added to the stock pot with some fat and sweat. Shortly after garlic becomes aromatic, add 6oz tomato paste, 1 beer (stout - non guiness), the meat, 1 cup strongly brewed coffee, 3-4 TB better than bullion beef, 2-3 oz dark chocolate bar, and your chile puree. Simmer for 3-4 hours with lid cracked open, stirring regularly. edit: I usually add 3oz cider vinegar here too

Cool, refrigerate overnight. The next morning:

Roast one red pepper and one poblano and peel, finely chop or puree it. While bringing chili up to temperature. Add this 10 minutes before removing from heat and packaging to go to contest. Add chili powder and ground black pepper to taste, salt if necessary (I salt at every stage so rarely need it at the end).

That's it. Thoughts or advice? Also, before we get into a link fest, I've already read:

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/155u8z/i_need_chili_tips/

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/01/the-best-chili-recipe.html

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/152ik5/i_have_a_great_chili_recipe_but_i_want_to_take_it/

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/12mwaa/what_chili_peppers_do_you_like_to_use_in_your/

http://www.chilicookoff.com/Recipe/Recipe_WCCC_Recipes.asp?Cat=1

tl;dr Honestly, I'd rather you read it before chiming in as there are a lot of specific questions, and steps. No worries if you don't have time, and thanks for trying!

edit: Also, should I consider a shallot addition with the Red & poblano peppers

update #1: Chile's toasting. Ended up being 1oz / 1oz/ .25oz (arbol). The arbols are just too thin walled to get a full 1oz out of without having so much to burn your face off.

update #2: It's all in the pot. I used red wine instead of vodka, and am brewing the coffee addition currently. I also added 1/2 can of chipotle in adobo to the pepper paste. I love that stuff. Initial reaction is that the color is much darker brown than I'm used too, however, I also all but eliminated tomatoes from this recipe, so that accounts for that. And the beer I used is an irish stout I brewed last year, which is near-black, so that attributes to that.

update #3: Just dropped it off, am now camping out at the bar until judging commences and then some. Hopefully, I'm not too schnockered before they announce the winner. In the meantime, an album!

update #4: There were 9 contestants total, I ended up winning 1st. Part of winning is the bar sponsors you to make a large batch for the superbowl, so that will be my next challenge. I took pretty good notes on this process so recreating it should be pretty easy. Let me know if there are any further questions. I have a few, but I think I'll start a new thread for them.