"Wu-Tang Chili Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit" AKA "36 Chambers of Delicious"

That's right folks: I'm giving away the secrets of my award-winning chili recipe! If this doesn't cause a stir, I don't know what will.

Last week, SmallBox held their 2nd annual chili cook-off, and my mostly improvised recipe "brought the ruckus" if you will. It tied in votes with Jeb's awesome smoked pork chili, but he conceded, so I won first place!

I kept fluctuating between admitting that I made up the recipe the night before and claiming that it was deeply based on the mythology of the Wu-Tang Clan (9 ingredients to represent the 9 original Wu-Tang members, 4 elements each of texture, flavor, spice, and personality = 36 chambers of flavor, etc.), but ultimately I created this recipe to be an ideal, classic, undeniably tasty chili.

The chili cook-off trophy at my desk

I attribute my chili's success to these three things:

1) Quality Ingredients - I was almost obsessive when I picked out the right onion, the right package of ground beef, healthy-looking peppers, etc. This is mostly an acquired skill, but I find it helps if you pretend you are a 90-year-old sushi chef, hunting down the perfect items at a Japanese market (not sure why this is my chosen fantasy, but hey, whatever works).

2) Attention to Detail - This is a big deal. I'm sure this recipe will seem ridiculously long and overstuffed with details to some, but I want to try to re-create it with precision. The order in which each ingredient was added, the time-consuming preparation of the ingredients, and avoiding a few shortcuts were all important factors. That said, be willing to experiment until it's exactly how you like it.

3) The Brand - Yeah, it was a goofy move to name my chili after the Wu-Tang Clan. I love their music, and I don't know if they would love my chili or its concept. But it helped make the chili more fun, special, and memorable to everyone who tried it. In any case, Wu-Tang was the inspiration, and I think inspiration helps.

So without further ado, here's the recipe. Hope it works out well for anyone else who attempts to make it. My apologies if you hate it!

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 large white onion, diced by hand (the smaller the better, but don't use a machine)
1 shallot, minced by hand
6-8 cloves garlic, minced (yes, by hand. Just assume it's by hand unless I say otherwise)
1.1 lbs ground beef (80/20)
2 serrano peppers, seeds removed, diced
1 large red chili pepper, diced
1 can mexican-style pickled jalapeño slices, drained and cut into fourths
1 can "hot chili beans with sauce" (do not rinse!)
1 can organic red kidney beans (drained and rinsed!)
1 can tomatoes, diced
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 cup chicken stock ("Better Than Bullion")
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp cumin
salt & pepper to taste
2 dashes cinnamon (to taste, don't overdo it)
1 Tbsp brown sugar (again, start with half and taste it, don't want to add too much)
1 tsp Sambal Oelek chili paste
1 Tbsp Louisiana brand hot sauce (to taste)
1 pinch fresh ground nutmeg

Directions:

**Note: Many spice measurements were estimated, so you should be cautious with them and ready to taste the chili throughout the process. Step 9 will let you add more spices if they are needed.

1. In a skillet, brown ground beef on medium-high, breaking into very small pieces as it cooks. Drain and set aside.

2. In a separate large pot, heat olive oil on medium-high. One at a time, and in order, add onion, shallot, garlic, serrano peppers, red chili peppers.

3. Add 1/2 chili powder, 1/2 cayenne, 1/2 onion salt, all cumin. Sautee ingredients on medium. Cook until it smells awesome.

4. Add hot chili beans, rinsed kidney beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce. Cook and stir until heated through. Reduce heat to medium-low.

5. Add cooked/drained ground beef and the rest of the chili powder, cayenne, and onion salt. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until heated through.

6. Add chicken stock, Louisiana hot sauce, cinnamon, brown sugar, and increase heat to medium. Cook until chili reaches a low boil.

7. Add Sambal Oelek (chili paste), jalapenos (drained and cut small), and fresh nutmeg. Stir.

8. Cook on low to medium-low for 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently.

9. Taste it and see if there's anything else that needs to be added.

10. Go ahead and have yourself a bowl; you deserve it.

11. Refrigerate overnight, then reheat on medium, adding 1/4 cup of water to bottom of pot when you start reheating.

12. Enjoy! Hopefully yours tastes exactly like mine did (I thought it was great on it's own and didn't need cheese or sour cream or anything else).

Is Aristotle still hiring?

Contrary to popular belief, this is not how I spend most of my time

"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (famously quoted on the internet)

In late 2011, I was finishing up a teaching licensure program by student teaching at an Indianapolis public high school. A few years earlier, I had grown hungry to find a "meaningful" career, so I'd been working as a substitute and special education assistant until I decided to pursue a full-time position as an English teacher.

Why did I decide not to teach?

Anyone who thinks teaching isn't difficult has probably never really tried teaching. I expected a serious challenge. What I didn't expect was that I would start feeling deeply unhappy and unfulfilled as quickly as I did. Besides the salary (which I know is considered small, but would have been a lot for me), the rewards of teaching can be small and rare: a smile from a young person, a friendly word from a co-worker, a pat on the back from a superior. I quickly realized that in order to be a truly great teacher, at least in a public school, you have to have a passion for working with young people. The kids themselves are the reward for many teachers, because teachers are supposed to love being around kids.

Eventually, I realized I wanted to teach English because I love literature, film, music, and the study of human culture - and that is definitely not the same as loving to work with kids. Frequently, I felt like my hard-earned knowledge about the subject I taught mattered a lot less than my ability to control a room full of rowdy teenagers every day. I also felt like I was constantly "pretending" to be an adult or an authority figure. Not that I lack maturity or professionalism, but I often felt like I was fighting against my own personality and attitudes in order to come across as more "teacherly," whatever that actually means. Which is fine, that's the job. I probably would have powered through and gotten used to it - if I hadn't run headfirst into a golden opportunity, a job that fit my personality and passions like a glove...

Musical Family Tree

I've always been passionate about music, especially the DIY, local-centric, underground variety. I've been playing in Everything, Now! since before I enrolled in college, and I've gotten to know hundreds of great musicians and music fans as a result. 

Last fall, while I was student teaching, Jeb Banner invited me to a small gathering for vinyl record enthusiasts, where he mentioned wanting someone to create new blog content for his Musical Family Tree website. Taking this as an offer to get paid for writing about something I loved anyway (past and present local music), I gladly accepted the challenge to write a couple blog posts a week for MFT. As the semester progressed, I felt my personal passions returning, blazing stronger than ever, mostly due to this opportunity to explore something I truly loved.

I quickly decided this could be my dream job, and I proposed to Jeb that he let me run the site for a year, after which we could discuss future steps. So throughout 2012, I became the official director for the site, a full-time blogger, occasional event-planner, administrator, overseer for a website rebuild, etc., etc. MFT solidified its mission as a non-profit organization whose purpose is spreading Indiana music, and I am now devoted to doing whatever I can to create a sustainable, world-renowned music scene in Indiana.

SmallBox

SmallBox is Jeb Banner's web/design/marketing company, which he started with developer Joe Downey in 2006. I've had a lot of friends work for this company, and it's known for being the proverbial "cool kid" in the local tech/business scene. MFT began as a pet project for Jeb and Joe, before SmallBox was even a business, so it made sense that they were willing to preserve MFT by having me come on as director. Jeb has also told me that he hires people more for who they are than for which position he needs filled. Each employee at SmallBox possesses the ability to craft their ideal role at the company.

Throughout this year, I've learned how the skills I've acquired running MFT can also be useful to SmallBox. I also love the fact that I feel like I can be 100% myself at work. I've realized I am passionate about culture, community-building, event planning, and improving Indianapolis as a whole (also helping Indiana as a whole achieve a better reputation - there's good stuff here!). So right now, I'm transitioning into a new role at SmallBox where I will use those skills in a productive and hopefully profitable way. Running/growing MFT is still my main job, and I'm dedicated to helping that organization realize its full potential, but I'm also excited to get more involved with SmallBox in coming months.

"A screaming comes across the... Springsteen album cover?"

I finally decided to start a personal blog. Let's see how quickly it dissolves into utter nonsense.

We'll start with the title. "Born in the Rocket State" refers to Thomas Pynchon's vision of a "rocket state," formed in the wake of World War 2 in the novel Gravity's Rainbow - a global network of power, weapons, plastic, technology, and capitalism, all secretly organized by "the man" or "Them" to perfect death's eternal reign. Bleak stuff, right? I know. So I figure, "Why not combine this overwhelming idea with an iconic American song that's been misunderstood by nearly every politician, conservative, or general bad listener who has attempted to adopt it for their own purposes?"

The world isn't really divided into states or nations the same way it used to be (notice all the recent talk about "two Americas," "red states v. blue states," or even "the 99%"). Human culture is fragmented, specialized, and enormously complicated. Wherever you go, whatever you talk about, the "us vs. them" mindset prevails. I'm not for or against this mindset per se, but it begs to be examined in order to make any claim about who "we" actually are or who "we" want to be. In my mind, "we" are the people, and "they" are the faceless, heartless, monolithic organizations devised to oppress the rest of us - the little guys, the "hardworking men and women" who have been constantly co-opted and manipulated by jerks who couldn't give a damn about our best interests. In some sense, "Born in the USA" and Gravity's Rainbow are both about this idea. And whoever you are, you possess the ability to fight back,  create a revolution, subvert the system, and attempt to build something better in its place. That cycle is often referred to as "history," and it hasn't stopped yet. But who knows? Someday it might...

Ok, so those are the references in the title. But this isn't intended as a political blog at all. I guess it's about misunderstanding, miscommunication, mistakes - and how those situations create real learning. It's about the slow process of learning to do the right thing, and how to trust oneself. It's about my life and my thoughts. About the things I like and the things I don't like. About free speech. Self-reflection. Music, film, books, work, relationships, culture, and yes, maybe some politics - nothing will be off limits because I'm not really concerned with getting tons of readers. I may discuss anything at any given time, but mainly this is just to have a "place" to express myself, for better or worse.