Don’t stir my chili: Michigan man bites, stabs another over stirring of chili

A pot of chili was at the center of an argument that boiled over into a biting and stabbing attack early Friday, injuring two on the city’s west side, police said.

chiliA 26-year-old man allegedly attacked his 35-year-old wife and a 30-year-old male family acquaintance around 5:10 a.m. on the 19200 block of St. Mary’s Street, Officer Jennifer Moreno said.

“There was a pot of chili on the stove, and the male victim stirred it,” Moreno said. “The suspect didn’t want (the victim) stirring his chili.”

After the attack, the male victim flagged down officers in the area conducting a traffic stop.

Wendy’s chili again used for criminal activity

On March 22, 2005, Anna Ayala claimed she found a finger in a bowl of chili at a San Jose Wendy’s restaurant. The finger became the talk of the Internet and late-night talk shows, spawned numerous bizarre tips and theories about the source of the finger, and led to dozens of copycat claims. Wendy’s lost tens of millions of dollars.

Turns out the finger belonged to a co-worker of Ayala’s husband who severed it during a construction accident and was planted in the chili in a misguided attempt to extort money from Wendy’s.

In Jan. 2006, Ayala, 40, was sentenced to nine years; the hubby got more than 12 years.

Two days ago, police in York, Pennsylvania, charged Shelby Lyn Adams, 40 (righ, exactly as shown), of York, with killing her 90-year-old grandmother, Ada Adams, by poisoning her Wendy’s chili with morphine three years ago in York Township.

The investigation lasted about three years — set back by the lengthy gathering of scientific evidence and a change in investigators because of a promotion in 2010, said Chief Thomas Gross with York Area Regional Police.

"The detectives did a thorough job at the scene, which was difficult
considering the death of a 90-year-old woman with no real evidence of a disturbance," Gross said Thursday afternoon.

Police also had to wait on autopsy and forensic results from vomit on Ada Adams’ blouse, which showed the plant substances found in Wendy’s chili, according to court documents.

Gross said that suspicious family members were "very persistent in getting justice for their mother."

Top Chef dirty hands leave a bad taste

The producers of Bravo’s Top Chef have me pegged as their target audience. Tonight’s episode featured the Sesame Street characters Telly, Cookie Monster, and Elmo (who were hilarious judges), and new ads for Target featuring former Top Chef cheftestants and Padma. It’s an entertaining episode that left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Tonight’s challenge was to cook a meal for 100 employees in a closed Target super store in the middle of the night. Because of the improvised cooking setting, the chefs were forced to set up their kitchens, find their ingredients, and prepare to serve the employees and judges within a 3 hour time limit. Some concentrated on table linens, some on flavors, but there was a frightening absence of handwashing. Granted, many of the chefs opted to make soup, which in theory should allow for thorough cooking of all ingredients. But what about any fancy garnish and fresh salad that ends up on the plate?

My favorite of the season, Richard Blais, made a pork tenderloin (pictured right exactly as shown). He then topped his finished pork with some freshly sliced apple and green chili slaw before serving. His concern? "It’s not the prettiest dish in the world. I know that. But I’m ready to defend my dish if I have to. I think it’s tasty."

Anthony Bourdain confirmed, "Frankly, I think Richard’s disk was butt ugly, but it was delicious."

One day I hope a chef will stand up and protest the cooking conditions or demand a meat thermometer. I will leave the food safety assessment to the experts, but I spotted a few potential concerns:

– using all cooking utensils and dishes straight from boxes with no chance to sanitize them

– improvised utensils, linens, garbage cans, etc.

– no handwashing stations, sanitizing solutions or rags to clean work surfaces or dishes.

I have hit pause on the DVR so many times that I’m not even done watching this episode yet, but I hope it does not end with a foodborne outbreak.

UK chef dies after eating ‘super hot’ chili

Amy and I were in Kansas City and surrounding area last weekend. We’re working with some high school kids in Olathe, Kansas, which is geographically to Kansas City what Brampton is to Toronto, except a lot nicer.

Sunday we had some time, checked out the big city baby stores for the impending birth, and I found out everything I knew 20 years ago was completely irrelevant, so we went to dinner.

The meal came with a hot pepper on the side of my fish and veggies. Having flipped through some food porn – is there a better way to watch than fast-forwarding – I thought I heard that the hot part was in the seeds and stems, and if trimmed away, the hotness would be more manageable.

I was wrong.

So was Andrew Lee, 33, who challenged his girlfriend’s brother to a contest on September 19 to see who could make and eat the hottest sauce.

He died
.

The forklift driver from Edlington, West Yorkshire in England, made a tomato sauce with red chillies grown by his father, but after eating it suffered intense discomfort and itching.

Mr Lee went to bed and asked his girlfriend, Samantha Bailey, to scratch his back until he fell asleep.

When she woke in the morning he was dead, possibly after suffering a heart attack, The Guardian said.
 

Red hot chili closes London roads, burns throats

Extra-hot bird’s eye chilies that had been left dry-frying at the Thai Cottage restaurant sparked road closures and evacuations in central London after passers-by complained that a chemical emanating from a Thai restaurant was burning their throats.

Associated Press reported that the London Fire Brigade sent a chemical response team, closed off roads, sealed buildings and donned special breathing masks to ferret out the source of the acrid smell as onlookers coughed.

A police spokesman said that no one was arrested, adding, "As far as I’m aware, it’s not a criminal offense to cook very strong chili."