It only took a couple of hungry teenagers to convince us that we had to serve chili at the home basketball games one Nashville winter. With no winter grilling option at the indoor gym, the b-ball concessions menu would not feature our reputation-gaining hamburgers and cheeseburgers that dosed the Green Hills neighborhood in a meaty charcoal mist. Plain hot dogs and cheese nachos, even with pickled jalapeno slices, well, the kids just weren’t feeling it. They wanted something hot.
We’d quickly figured out that a bare-bones crock pot, and not some goofy foodservice cheese warmer, was the way to manage hot, gooey cheese. And with a pile of NASCAR-themed crocks in cool carrying cases lined up at home, all we needed was some red New Mexico chile paste and plenty of pinto beans. Plus, we got the one dollar up-sell out of it. And Mindy is a master at the up-sell. Good moms usually are. We usually call this Concession Stand Chili.