Soup to ... oh, nuts

As I walked into Aldi over the weekend, I was optimistic at best and delusional at worst.

I had won a $10 gift card on Twitter for answering a question about chili, and I thought what better way to use it than to make a chili of my own. Specifically, a barbecue white chicken chili that had been occupying far too much brain space after a friend got some at my favorite downtown deli.

Optimistic: I was going to make a great soup based off my favorite white chicken chili recipe that I would want to eat and eat and eat and share and share and share.

Delusional: Aldi would fall in love with the recipe and would see such genius that the company would want to build a relationship ala the big bloggers.

Note: The delusion reminds of the fantasies that I had in high school that I would meet Johnny Rzeznik at a Goo Goo Dolls concert and he would fall madly in love with me and we would get married. While I did go to two Goo Goo Dolls concerts that summer, there was no backstage meeting.

I grabbed the ingredients for the chili - white beans, corn, fire-roasted tomatoes and chicken. I also purchased some tomato paste to make my own barbecue sauce, which would be the key to the dish. I had considered using Aldi-bought but, unfortunately, all of the ones I looked at had high fructose corn syrup. Plus, making my own sauce would elevate the dish from home cook to blog worthy.

I made the sauce as I cooked dinner that night and then threw everything in the slow cooker to do its thing overnight and be ready for my week of lunches.

Optimistic: It would taste OK.

Delusional: The less than stellar sauce would come through the way I wanted it in the soup.

The verdict? Realistic. Where did that factor in?

The soup was good - well, good enough. I was disappointed that the barbecue sauce didn't come through. Rather, it disappeared into the background and added a little something but not much. It tasted like chili with chicken.

So it seems that my future as an Aldi-sponsored blogger is grim but I did have enough soup to share with my mother-in-law. Brownie points with her might be just as good.

Share: What are your kitchen fails?