Emergency, please help asap!

[lauracohenromano]

Hi Everyone,

Hopefully my title doesn't come out in the huge font it appears to have defaulted to.

Anyway... dh made this wonderful, tasty vegetarian chili to bring to a pot-luck tonight, that has one significant problem...you probably guessed by now....it is WAY too spicy to bring for a group of nine whose tastes we don't yet know (I eat things medium-spicy, and I'd probably only be willing to have a couple spoonfuls, myself). He made it in a crockpot so wasn't tasting and didn't realize...

Anyway, we're due to bring this in two hours. He is at the store right now picking up some bread to bring with it, and if there is any magic ingredient we could add to de-spice it, I can call him and have him get it! He is very opposed to adding water since the current consistency is one he very much likes. Any an all ideas gratefully considered!

[lauracohenromano]

Thank you again for the replies. We went with all three...lemon, cocoa powder, and brown sugar and it helped!!! Actually added to the already wonderful flavor...it's still very spicy but I wouldn't call it killer, and we are bringing both sour cream and shredded cheddar; there will be one lactose intolerant person there but we will recommend the dairy for the others. You're all the best!

[gordeaux]

Pick up some plain white rice from your local Chinese joint on your way there. Place some little cute note somewhere like "5 Alarm Chili! Rice and Sour Cream can put out the flame!"

[chileheadmike]

Carrots are a heat killer. That's why I never use them. They will add some sweetness as well. Might be good in a veggie chili.

[dutchdot]

The sour cream --- any dairy really helps (thanks TDQ). You must report how it turned out.

I would think the chocolate would also help and it's a big ingredient in spicy dishes

[cyberroo]

Personally, I'd just add canned beans, and maybe a bit more tomato sauce or other liquid to dilute it.

[lauracohenromano]

Thank you all for your speed, I clicked on the other thread and you're right, there are a ton of suggestions there!!

Since dh is the one who did all the work of making it I'll have to see which he feels most comfortable with....I have a feeling he'll go for either chocolate or peanut butter :-) But since this will be a supermarket cell phone conversation, if one or two of the ideas worked particularly well, TDQ, I would love to know which, to narrow down our choices!
TD

[The Dairy Queen]

We added more of everything, except the spice, added honey, and some beer. The dollop of sour cream works well, too, but that only helps if you have influence over how its served. If people are serving themselves in a potluck situation, they may skip it.

~TDQ

[lauracohenromano]

DH came home before I could reach him. Of all the ingredients suggested in that other thread, the only two we have on hand are lemon and cocoa powder. Do you think we could use both, or is that not a combination that would work well together? (we do have some granulated brown sugar too, but concerned it wouldn't dissolve quickly, or that it would turn the cocoa powder into tasting too much like cocoa!)

[The Dairy Queen]

I'm afraid I don't know as you have the two ingredients we didn't try. But, why not try to scoop out some into two different bowls, add a smidge of lemon to one, cocoa to the other and see what happens? Then, you can add them together and see what happens?

~TDQ

[GretchenS]

Here is a thread on the same topic that may help: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/454054

[The Dairy Queen]

Gretchen beat me to it. I had the same problem about a week ago and got tons of great ideas from that thread Gretchen just linked. I used a combination of a couple of them... http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/454054

~TDQ

[ipsedixit]

Add sugar and salt to taste until you get the right balance of flavors you want.

[jeanmarieok]

If you don't want to dilute it with broth, tomato sauce or water, how about serving it with a lot of sour cream?