Yummy turkey chili

I love to cook. I'm relatively new at it, having grown up on such fare as Spaghetti-os, fast food and frozen dinners. That was always fine by me - I looooved Spaghetti-os! But when I got married, I was determined to please my man in the kitchen and I put great effort into challenging myself with new recipes and pouring myself into gourmet cookbooks. I've discovered a tremendous sensual pleasure in the sights, smells, and tastes of food as well as the tactile joys of preparation. Now that I am a new mother, however, I've had to compromise and make use of two invaluable appliances: the crockpot and the breadmaker. It' s about ease, at least for awhile. My mom and I started exchanging recipes via snailmail a while ago and now that she is finally online, this is for her. Hi, Mom.

(By the way, if you are a real foodie you need to visit Kate.)

The cupboard is getting bare again and I need to use my ground turkey so that makes it chili night. The nice thing about chili is that it is so fixable if I don't get the spice balance right the first time.  My husband LOVES this recipe - could be the beer and the chocolate. I pulled this off the internet so long ago that I can't find it to give credit where it's due but I never really stuck with that recipe verbatim anyway. As I recall, it called for liquid smoke and habanero peppers and I just never got around to buying any. I've never used liquid smoke - is it good?

First, I saute' a chopped onion and a few garlic cloves in some olive oil. A bell pepper would be nice but I don't have any today. Then I brown the meat and throw it all in a crock pot together with about a tablespoon of chili powder, some red pepper flakes, 1/2 Tbsp each of paprika and cumin, a teaspoon of oregano, salt and pepper, some beer, some hot cocoa mix, a litle worcestershire, a can of tomatoes, small can of green chiles, small can tomato sauce and a can of white beans (that's all I have - kidney is preferable, I'm sure).  I threw some whole wheat bread in the breadmaker and voila! Oh - and just before serving I squeeze in some Sriracha sauce and garnish with cheese. Yum.

Comments

[kate]

That sounds really yummy, and easy too!

Thanks for the mention... I blush at your praise!

[kate]

oh...btw...don't buy liquid smoke. Instead, I would have some chipotles in abodo in the house and use the sauce for some smoky flavor. You will like it much better. You can also keep habanero pepper sauce on hand for a shake or two of heat.

[Jessie]

Your cooking beginnings sound a lot like mine. That recipe sounds esp. yummy. We love trying new recipes. I once tried a bread maker that was a hand me down and I didn't have much success. I am wondering if it is because it was old? I love using my crockpot. I also like to make chilli without any meat. We enjoy the different spices and beans. I used liquid smoke once and ended up cracking the lid. It spilled all in my spice area and I tossed it in frustration. It tasted fine though. The lid just frustrated me. Have a great weekend! ((Hugs))

[Joo]

Thank you, Kate, for the tip! I've seen you mention chipotles in adobo on your blog. I'll give them a try and the habanero sauce, too! I've had a bad experience with peppers in my eyes so cutting peppers always makes me nervous.

Jessie, I don't know what was wrong with your breadmaker but I swear by mine. I've made so many different varieties of bread. I pour my ingredients in before I go to sleep and set the timer. Waking up to the smell of freshly baked bread is a real joy!

[Jessie]

Hmm, I can imagine those scents right now! For some reason we always got a funny taste. Maybe it wasn't the bread machine, but the operator *blush*

((Hugs))

[Joo]

This is emabarassing to admit but I just made the turkey chili AGAIN because we had company. I picked up some adobo sauce and threw in a couple tablespoons and POW! It is a most delicious addition. Oh - and instead of beer, I used Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. Weird, yes. Good, also yes.