Spicy Chipotle Chili

After my chipotle mayo experiment, I was left with a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and nothing to do with them. Not one to waste food, I hit the internet and found a recipe for chili at foodnetwork.com.

ingredients.

• 2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 lb. ground turkey breast
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 rounded T. chili powder, a palm full
• 2 chipotles in adobo, chopped
• Salt
• 1 c. Mexican beer
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 1 28-oz can chopped or sliced stewed tomatoes
• 1 can black beans, drained
• ¼ c. cornstarch or 1 6-oz can tomato paste (optional)

directions.

1. Heat wide soup pot over medium high heat. Add oil and turkey. Crumble meat, cook 3 minutes. Add the onions, garlic, chili powder, and chipotle. Cook another 5 minutes. Season with salt. Add beer and cook another minute. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, and beans and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
2. While simmering, chop tomatoes into small pieces if using sliced stewed tomatoes. Chili will be runny. If a thicker chili is desired, scoop some of the broth from the pot and mix with 1/4 c. cornstarch. Make sure corn starch is completely dissolved in broth. Return to pot and simmer for another 30 minutes.

We decided to add the cornstarch because we felt like the chili was too runny for our taste. I wouldn’t have minded letting it sit and get thick over the next day, but BF wanted it thick immediately. We consulted both of our moms, each of whom said to add cornstarch.  It didn’t take very long for the chili to thicken up once we added the cornstarch mixture.

After eating this dish, I decided I am in love with chipotle pepper. Chipotle seems to have a little bit of a slow burn. I didn’t notice the dish was spicy, per say, until the end of the bowl. That’s when I noticed my nose was running. So was BF’s. This chili has excellent flavoring. Definitely different (and better!) than your average bowl of chili.

We ate our steaming bowl of chili with a slice of medium cheddar cheese melted on top. So good!

We would definitely try this recipe again — perhaps with pinto beans (BF’s favorite bean) instead of black beans (my favorite bean).

Recipe rating: 