Halftime Chili

I was looking through some old draft posts from February, and randomly decided to open this post about chili. I figured it might be some old recipe post that I would end up deleting because I couldn't remember what I did (this happens a fair amount), but surprise! It was a post that was pretty much fully written other than ingredient prices. So I'm ditching the prices and just putting this up, almost exactly as it was written (so many) months ago. Enjoy!

We often watch the Super Bowl at home, but even though there's just 2 of us, we still like to indulge in a special Super Bowl meal. Last year, we made queso fundido and the year before, it was a mercimek kofte experiment. This year we decided on chili, a very classic Super Bowl food. I call this recipe halftime chili, because if you start it an hour or so before the game or during the pre-game show, it's perfect to start eating during halftime. Of course, you could start it earlier or throw it in the slow cooker in the morning (probably what we would do next time), and have it ready for the start of the game, but we didn't, so this was our halftime chili.

I looked over some basic turkey chili recipes and from there, put together one of our own that we tweaked as we went along and tasted the chili. The ingredients we used were:

- 1 lb ground turkey

- olive oil for sauteing

- 1 yellow onion, chopped

- 1 green bell pepper, chopped

- 1/2 head of garlic, minced

- 1 16-oz can of kidney beans

- 1 16-oz can of pinto beans

- 1 14.5-oz can of diced tomatoes

- 1 14.5-oz can of diced tomatoes with green chilies

- 1 cup of chicken broth

- chili powder

- chipotle chili powder

- ground cumin

- garlic powder

- ground cinnamon

- paprika

- oregano

- salt and pepper

- ground cayenne pepper

- ground nutmeg

- brown sugar

For garnishes once the chili was done, we used:

- light sour cream

- shredded Mexican cheese blend

- 6 scallions, chopped

- corn chip dippers

The steps for making the chili were:

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy pot or a Dutch oven (which is what we used).

2. Add onion and green pepper and saute until tender.

3. Add minced garlic and heat for about 30 seconds.

4. Add ground turkey and cook until browned, breaking it up as it cooks.

5. As turkey is cooking, add the seasonings. We didn't measure anything but just estimated based on what we thought would be good. The one we used the most of was the chili powder, and that was probably about 2 tbsp or so. The next "tier" of spices by quantity used were cumin, garlic powder, chipotle chili powder, and cinnamon, followed by the last "tier" of paprika, oregano, salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg, and brown sugar. I really think spices depend on individual tastes but that's about how ours broke down in the end.

6. Once turkey is cooked, add the beans (rinsed and drained), diced tomatoes (both kinds, with juices), and the cup of chicken broth.

7. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to medium low or low to keep it at a simmer. Cook for a few hours. We probably simmered it for close to 3 hours before eating it and it really gave the flavors time to meld. About halfway through, we tried it and adjusted the seasoning to taste.

8. Spoon out chili and garnish with sour cream, cheese, scallions, and chips.

We really liked this chili, even if we didn't get to try it until halfway through the game. It was warm and comforting, and the flavors were really good after simmering for so long. We would definitely make this again sometime.