Victory Chili

Today was a frigid, blustery one in the horrific climate that is winter in New England. I needed a hot, hearty meal, and decided that chili would be the perfect compliment to the Patriots-Chargers game at 3:00. I was inspired by Ernie's post last week (and it looks like he brought out the "Victory chili" again for today as well). Since Ernie hasn't posted his recipe yet I made my way over to SimplyRecipes to see what Elise had on file. (A fantastic recipe blog, by the way. Great pics and instruction.) She actually had recently posted a list of several chili variations a few days back. I was planning on making a simple beef chili, but her turkey chili looked good. I followed her recipe with a few minor changes:

• I used a pound of ground turkey
• Upped the garlic to 6 cloves because that's how I roll
• I used 1 can of crushed and 1 can of diced tomatoes (28 oz. ea.) because I like the tomato chunks
• I used a can of red kidney beans and a can of white kidney (or cannellini) beans (19 oz. ea.) mainly for color and taste variation
• I added an entire diced jalapeno pepper
• I used about half the required cumin, accidentally (thought I had more left). I would definitely add the full tbsp next time to enhance the flavor profile.
  
• I used 1 Tbsp of oregano instead of a tsp, because I was concentrating on the Pats (didn't hurt)
• Probably used about 2 Tbsp salt and 1 Tbsp sugar
• I used about 1 1/4 cups of turkey stock, and I used my own! This was an incredible culinary experience, let me tell you. This is the first time I've used the excess stock I made for use in my turkey soup. It's been sitting in my freezer since right after Thanksgiving. It felt so rewarding. You probably wouldn't understand unless the prospect of simmering poultry bones and vegetables for several hours appeals to you.

Followed Elise's instructions from here, although I tossed the jalapeno in to sauté along with the rest of the veggies first, and then after they were all soft and translucent I put in the ground turkey to brown up before adding the rest of the ingredients. I also let it simmer for about 3 1/2 hours (I had added more liquid so I wanted to achieve a thicker consistency).

I served it topped with a mixture of mild and sharp cheddar, a healthy dollop of sour cream, and minced red onion and scallions. A chunk of Jiffy cornbread (delicious and basically free at $0.79!) adorned the dish, as you can see here.

I ate the first bowl before I realized I was nearly full, and finished the second just as this realization hit me. As I write this now I am overstuffed, but also over-delighted with how this turkey chili came out. Very flavorful. The heat level was near perfect - not too hot off the bat, but after several spoonfuls a sort of residual heat builds up, and the different heat sources add different flavors as well. An awesome cold-weather dish, and I made enough to last me all week.