Turkey Chili

This post comes a little bit out of left field since I do not consider myself a "cook" in any sense of the word other than to mean that food makes it from the kitchen to our table in some kind of edible form. Usually. This also isn't a food blog by any stretch of the imagination, but I have to share this turkey chili recipe with you. It's pretty much the only thing I can think of that I've made more than twice, and that has received unsolicited good reviews from people who've tried it. Every time I make it, I tell myself later that I need to photograph it so I can share it with all of you lovely people...and then I forget. This time, though, I remembered! So now you can come along with me on my adventures chili-making.

This recipe is adapted from Rachel Ray's Indian Summer Turkey Chili.

• Ingredients: 

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
2 1/2 pounds ground turkey (85 percent lean) or ground turkey breast (99 percent lean), 2 packages
4 tablespoons dark chili powder, 2 palm fulls
1 tablespoon cumin, 1/2 palm full
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 to 3 tablespoons hot sauce, medium to extra-spicy
1 large onion, quartered
2 large peppers, any color combination, red, green, purple, yellow or orange, chopped
1/2 bottle beer (the alcohol cooks out), about 1 cup
1/2 cup smoky barbecue sauce

1 can tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes
1 can cups corn kernels

2 cans beans, any variety, but I like dark and light kidney beans

And in case you were wondering, no, the recipe does not include that caramel and dark chocolate popcorn in the back left. That's just where that little snack lives :).

Ok, let's start cookin'! 

Chop up your onions and peppers. I love my mandoline tool for this. I bought it on a whim one day and I use it all. the. time. It's a lifesaver when it comes to large scale chopping/slicing.

Heat a large skillet on medium/high heat for a couple of minutes, then add the olive oil.

Summon you husband and get him to help while you take pictures. Just kidding. Sorta.

Start browning the ground turkey in your skillet.

Season the meat with chili pepper, cumin and Worcestershire (say that one five times fast) sauce while browning.

Since I make this chili in giant batches (when we have 8-12 people over), once I brown my meat with the spices, I transfer it to a large pot, then add my peppers and onions. If you aren't making a giant batch, you keep the meat in the skillet, and add the peppers and onions to it to cook...then transfer it to a pot. Either way, cook the meat + onions + peppers until the veggies are tender.

Add beer and let the alcohol cook off for a couple of minutes (no photo of that part, oops!)

Add tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, hot sauce, tomatoes and beans and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. I like to stir it every now and again to make sure the flavors are mixing together.

Add corn and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Taste it to make sure the spices are to your liking. I generally end up adding more chili power, cumin and hot sauce than the recipe says. Once it tastes right to you, serve it up!

My favorite parts about this recipe are that it doesn't involve any "special ingredients," is straightforward (dumping cans into a pot is about as straightforward as it gets), feeds a ton of people, and you really can't mess it up. It's become my go-to dinner when we have lots of people over. Another bonus? It's cheap considering how many servings it makes! One tip: try to buy ground turkey when it's on sale at the grocery store and freeze it until you're ready to make the chili. Our store frequently has it on sale for around 50% off. Every little bit of savings helps!

Let me know if you try this recipe - I'd love to know what you think!