Last weekend my best friend from college came up with her friend Nick, and the three of us ran the Smuttynose Half Marathon. It was a packed fun weekend filled with sunshine and microbrews. We lit a bonfire, let the kids watch lots of movies, and ate delicious bowls of this chili with our beer. And we tasted lots of the Smuttynose beers when we went to go pick up our race numbers at the brewery:
Megan is finishing up her fellowship in the NICU in NYC, but when she is not helping tiny babies, she is rooting for the Buffalo Bills, since she is from Buffalo (and probably eating Buffalo wings too, Indiana she could totally be your BFF.) It was tailgating at one of the recent Bills games (apparently it is really easy to get Bills tickets, and really cheap too, something Patriots fans will never ever know) where Megan tried this chili recipe. Good thing she got the guys to email it to her, because she emailed it to me and I made it before she drove up. Now you all get it too, yay for the food blog.
When I make chili I usually just wing it – a little cumin, a lotta garlic, add in some heat. But I love this recipe because it starts with the carrot/celery/onion flavor base and builds from there. It is so chunky with delicious veggies I normally don’t put in chili. And the chipotle chili powder adds in A LOT of heat. I didn’t have the canned chilies in adobo sauce (but I hope to next time!) so I just used chipotle chili powder. If you don’t like your chili spicy hot I would put in half or put in a little at a time to taste. I also added red peppers and chunky canned tomatoes to the recipe she gave me because I just need them in my chili for some reason.
And I am a BIG toppings girl, so break out your chips, avocado, cilantro, scallions, cheese, sour cream and lime juice (amazing in chili). Best served with beer and good friends.
I felt great during the race thanks to the yummy food we had. And I have to give a big shout out to my husband who brought all the kids down to the race to cheer me on. Seeing these faces at the end…just the best.
Hope you are having a great fall! And I hope you try this chili out, it is the bomb. Happy trails, xoxo Katie
TAILGATE TURKEY CHILI (printer version here):
1 cup Carrots diced
1 cup Celery diced
1 cup Onions Diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 red pepper, chopped
1 lb Ground turkey
1 can Black beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
2 chipotle chilies (buy a can of the goya chipotle chilies in adobo) OR 1 TBSP chipotle chili powder
2 tsp adobo sauce from the can
1 TBSP ground Cumin
1 can crushed tomatoes (I use the tuttorosso in the blue can, its chunkier then the rest)
1 can peeled whole tomatoes, using your hands to squeeze them into chunks
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Brown and drain turkey.
In a stock pot, sauté the carrots, celery and onions, and add garlic after a few minutes. Add red peppers and cook for a few more minutes. Seed and mince the chilies and add to the pot along with the sauce (or add chipotle chili powder instead) and the cumin. Stir in the turkey and the tomatoes, breaking up the plum tomatoes with your hands. Bring it to a quick boil then let simmer for at least 2 hours, semi covered (or transfer to a crock pot and cook on low for 4 hrs, high for 2).
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