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Thursday, May 5, 2011
Almost Dad’s Chili
My dad used to make chili about once a year. Maybe twice if we were having a big gathering. Big is the key here. My dad can’t make chili for less than an army. He blames it on being in the army. I’m not sure this is a totally unreasonable claim. However, as a singleton and later as a couple, consuming that much chili was unrealistic. The next logical step was to recreate what I remember of my dad’s chili and pare it down to a more reasonable portion. My version still makes a good amount (we’re fans of leftovers) and it’s considerably more spicy than my dad’s version (he doesn’t so much like spicy), but it captures the same essence of what I remember my dad’s chili being.
Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey (alternatively: ground beef or stewing beef cut into bite-size pieces)
2 cans kidney beans (light and dark together give it a nice color texture)
2 bell peppers, large dice
1 large onion, large dice
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn
3 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 tsp ground cuminDirections
- Cook ground turkey. Set aside.
- Sautee chopped onion and pepper in the pan with the beef drippings. Drain pan.
- Combine kidney beans, diced tomatoes, corn, cooked veggies, meat and spices in a large pot. Bring mixture to a gentle boil, then turn the temperature down to low/medium-low to simmer. The longer it simmers, the more flavor the chili will have.
Note: If the chili looks too thick after it is initially combined, water or stock can be added to thin it. It will continue to thicken as it simmers.
Serves 8.
My dad always serves cornbread with his. I’ve made mine and served pieces of french bread with it, that’s good as well. Most of the time I eat it with a bit of cheese mixed in and a dollop of sour cream, no bread necessary. A serving of the chili is about 250 calories, which is not so unreasonable, considering the serving size is approximately 1.5 cups. It’s a very decent amount of food for a meal!
In reality, this is probably nothing like my dad’s chili. It certainly didn’t taste the same as the chili I had last time I visited my dad. The thing with this chili is that it changes. I’ve yet to make the exact same chili twice, and I’m sure he hasn’t either. Any modifications that you fancy making to the recipe would be perfectly fitting with the spirit and history of this chili. Go to town, and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I have.
1 lb ground turkey
2 cans kidney beans (Kuner’s no salt added)
2 bell peppers, large dice
1 large onion, large dice
2 cans diced tomatoes (Hunt’s no salt added)
1 cup frozen corn
3 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 tsp ground cumin
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