Specifically this pot. 

And what makes this pot so fantastic? Well currently the fact that it’s filled with chili. 

Whew!  Something so tasty in such a pretty pot – what a great idea :)

So why wait – less jabber and more chili!

Chili

2 lbs ground turkey (I would steer away from 99% lean – it will result in dry chili)
1 onion chopped
6 cloves of garlic minced
1/3 c chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp basil
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilis
2 (12 oz) bottles of beer
1 tsp white vinegar
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp hot sauce
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 (15.5 oz)can red kidney beans

Yes, that’s a lot of ingredients, but it’s really simple to put together.  Cook the ground turkey, onion, and garlic over medium heat. While you’re waiting for the turkey to cook stir together the chili powder, cumin, and garlic  The nice thing about using turkey is you probably won’t need to drain the the meat once it’s no longer pink. If you notice a lot of extra liquid pour it off before you stir in the chili powder mixture.  Let the turkey cook in the seasonings for about five minutes.

Add in the tomatoes, green chills, beer, and vinegar and let the whole pot come back to a boil. You can really use just about any time of beer you like, but I find the better the beer the better the chili.  I used to buy the cheapest beer because well, it was cheap (2 20 oz cans for $4 – who could pass that up?).  We don’t really drink in our house so I never thought about what good beer would do for my chili.  Luckily a few years ago I made this chili for some friends of mine and one of them has celiac disease – no gluten allowed! So I went out and found a gluten free beer (redbridge), and turns out our first experience with good beer made even better chili! So learn from me and use good beer.

Once your pot has come back to a boil add in the brown sugar, hot sauce, salt, and pepper.  Stir everything up and slap a lid on that pot.  Turn the heat down to low and let the chili simmer away for 3 hours.  Yep, it’s worth it.   Now you can take the lid off, put in the kidney beans, and let it simmer again for 30 more minutes. 

We like to enjoy ours with cornbread – either in muffin or waffle form.  Yes, I said cornbread waffles!!!  You can make your own cornbread, and I do have a fantastic gluten free recipe, but a box is just as good.  I like the small Jiffy boxes, and with this much chili I usually make two batches.  Jiffy batter can be done easily as muffins, a pan of cornbread, or there’s a simple recipe on the box to adapt the batter for waffles or pancakes.  Go to town!  This time around we just did muffins, and they were excellent!

Now that fall is closer than ever I hope you get as much good use out of this recipe as I have!