Recipe: Turkey White Bean Chipotle Chili

Turkey White Bean Chipotle Chili

(adapted from Gourmet)

Ingredients:

2 canned whole chipotle chilies in adobo

1 28oz can diced tomatoes (I used organic fire roasted, yum!)

2 large yellow onions, chopped

8 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder

2.5 pounds ground turkey (I used ground turkey breast)

2 cups chicken broth (plus another cup if needed)

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons dried orégano, crumbled

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

2 cups fresh green peppers (bell pepper would work if you want to cut down on the spice level, otherwise poblanos would be good)

1 4oz can mild green chilies, chopped

1 tablespoon cornmeal

2 19-ounce cans white beans, rinsed and drained

Directions:

Puree chipotle peppers in a blender with a tablespoon of water and set aside. (As a side note, I accidentally pureed the entire can of chipotle peppers, so I have no idea how many I actually ended up adding. I think it was more like 4)

In a large pot cook the onions and garlic cloves in the oil over moderate heat, stirring, until the onions are softened. Add the cumin and chili powder, and cook the mixture, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the turkey and cook the mixture, stirring and breaking up the lumps, until the turkey is no longer pink (be sure to do a good job of breaking up the meat or you’ll have big icky chunks). Add the reserved chipotle purée, the diced tomatoes, the broth, the bay leaf, the orégano, and the salt and simmer the mixture, uncovered, adding more broth if necessary to keep the turkey barely covered, for 1 hour. Stir in the green peppers, the canned green chilies, and the cornmeal and simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Stir in the white beans and simmer the chili for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the beans are heated through, and discard the bay leaf.

Makes about 8 servings, I think.

This chili is great with corn bread, or even some tortilla chips sprinkled on top.

While I was in Seattle last weekend I stopped at the World Spice Merchants to buy some fresh spices. It was a really neat experience. My nose was totally overwhelmed after smelling all the spices they have in that store. It's amazing! One of the spices I purchased was a chipotle chili powder, so of course I had to use some in the recipe. But there's probably enough chipotle in there that you don't need it if you don't have it. I've seen it at my local grocery store, so it's not super hard to find.