Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth

Tonight I made perhaps my best chili yet. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground turkey
1 large red pepper, diced
1 large green pepper, diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 medium yellow onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 large can (29 oz) of diced tomato
1 large can (29 oz) of black beans
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey
1 packet of Ortega Chipotle Taco Powder
2 bottles of pale ale or similar hoppy beer
salt
pepper
olive oil
1 tsp corn starch
1 cup cold water
Shredded cheddar cheese for garnish

Optional:
1 small can of chipotle peppers, finely diced (to use instead of taco powder, if desired)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Instructions:

In a nonstick pan, spray some cooking spray then brown one pound of ground turkey at medium high heat, breaking it up and stirring until cooked through. Set aside.

Dice two medium onions, setting aside a generous handful to use as garnish. Also dice the peppers, garlic cloves, carrots and zucchini.

In a large pot, warm one tablespoon of olive oil at medium high heat. Add a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of fresh ground pepper, then 1 teaspoon of cumin. Let the spices sizzle for 30 seconds, then add the diced garlic and onions, not including the onion you set aside as a garnish. Stir to coat the onions with the olive oil, then cover the pot and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until onions begin to become translucent. Incorporate the diced peppers and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.

Add the cooked ground turkey. Pour one pale ale into the pot, then pour the other one for yourself. Incorporate the can of diced tomatoes and the black beans, including all the juices. Add the honey, cinnamon and the cocoa powder (the last one is optional, but it will add more complexity to the overall flavor). Add the packet of taco powder or the can of chipotle peppers. Add the zucchini, then stir.

Cover, then let simmer at medium heat for 20 minutes. Drink the other pale ale, then add the diced carrots, cover again, and simmer for an additional 20 minutes. All the vegetables in the chili should be sauteed, but the carrots should have some crunch to them, which is why you don’t want to add them any earlier.

Take one tablespoon of corn starch and combine with one cup of cold water until fully dissolved. Slowly pour the resulting mix into the pot, stirring as you go. The corn starch will help thicken the chili. Let it simmer for at least one more minute.

Ladle two cups of the chili into a bowl, then sprinkle with a dash of fresh ground pepper, a small handful of shredded cheese and some of the diced onions. Goes well with more pale ale, or a bold red wine.

Serves four, plus generous leftovers, as it’ll taste even better on the second or third night. Hope you enjoy it – and please let me know how it turns out.