My last post reminded me that something I recently made but didn’t discuss was Alex’s chili recipe. This recipe was in the book I sent out over Christmas, but I hadn’t yet had time to make it. A couple of days before making it, I’d pulled out some ground turkey from our freezer, intending to make meatballs. Then we ate these other meatballs the next night. Now what!? Meatballs twice in a row!? No, thanks!

So I decided to make Alex’s chili but with ground turkey rather than ground beef. The turkey was a nice addition, though it probably didn’t add as meaty of a flavor as ground beef would have. I think I should replace “probably” with “definitely.” I also didn’t add the can of black beans because I didn’t have them, although even if I had, I wouldn’t have because I hate black beans. I guess I wouldn’t have any if I hate them, though. Dang this cyclical logic!

Because I didn’t want to clean a skillet (when your boyfriend doesn’t do the dishes after you cook, you get lazy like that), I did all of this in my big 4-qt saucepan, even the cooking of the onions and garlic, which was sometimes hard to maneuver but I prevailed eventually. Everything came together great. I added beer (rather than water – Alex suggests either) and let it all simmer away for a really long time, a good 2 hours at least. Any beer that happens to be in our fridge is always beer that people have brought and left behind, so I used Miller High Life. I bring this up because Martin saw the bottle sitting on the counter and laughed. We had Fat Tire but I used that to make Beer Bread the other night so now …. it’s the pit, beer-wise for us. Nothing but Miller as far as the eye can see. Embarrassing!

I thought this was an incredibly flavorful chili. I liked it a lot, especially reheated the next day. I never thought I’d see the day I said I liked chili (I generally don’t, mostly because of the bean thing …) but this recipe was very tasty. I would definitely make this again.

Alex’s Chili

1 lb. ground beef
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ cup chopped carrots (optional)
2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, well-drained
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, well-drained
½ (15 oz.) can corn kernels
3 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. oregano (or Italian seasoning)
Cayenne pepper
1 – 2 tbsp. tomato paste
Water (or beer)

1- Note: Can be easily made into vegan chili by removing beef.

2- Sauté onion in olive oil (or fat from the cooking beef). If carrots are uncooked, add those as well. Otherwise, add carrots when you add the beans.

3- Sauté until onion is soft.

4- Add garlic and fry for another minutes.

5- Add tomatoes, beans, chili powder, cumin and oregano. Top with water or beer until solids are covered. When liquid is boiling, dissolve tomato paste into the chili.

6- Add salt and cayenne pepper to taste and let pot simmer for 15 – 20 minutes, adding water, beer or tomato paste as needed. The longer it simmers, the better.

7- Serve with corn muffins, sour cream and grated cheddar.

Servings: I think Martin and I made 3 – 4 meals of this each