SIMPLE TURKEY CHILI WITH KIDNEY BEANS

(from Bethany’s recipe box)

Makes about 3 quarts, serving 8 to 10.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
With the goal of developing a no-fuss chili recipe that would taste far better than the sum of its common parts, we discovered that adding the spices to the pan with the aromatics boosted their potency. For our chili recipe, we added the beans with the tomatoes so that they cooked enough to absorb flavor but not so much that they fell apart. And we found that cooking the chili with the lid on for half of the cooking time resulted in the best consistency.
Good choices for condiments include diced fresh tomatoes, diced avocado, sliced scallions, chopped red onion,chopped cilantro leaves, sour cream, and shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese. If you are a fan of spicy food, consider using a little more of the red pepper flakes or cayenne—or both.

Source: Cook's Illustrated Published January 1, 2008

Categories: Soups and Stews

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or corn oil
  • 2 medium onions , chopped fine (about 2 cups)
  • 1 red bell pepper , cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 6 medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
  • 1/4 cup chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4- teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 pounds 93 percent lean ground turkey
  • 2 (15.5-ounce) cans dark red kidney beans , drained and rinsed 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes , with juice (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • Table salt
  • 2 limes , cut into wedges

Directions

  1. Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed nonreactive Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onions, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, oregano, and cayenne; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add half the turkey; cook, breaking up pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink and just beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes.

  2. Add beans, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, and 1 teaspoon salt; bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Pat remaining 1 pound turkey together into ball, then pinch off teaspoon-sized pieces of meat and stir into chili. Continue to simmer about 40 minutes longer, stirring occasionally (if chili begins to stick to bottom of pot, stir in 1/2 cup water and continue to simmer), until turkey is tender and chili is dark and slightly thickened. Adjust seasoning with additional salt. Serve with lime wedges and condiments if desired.

  3. RECIPE TESTING

  4. Perfect Ground Turkey

  5. Since the key to this recipe is its long simmering process, we avoided extra-lean ground turkey, which we knew would turn mealy and flavorless with prolonged cooking. We used 93 percent lean instead. Nevertheless, after two hours of simmering, the turkey had disintegrated and the chili resembled Bolognese sauce. We solved this problem by dividing the meat in half and adding one installment at the beginning of cooking and the second an hour later, pinching off teaspoon-sized lumps of turkey for chunkier texture. Our final adjustment was to reduce the total cooking time by 20 minutes.

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