Chili Pepper Beers Bring The Heat

Holy Mole Turkey Chili

Makes 8 generous servings, can be doubled

For less heat, cut the chipotle peppers by half, though their flavor is a key ingredient in this chili.

Ingredients:

1 ½ tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil

1 each medium red, yellow, orange and green bell pepper, seeded and diced

2 large sweet onions such as Vidalia, or yellow onions, diced

6 large cloves of garlic, minced

3 canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce minced (with seeds), plus 2 teaspoons of the adobo sauce

3 ½ tablespoons good quality chili powder

½ teaspoon ancho chili powder

¼ rounded teaspoon Chinese five spice

1 rounded teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons kosher salt

pinch of red pepper flakes

several grinds of freshly ground black pepper

2 whole bay leaves (optional)

1 16-ounce can no salt dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed well with water, drained again

1 16-ounce can no salt black beans, drained and rinsed well with water, drained again

1 28-ounce can lower sodium whole plum tomatoes and their juice

1 16-ounce can no salt diced tomatoes and their juice

1 cup dark chili beer (see suggestions)

1 cup water

1 ¾ ounce good quality bittersweet chocolate 60 to 75 percent cocoa, broken into pieces

2 pounds lean ground turkey breast

Suggested beers: Prairie Bomb Imperial Stout, Lips of Faith Cocoa Molé Spiced Chocolate Porter, Clown Shoes Chocolate Sombrero Stout

Directions:

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy soup pot over medium high heat. Add the peppers, onions, garlic and chipotle pepper and cook until veggies are soft, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, add the chili powders, Chinese five spice, salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper and bay leaves, and stir constantly for about 1 to 1 ½ minutes to cook the spices, being careful not to burn.

Add the tomatoes with their juices, the adobo sauce, the beans, beer, water and the chocolate, and stir well to melt the chocolate. Bring to a boil, then crumble the raw ground turkey into the bubbling mixture. Stir to mix in the turkey, breaking any large clumps into smaller pieces. Bring the chili back to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer. Continue cooking at a low simmer for about 35 minutes until the chili is nice and thick, stirring occasionally and breaking up any large tomato or meat chunks with the back of the spoon. Remove the bay leaves if using, taste and adjust the salt, if needed.