Chipotle Chocolate Chili

In honor of the snow today, enjoy some yummy home made chili! This is seriously the best chili recipe I have ever eaten. A word of caution though, it can easily go from a comfortable medium/hot to a blazing four-alarm fire. The flavors in this work so well together you might just find yourself licking the bowl at the end. Seriously, it's that good. Also it's a fairly lean chili since it's made with ground turkey instead of ground beef. This one comes from my favorite girls over at www.ourbestbites.com.

Chipotle Chocolate Chili

1 lb. lean ground turkey

1 large onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, minced (I just used half)

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes

2 14.5-oz. cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-oz. can beef broth

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (NOT Nesquik! That would be very bad!)

1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

Chipotle sauce-from a can of chipotle chilies (This was the hardest ingredient to find. I ended up finding a jar of Chipotle chilies in Adobo sauce on the Mexican food aisle that worked great. However, the liquid was so thick I had to dump the whole can into a fine-mesh strainer and push the liquid through in order to get any. It was only about 1 Tbs. liquid, but it was plenty.)

1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate (1/2 unsweetened baking cube), chopped (optional; use to taste as needed; be careful, because too much will make your chili bitter--I ended up using about 3/4 of the 1/2 oz. piece)

Light sour cream

Chopped green onions

3-4 Tbsp. red wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar and it was fine)

Shredded cheddar cheese

Heat some olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion, garlic, bell pepper, and ground turkey until meat is cooked through. Add salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, brown sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, tomatoes, beans, and beef broth. Add all of the chipotle sauce from a small can of chipotle chilies. Heat to boiling and then reduce to a simmer (uncovered), stirring occasionally, until thickened as desired (I like it about 30-40 minutes). If desired, add some chopped chipotle chilies. (This is where it can go from a comfortable amount of heat to out of control very quickly, so be careful.) Add 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar and a small amount of chopped chocolate at a time until desired richness is reached. If necessary, add more red wine vinegar to cut the sweetness of the chili. This is where you can play around a little with the flavors.
When thickened and seasoned as desired, serve with chopped onions or green onions, sour cream, and shredded cheddar cheese.

 Saute your vegetables and meat,

Sump in your cans and seasonings and let it simmer,

Chop the chocolate,

Add chocolate and vinegar to your desired richness and sweetness,

Add your favorite toppings and devour!