Saturday, September 27, 2014

A Nigel Slater Inspired Chili

The days are still hot, but the nights are starting to cool down, making football games and bonfires so very enjoyable. As we dig out our big comfy sweaters, jeans, and boots we start to crave comfort food.  It's time for big pots of chili and all the fixings.

Chili can be served a variety of ways and I like to celebrate that by creating a chili bar.  Baked potatoes, pasta, hot dogs, burgers, french fries, and nachos are all great with a little chili on top.  Then you need toppings for the chili: crackers, cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, and onions are the most popular at my house.  Everyone loves to customize their own meal. 

My favorite is a chili dog with onions and mustard but that runs a close race with a baked potato topped with chili, cheese, jalapenos, and onions.  I can never decide which I like best.  My husband and daughter love their chili over pasta and everyone in my house loves chili and cheese over french fries. There are so many tasty options.

The type of chili you serve is all about individual taste.  I haven't really met a chili that I didn't like but I definitely favor chili with lots of beans.  This version is adapted from a very simplistic Nigel Slater recipe.  I doubled the recipe because I love leftover chili and I added lots of spices, veggies, and some jalapenos for heat.  This version was thick and delicious and I'd definitely make it again.


Gameday Chili
Inspired by Nigel Slater
recipe via The Guardian
Serves 6-8

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 jalapenos, minced
4 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 - 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 pounds of ground turkey
2 cans of chili beans, with liquid

Add oil to a large Dutch oven and cook onions and peppers over medium heat until softened, 5-6 minutes.  Add garlic, jalapenos, all the seasonings, and stir until everything is blended.  Add tomato paste and chili sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes to develop a deep tomato flavor.   Add can of crushed tomatoes and stir to combine.  Remove this vegetable mixture to a bowl.  Cook the ground turkey until it becomes a rich dark color.  Add the vegetable mixture back in the pot.  Add in the chili beans, with their liquid, and cook over low-medium heat until thick.  Continue to season and taste.  You may want to add a little more heat via red pepper flakes, jalapeno, or hot sauce.  You may even wish to season the chili with a bit more chili powder.  I usually add a little more minced garlic towards the end.  Garnish the chili with cheese, sour cream, cilantro, green onions, crackers, chips, etc. Serve over baked potatoes, pasta, hot dogs, burgers, french fries, and nachos.  Create your own little chili bar.
Theme: Ladle It Up!

11 comments:

  1. Autumn arrived very quickly, it's time to heat up from inside. A very comforting dish.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love all of your ideas for serving chili! Nigel's recipe is a good base to start with and customize with your favourite ingredients.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I never thought of serving chili over french fries, what a delicious idea! That chili looks so delicious, and with all the spices, I can imagine how deliciously fragrant it is. A comforting dish indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I LOVE how you customized this recipe! I don't usually adore chili, but I think I would this one, thank you so much for sharing it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yeah, weather the same here in Louisiana. While I am not a bean fan in chili this chili looks so warm and comforting for a chilly fall day.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I had to copy your recipe here, love this chili! We are waiting on the boots and sweater weather too. Can't wait. This chili will be just the thing when we finally get our dose of cooler temps.

    Hope you are doing well, Kim!

    ReplyDelete
  7. (Hope this isn;t a duplicate comment! Please delete if so)

    I had to copy your recipe here, love this chili! We are waiting on the boots and sweater weather too. Can't wait. This chili will be just the thing when we finally get our dose of cooler temps.

    Hope you are doing well, Kim!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Funnily enough, chilli is not regular fare in most New Zealand households, and because we have it so rarely I always forget how good it is. I'm definitely with you - I like plenty of beans in it. I love your idea of setting up a chilli bar. I'm sure I would want a bit of everything, but what really gets me is the idea of chilli and cheese over french fries - yum!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This sounds like it is full of GREAT flavor! Let chili season begin!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have been craving chili lately--bring on the beans! I love that this one has a touch of curry in it--it's unique. Great pictures too. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is the perfect weekend for chili!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment! At the moment I am having a huge problem with spam so I've had to add comment moderation and close off comments to anonymous users. I apologize for the trouble and hope to return my comments to normal shortly.