On the Table: Summertime Chili

Sadly, I did not take any pictures while making the magnificant chili that I recently enjoyed on a hot dog.  I have no excuse, really, although I'm not sure there was much to see, given that most of the process involves letting the chili simmer for a looooong time and turn the kitchen into what looks like a crime scene (seriously! - I wanted it to thicken up, so I didn't put a cover on it).  Needless to say, as long as I was enduring the heat of making chili in July, I made quite a bit, so I did get a glamour shout of the finished product when I ate it for dinner last night, and I guess that will have to do :)  There are no beans in the chili (Texas-style!), and I should mention that I completely forgot to get chilis at the grocery store (so bad, I know), so I relied very heavily on spices for seasoning.

To prepare the chili:

Finely dice a medium-sized white onion.  Put a large soup/chili pot over medium heat.  Thinly coat the bottom of the pot with canola oil.  When the oil gets hot, add in the onions.  Cook, stirring often, until the onions become translucent. 

Add in a pound of ground turkey.  Cook, stirring to break up the turkey, until the turkey is all cooked. 

Add into the pot the following: two 28-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes; a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes; salt; freshly ground black pepper; chili powder; cayenne red pepper; red pepper flakes; cinnamon; and worcestershire sauce (the secret ingredient!).  I will be honest, I didn't measure any of the spices/seasonings.  All I can say is TASTE, TASTE, TASTE as you go.  I ended up using much more chili powder, cayenne red pepper, red pepper flakes, and salt than I thought I would need.  Add a few shakes at the beginning, and then taste intermittently while the chili is cooking and add more as needed.  Remember, you can always add more, but you can't take anything out!

Allow the chili to come up to a simmer (then turn down the heat so that it will just maintain a simmer) and cook, stirring occassionally, for about two hours.

The chili was delish on the hot dog, but it was also fabulous on its own, topped with sour cream:

Enjoy!