Cincinnati Chicken Chili

"IHCC October Potluck", the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). For our potluck week, we are free to cook from any of IHCC's past and present featured chefs. I've decided to cook with Ellie Krieger, the current chef featured at IHCC.

I've made Cincinnati Chicken Chili, though originally, the recipe is called Cincinnati Turkey Chili, as ground turkey is used. Turkey is not easily available in the area where I live, so I have replaced with ground chicken instead. Looking at the rather long list of ingredients, I was happy to note that I have everything listed, well, except for the bell pepper. A short drive to the nearby supermarket took care of that! 

Even though there are so many ingredients on the list, the preparation time takes only minutes with the sauteing of the onions, chicken and spices which takes about 10 to 15 minutes, and the rest of the time is just simmering on the stove. Recipe indicates a long simmering about 2 hours, but I have simmered only about 1 hour 15 minutes, and have added a little water towards the end of cooking time as the chili was getting quite thick.

The chili is served over spaghetti, with some diced red onions sprinkled over, which I find really nice with the chili, and added more diced red onions on my plate! The chili is very tasty and I wish that I had some tortilla chips to go with it!

Cincinnati Turkey Chili
(adapted from "Comfort Food Fix", Ellie Krieger)
Makes 4 servings
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground turkey (I use ground chicken)
2 green bell peppers, diced
2 tablespoons chilli powder
1 tablespoon unsweetened natural cocoa
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
One 15-ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes with their juices
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon unsulfured molasses
1 bay leaf
8 ounces whole-grain spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
1 cup canned kidney beans, preferably low-sodium, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup grated, lightly packed extra-sharp cheddar cheese
4 teaspoons finely diced red onion

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over a medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the turkey and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon into small pieces, until just cooked through and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers and cook until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the chilli powder, cocoa, paprika, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, and cloves and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes with their juice, water, molasses, and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the mixture has thickened considerably but is still soupy, about 2 hours. Remove the bay leaf. Serve over the spaghetti, topped with the kidney beans, cheese, and diced red onion.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

"October Potluck"

and 

Cook-Your-Books #27 @ kitchen flavours