October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, special features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food. Bon appetit!
(Editor's note: I originally ran this chili recipe last fall. But being OnMilwaukee.com Dining Month -- and because I made the dish again this week -- it seemed like a fine to re-run my personal chili recipe.)
Something about late fall / early winter gets me in the mood for chili. And about once a year, I bust out the crock pot and make my not-so-famous, but generally well-received recipe. My secret: a whole bunch of beer.
I'm not much of a chef, but I do have a certain knack for whipping up dishes, sans recipe. I usually add stuff until it tastes right, so if you're inclined to give my recipe a try, here it is:
Andy's turkey n' beer chili
Yield: A whole bunch of chili
2 large cans of tomato paste
1 green pepper, cut into long slices
1 unusual pepper, cut into long slices (this year, I used an Anaheim pepper)
3-5 cans of cheap beer (Pabst works nicely)
1 pound of ground turkey
1 an onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic
A couple splashes of white wine vinegar
Lots and lots of chili pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper
A handful of cornstarch
Some salt
Brown the turkey and dump it into the crock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients (except for cornstarch), starting with two cans of beer. Wash the seeds off the hot pepper if you want the chili to be mild; leave the seeds in if you want to knock your socks off.
Stir and set crock pot on low. Every two hours or so, add another can of beer and stir. Cook for about 18-24 hours. About an hour before serving, whisk cornstarch in a dish of water and add to the chili to thicken it, if necessary.
Eat over rice or noodles. It tastes even better as a leftover the next day.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
