Ingredients
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4 lbs ground turkey
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1 lb bacon (cooked and chunked)
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2 (16 ounce) cans tomatoes (either diced or crushed are fine)
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12 ounces tomato paste
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2 green bell peppers, diced
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1 red bell pepper, diced
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1 yellow bell pepper, diced
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2 (10 ounce) cans condensed beef broth (or chicken broth)
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6 ounces beer (1/2 can)
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2 fresh tomatoes
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3 garlic cloves
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1 tablespoon ground cumin
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1 tablespoon oregano
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1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
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2 -4 tablespoons chili powder (to taste)
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2 -4 tablespoons cayenne pepper (to taste)
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1 (8 ounce) package shredded cheddar cheese
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2 onions, finely diced (preferably vidalia)
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2 jalapeno peppers (You can omit them completely or substitute hotter peppers if you want more fire)
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4 1/2 cups dried beans (black beans, pinto beans, or great northern beans all work very well)
Instructions
- Mix and soak beans overnight per package directions.
- Process the fresh tomatoes, garlic, cumin, oregano, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper and jalapeno (hot) peppers in the food processor; place in the refrigerator overnight.
- Note: The 2 tablespoons each of hot spices makes a very mild chili- while the 4 tablespoons w/added hot peppers turns up the heat-- for those who like it HOT!
- Take out four or five cups of the soaked beans and place in crock pot (cut it to 3 cups if you did the fast soak- they will still expand while cooking).
- Freeze the rest for later use.
- If you are using canned beans you'll lose some of the flavor-- but it's still good.
- Fry the bacon until crispy and place in crock pot.
- Brown the ground turkey in some of the bacon drippings and place in crock pot.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, bell peppers, broth, beer and tomato spice puree.
- Stir to mix and let cook for 10-12 hours on low.
- (You can also cook for 5-6 hours on high, but the beans will not soak up as much of the flavor).
- Serve topped w/the shredded cheddar cheese.
- This recipe is for a large crock pot. You can cut down on the ground turkey, beans and bell peppers a little if you have a smaller crock pot.