Deutscher Chili

Oh Saturday. How fun you were. Thanks. What a day. It started at 6:00 am. Tired wasn't an option. My red wine overload at a festive wedding the night before was simply a memory. It was time to conquer the day. Elie awake. Check. Scrambled Egg McMuffin prepared for her. Check. Washed and prepped berries for swim team Super Saturday practice completed. Another sandwich prepared for Hannah. Katy? Dragged her out of slumber, dressed her warm and threw her in the car with a slice of Canadian Bacon and chocolate muffins. Breakfast complete.

Elie's team lost their 1st game. A bit chilly at 37 degrees. Came home. decided to make Chili to satisfy the cold yearning comfort. But we're in Germany... so I found a recipe that solved my dilemma. A woman from Texas married a guy from Germany and they created a German Chili (posted on Allrecipes.com). Perfect. Sign me up. I raced to the store to buy a few ingredients. Came home and began to brown the meat. Elie shouted at me that we needed to leave. I told her I had 20 minutes to do whatever I wanted and to back away from the kitchen... I felt like the Food Network show where they're racing to complete their meal. Again, loving my crock pot. It was thrown together and we drove away knowing that dinner was complete.

Elie's team won their second game, yippee! After the game, we raced home to have her change and get ready to march in the Valley Fest, marching band competition. She plays Trombone. Yet another moment in the fresh air. Brrrrr. The day was nearing the end. Happy to be home. We decorated for Halloween and watched the good snippit of the Nebraska game. I was also able to watch a movie while folding 3 loads of laundry. Relaxing Saturdays. Heaven.

German Texas Chili
Serves 12,
 I halved this recipe, only making 6 servings which really seems like more. Lots of leftovers. Also added a can of dark red kidney beans. 

1/4 cup olive oil
 4 red onions, chopped
 6 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped, or to taste
 1 pound hot pork sausage (such as Jimmy Dean®)
 2 1/2 pounds ground turkey
 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes with juice (such as Hunt's®)
 1 (28 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes (such as Hunt's® Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic and Oregano)
 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (I poured the whole can in...oops.)
 1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
 3 tablespoons ground cumin
 1 tablespoon chili powder
 1/4 cup paprika
 1/4 cup brown sugar
 4 cinnamon sticks (didn't have cheesecloth so I tossed them in)
 12 whole clove ( I used ground)


Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a very large skillet over medium heat, and cook the onions and chipotle peppers until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Place the hot sausage and turkey into the skillet and cook until brown, chopping the meat up with a spoon into crumbles as it cooks, 10 to 15 more minutes. Spoon the meat mixture into a large slow cooker, leaving excess grease behind in the skillet. Stir the crushed tomatoes, Italian-style diced tomatoes, beer, garlic powder, kosher salt, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and brown sugar into the meat mixture until thoroughly combined.

Tie the cinnamon sticks and cloves into a piece of cheesecloth, and drop the bundle into the slow cooker. Set the cooker to Low, and cook 6 to 8 hours. Remove the cheesecloth spice bundle before serving.

I served the chili with Pretzel rolls to tie-in the German theme. And served Beck's German beer too. I was shocked at how good the beer was. I was looking the the heavier wheat type of beer but the store I was at didn't have it. I grabbed the Beck's thinking I would be drinking skunky Heineken and was pleasantly surprised. I can now say I've tried Beck's and I like it. Happy is.