Chocolate Chili with Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits

Okay, back to normal again. No more coconutty delights to tempt you with! But that's okay, I have other tricks up my sleeve. Starting with these two recipes I made last week. The inspiration for me making this chili was the chocolate in it. I needed to use some up, and this was perfect. I have to say, I have done chocolate in chili once before, but this one was worth blogging about. It definitely does not taste like chocolate once everything is incorporated; instead, it imparts a wonderful, warm dimension that just can't really be described.

Like so many recipes I have loved lately, this one came to us from Cooking Light. The chili is comprised of ground turkey (I use half-99% lean, and half-93% lean), along with most of the usual suspects you find in chili. You're supposed to add in two cans of diced tomatoes and two cans of pinto beans along with an assortment of spices and some cocoa powder. Throw in some chicken broth and chipotle chiles, let everything come to a boil, and then simmer until thickened. At the end of the cooking process, you add in some chopped, unsweetened chocolate, let it melt and blend in, and you're ready to serve!

However, I have to admit I use a slightly different method when assembling my chili. I'm weird when it comes to certain textures in my food, and I am not a fan of having big chunks of tomato in soups and the like. Similarly, I dislike a chili that contains beans, but I am torn because I know that beans can add some great nutrition. I came up with a great compromise a few months back, and I have been using this technique ever since. It's simple; I throw all the tomatoes and beans in my blender, whirl away, and then I add the pureed goodies into the chili pot! I get the benefit of all those nutrients, without the ick factor of the chunky textures. We love it!

Moving on; I made some Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits to go along with the chili. I was very excited about these biscuits; I even bought chipotle powder specifically so I could make them. They've been bookmarked in my Baked cookbook for a while now, but I needed an excuse to make them. The recipe makes 20 biscuits; I wound up freezing half for a later date. Ultimately, I decided there would be no time like the present, and I just made them already!

These biscuits are seriously yummy. They contain both freshly ground black pepper and chipotle powder, so they certainly have a kick to them. They also contain 8 oz. of shredded sharp cheddar cheese and a stick of butter, so they are not an everyday indulgence! But I had fun making them...for the most part. They were fast to whip together, and I used my trusty cookie scoop to mound them onto the cookie sheets. I slid them into the oven and ran off to get some other things done while they baked.

When they are halfway done, you rotate the sheets. When I did this, I noticed that they were spreading an awful lot. There wasn't anything I could really do about it, though, so I forged on. Once they were finished baking, I took them out and realized that they kinda resembled large cookies. I'm sure you can tell from the pictures. They are not biscuit-sized, at least not in terms of height. I'm not exactly sure what caused this, but I do have one theory. My cream of tartar is at least a few years old, and since this is a leavener, that has to have an effect on the outcome. They still tasted great though, and I'm glad I finally got to make them. I've handily included the recipe!

Chipotle Cheddar Biscuits

from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

makes 20 small biscuits

Ingredients

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbsp. chipotle powder

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups grated and tightly packed sharp cheddar cheese

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 large egg

Kosher salt, for topping

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, pepper, chipotle powder, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and the 1 teaspoon of salt.

3. Add the butter and, using your hands or the back of a wooden spoon, work the butter into the dough. The mixture should look like coarse sand. Add the cheese and stir to thoroughly incorporate it into the dough.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated. Do not overmix.

5. Use a small ice cream scoop or a 1/4-cup measuring cup to scoop the dough and drop it in mounds onto the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with kosher salt and bake in the center of the oven for about 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through the baking time, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a biscuit comes out clean.

6.. Transfer the biscuits to a cooling rack. The biscuits can be served slightly warm or at room temperature. Store biscuits in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

The recipe for the Chili with Chipotle and Chocolate can be found right here.