Chili Recipes with a Twin Cities Flavor Warm Up Winter

January 24, 2018

Chili RecipesFrigid days of winter are a good time to start clipping chili recipes to raise the heat at dinner time. The Twin Cities are well known for the variety and creativity of this Minnesota comfort food.

So, we went on a treasure hunt to find some tasty links for you including chocolate, pumpkin and red hot recipes. Time to get chopping, sautéing, stirring and adding a dash of spice to your culinary life.

NFL Mexican Chili with Chocolate

You don’t have to go to the NFL’s star-studded 27th Annual Party with a Purpose in St. Paul on February 3 to experience some of its savory treats. The event organizers have shared some recipes with the TwinCities Pioneer Press, including one for Mexican Chili that contains unsweetened chocolate to make it muy sabroso. The recipe also calls for lean ground beef, seasonings including chili paste and enchilada sauce, kidney and pinto beans, and toppings such as spinach cilantro pesto.

Pumpkin Chili from Dining with Alice

The author and administrator of the Dining with Alice website says side-by-side learning experiences with her Granny Alice amount to one of her most important cooking credentials. Granny Alice was was a lunch lady in Minnesota schools. Her granddaughter adds pumpkin pureé and pumpkin pie spice to a hearty meat-and-bean Pumpkin Chili. Recommended toppings include ricotta cheese and pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds).

Café Latte Chicken Salsa Chili

Twin Cities residents often mention St. Paul’s cafeteria-style Café Latte, 850 Grand Avenue, when asked where to find the best chili. One of the restaurant’s signature dishes is Chicken Salsa Chili. In its copy of the recipe, MidwestLiving magazine notes that preparation time is 20 minutes and cooking takes 25 minutes. Recipe ingredients include minced fresh garlic and jalapeño pepper, lime juice, and kidney and garbanzo beans.

Café Latte Vegetarian Chipotle Bean Chili

We had to dig to find a recipe for this treasured dish. You might say it’s internationally popular, because the source we found appeared as an entry in a 2009 recipe contest at a Haitian family blog. Among the key ingredients are three kinds of beans, corn niblets, roasted red and yellow peppers, carrots and pureéd chipotle peppers.

Slow Cooking with the Star Tribune

A Star Tribune contributor shows that chili doesn’t have to be complicated or take long to prepare when you keep the ingredients simple and use canned beans. Pop this ground beef chili into a slow cooker in the morning, and it will be ready for dinner about eight hours later. The secret kick in cookbook author Meredith Deeds’ Easy Slow-Cooker Chili is chopped bacon. Optional toppings include chopped red onion, cilantro, shredded cheddar, and sour cream.

Minneapolis Monthly Big Blow-Out Chili Cookoff

On February 3, Minnesota Monthly will hold a chili cookoff at Northern Clay Center, 2424 Franklin Avenue East, from 1 to 5 p.m. You only have to pay $5 to taste more than 25 kinds of chili. Competitors get in free. You can vote for your favorites and shop for handmade pottery produced at Clay Center. For more information, call (612) 339-8077 or contact the Center online.

Cooking in Comfort

Cooking is more pleasurable when you have a great kitchen containing energy-efficient appliances and an open-concept floorplan that allows socializing while preparing food. If you’re looking at apartments near Prior Lake, Burnsville or Apple Valley, visit Springs at Egan Drive and Springs at Apple Valley where each residence has a townhome-style, ground-floor entry.

Among Apple Valley apartments our community is known for quality amenities, including large walk-in closets, and our pet-friendly policy. Contact us today for more information.

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