During winter, all I can think about is warm, hearty food. Soup is a no-brainer when it’s 5 F outside and you can barely make it through the two feet of snow to get to your car.
I love all types of soup: spicy, chunky, hearty, sweet, etc. I think anything can be thrown in a pot with some broth, garlic and salt, and be called soup. My favorite type of soup is chili. I could eat chili every day in the winter. I prefer chunky chili without tomato paste, but with the juice from tomatoes instead. I grew up on really hearty chili with several types of beans and ground beef.
As I’ve gotten comfortable exploring in the kitchen, I’ve learned that chili can be so much more than just tomatoes, beans and ground beef. Chili to me is like pasta: The options are endless, and you can make it with anything. That’s the fun part about cooking, getting creative and figuring out how you can continuously switch it up in the kitchen. 
I got inspired with this chili recipe because I love southwestern ingredients: chipotles, black beans, corn and avocado. And my boyfriend and his roommates have had a successful duck season, and had a lot of duck in the freezer. I knew I wanted to make chili, but wanted to do something I have never done before, and whip up something unique, but hearty enough to feed a bunch of cold, hungry boys.
I tracked down a meat grinder from a friend, and it worked out so well. I made my boyfriend grind the meat while I made the chili.
The chili needs to simmer for about 30 minutes so all the flavors can marry, allowing for enough time to grind the duck and brown it in the skillet.
I’m not going to lie, at first I was a bit hesitant about making a spicy chili with ground duck in it. But it couldn’t have turned out more perfect (one of the guys said it should be entered into a contest….although there’s a chance they were just pulling my leg). Anyway, this recipe doesn’t take a professional chef or culinary scientist to create. It’s simple and easy. The most important part is letting the chili simmer as long as possible, because that’s where all the flavor comes from.
This chili serves 8 (hungry boys) to 10 (girls). Also, if you have leftovers, it freezes well to be eaten later.
Enjoy!
Southwestern Duck Chili
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced,
- 1 yellow pepper, diced,
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans chipotle in adobo sauce (for less smokiness, don't use the sauce)
- 2 cans, low sodium corn, drained
- 2 cans, low sodium black beans, drained
- 2 cans diced tomatoes (no salt added), with juice
- 2 cups low sodium vegetable stock
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you like it really spicy)
- 8-10 duck breasts, ground and cooked like sausage (can substitute any other ground meat or leave out)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Avocado
- Sour cream
- Shredded Mexican cheese
- Cilantro
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a dutch oven on medium-high heat.
- Sauté onion and peppers.
- Add all spices and lets cook for 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, tomatoes, corn, black beans, chipotles, and vegetable stock. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes.
- Add more spices as you can to get it to the desired taste.
- While this cooks, grind duck in meat grinder, then brown in skillet like you would any other ground meat. Make sure not to overcook because you don't want the meat to get rubbery; you want it to be slightly undercooked so that it finishes cooking in the chili, and soaks up all the juices.
- Add duck to chili and stir very well. Let it simmer for 15 minutes.
- Give it one good final stir before serving. Serve in bowl and garnish with avocado, sour cream, cheese and cilantro (all optional).
