Is it Chili in here?

Got this new recipe that I just had to share.  Went to a Southern Season's cooking class this week featuring authentic firehouse cooking.  The main attraction was a Cincinnati-style chili.  I have to admit that I wasn't familiar with Cincinnati-style, but now I can say that I'm a big fan.

Unlike Texas-style chilis, Cincinnati-style is thinner, uses beans as a garnish and not a recipe component, and is usually served over noodles, but the most stand apart characteristic is its spice blend.  It may sound strange, but it is strangely delicious.  Just try it and see!

Captain Greeson's Cincinnati-style Firehouse Chili:
The K2 Variation

1 lb lean ground turkey
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
1 cup (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1-1/2 tbsp dark chocolate, shaved
pasta of your choosing

Cook the ground turkey, onions, and garlic in a deep pan over medium-high heat until the meat is cooked through and crumbles.  Drain.

before the crumble/after the crumble

Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, spices, and chocolate to the pan and bring mixture to a boil.

Cover and reduce heat to a simmer.  Allow to cook for at least 1 hour so that the flavors can blend.

While the chili is simmering, boil up some pasta of your choice.  I choose rigatoni, the Captain served it with rotini, but if you want to go truly native and do it Cincy-style, whip up some spaghetti noodles for the dish.

When the chili is ready, serve it over the noodles and then top with grated cheddar, kidney beans, chopped onion, and/or oyster crackers and you're ready to dive in.

NOTES

The variation between the Captains recipe and my version went like this, he used:

ground beef (versus ground turkey; you could also use Morningstar Griller Recipe Crumbles if you wanted to make the dish vegetarian)
2 cans of Mexican-style tomatoes (versus just one, and I chose Hunt's Diced with zesty mild green chilies)
1-1/2 tbsp cocoa powder (versus shaved dark chocolate)

I used one square of chocolate for the chili

In case you didn't know, 1 tbsp = 3 tsp, so 1-1/2 tbsp = 4-1/2 tsp.

The chili also goes good with fresh baked cornbread and would probably make the perfect chili hot dog chili.