All American Chili

Nothing says warm comfort food better than chili..and what could be better than an All American Chili recipe. I found this recipe in guess where..yes Cooking Light! (You know how Rachel Ray is know for saying EVOO all of the time, well I guess I will be known for cooking CL recipes)

Anyways I really like this recipe. It is unique in that you use red wine in this chili. It was my first time adding red wine to chili, and the red wine flavor really came through on this one and tasted absolutely tummy warming and delicious!

Ingredients
6 ounces hot turkey Italian sausage*
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper**
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground sirloin***
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 bay leaves
1 1/4 cups Merlot or other fruity red wine
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, undrained and coarsely chopped
2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

*I used beef spicy italian sausage since the turkey sausages only came in big packs.
** I omitted the green pepper.
*** I used one pound of ground turkey.

Preparation
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage, onion, and the next 4 ingredients (onion through jalapeño) to pan; cook 8 minutes or until sausage and beef are browned, stirring to crumble.

Add chili powder and the next 7 ingredients (chili powder through bay leaves), and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine, tomatoes, and kidney beans; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Uncover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard the bay leaves. Sprinkle each serving with cheddar cheese.