Thursday, April 30, 2009

Change's Turkey Chili


Several in the Twitterverse were curious about my turkey chili recipe. This is one of the few dishes I make that is both healthy and Pauly-friendly, though he complains about the size of the dice on my celery every time without fail.

For the curious and the rest of you, here's my ever-evolving concoction:

2 tbsp. olive oil (enough to coat bottom of pot)
1 package extra-lean ground turkey (about 1-1 1/4 lbs.)
1 small-medium onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/2 of a large green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 roma tomato, seeded and chopped
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can each of black beans and white beans
4 cups chicken stock
chili powder
cumin
cayenne pepper
salt

Coat the bottom of a large heavy pot with the olive oil and turn up the heat to med-high. Let the oil heat for a minute or so, then break up the ground turkey and add it to the pot. Season with 2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin and cayenne pepper to taste (I shake out about 1/4 tsp, but I like it spicy). When the turkey has browned and nearly cooked through, add in the onions, celery and green peppers. Stir it around and let the veggies soften, about 3-4 mins. Next, add in the tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno pepper and garlic. Stir it around again and let it cook another 3 mins or so. Drain the juices out of the two cans of beans, then add both the black beans and the white beans to the pot along with the 4 cups of chicken stock. Stir that shit up.

Let the chili come to a boil, then turn the heat down low and let it simmer for about 90 minutes. When it's thick enough to your liking, remove from the heat and let it rest about 10 mins. Taste and adjust spice if necessary. Top with finely minced red onion, sour cream or cheese if you'd like.

15 comments:

DuggleBogey said...

Please please please expand upon the term "Pauly-friendly."

change100 said...

Pauly-friendly= hearty, meat-based and containing few vegetables

Pauly said...

Needs less celery and more HEAT!

DuggleBogey said...

Reminds me of a guy I work with who one day spouted "It's not a meal if it doesn't have MEAT! The more meat you have, the better the meal!"

The next week he went to the doctor, who told him he had gout, from eating too much meat and not enough vegetables.

True story.

Gene said...

Celery, properly minced and in the proper quantities, kicks ass.

I may make this tomorrow, but I may substitute tomato paste or something in lieu of the tomato. Just can't deal with full, raw tomato. Does not compute.

Short-Stacked Shamus said...

Sounds delish. Gonna serve this at Chez Shamus tomorrow, too, I think.

change100 said...

Gene & Shamus-- send me food photos and I'll post 'em!

Pauly said...

Here's one of the first batches of Turkey chili that you made...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/taopauly/3238084078/

Also... I'm fortunate that I get to eat the leftovers. I really think the chili reaches it's peak flavor on day 2. Here are some things to do with the leftover chili on the day after you make a batch...

1. Turkey Chili Burrito: Grab a tortilla skin and roll up a fatty. Feel free to add rice and cheese or any other offensive veggies.

2. Turkey Chili Nachos: I just made these. I nuke a layer of shredded jack cheese on a bed of nacho chips. Warm up the chili and then dump the chili onto the chips. Add more cheese.

3. Turkey Chili Naan Sandwich: This came to being by sheer accident. The only bread we had was Indian Naan bread. I toasted the bread, cut it in half and slapped the chili in between the two pieces of Naan. Instant sandwich. Warning... it can get a bit messy.

Dantana said...

that really does look awesome-tasty.

Schizohedron said...

Lovely stuff, Change! I became a convert to turkey chili this year after the chili sin carne wasn't closing the deal for me anymore. I brewed up a test batch in January while beginning both a stretch of unemployment and the first season of Deadwood. The trial run was a massive success, and now there always needs to be a few pints of the stuff in my freezer.

Gene, I use one 29-oz. can of Redpack Tomato Sauce per pound of turkey. I don't like tomato bits or seeds in my chili, so the plain sauce fits the bill.

Toast said...

Do you make your own chili powder?

The flavour is so much better and it's so easy.
http://goonswithspoons.com/Chili_Powder

Definitely trying the turkey concept next time.

change100 said...

Wow! I definitely want to make my own chili powder now. Thanks for the link.

Anonymous said...

Sounds gorgeous! I'm sat here at 2234GMT on a bank holiday with nowhere to buy ingredients from. Bad times!

Kid Dynamite said...

trick: use a bottle of beer instead of some of the chicken stock... preferably some kind of dark lager, or even something like Magic Hat # 9... thank me later

Lucypher said...

I realize I am late to the party, but a chili made from one third beef (either ground or stew meat), one third ground lamb, and one third ground italian sausage is quite tasty.