My Not-So-Famous Turkey Chili (Yet)

October, football, falling leaves, cooler weather. Only two of those things apply to me here in south Florida. Be that as it may, the weather this week did actually take a plunge into the 70s! (Is anybody laughing right now?) So I thought a cool weather recipe would be in order. My last blog entry, Mushroom Chowder, was kind of a cool weather recipe and a huge hit as well. With all the talk about it from my friend, Cathy, and how it came in second place in her church contest, I decided I had to make it this past week and remember what I did that made it so good.  You gotta try it.   And even though this will be another meal-in-a-bowl type of recipe, I'm doing it anyway because who doesn't need another chili recipe to consider?

The inspiration for the recipe that I use came from Alice's Restaurant Cookbook, which I purchased in 19...., well back a long time ago. Alice May Brock was a hippie, and I guess so was I.  I have to say here that I have never used anything but beef when making chili.  This time around I took a chance on turkey, and I have to tell you it is delicious! It isn't so much that turkey has that much less fat than, say, ground sirloin.  Ground turkey is still 90/10 ratio for fat. It's just that I was feeling a tad more conscious today about the beef thing.  Go ahead and use whatever your choice of meat is, but if you haven't given turkey chili a try, don't turn your nose up until you try it this way and tell me how great it is afterwards!

MY NOT-SO-FAMOUS TURKEY CHILI (YET)
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 large green peppers, chopped
1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, mostly seeded, and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 lb. of ground turkey (not ground turkey breast)
2 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
4 Tbs. of chili powder (or more to your liking)
1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. of salt (add more to taste)
Lots of freshly ground pepper
2 whole bay leaves
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. basil
2 tsp. or more of Worcestershire sauce
Cayenne pepper and Tabasco to taste
2 cans of dark red kidney beans, drained

Okay, this looks like a lot of ingredients. But you probably have most of the seasonings.  So let's go.

In a large skillet, saute the onions, peppers, jalapeno and garlic in the oil until soft. Meanwhile, in a large soup pot, brown the chopped meat. Drain the fat, and then add the sauteed vegetables to the meat in the large pot.  Add the two cans of tomatoes, juice and all, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of your spoon. Add the tomato paste and all the rest of the seasonings up to but excluding the kidney beans. Give it all a good stir, cover and simmer this for a good long time, a couple of hours at least, stirring occasionally and checking for seasonings.

Towards the end of the cooking session, add the kidney beans. I like to use the dark red beans, they show up nicer in the chili, and I definitely don't add them earlier on, they get mushy.

Remove the bay leaves before serving!

Serve this in big bowls and pass around all the favorite chili toppings such as sliced jalapenos, shredded cheddar, chopped raw onions, extra hot sauce - and don't forget to pass around a piece of cornbread. For those of you who own my book "Singingirl Cooks" check it out on page 99.  Now what channel is the game on???





This recipe and more than one hundred pages of other great recipes, stories and photos is for sale. Just ask me!

Alice May Brock would be proud of me!

Deb's Stuffed Pepper Soup

I've been waiting a while to do this post. This delicious soup recipe comes from my oldest and best friend, Debbie Finegan, who passed away on September 16th after a long and courageous battle with cancer. She would be beaming from ear to ear to know that her recipe is being published for all the world to see. (Well, seeing as hardly anyone looks at this blog, that previous statement is a bit of an exaggeration.) But I imagine that would make Debbie laugh even harder.

This soup tastes just like a stuffed pepper, only better and much easier to make! I'm thinking it's right on time for the cool weather that many of you are experiencing up north. So go out and get the simple ingredients to make this soup, and even if you never met this amazing person, send a little smile her way, up that-a-way, for I'm sure that's where she is with all the other angels.

DEB’S STUFFED PEPPER SOUP

2 lbs. ground sirloin

1 28 oz. can tomato sauce

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (undrained)

2 cups chopped green pepper

2 beef bouillon cubes

¼ cup brown sugar

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

3 cups water (more or less depending on how thick you like it)

2 cups cooked rice

Brown the ground sirloin and drain. Add the remaining ingredients and bring everything to a boil except the rice. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until peppers are tender. Add cooked rice last. Makes a big pot, plenty for the next day.

In loving memory

Debbie Farr Finegan 8/19/1951 - 9/16/2009