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!

Deviled Salmon Cakes with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

My sister Joanna contributed this recipe to my cookbook "Singingirl Cooks!"  You certainly can find pretty much this same recipe in most internet searches. But I put a little twist on the original to kick it up just another notch. These are absolutely delicious, and the amazing thing is that it uses canned salmon.  Oh, I know. The groans and grossness of pulling apart that salmon in the can to remove bones, etc. It's really not that big a deal. But if you prefer you can buy a piece of salmon, poach or bake it, let it cool and then flake it yourself to make about two cups. So, here is the recipe. The slightly long list of ingredients and the little bit of prep time is well worth the effort. I found that when I did an inventory to see what I needed to buy, I already had everything except a tiny can of corn, a container of yogurt and the parsley.

DEVILED SALMON CAKES WITH LEMON YOGURT SAUCE

1 large can of salmon, drained and bones removed

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1/2 cup corn, canned or frozen

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 Tbs. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. pickle relish

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. paprika

2 big dashes of hot sauce

1 egg

1/2 cup cracker crumbs

1 cup Panko breadcrumbs

2 Tbs. butter

2 Tbs. canola oil

Flake the salmon into a bowl. Add the onion, celery, jalapeno, corn, salt and pepper. Mix together and set aside.

In another bowl, combine the mayonnaise, egg, mustard, relish, lemon juice, Worcestershire, paprika and hot sauce. Fold these ingredients into the salmon mixture along with 1/2 cup of cracker crumbs. Place the Panko on a plate.

Form the salmon into cakes. You can make six larger ones or eight smaller. Carefully coat them with the Panko. I found that holding the salmon cake and patting the Panko on one side, then flipping it over in my hand and patting the crumbs on the other side worked better than laying the salmon cake in the dish, the reason being the salmon is soft and might tend not to keep its shape. Do whatever way works for you.

Refrigerate the cakes on a plate loosely covered with saran and chill for about an hour.

Melt the butter and oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. With your spatula, lift each salmon cake off the plate and add to the pan. Cook half of them about four minutes or so on each side, pressing down gently on them once or twice with your spatula. Turn carefully and fry the other side four minutes or so or until nicely browned.

To serve, place a big spoonful of the lemon yogurt sauce on each plate and spread it out a bit with the back of your spoon. Top with a salmon cake and garnish with parsley and lemon slice.  Enjoy!!

LIGHT LEMON YOGURT SAUCE
1 cup of plain fat free yogurt
1 tsp. freshly grated lemon peel
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped parsley
OR 1/2 tsp. tarragon
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and keep chilled until ready to serve.  You can easily double this recipe, and I suggest you do!

Delicious Onion Soup With Miniature Toasts and Parmesan Crisps

Why would I want to be making soup in south Florida in 90 degree weather? Better yet, why would I think any of my friends and family would want to make soup in such a torrential downpour of heat and sun? The answer is, I don't know why. I've just been thinking lately about making a good tasting onion soup after having had some so-so, rather salty onion soup in a restaurant last week with my mom. And, well, there is air conditioning keeping me cool inside for the venture. So, here it is.  Make this soup.  It's vegetarian (for all my non-meat eating friends and family.) It's delicious. It's topped with a wonderful miniature bread toast and a Parmesan crisp instead of that big blob of melted cheese. I know, I know. That's what's good about it, right? Try it this way, and let me know how you like it.

DELICIOUS ONION SOUP WITH MINIATURE TOASTS AND PARMESAN CRISPS

4 heaping cups of onions, peeled and thinly sliced

3 Tbs. butter

1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup sherry (you can use bottled cooking sherry if you must, but don't tell anyone)

4 cups of vegetable broth (see below for my tip)

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Packaged Miniature Toasts

Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the onions and cook and stir often over low to medium heat until the onions are fully softened and starting to brown. This process will take at least 45 minutes to one hour. There is no rushing this step.  Increase the heat to high, add the Worcestershire and sherry and cook for a minute or two, or until the sherry reduces. Stir in the 4 cups of broth, lower the heat and simmer another 20 minutes or so.  

Here's my tip for the broth.... You can use cans of broth if you like. In this recipe I used a seasoned roasted vegetable cooking base. Find them in the canned soup aisle, Better Than Bouillon is the one I used.  They really are much better than bouillon, less salty, and much more flavorful.  The jar costs a few dollars, but you'll find  that you'll be seasoning the water with it when you make rice, pasta, other soups, sauces. Use 1 tsp. per cup of water (you'll need 4 tsp. for this recipe.)

While the soup is simmering, make the crisps.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the oven rack in the middle. Finely grate the Parmesan and use 1 Tbs. per crisp. Dump it onto a well oiled baking sheet (I used cooking spray) and then with the back of your spoon flatten the mound out a little. Grind some pepper on each one. Don't crowd, maybe only 6 to a baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes approximately. 

Remove from oven and carefully slide your spatula around the edges and remove each one to a rack.  My pictures above show the process, and you CAN do this! It was actually very easy, and I surprised myself.  This is Alton Brown's recipe from Food Network.  They are soooo delicious! And no carbs! Ladle the soup into your bowl and set the bowl on a serving dish.  

Surround the bowl with one or two toasts and two or three crisps and let the lucky recipients assemble their own garnish.  Enjoy!!! And please say hello in the comment section below.