Turkey Chili

Despite the sunny days we had last week, winter has not yet loosened her clutches on us and continues to give us cold nights and rainy days. Which is a long way of saying it's still chili weather.


This recipe is courtesy of David Kirsch, The Ultimate New York Body Plan. It uses ground turkey which you can get from pretty much any butcher counter these days. Make sure to thaw the turkey if you’ve got some in the freezer. Cooking it from frozen makes it kind of tough and not so pleasant.

Mr bus driver man gave it a 6/5 score the first time I made this so we have it quite often in our house.

Start with melting some butter in a large saucepan. We cook with Paderno pots on a gas stove. Good quality pans with steady heat really helps turn out good food.
 

Add the turkey and season well with salt and pepper.

Cook the turkey for 2-3 minutes or until browned. Okay, turkey doesn’t really brown, it goes more gray but you get the idea.



Put it in a bowl and set aside. Now chop up your veggies.

Throw them in the pan you just took the turkey out of, and add the garlic. You’ll want to add a bit more butter as well so the veggies can sauté on low heat.

Add your spices. I didn’t have any cayenne pepper so I used chili flakes instead.

(Did someone go a little wacko with the label maker? Trust me, when you have kids in the house, it helps to label EVERYTHING!)

Turn up the heat to medium and add in the tomatoes, stock and bay leaf. We had some kale in the fridge as well so I chopped some of that and threw it in.

Very pretty!


Bring the whole mess to a boil over high heat and then turn it down and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the turkey and let it cook for another 5 minutes so the meat gets hot again. Don’t forget to take out the bay leaf before you serve it up.

 
Turkey Chili (the recipe says serves 4 but we only get 3 helpings in our house)


2 tsp butter, divided
1 lb lean ground turkey
Fresh ground salt and pepper to taste
1 cup coarsely chopped red bell pepper
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (about ¾ cup)
2/3 cup coarsely chopped celery (about 1 stock)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
14 ½ oz canned plum tomatoes
½ cup chicken stock
1 bay leaf

Heat 1 tsp butter in 3 quart saucepan over high heat. Add the turkey and season to taste with salt and pepper. Break up the turkey and cook for 2-3 minutes or until browned. Remove to a bowl and cover to keep warm.

Reduce heat to low, heat the other tsp of butter and cook the red pepper, onion, celery and garlic for 3-5 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the chili powder, paprika, cumin and cayenne and cooking, stirring for one minute. Increase the heat to medium, add the tomatoes, stock and bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Add the turkey and simmer 5 minutes more. Remove and discard the bay leaf before serving.