Cold Outside, Chili Inside

On a day where snow is falling and piling up outside, there is little I find as comforting as good bowl of chili.  I had never really ate chili before, but tried it when I first went skiing about 4 years ago.  After a very long day of a lot of falling down, all I wanted to do was sit in the lodge and have a beer.  It seemed as if everyone was eating chili out of a bread bowl and it looked so good, so I ordered it.  It was delicious, and as I swore I would never ski again, I also decided I need to start eating more chili.  The following year my friends were planning another ski trip, so I went and opted to try snowboarding.  I fared better on a board than on skis, but it was still a long day of falling down and again, I found comfort in the ski lodge's chili (and beer).  Since then, I've actually gotten pretty good at snowboarding, now very little falling down, but I still look forward to that warm, comforting bowl of chili when I'm done. 

This year, since it seemed to get so cold so early into winter, I tried and succeeded in making my own turkey chili.  It was perfect for when we were snowed in after Christmas and lasted a few days.  I had looked up a bunch of recipes and decided to start with one that was posted on the Food Network website and then add in a few things that I saw in other recipes.  At the time when I made my first batch, I did not own a crock-pot, so I had to make it in a regular pot on the stove.  Since then, I now have a crock-pot and have made the same recipe in it, and it comes out just as good.  The crock-pot is a bit easier because I didn't stir it or constantly walk over there to make sure it didn't get too hot or boil.  And also in the crock-pot, once it was done, I was able to keep it on the warm setting for quite some time, which was nice.  I'd like to also add that while this recipe calls for ground turkey, I one time substituted it with ground chicken and it came out just as good, so if your grocery store, like mine, is lacking in meat department, feel free to switch it up. 

Everytime I have made this chili it comes out delicious and is also very cheap to make.  Once you have the all spices/seasonings, your biggest expense is buying the meat.  What I like to do is see when ground turkey or chicken is on sale and buy a few packages of it.  I then keep them in my freezer so I have them on hand and feel great knowing I saved money on them.  If you have the meat, spices/seasonings, you can make a whole batch of chili for about $5 (depending on your grocery store).  Again, especially with canned goods like tomatoes and kidney beans, if you buy them on sale and have them in your pantry, it's a great way to save money and make quick, cheap meals.  Here's the recipe I ended up using (adopted from the Food Network recipe):

Ingredients
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 c. Yellow Onion - chopped
1 Tbsp. Garlic - minced
1/4 c. Green bell pepper - chopped
1 lb. Ground turkey
1 (28 oz.) Can of crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 (16 oz.) Can of red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 Tbsp. Chili powder
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2 c. Low-sodium chicken stock
1/2 tsp. Garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. Sea salt
1 tsp. Dried basil*
1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Hot sauce (optional)

Directions
1. In a large skillet (or I use the large pot I plan to cook the chili in), saute the onions, minced garlic and bell peppers in the olive oil on medium heat, until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the ground turkey and cook until browned.
3. If using a crock-pot, transfer the contents of the skillet to the crock-pot and add all remaining ingredients.  Set the crock-pot on low and stir well to combine.  If you are not using a crock-pot, reduce heat to low add all remaining ingredients to the skillet/pot and stir well to combine.
4. Let simmer on low for 1 hour.
5. This is optional but you can top each bowl with some shredded cheddar cheese and/or sour cream if you like.  Enjoy!

Here's a picture of mine in the pot (once with flash, once without flash):

*Instead of using dried basil, I keep some frozen "fresh" basil leaves that my mom grows in her garden.  She, very kindly, picks them for me and puts them in a ziploc bag that I keep in my freezer.  It's great to have on hand!

Healthy, Summer Turkey Burgers

Summer in NYC this year has been HOT, I mean, way hotter than any other summer I can remember. Living in an apartment, it makes turning on the oven painful. Even having the stove on seems to make our living room feel 20 degrees hotter. While dreams of a backyard growing fresh herbs and vegetables, a giant grill and outdoor kitchen set up dance in my head, I have still been cooking and baking in the apartment, just not as often as I would like too. To make it better, I have been choosing meals (and the occasional treats) that are faster to make. One of those things, is turkey burgers.

Normally, when Doug and I make burgers, he handles it. He is a man, he cooks red meat while his Gears of War video game is paused, that's what men do. Or so he tells me. I usually have no objection to this, as I lay on the couch, read and then just eat what is presented to me. He does make an awesome burger. But this time, I wanted to do it. I had caught part of a Rachael Ray episode over the weekend where she made turkey burgers with fresh herbs and I was inspired.

So on the way home from the gym (I find that the best time to go food shopping, I only want healthy things!), I stopped at the grocery store to pick up my ingredients. I picked up great whole wheat buns, as well as 93% lean ground turkey, which I would have liked to go leaner, but the selection at the store was not the best. For my fresh herbs, I decided to go with parsley, cilantro and dill. I felt the citrus-y flavor of cilantro will also bring out the subtle citrus & sweet flavor in the dill, and the savory parsley will be a nice addition to it. For your herbs, feel free to choose what you like best!

Because ground turkey is lean, it is easy to let it dry out when cooking. That is why you want to add a lot of fresh herbs, they will help keep it moist. For the 1.3 lbs of ground turkey, I added a little less than a 1/4 cup of each chopped herb. Also, to maintain moisture, I added a tablespoon of dijon mustard. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and mix it up - mix enough so everything is incorporated, but then do not keep mixing. Form the patties (I was able to form 6 decent sized patties) and throw them on your grill - or in my case, grill pan*! I served them with a slice of vegan cheese (mozzarella flavor), on the whole wheat buns I bought, with a nice slice of tomato. The whole burger had a fresh, crisp feeling to it, perfect for a hot summer day! Also, since it was only Doug and I eating, I saved the extra patties by wrapping them in plastic wrap and putting them in the fridge. If you want to reserve them longer than 3 days (that's my limit), put them in the freezer instead.

*Before putting on the grill pan, make sure it's hot! Also, I pour some vegetable or canola oil on a paper towel and use to spread over my grill pan so it is very lightly greased.

Some patties before they hit the grill:

After a bite or two:

GOBBLE, GOBBLE!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mine was great. Doug and I went to his Aunt's house and ate a ton of delicious food. The next day I was lucky enough to go to my parents' house and hang out with them, my brother and sisters and eat tons of leftovers. I think I ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc for a good 2 weeks straight! You may be asking yourself, how I had leftovers for 2 weeks, well, it's because our friend group has a lovely tradition of having a pre-Thanksgiving, dubbed Fakesgiving. Our annual Fakesgiving is held the Saturday before actual Thanksgiving and involves great friends, the normal Thanksgiving feast, and lots of wine & beer.

This year, Doug and I hosted and were honored to make the turkey for everyone. We bought a fresh 20 pound turkey the night before and woke up early to fix that bird. I assumed that if the giblets are provided in a package stuffed in the turkey, the neck would be too. This was NOT the case. I had to rip that poor bird's neck out with my bare hands. Now I know that you want the package to say that both the giblets AND the neck are removed, unless you're into ripping the neck out. After that, it came time to prep it. We picked up the skin from the meat and rubbed butter all over the turkey. That was actually my favorite part, weird, I know. After the butter was well spread between the meat and the skin, we rubbed EVOO all over the outside of the bird. Then, we just sprinkled some salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme all over it. We baked it at 325 degrees for 5 hours. We tented it with tin foil for the first hour. Then after removing the tin foil, we let the oven do its thing. We basted it about 3 times, although this is really only need to add to the color of the turkey. After removing it from the oven, we let it rest for 30 minutes, then carved right in. It came out great! I was nervous and being a perfectionist was convinced I messed it up somehow, but everyone loved it!

To make the day even better, all of our friends brought along delicious apps and side dishes. We had garlic mashed potatoes, scalloped corn, stuffing, and homemade cranberry sauce just to name a few! It was an amazing day with close friends and good food. The best way to kick off the holiday season! Here's some pictures:

A funny "family" picture:


A nice one:


Moira trying to eat the turkey! In the background check out Russ's homemade cranberry sauce and my KitchenAid:


Doug and I with our turkey!