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turkey

It’s All About the Toppings: Homemade Chili

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Am I the only one who loves toppings, garnishes, sauces, etc.? I just love how they can take something that is kind of a cookie cutter recipe, and make it personal for everyone. My family is big on these types of dishes. When you have three little ones with various allergies and aversions it helps to not be a short order cook for everyone, but still give everyone some choices.

Chili is one of those dishes in our house. I make a pretty basic chili, but it is all about everything that goes along with it. My kids like the cornbread, rice, guacamole, avacados, cheese, tortilla chips etc. Which is fine, they are so consumed with their favorite toppings they don’t even realize they are eating chili sometimes. Brian and I have our favorite toppings too.

Brian likes his kind of old school. He likes it poured over home made cornbread with a little sharp cheddar on top.

 

Me on the other hand, I like a little squirt of lime, cilantro, and avacado slices. I also have some tortilla chips on the side for dipping.

 

Erin’s Chili
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
3 ribs of celery chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1 medium yellow onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 to 2 Tbs. chili powder
1 Tbs. cumin
1 tsp Tobasco (a few shakes)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 bottle of your favorite beer (I use Goose Island 312)
1 14 oz can white cannelini beans drained and rinsed
1 14 oz can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 28 oz can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes

 

In a large pot over medium to medium high heat, pour olive oil. When the oil is rippling hot, add ground beef or turkey and crumble. When ground meat is thoroughly cooked, about 3 – 5 minutes later, add celery, bell pepper, onion, and garlic stirring occasionally. Cook for another 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are just soft. Then add chili powder, cumin, hot sauce, salt and pepper and stir until spices coat meat and vegetables.

 

Add beer and stir for about one minute scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze. Then, add beans and tomato sauce and stir. Cover the pot and lower heat. Let cook for about 5 minutes or until chili is heated through.

 

What will you top yours with?

Suggestions for toppings
Cheddar Cheese
Chihuahua Cheese
Cornbread Crumbles
Sour Cream
Crumbled Tortilla Chips
Avocado Slices
Lime Juice
Cilantro
Green Onions
Guacamole
(Note: Some people like to serve chili over rice or pasta too!)

Gobble Gobble: Roasting a Turkey

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I was more than a little stressed last week. While my sister usually hosts Thanksgiving, this year she asked if I would roast a turkey. Our family is getting bigger, and the kids are eating more, so this year we needed three turkeys to have sufficient leftovers for everyone.

I’m happy to announce, with a little help from Williams and Sonoma, America’s Test Kitchen, and memories of my Mom and Grandma Nano, my turkey turned out beautifully and tasted awesome, as did the stuffing.

 

I know that a lot of people buy frozen turkeys, but this year for some reason the fresh turkeys seemed to be reasonably priced so I went that route. If you want to try this recipe please make sure you thaw the turkey completely before the brining process. Another thing worth mentioning, treat your turkey and yourself with a lot of care. Wash hands and surfaces between steps to prevent cross contamination.

Turkey
1 – 20-25 lb turkey thawed
1 can Williams and Sonoma Dry Brine
1 stick of butter softened
1 tablespoon Poultry seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 jar Williams and Sonoma Pomegranate Citrus Glaze

Stuffing (makes enough to stuff turkey and have leftover dressing)
2 loaves of white sandwich bread cubed
2 sticks of butter
2 onions minced
4 or 5 stalks of celery finely chopped
2 to 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning

 

 

Day before Thanksgiving (24 hours before you want to begin roasting turkey), rinse turkey, remove insides and put into a large roasting pan. Generously sprinkle dry brine mixture on all sides of the turkey. Then gently rub into the skin. (This has the same effect as liquid brining but without the mess). Then cover completely with plastic wrap and return to refrigerator for at least 8 hours, but 24 hours is best.

 

The next day, mix together softened butter and poultry seasoning and set aside. Begin to prepare stuffing ingredients.

 

Next, in a large sauté pan over medium to medium high heat, add butter, onion, and celery and cook until onions and celery are soft and translucent. This should take about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. While onion mixture cooks, in a large bowl add cubed bread and toss with poultry seasoning, salt and pepper (I know it is weird to not add herbs to onion mixture, but this is how Grandma did it). Remove onion mixture from heat and let cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

While stuffing mixture cools, remove turkey from refrigerator and rinse brine off thoroughly and place in a large roasting pan. Then gently lift skin and rub butter and poultry seasoning mixture between meat and skin.

Once the onion mixture is cooled, add to cubed bread and stir gently. Then slowly add chicken stock until the bread is just moist. You will probably not use all the chicken stock.

Using 1/3 to 1/2 of the stuffing mixture, loosely stuff turkey. Pour reserved stuffing into a casserole dish, cover with foil,  and put in oven for the last 35-40 minutes turkey is roasting in oven.

Tie turkey legs together with kitchen twine and put in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and generously brush with glaze. Cook until breast and leg temperature reaches 170-180 degrees on an instant read meat thermometer. This took about 4 1/2 hours for me.

Happy Holiday!