Buffalo Turkey Chili

A healthy, hearty delicious and cheap dish. What more can you want? I think there’s about 400 calories per serving (1 cup), if you omit the sour cream and cheese. Adapted from http://www.skinnytaste.com/2014/09/buffalo-chicken-and-bean-chili.html

Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings: 10

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground turkey

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped celery

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 habanero, deseeded and minced

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon paprika

1 15 oz. can pinto beans

1 15 oz. can navy beans

1 15 oz. can pink kidney beans

Salt and pepper

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

½ cup Frank’s hot sauce

3 cups chicken stock

2 cups corn

1.5 cups frozen peas

Garnishes:

Chedder cheese

Green Onions

Sour Cream

Heat a 6 quart dutch oven over medium high, add in a little oil and brown the turkey in two batches (about 5 minutes per batch), salting the turkey as it cooks then removing to a paper towel lined plate when finished.

Drop the heat to medium and add in the onion, carrots and celery, and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, until the vegetables start to soften.  Add in the garlic and habanero and cook for another minute. Add in the tomato paste, and cook for another additional minute.

Add all the stock and beans to the pot along with your seasonings – chili powder, cumin, paprika, Frank’s hot sauce (feel free to use less than ½ cup – start low and add as needed) salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the turkey back to the pot, give it a stir, and bring it back up to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Add in the corn and frozen peas, give the pot a stir, then cover and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes.

Serve with sour cream, cheese and green onions.

Turkey Arepas with Cranberry Salsa

If you’re looking for something different to do with Thanksgiving leftovers, why not make arepas? Now I have to admit, I was visiting relatives for Thanksgiving so I didn’t actually have leftovers, so I had to cook up the turkey and gravy just for this. I’ve included the recipe for that as well.

Serves 2 (with some leftover salsa)

Turkey and Gravy:

2 turkey thighs

2 tbsp flour

2 cups chicken stock

1 small shallot

1 sprig rosemary

½ carrot

½ celery stalk

Salt

Pepper

Season the turkey thighs with salt and roast at 425°F for 40 to 45 minutes. Pour the drippings from the pan into a small saucepan, and remove the bone from one of the thighs.

Add the flour to the drippings, whisking to create a roux. Cook for 2 minutes, whisking often. Slowly add the chicken stock, whisking to incorporate. Add the thigh bone, shallot, rosemary sprig, carrot and celery piece. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until it reaches the desired consistency.

While that’s going on, remove the skin from the turkey thighs and shred the meat.

Pour the finished gravy through a strainer into a bowl to remove the solids. Season with salt and pepper.

Cranberry Salsa:

1.5 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

½ apple, peeled and cored

Zest of 1 orange

4 tbsp sugar

1 serrano chili, deseeded and diced

2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Salt

Lime juice

Add the cranberries and apple to a food processor and pulse until finely shredded.  Add to a bowl with the orange zest, sugar and chili pepper. Let the salsa macerate for 15 minutes, then add the cilantro, along with salt and lime juice to taste.

Arepas:

1.5 cups masarepa flour

1.5 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, bring the dough together with your hands, then cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Heat a skillet over medium, and add a lug or two of vegetable oil. Use your hands to shape the dough into six slim discs (3/4” or so thick) Pan fry the arepas for 8 minutes total, flipping half way.

Remove to a paper towel to sop up any excess oil. Cut in half and fill with turkey, gravy and cranberry salsa.

Chipotle Buffalo Turkey Meatballs with Ancho Ranch Dressing

Buffalo wings are an absolute staple of Superbowl cuisine, so I figured I’d make something based on those flavors to munch on during the big game. I was originally going to use chicken, but the grocery store only had ground turkey so there you go. The meatballs are based on Martha Stewart’s recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/349216/mini-spicy-buffalo-chicken-balls-blue-cheese-and-hot-sauce and the ranch dressing is from http://penniesonaplatter.com/2012/06/04/buffalo-ranch-dressing/.  I thought these would have been a bit spicier than they turned out to be; I think next time I would use another chipotle and toss in some cayenne pepper as well.

Meatballs:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

3/4 cup Frank's RedHot hot sauce, plus more for serving

2 pounds ground turkey

2 large eggs

3 ribs celery, minced

1 2/3 cups panko breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1.5 teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

2 chipotles in adobo, minced

In a small sauce pot, melt the butter add in the hot sauce and whisk until emulsified. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix to combine. Form into 1” meatballs and place on 2 baking sheets, lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Heat the oven to 450°F. Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the center of the meatballs reads 165°F. Serve with Ancho Ranch Dressing, additional Frank’s, blue cheese crumbles on a crusty roll.

Ancho Ranch Dressing:

3/4 cup mayonnaise

3/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ cup chopped chives

1 clove garlic, halved

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup buttermilk

3 teaspoons ancho chili powder

1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a blender and give it a whiz to fully incorporate everything.

Sopa de Albondigas

Albondigas are traditionally beef meatballs, but since I had chicken stock in my freezer , I decided to make chicken meatballs… and then when the grocery store didn’t have any ground chicken, I ended up using ground turkey. Here’s the recipe as I made it; going forward I think I’d only include 1 chipotle chile (or maybe exclude them altogether).

For the Meatballs:

1 lb ground turkey

¾ cup cooked rice (1/4 cup uncooked)

1 egg

2 jalapenos, diced

1 teaspoon chopped mint

½ teaspoon Mexican oregano

½ teaspoon cumin

Salt and pepper

For the Broth:

1 poblano, roasted

1 clove garlic, roasted

1 14.5 oz can roasted tomatoes

2 chipotles in adobo, roughly chopped

6 cups chicken stock

Garnish:

Cilantro

Avocado

Red onion

Combine all the meatball ingredients together in a bowl and work everything together with your hands. Divide into 16 golf ball sized meatballs.

Heat up your broiler and put the poblano under it for a few minutes on each side, until the skin is blackened. Roast the garlic clove the same way (leave the skin on; it’ll only take a few minutes).

Remove the skin and seeds from the poblano and roughly chop. Add to a blender along with the garlic (remove the skin and roughly chop), tomatoes and 2 chipotles. Blend until smooth. Add this mixture to a pot along with the 6 cups of chicken stock. Bring it up to a simmer and add in the meatballs. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with cilantro, avocado and red onion.