Satan’s Wearing Snowpants: Curly’s Cooking!

Cooking isn’t my strong suit–I’ll be the first to admit this little factoid (and you won’t get an argument from Husban-dito, either).  My culinary repertoire consists of 5 meals: tacos, fajitas, pasta, ‘breakfast for dinner’, and Shepherd’s Pie.  It should come as no surprise that we eat out a lot.   

Before we go any further, I’d like to state that when it comes to trying new things, I’m not your girl.  I never ate a turkey burger until I was 34 and have yet to try a veggie burger.  Converting from ground beef to ground turkey was monumental; sometimes I can’t believe that I actually made the switch.  Until you’ve dined with me, you don’t know from picky eaters.  The moral?  If I can eat and LOVE this turkey chili, so can anyone! 

I prepared this chili–my signature dish–for our annual Halloween party and it received rave reviews–included one party-goer who refused to believe it was turkey chili because “…it has REAL flavor!”  So many people asked for the recipe that I decided to do a step-by-step with photos on the old bloggaroo.  Let’s get started, shall we?

It’s a simple recipe that even a princess like moi can make–you only need 9 ingredients–most of which you may already have in your pantry.  Raid the larder for the following:

First things first.  Roughly dice a medium white onion and three green bell peppers.  Toss them into a frying pan (mine is 14″) with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Saute until soft and just a bit brown. 

Transfer onions and peppers to either a crockpot or bowl (if you plan to cook the chili in a pot on the stove).  Crank up the heat to high and get ready to fry up some turkey meat.  This is where the MAGIC happens–but only if you follow my instructions.  (I go through the ground turkey meat by hand before tossing it into the frying pan just to make sure there aren’t any weird textures or mysterious crunchy/gristly things that will cause me to vomit while eating.  You can skip this step if you’re daring.)  For this recipe, I use approximately 3 pounds of turkey meat and season it with salt and pepper.

I’m sorry for the disturbingly close shot of the turkey, but I don’t want you to miss the most VITAL step of this chili recipe.  After you toss the turkey into a flaming hot pan, DO NOT TOUCH IT until it burns/browns/caramelizes.  Caramelizing is what gives the chili a nutty, red-meat flavor! In the picture, note how the meat gets a bit foamy and is almost cooked through.  Only flip the meat when it resembles this image (approximately 7-8 minutes).  I flipped the middle piece so you can see what properly browned turkey looks like.

If you’re keeping up, this is what your turkey meat should look like.  I usually break up the pieces of turkey into bite-sized pieces before moving on.

While the turkey is browning, mix together the remaining ingredients in the crockpot (or bowl if you’re cooking the chili on the stove).  I use a box (26 oz.) of chicken stock, 2 tablespoons of chili powder, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 can of crushed tomatoes (28 oz), and 2 cans of dark red kidney beans–RINSED and drained.  Toss in about a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and the cooked turkey meat. 

The longer I cook my chili, the better it is.  I cook it for two hours on high with the lid on and then I turn the lid so it’s ajar, allowing steam to escape, for the last hour or two.  This helps to evaporate some of the liquid and thicken the chili.  If you want to cook this for longer, I advise turning it down to low so the sugar doesn’t burn.

Here’s a shot of the chili after about 4 hours of cooking on high in the crockpot.  Husban-dito was kind enough to hold the spoon for me as I snapped this picture.  Look how the flavors have melded and the chili has developed a deep color…oh, yum.  Come to mama.

Feel free to dish up the chili after it has cooked for a few hours.  You can serve it naked…or dress it up with some cheese, crackers, and sour cream.  If you’re really audacious, you can toss in some jalepenos or red pepper flakes because the chili is mild, not spicy.

Now, let’s eat!

Nat’s Turkey Chili (adapted from The Canyon Ranch Turkey Chili recipe)

• 3lbs. ground turkey breast
• 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 26oz. chicken broth (Swanson box has 26oz.)
• 2 cans dark red kidney beans, RINSED
• 3 green peppers
• 1 medium white onion
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• olive oil for the pan

1.  Roughly dice onion and peppers.  Saute in pan with olive oil until soft; transfer to crockpot or pot.

2.  Turn up heat to high and brown/burn/caramelize turkey on one side.  DO NOT FLIP IT TOO SOON…it must caramelize for flavor!

3.  Rinse kidney beans and add to crockpot.  Toss in peppers and onions.  Add box of chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, sugar, salt, and chili powder.

4.  After meat is completely cooked, add to crockpot.  Set on high and cook for at least 3 hours.  The longer you cook it, the better the flavor!  If you want to cook it longer, watch to make sure it doesn’t burn.  Turn to low after 3 hours.  I leave my crockpot lid ajar during the last hour of cooking to help the liquid evaporate a bit so the chili can thicken.

5.  Dish up with cheese, sour cream, crackers, peppers, or whatever floats your boat.  ENJOY!