Two Jewels & A Turkey... Chili!

I realize now that it's been quite some time since I shared a recipe, in fact not since Christmas - my how the time has flown! I suppose it's fitting then, that this recipe calls for turkey. Last weekend I thawed some leftover Christmas bird and made a chili. If you haven't yet used up yours, (& hopefully you had some leftover :) this is a great choice. Easy, healthy and bursting with flavour!

It was adapted from a recipe I found at Simply Recipes, here's a link to the original.

Turkey Chili Recipe

INGREDIENTS
2 cups chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 cup chopped green pepper (I left this out - only had red on hand & didn't miss it at all)
1/4 cup olive oil
Two 35 oz cans stewed tomatoes, crushed
Two 15 oz cans kidney beans, drained (I used both white and red kidney beans)
2 Tbsp tomato paste (I used 4 Tbsp)
3/4 cup chicken or turkey stock
2 Tbsp chili powder (or up to 4 Tbsp if you like it really hot - I used 3)
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp dried hot red pepper flakes (I used only 1 teaspoon and that was hot enough for us) 
1 teaspoon dried oregano (I used 2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning instead)
1 Tbsp salt, plus more if desired to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 to 4 cups of shredded, cooked turkey meat
Sugar (I omitted this)
Shredded cheddar cheese, chopped red onion, sour cream for optional garnish.

I added two cups of frozen corn the last 15 minutes of cooking.

METHOD

1 In a large, 8-quart, thick-bottom pot, cook the onion and green pepper over medium high heat, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for a minute or two more. Add a bit more olive oil if needed.

2 Add tomatoes, tomato paste, stock. beans, oregano, salt, pepper, and cooked turkey meat. Bring mixture to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for an hour.

3 Salt to taste. Add 1 to 3 teaspoons of sugar to take the edge of the acidity of the tomatoes if desired.

The chili may be made in advance and chilled for 2 days, or frozen for 2 months.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese, chopped red onion, and or sour cream.

Makes about 12 cups. Serves 8.

Before I go, I have two jewels to share with you. Above is an inexpensive scale I purchased last summer when my husband was seriously dieting and needed to weigh his cuts of meat. I had never used a scale before, always just guesstimated ! The other day I was making a stew in my crock-pot and when I was divvying up the package of stewing beef, it suddenly dawned on me how often I now use my scale - a lot! It was well worth the few dollars I spent on it, especially when I purchase large packages of meat, or a recipe calls for 6 oz or 1/2 pound of something, for example fruit.

Also, did you know that you can freeze leftover portions of tomato paste? The above recipe, for example, calls for only 2 tablespoons - a small tin of paste holds approximately 7 tablespoons. I simply froze the rest in tablespoon-sized dollops on parchment paper and popped them into a freezer bag later. Next time I need a tablespoon or two of tomato paste, I can quickly reach into my freezer and tada - I have the exact amount I need! This is a little trick which saves both time and money.