Chicken & Turkey Chili

This all started out as a friendly competition between my boyfriend and I, who could make a better chili? Surely I could? I sell all the ingredients to make it, sell all the tools to make it, how could I lose? I set out to find the best recipe I could find as a solid base recipe to alter to my tastes in order to win. The first site I obviously turned to was Allrecipes - a personal favourite of mine. The thing was, not only did I want to win (no question) but I wanted to make my chili a bit healthier. I decided on the fusion chili recipe below as a good base but I added a lot and changed alot.

Now the recipe calls for 6 pounds of meat. There was no way that was happening. I used 3 pounds and it was more than enough (unless you're cooking for 20, I got a solid 12 portions out of this). Instead of the meats listed I figured this was my chance to make it healthier (ish). I used 1.5 pounds of the Johnsonville Turkey Hot Italian Sausages - All turkey and spice. These are great on their own too. And 1 pound of lean ground chicken thigh. Thats the dark meat. It has more flavour and pretty much the same in the way of calories/fat. Not to mention its about half the cost. If you can't find (or don't want to spend) the Italian Turkey Sausages you can use plain old ground turkey - just make sure to adjust the seasoning.

Chicken and Turkey Chili
Slightly Adapted from Here

Ingredients:
1 Can Chipoltes in Adobo Sauce
1.5 pounds hot Italian Turkey sausage, casings
removed
1 pound ground Chicken
1 red onion, diced
1 sweet onion, diced
1 cup diced celery
10 cloves garlic, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 (5.5 ounce) can tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine or espresso
3 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup hot sauce ( I Used Franks thick)
1 tablespoon Chipolte chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 cup honey
30-36 Ounces Beans, I used Eden Organic Kidney Beans
2 Ears of Corn or about 1 Cup

Directions:

1. In a small food processor add contents of Chipolte Peppers in Adobo Can and puree until smooth.

2. Place turkey sausage (if using the sausages, cut the casings and squeeze out the meat) and ground chicken in a large, dutch oven, I used a 5 QT. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove meat from pan, and set aside. In the same pot, Heat meat drippings over medium heat, you may need to add a touch of oil depending on amount of drippings. Saute onions, celery and garlic until onions are soft and translucent. Season with salt and black pepper. Stir in tomato paste, and allow to caramelize. Pour in wine or espresso to deglaze the pot, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom.

3. Stir in cooked meat, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and hot pepper sauce. Season with chili powder and cumin. Bring to a boil, then stir in blended chili mixture and honey. Add as much or as little of the chili mixture as you would like. I Added about 3/4 of it. Carefully mix in kidney beans pinto beans without breaking them. Cover, and simmer for 3 hours. Stir and scrape the bottom every hour or so

4. Just before you're about to serve, either broil the corn or roast it on the BBQ and stir in the cooked kernels.

As you can see it makes a pretty full pot. 

Serve with No Fat Greek Yogurt, Cheese and Chips or some Dinner Rolls.

I won the Chili Cook Off.

Szechwan Seafood

I wanted to make something that was more on the healthy side versus my usual red meat or pasta choice. I decided on some Seafood, with a kick. I bought the biggest scallops I could find - about 1 - 2 inches in diameter and some large (pre-cooked, deveined) Shrimp.

I made this exact recipe from All Recipes with the exception of I added in the scallops and used fresh ginger instead of from a spice jar.

Since my shrimp were already cooked I put them aside while I seared the scallops in a small amount of the oil, onions and garlic on both sides until they were a medium brown. While the scallops were cooking I took the tails off my shrimp.

After I took the Scallops out of the pan I added a touch of butter and put about 1/4 of the pan "drippings" into my basmati rice I had cooking. Helped marry the two together I thought - as I served the seafood on this.

I had taken a reviewers suggestion and premade the sauce, I put in a small saucepan - 1 to 2 qt let it come to a boil and then threw my Seafood in. I let it all simmer together for 3-5 minutes.

I served it on top of the rice with the extra sauce on top and beside a Spinach, Strawberry and Avocado salad. I paired this with the Grey Monk Gewurztraminer.

I will definitely make this again however I'll add more chili flakes and ginger for sure. I generally like my food a bit spicier.

Picture to follow.

Szechwan Seafood

Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry With Rice

I was teaching one of my friends to cook and thought I`d start with something simple like stir fry. There`s no recipe for this, just add the veggies you like with the meat you like. I paired it with `Summer White` wine from House of Rose. It balanced out the spiciness. Here`s what I did and added.

2 Chicken Breasts (Defrost & Cut into Bite sized chunks)
1 Stalk of Broccoli
1 Piece of Celery
1 Carrot
1 Can of Water Chestnuts
1 Red Pepper
Golden Dragon Stir Fry Sauce
1 TBSP Chili Paste
Garlic Flakes
Onion Flakes
5 Pepper Blend (Epicure)
Chicken Stock

I cooked my rice in Chicken Stock because it adds a good flavour to it and ties it to the Stirfry.

Add 2 TBSP of oil to the Wok and cook your chicken. (Till its White, not pink)
Add all the spices to the chicken and let it sit on it. (2 Mins)
Add The water chestnuts & Carrots (2 Mins)
Add the red pepper & broccoli (2 Mins)
Pour in some chicken stock to get the spices off the bottom of the Wok. This is called Deglazing.

Stir it together for a minute or 2 and remove it from the heat. Serve with the rice (or noodles if you want)

This turned out great and made about 4 servings.

Here's a photo!

Sun Dried Tomato & Cheese Bread

I made this bread a while ago because I got some free sun dried tomato's and thought bread would be the best way to use them. I changed this recipe to fit what I had and to fit what I like in a bread.

I used Cheddar and Mozza because I had them. I would probably use the asiago or something similar like Romano or even Parmesan if you have it because the strong cheese flavour is meant for this bread. If you`re ok with cheddar, use old. I also just used bread flour instead of the amaranth flour. I baked this in a pie plate so I`d have wedges.

I don`t have a bread machine, at All Recipes you can search the comments and usually someone will help you out. This is the comment that helped me!

``I do not have a bread machine, but made this recipe by hand - it turned out really well. First dissolve the yeast in 1 cup warm water, then add the rest of ingredients in order listed. Allow to rise for 1 hour until doubled, then punch down. Allow to rest on baking sheet for 15 minutes. Cook at 375 for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned```

Here`s the link!

Sun Dried Tomato & Cheese Bread

Fish Tacos with Sauce

I`ve made this recipe a few times over the summer and I loved it. You need to make the salsa mix too and it brings it all together. Its the best fish taco recipe I've found and its not all the bad for you without battered fish. The salsa makes it pretty filling and I usually leave out the cabbage, but I've used it a couple times.

I added a few more spices to this and changed out the fish for a cheaper one - I mean its tacos any ways. I also took out the cilantro because I don't really like it, just me though.

For the salsa I added a red pepper too because I happened to have one. I also used this as a bean salad type side dish after I was out of the fish.

**The link for this causes my internet to crash for some reason. But it's there if you'd like!

Fish Taco's With Salsa and Sauce
(Adapted slightly from Rachael Ray)

Ingredients

For the fish tacos:

1 pound cod, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks or cooked as a whole fillet
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon chipolte chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Clove Garlic, grated
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Corn tortillas
Shredded cabbage and/or radishes sliced thin
Black Bean, Mango and Avocado Salsa (Below)

For the sauce:

1/2 Cup light mayo
1/2 Cup 0% Greek Yogurt
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 chipotle pepper from a can of chipotle in adobo (or 1 tbsp of already made paste)

Black Bean, Mango and Avocado Salsa

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 mango, diced
2 avocados, diced
2 garlic cloves, grated
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 Jalapeno
1 Red Pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the fish, garlic, spices and lime juice and let marinate while you prepare the salsa.

2. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small food processor and blend until combined with no chunks left.

3. Mix all prepared ingredients for salsa together and let sit while you cook the fish.

4. Cook the fish over medium heat in a skillet until it flakes easily and is cooked through.

5. Add all ingredients, as much as you'd like, in the corn tortillas and serve.

Burgers

I've been making all my own burgers lately since its waaaaay cheaper then buying them and I can actually make them spicy this way. I found this recipe a while ago, I've now made it with hamburger and ground turkey. Both have turned out really well. I did alter it a bit, different for each type of meat. I used a dark beer for both.

For the ground beef I used onion flakes instead of powder and I only have chipotle chili powder. I let the beef sit over night in the spices and beer before making the patties and it definitely makes them a lot hotter then if you make them and throw them on the grill right away.

I did the same as above for the turkey and I also took out the chili flakes and added a lot more Worcestershire. That makes them taste a bit more like beef. I added breadcrumbs to the turkey ones too since they were a bit stickier. I tried a tip that I'd picked up, to lightly coat the burgers on each side with flour to help them stay together on the grill. Since this recipe doesn't use egg I think it definitely helped. I mixed the flour with Epicure Burger Seasoning so it wouldn't be floury tasting.

The link is below!

Zippy Burgers

Pesto

This is a recipe I've been making for a while. My cousin gave it to me when I lived in Australia. It changes everytime I make it but here's the jist of it...

Ingredients:

1 10oz Bag Baby Spinach

1/4 cup Pine Nuts (Optional)

1/2 Cup Basil chopped

4 Cloves of Garlic

2 TBSP Parsley

4 TBSP Olive Oil

1/4 cup Pine Nuts (Optional)

Cubed Feta Cheese (Up to one cup)

Directions:

Pick stems off spinach leaves. Wash spinach in strainer until damp. Cook spinach in low - medium heated non-stick pan for a couple minutes, doesn't take long to cook.

Put the cooked spinach, basil, the first measured pine nuts, garlic and parsley into a food processor, stream in olive oil to loosen. You may need more or less depending on your ingredients. More often than not, I use feta in place of the nuts.

Mix with cooked pasta in a wide pan with cubed feta till coated and cheese is softened slightly.