Quick Turkey and Hominy Chili

My hunt to add more easy weeknight meal options to our dinner rotation is ongoing. If I don't actively experiment and look for inspiration, I find myself in a rut, making the same things over and over again. Every once in a while, I head to the library and come home with a giant stack of magazines. I've been known to spend hours scouring the pages, ripping my library receipt into little strips to mark the pages that inspire me. I actually find the process calming and productive at the same time.

I was doing just that a few months ago when I came across a recipe for a simple, hearty chili in the June 2015 edition of the Food Network Magazine. It was actually the first thing that I made from all of the recipes I tagged that day, adapting it slightly by adding more hominy (because I love the chewiness and earthy flavor), more spices (because I love flavor), and some masa harina to accent the hominy.

This isn't chili in the way that I normally think of chili, like a warming stew, it's actually closer to the meat sauce variety. Aka, there's not a whole lot of liquid. But they recommended serving it over rice, and that was right on. The little bit of liquid that it does have soaks in and adds some flavor to white rice. Oh, and it was on the table in 30 minutes.

Quick Turkey and Hominy Chili

Spiced turkey and chewy hominy are the stars of this easy, hearty weeknight meal.

by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Keywords: turkey hominy entree

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapeños + more to garnish
• 1 tablespoon brine from pickled jalapeños
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 1/2 pounds ground turkey
• 2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon masa harina
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 (25 ounce) can of hominy, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups chicken stock (or turkey stock or water)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, smoked or regular
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• big handful of roughly chopped cilantro
• 2 cups hot cooked rice, to serve

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, jalapeños, garlic, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Cooking, stirring, until onion is tender, ~5 minutes.

Add turkey, masa harina, chili powder, smoked paprika, and cumin; cook for another 5 minutes or until turkey has browned, breaking it up as it cooks. Add tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes to start to break down the tomatoes. Add hominy, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and cook until thickened, ~10 minutes.

Stir in the jalapeño brine and half of the cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Serve over hot rice, garnished with extra cilantro and some more pickled jalapeño, if you wish.

-slightly adapted from Food Network Magazine, June 2015

Spicy Chili Dip inspired by The Deepest Secret {book tour}

The Deepest Secret
author: Carla Buckley
publisher: Bantam
source: tlc book tours
hard cover: 448 pages

"foodie" read: Not a foodie read, but there is mention of food as a part of daily life. From Chicken Casserole to Ravioli, from ice cream to whole wheat doughnuts (which I almost made), from Gin & Tonic's to Pasta Puttanesca, there are plenty of references if you're paying attention. See why I chose to make Spicy Chili Dip below...

random excerpt: David looks at his wife, the woman he's loved. He thinks of their son. All the ways in which they've worked to protect this house from the sun had only allowed the darkness to creep inside. 

Spicy Chili Mac

The Tao of Chili Making

Chili will have a list of ingredients so long that it makes your head spin. It can't be helped. 

Don't even try making a small batch of Chili. It is impossible.

No matter how hard you try, two batches of Chili will never turn out the same. 

Learn it. Practice it. Embrace it. Hey, you can't make this stuff up. Except I totally did. But that doesn't make it any less true.

I mean it when I say embrace it, though - I've never met a (giant) pot of chili that I didn't like. From mild to fire-breathing, from shredded beef to ground chicken, from 15-bean to no-bean, from green to white to red...I like 'em all.

Spicy White Chicken Chili (crockpot)

I love the actual process of cooking.  It can calm my mind and my nerves...soothe my spirit.  Simple tasks like chopping and dicing, measuring and weighing, sautéing and stir-frying?  They all have a way of bringing me back down to earth and connecting me with myself again.  That's probably what drew me to this field in the first place.  A big part of it, at least.

That said, some days, I just don't have the time for all that good stuff.  School projects and field trips and homework and errands and appointments have a way of taking a toll on a person.  And sucking their precious "time of relaxation" away from them.

SPARTAN (Green & White) Chili ....Go State!

Fists are pumpin'...mouths are wootin'...legs are dancin'...roofs are raisin'...

My boys are Big Ten Champs!!  Go Spartans!!  Okay, we're tied for first, but I'll take it.  This chili is perfect for a game day.  We warmed up with a bowl while tailgating...and refueled with a bowl during half time.  There's nothing a little GREEN and WHITE can't fix.  Not today, at least. 

I started by soaking Great Northern Beans overnight and then cooking them until tender.  I also made a turkey stock with turkey carcass, neck, and a few extra pieces...plus veggies and aromatics (carrot, onion, celery, parsley, bay, cloves, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns).  If you don't have any turkey stock and don't feel like making any, feel free to use chicken stock or broth.  Oh, and of course you could use canned beans, if you wished, as well.

Green & White Chili

or

MSU Spartans Chili

or

Big Ten '10 Champs Chili

makes a big ol' batch (~1 - 1½ gallons)

olive oil

2 onions, chopped

2 green peppers, chopped

8 cloves garlic, peel & smash

2 poblano chiles (roasted, peeled, stemmed, seeded), chopped

2 Tbs. Hatch chile powder (or another green chile powder)

1½ c. salsa verde

1 gallon turkey stock

3 c. cooked Great Northern Beans (or another white bean)

2½ c. cooked white hominy

4 c. cooked, pulled turkey (or chicken)

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

garnish:

sour cream

avocado, diced

cilantro, chopped

pepperjack cheese, shredded

fried tortilla strips

Heat a couple of glugs of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onion, green pepper, garlic, and poblanos.  Cook until the onions become translucent, stirring from time to time.  Add hatch chile powder, stirring, for ~30 seconds then add salsa verde. Let it bubble away for a few minutes, then add in turkey stock and bring to a boil.  Lower heat to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes.  Add beans, hominy, and turkey meat to pot.  Season with a bit of salt and pepper, to taste.  Partially cover and simmer gently for ~20 minutes.

Serve topped with any or all of the garnishes.

Keeps well in a warm crockpot all day long.  Tastes even better after sitting (in the refrigerator) overnight and then re-heated!  

Go Green!  Go White!

*This post is linked to: