Indian Summer Turkey Chili

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Cook Time: 25 min
Level: Easy
Yield: 8-10 servings


Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
2 1/2 pounds ground turkey (85 percent lean) or ground turkey breast (99 percent lean), 2 packages
4 tablespoons dark chili powder, 2 palm fulls
2 tablespoons grill seasoning blend, any brand, 1 palm full
1 tablespoon cumin, 1/2 palm full
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 to 3 tablespoons hot sauce, medium to extra-spicy
1 large onion, quartered
2 large peppers, any color combination, red, green, purple, yellow or orange, chopped
1/2 bottle beer (the alcohol cooks out), about 1 cup
1 (14-ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup smoky barbecue sauce
2 cups corn kernels, optional


Directions

Heat a pot over medium to medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan, and the turkey meat. Season the meat with: chili powder, grill seasoning, cumin, Worcestershire and hot sauce. Break up the meat with the back of a wooden spoon into small crumbles.


Chop the onion, reserving 1/4 of it for topping the chili. Brown meat 5 minutes, then add onions and chopped bell peppers and cook 10 minutes more. Add beer and deglaze the pan, scraping up the drippings and cooking off the alcohol. Add tomato sauce and barbecue sauce and bring to a bubble. It using corn kernels add them now. Let chili simmer 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings and heat level to your taste. Remove from heat and serve.


TIDBIT:

To make a double batch, heat 2 pots and make 1 batch in each pot, rather than using 1 massive pot that is hard to control.

Dippers:

Choose from any or all of the following for dipping and scooping into your chili:

Pretzel Rods
Yellow, Red or Blue Corn Tortilla Chips, any flavor
Black Bean Tortilla Chips
Polenta Chips, Plain or Guacamole flavor
Pita Chips, Plain or Spicy flavors
Yukon Gold, Red Bliss or Blue Potato Chips, any flavor

All of the above can be found on either snack aisle or natural foods snack section in your market.

Toppers:

Choose from any or all of the following for topping your chili:

Shredded Cheeses: smoked white sharp cheddar, such as Cabot brand, pepper jack, chipotle Cheddar, 5 peppercorn Cheddar, Monterey jack
Sliced canned jalapenos, drained
Salsas
Sour cream
Chopped raw onion
Chopped green olives and pimentos
Chopped cilantro leaves
Diced tomatoes

Defrosted frozen corn or leftover corn on the cob, scraped from cob

From: foodnetwork.com

Chili-Garlic Roasted Broccoli

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Cook Time: 20 min Level: Easy Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, eyeball it 5 to 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend (recommended:Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick Grill Mates) 1 large head broccoli, cut into thin, long spears Directions Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, chili powder and grill seasoning in the bottom of a large bowl and add the broccoli spears. Toss to coat broccoli evenly then transfer to a large nonstick baking sheet. Roast the broccoli until ends are crisp and brown and stalks are tender, 17 to 20 minutes. From: foodnetwork.com

Autumn Potato Gratin

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Cook Time: 35 min
Level: Easy
Yield: 8 servings


Ingredients

4 pounds mixed baby potatoes, such as Red Bliss, Peruvian Purples, and Fingerlings
2 cups heavy cream, plus some to cover
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
2 sprigs each fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary
2 garlic cloves, cracked
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan


Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


Halve the potatoes and toss them into a large baking dish and season with salt and pepper.


Meanwhile, put the cream, butter, herbs, and garlic in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, to infuse the cream with flavor. Season with salt and pepper.


Pour the hot cream mixture through a strainer over the potatoes, (discard the herbs and garlic), if there is not enough cream to go 3/4 of the way up the potatoes then pour some additional cream on top to make up the difference. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through and top begins to brown. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

From: foodnetwork.com

Penne-Wise Pumpkin Pasta

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Cook Time: 10 min Level: Easy Yield: 6 servings Ingredients Salt 1 pound whole-wheat penne 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 3 shallots, finely chopped 3 to 4 cloves garlic, grated 2 cups chicken stock 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree 1/2 cup cream 1 teaspoon hot sauce, to taste Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste 2 pinches ground cinnamon Salt and black pepper 7 to 8 leaves fresh sage, thinly sliced plus more, for garnish Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Directions Heat water for pasta, salt it and cook penne to al dente. Heat the oil, 2 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic to the pan, saute 3 minutes. Stir in chicken stock and combine with pumpkin, stir in cream then season sauce with hot sauce, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 to 6 minutes more to thicken. Stir in sage, toss with pasta with grated cheese, to taste. From: foodnetwork.com

Grilled Chicken with Arugula Pesto

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Quick, light and delicious pasta!

Cook Time: 10 min
Level: Easy
Yield: 4 servings


Ingredients

1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds or shelled pistachios
1 cup packed fresh arugula leaves
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 clove garlic, grated or minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 small pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast (tenders removed)


Directions

Heat a grill pan to high.

Toast the nuts lightly in small skillet over low heat, then add them to a food processor.

Add the arugula, basil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper, to taste, and pulse to combine.

With the processor on, stream in the extra-virgin olive oil to form thick pesto.

Lightly pound out the chicken, then rub all sides with the pesto. Spray the grill pan with cooking spray or rub with a little oil and grill the chicken 2 to 4 minutes on each side.

From: foodnetwork.com

Something a little different with cauliflower

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Fresh Cauliflower Gratin
American Dietetic Association Cooking Healthy Across America Copyright 2005

Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 teaspoons salt
1 whole head cauliflower, trimmed and washed
3 tablespoons reduced fat mayonnaise I used regular
4 tablespoons honey mustard or stone ground mustard I used half Dijon and half honey mustard
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 2-quart ovenproof casserole dish with the cooking spray.

Bring 3 quarts water to a boil; add the salt and the cauliflower. Reduce heat to medium and simmer about 10 minutes or until the cauliflower is fork tender.

Combine the mayonnaise, mustard and cayenne pepper in a small bowl; set aside.

Remove the cauliflower with a large slotted spoon. Place in the prepared casserole dish and separate the cauliflower florets slightly. Cover with the mustard mixture and top with shredded cheese.

Bake, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.
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This was a great cauliflower recipe, if you like mustard.  It is the predominant flavor.  There are so many mustards available that you can really picked and choose what you like. Yellow mustard is too harsh.  I misread the recipe and started with Dijon mustard but I only had a couple of tablespoons so I rounded it out with honey mustard. Then I saw that it was supposed to be all honey mustard. I think the mixture was better because I only had some store-brand generic honey mustard.  I did have some better hot honey mustard that I might try next time.

Cauliflower is one of my trigger foods.  I don't want to stop eating it once I start (unless it's raw - yuck!) I made this as a side but I decided to make it the main course.  I ended up that little dish you see pictures several times.

Sorry, that's it. I can barely get a post up these days, never mind make it interesting.

Kale - not bad at all

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Cheese Tortellini Soup with Cannellini, Kielbasa, and Kale
The Bon Appétit Cookbook Copyright 2006

2 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounces fully cooked smoked kielbasa sausage, thinly sliced I used a smoked chicken sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh fennel bulb I used celery
4 garlic cloves minced
1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh thyme I used some dried
½ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
10 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 cups chopped kale (about ½ bunch)
1 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained

1 9-ounce package cheese tortellini I used dried so I cooked them most of the way first
1 cup grated Asiago cheese or Parmesan cheese I forgot this

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add next 6 ingredients and sauté until vegetables are soft and kielbasa is brown, about 12 minutes. Add broth and bring to boil. Stir in kale and cannellini . Reduce heat to low and simmer until kale is wilted, about 4 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before continuing.)

Add tortellini to soup. Simmer until pasta is tender but still firm to bite, about 5 minutes.

Ladle soup into bowls. Serve, passing grated cheese separately.
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I bought a HUGE bag of kale to make baked kale and I was left with a ton of kale.  I happened to have some smoked sausage and cheese tortellini too so I decided to make this soup and I'm glad I did.

Why does kale get such bad press? I guess all the greens used to get maligned but I hope everyone has figured out that they can be pretty darn good. I loved the peppery taste of this soup and the kale was completely inoffensive and actually delicious. I added too many tortellini because I just wanted to use them up.  Next time I will add more kale and less tortellini. The dried tortellini worked really well here. They have a nice sharp cheesy flavor.

As much as I love kale, I still can't figure out that huge bag. I didn't find that it shrinks down as much as spinach but maybe I'm wrong. Heck, they don't even sell spinach in bags that large. What's the deal?