Click on photo for larger image

Almost a week after Thanksgiving and would you believe we STILL have leftover turkey? Yikes!

With the exception of its wings, I don’t really care for turkey. I mean, I’ll eat it but I’m not crazy about it. I do love the wings, though. Yeah, I already said that…

Normally, I hate turkey leftovers. Simply Recipes posted a Turkey Chili recipe (and other Turkey leftover recipes). What’s a gal named Paz, whose looking for cooking adventures expected to do? Attempt to make it, of course!

This Turkey Chili was a winner for me. As recommended in the recipes, I served the Turkey Chili on a bed of rice, topped with red onions, cheedar cheese and sour cream. Let’s all say, “Delicious!” I especially loved the crunch of the chopped red onions and the combinatoin of the cheese and cream with the chili.

For once, eating leftover turkey a couple of days in a row, hasn’t bothered me at all. The Turkey Chili was basically easy to make and even more tasty as the days passed (Just like my Chili with Sirloin). Thanks, Elise! Your recipe made the leftover turkey go down much easier.

Paz

Click on photo for larger image

Turkey Chili
Simply Recipes

2 cups chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 (35 oz) cans stewed tomatoes, crushed
2 (15 oz) cans kidney beans, drained
2 Tbsp tomato paste
3/4 cup chicken or turkey stock
2 Tbsp chili powder (or up to 4 Tbsp if you like it really hot)
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp dried hot red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 Tbsp salt, plus more if desired to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 to 4 cups of shredded, cooked turkey meat
Sugar

Shredded cheddar cheese, chopped red onion, sour cream for optional garnish.

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. Serve alone, over rice, or with corn bread.

Makes about 12 cups. Serves 8.

Click on photo for larger image

My first gumbo! I made my first gumbo dish! And boy, did it turn out really well! Even the pickiest eater in my family asked for seconds and thirds and ate the leftovers the next day. ;-)))))))))

Until I made my gumbo, I’d never tasted it before. The opportunity to eat it never came up. When I started cooking, for some reason, I always thought gumbo was a very complicated dish to prepare. After seeing the recipe on Melissa’s blog, The Traveler’s Lunchbox, I became inspired to make it. It didn’t seem too hard to make.

I already had most of the ingredients, except for the sausage. When I went food shopping, I couldn’t find the andouille sausage, which was the first time I’d heard of it. However, I did find Kielbasa sausage (another type of sausage new to me). Melissa’s advice about what to do if you don’t use the andouille sausage (add cayenne, garlic powder, and dried thyme) helped a lot.

Another ingredient I couldn’t find was the filé powder. My search took me to three stores with no luck. I wonder how much different my gumbo would have tasted with the filé powder. However the end product was delicious.

One of my favorite parts of making the gumbo was making the roux. I had fun mixing the flour and oil and seeing it thicken and actually turn into the color of peanut butter. Peanut butter! Yeah, I know: It takes very little to get me excited. The roux really did bring out the “nutty flavor” that Melissa describes in her blog post.

Served with rice, the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo was very reminiscent of some West African cuisine. Perhaps that’s why that picky family member gobbled it up. My favorite part of the gumbo was the okra everything — the okra, chicken, and sausage…

I’m sure gumbo is great to eat at anytime, but this hearty and tasty dish was especially perfect to eat on a cold rainy day, which is when we had it. I know I’ll be making more during the winter.

Melissa, thanks for the recipe!

Paz

Ed. Note: Filé powder is made from ground sassafras leaves that was used to give root beer its distinctive flavor before artificial flavorings replaced it. Southerners add filé to their gumbos to thicken and flavor them. The powder gets stringy when it’s heated, so add it only after you’ve removed the gumbo from the heat source. Filé also doesn’t reheat well, so add only to the gumbo that you are planning to serve. ~ Lowfat Lifestyle.com

Click on photo for larger image

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
In a Cajun Kitchen by Terri Pischoff Wuerthner

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (she admits that bone-in, skin-on dark meat chicken pieces, such as legs, thighs and wings are more traditional as well as flavorful in Cajun cooking, so that’s what I used - a much better idea, in my opinion)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup corn oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 quarts warm chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, or to taste
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced 1 inch thick (or other spicy smoked sausage, such as Kielbasa, though my advice is to add the following if you don’t use andouille: another 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 1/2 pounds fresh okra or 20 ounces frozen okra, defrosted, sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons filé powder (I left this out, as I couldn’t find any locally)
chopped fresh parsley, to garnish cooked rice, to serve

Season the chicken cubes (or pieces) with the salt, paprika and cayenne pepper; set aside. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring constantly, until the flour has turned a medium-brown, like peanut butter. Add the onions, celery, and bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the seasoned chicken and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly (and reducing the heat, if necessary, to prevent burning).

Add the stock and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the hot sauce and sausage; reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add the okra and simmer for 30 more minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the filé powder just before dishing it up. Serve in soup bowls with a mound of rice in the center of each portion.

Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo with larger image

I got this delectable chicken recipe from Is It EDible. At first glance, it looked so simple and delicious that I knew I would be making it.

The ingredients were easy to find and purchase and the recipe was easy to make. I must say that I boiled the chicken more than steamed it, but it still turned out well. I was also very proud and happy with my very first cilantro pesto. Oh, how I love cilantro!

I liked how the recipe calls for adding some of the chicken broth into the rice (Jasmine rice, which I love). That certainly gave it more flavor. Rice, chicken, cilantro pesto — the combination made an enjoyable meal. Thanks, Ed, for the recipe!

Paz

Steamed Chicken and Rice with Cilantro Pesto
Is it EDible

For the Cilantro Pesto

1 bunch cilantro , washed and patted dry

3 cloves garlic

1 inch of ginger

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons oil

For the Steamed Chicken & Rice

3 lbs of chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on (about 10 pieces)

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups of rice, uncooked

1) In a food processor, pulse the cilantro, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and black pepper. Gradually add in the oil until to form a thick emulsion.

2) Fill a large pot with about 2 inches of water. Place the pasta insert inside. Cover and bring to a boil.

3) When the water is rapidly boiling, reduce to medium high heat. Place the chicken pieces skin side down in the pasta insert. It’s ok for the pieces to be stacked on top of each other.

4) Cover and let steam for 45 minutes or until chicken is done. Sprinkle salt over the chicken pieces.

5) Meanwhile, cook 3 cups of rice according to directions on package.

6) When rice is cooked, fluff the rice. Take 3/4 cup of the broth (including chicken fat that has drained down) from the stockpot and pour over the cooked rice. Fluff the rice again.

7) To serve, place 1/2 cup of rice on a plate with 2 chicken thighs. Spoon 1 tablespoon of cilantro pesto on top of each chicken thigh.Makes about 5 servings.

Ed’s 1st Note: I like to use jasmine rice because it is so fragrant. Do not use instant rice, converted rice, or Rice-a-Roni (even if it is the San Francisco treat). They are not starchy enough for this dish.

Ed’s 2nd Note: You can also serve this with sliced raw cucumbers as edible garnish.

I got this recipe from SaltShaker. It’s easy to make AND tasty. Dan served his chicken with brown rice, flavored with garlic and basil. I didn’t have that on hand, so I used plain white rice. I also garnished the food with freshly chopped cilantro. I like to garnish. My favorite part was chopping the cilantro and catching a whiff of its scent, as it floated upward from the chopping board. Mmmm, Mmmm, good! Thanks for the recipe, Dan!

Paz

Poulet en Fricasée à la Lyonnaise

Salt Shaker’s (Dan’s) adaptation from the recipe of bistro A l’Alliance, Paris

1 large frying chicken

3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped (you could also peel them if you like, I didn’t)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

½ cup dry white wine

¼ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of flour

salt and pepper

Cut the chicken into serving pieces and shake in a bag with the flour and a little salt and pepper until lightly coated. Heat the butter and oil (traditionally, a fricasse would be only butter, but I wanted to lighten it slightly - probably didn’t make enough of a difference, but it makes me feel better about it) in a pan big enough to accomodate the pieces all in one layer. When hot, put the chicken in and fry to a golden brown on all sides. Then lower the heat to minimum, cover the pan, and let the chicken cook through - about 20 minutes.

Put the chopped tomatoes in a small saucepan and cook with just a pinch of salt to help them release their juices. Cook for 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat but keep them warm.

Back to chicken - remove the lid, add the vinegar around the edge of the pan to help deglaze the sides, add the wine, the tomatoes, and the cream.

Mix the sauce ingredients together, leaving the chicken in the pan. Cover again, and simmer for about 9-10 minutes. The bit of flour from the chicken, along with the cream, will thicken the sauce nicely. Serve the chicken along with rice (I used brown rice here, the light nuttiness worked really well - and I’d flavored it with garlic and basil). Adjust the seasoning in the sauce and spoon around and/or over the chicken and rice.

I’d say that this serves 4, but it’s so good that it probably only serves 2…

I got this very easy chicken curry recipe from Kafka Na Praia. I think the mango chutney ingredient made this simple rice and chicken dish taste extra special. It’s taste is interestingly similar to an African stew we used to eat and as a result, my family really enjoyed the meal. Oh, I forgot to mention that I didn’t have any curry powder, so I omitted it when cooking. Perhaps that’s why it tasted like an African stew. I’ll have to remember to buy some curry and try the recipe again.

Paz

Chicken Curry

2 chicken thighs and 2 drumsticks, no bone , no skin

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon ginger, minced

1 big tomato, peeled and seeded, chopped

1/4 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons cooking oil

salt to taste

1 teaspoon mango chutney

1/2 cup yoghurt

Sprinkle chicken with a little salt and half curry powder.

Heat oil in a pan. Add chicken, browning on both sides. Add garlic, onion, ginger, tomato, remaining curry powder, mango chutney, and chicken stock. Mix gently, cover and simmer over low heat for about 20-30 minutes or until tender. Taste, and add salt as needed. Serve with rice and 2-3 tablespoons yoghurt.

Mango Chutney is the secret ingredient that makes this dish special