So the other night, when we found those cherished few hours, he scanned through the Xbox/Netflix combination for possibilities before turning to ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas. I must have done something right in raising this young man, because he wisely chose National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
If you've ever seen the dinner scene in this classic comedy,with Chevy Chase ceremoniously cutting into the turkey...well, you may begin to understand why my own family gives me harmless little holiday responsibilities like microwaving the Harvard beets and making the French onion-green bean casserole.
I guess it's because, for a good part of my life, I don't think I ever turned the stove dial to anything below "high". That may be why my single attempt to cook in our rarely-used college kitchen just over twenty years ago resulted in three red trucks and slew full of firefighters ending up on our lawn outside. The bad news was that the meal didn't work out. The good news was that they took pity on me and waived the fine for a false alarm.
When I think that there's been more than one time in my life that my cooking has driven people out of the building in order to avoid smoke inhalation, it seems almost audacious to share a recipe with anybody.
But be assured that not all my culinary efforts result in potentially dangerous outcomes. These are the ones I choose to share with you ~ the ones that didn't create fumes, that didn't compel fire sirens to sound, and that people actually liked and ate heartily.
So, just two days ago, with the hint of snow in the forecast, I started dreaming of that crock pot of chili. The snow was a no-show, but the chili was not.
I am no Julia Childs, but I do the crock pot fairly well. I love it and all that goes along with it, including recipe books like Fix-It-And-Forget-It or Facebook pages like The Crock pot Girls. (By the way, remind me to tell you the story of how I lost my favorite crock pot someday...)
If you want a crock full of chili that both the big people and the little ones will eat, try this:
Timeless Turkey Chili
(Timeless because it really doesn't take much time to make...its alternate name is Cheap Turkey Chili because it doesn't require a whole lot of ingredients either.)
3 pounds of ground turkey
2 packets of McCormack Chili Seasoning (Original)
2 cans of Bush's Best Chili Magic (Traditional Mild)
2 cans of drained diced tomatoes (I get the 14.5 oz. cans of Hunt's Sweet Onion and Hunt's
Roasted Garlic, but these are variable according to personal taste)
1 small can tomato sauce (8 oz.)
1 bag of tortilla chips
1 box of any kind of pasta
Shredded cheese (or slices to melt on top of each bowl)
Turn on the crock pot to low and add the two cans of Chili Magic, the diced tomatoes, the tomato sauce, and one packet of the McCormack chili seasoning. Stir it up and put the lid on the crock.
In a skillet, over medium heat, brown the ground turkey in some olive oil. Because ground turkey has a different texture than beef, I try to allow for some "clumps" of turkey here, rather than grounding everything to smallest pieces. After browning well, add a little water to cover the bottom of the skillet and mix in the second packet of seasoning. Bring to a boil, let simmer 10 to 15 minutes, then drain.
Add the turkey to the crock pot, and let it all sit for about two or three hours on low. Serve over pasta or with tortilla chips and top with the cheese of your choice. You can also throw on some hot dogs and put out some rolls so your guests have the option of chili, hot dogs, or a chili dog.
One last thing...there's no chance of burning the chili, but the "hazzard" of the crock pot is drying out the meat (trust me, I know). So keep your eye on the length of time your chili sits, and put it on warm after about four hours. That way, when you take the lid off the crock, it won't look like Catherine's smoking turkey in Christmas Vacation.
Have a wonderful and hap hap happy Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment