It's definitely that time of year again. Time for crisp mornings, huge sweaters, crunchy leaves, mugs of tea, pumpkin-flavored everything, and bowls upon bowls of bold soups and stews that fill you up and keep your warm. I can't stand it when some people think that fall and winter replaces the gorgeous fresh foods of spring and summer with dull, bland, and heavy meals that leave you craving exciting flavors. Obviously, you have to make due with what's in season, but I think fall and winter bring some of the best foods on the planet, such as pomegranates, pumpkins, and citrus fruits. And as the case may be when cooking huge pots of soup or stew on chilly days, raiding the spice rack can make any meals more flavorful and a lot less boring.
In order to ward off the cold-weather woes, I fix a big batch of turkey chili pretty often, almost always tweaking the recipe with a different kind of bean or a little more spiciness from hot green chiles or cayenne pepper. I think that making homemade chili is an art, where the cook can inject their favorite flavors into the recipe and still come up with something new every time. I have never made a batch of chili that tastes exactly like the last one. It's a nice balance of familiarity and new flavors.
Some of the variations I have made on this chili include adding a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder to the spice mix, throwing in a teaspoon of lime zest, using black beans or red kidney beans instead of cannelini beans, and using chicken broth instead of water to reach a thinner consistency. I love the richness that the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes give, and the cinnamon is always a must in all of my chili recipes - it just works.
So embrace the autumnal season by curling up with a bowl of this chili and a good book (or a few episodes of New Girl on Hulu), and be at peace. Happy eating!
Turkey Chili
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 lb. lean ground turkey
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
1 (24 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
2 cans white cannelini beans, drained & rinsed
1/4 to 1/3 cup water, depending on how thick the mixture is
In a soup pot or dutch oven, cook the onion, bell pepper, and garlic, and salt in 1 tablespoon olive oil until the the onions are translucent. Move mixture to a bowl and set aside. Add a bit more oil and the ground turkey, cooking the turkey until no longer pink. Return the veggies to the pot, add the chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, cinnamon, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Stir in the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes (the mixture will be very thick). Fold in the white cannelini beans. Thin the chili out with a few tablespoons of water at a time until the mixture is thick, but has a more liquidy consistency. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with more salt if needed, and serve hot with lots of crusty bread for dipping.
I have always been under the impression that you can fry just about any food and instantly make it a million times more delicious than it was before. I say just about any food because, honestly, some folks have started frying things like entire sticks of butter, and I truly don't know if that is a stroke of genius or the worst idea ever (perhaps both...). However, I will gladly put down money for anything from fried cheesecake to macaroni and cheese, Milky Way bars to fish and chips, even fried vegetables, including what I think is one of the best foods in the world, fried zucchini. Give me a plate full of fried zucchini served with a giant wedge of lemon, and I am utterly happy and content.
Indeed, the only thing keeping me from eating a "Supersize Me"-style diet of fried foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day is the fact that fried food just ain't too healthy. Enter my new best cooking friend - PAM spray. I'm not saying that PAM replaces the taste of a shallow or deep frying method, but it came pretty close when I made a baked version of fried zucchini. It was especially nice to not have to use a whole bunch of oil for frying or stand over the stove waiting for the zucchini to get golden brown. Just dredge the zucchini in flour, egg, and crispy Panko breadcrumbs like usual, then spray the pan and the tops with regular PAM spray and bake until crispy and delicious. I dipped mine in tomato sauce, but the zucchini would be amazing dipped in a mixture of mayonnaise, crushed garlic, and lemon juice. Eat this healthier version now, and show the deep-fried version some love on special occasions.
I guess you really can have your zucchini and eat it too.
Oven Fried Zucchini
Serves 1 very hungry person, but can easily be doubled or tripled for sharing
1 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup flour
1 to 1 1/2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
salt & pepper, to taste
PAM cooking spray
grated Parmesan cheese, to taste
1 giant wedge lemon, for serving
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. After slicing the zucchini, place the beaten egg, flour, and Panko breadcrumbs into 3 separate bowls and season each with salt and pepper. Coat each slice of zucchini lightly with flour, then egg, and then Panko breadcrumbs, making sure each coating sticks well. Spray a baking sheet well with the PAM cooking spray, then lay out the breadcrumb coated zucchini in an even layer. Evenly spray the tops of the zucchini with more cooking spray. Bake for about 25 minutes, flipping the zucchini halfway through to ensure even browning. When the zucchini is crispy and brown, remove from oven and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan cheese and the juice from the lemon wedge. Serve piping hot with tomato sauce or a mixture of mayonnaise, crushed garlic, and lemon juice for dipping.
So there is a recent internet craze going on in which everyone has become obsessed with microwave desserts. Essentially, they are the single-serve, minimal-ingredient, 5-minute answer to the age old problem of wanting a warm, homemade dessert without having to put in the elbow grease to make it. It may seem like baking blasphemy to stick any kind of batter in a microwave and call it by its original name, but roll with me here. I have tested a few of these recipes, and only two have come up to par with my needs and expectations for what a microwavable dessert should be. I want whatever I am making to be thoroughly cooked without being spongey or dried out, have a flavor that is extremely similar to if not the same as a regular full-recipe dessert, and I want it to be easy enough to make that I will make it again and again.
A recipe that genuinely meets these expectations is the microwave chocolate chip cookie. I have tried several recipes for various cakes and cookies and such, which have all had an unpleasant, sponge-like texture (sometimes to the point of hockey puck consistency) and a strange aftertaste. The chocolate chip cookie recipe, however, has the perfect ratio of doneness to gooeyness, has great flavor, and is super quick and easy to make.
My body also thanks me because I make just one, eat it, and go on with my life, as opposed to making a huge batch cookies and somehow eating them all by myself. Incidentally, making a microwave version means you don't have to share with anyone, and sometimes you just need to have your own dessert.
If you simply can't fathom the idea of not making a big batch of cookies, I completely understand! There is a method behind baking and a calmness that it brings, but sometimes you just need a cookie... right now... like, right now. In that case, use this recipe as an emergency sugar fix. You won't be sorry. Happy eating!
Microwave Chocolate Chip Cookie
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk (no whites!)
1/4 cup flour
pinch of salt
handful of chocolate chips
Melt the butter in a mug in the microwave. To the mug, add the brown sugar, vanilla, and the egg yolk and stir very well to combine. Add the flour, salt, and chocolate chips and stir to combine (the batter will stick to the sides of the mug, so make sure to scrape it down). Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Let stand 1 minute before eating.
