This week finds us in sunny San Jose, California, where Allrecipes' cook, Valerie, has definitely discovered a winning strategy for sating the seemingly insatiable one meal at a time! Whipping up a hearty dinner of The Best Turkey Chili for her family of hungry men with big appetites is no small task, but this cook shines!
Looking for a hearty but healthy chili for your crew? This hearty, and relatively low-fat chili recipe with a mexican flair, is guaranteed to satisfy a household of mad-hungry athletes. Chock-full of ground turkey, three types of beans and diced tomatoes, it's so full of flavor, your family won't even miss the ground beef!
Slow-toast your spices. Many serious chili recipes call for toasting and then grinding whole spices, a step many cooks aren't willing or able to perform. You can easily punch up flavors by slowly toasting powdered spices in a dry skillet over low heat before adding them to the chili.
If you are looking for an alternate meat with less fat try substituting turkey pepperoni or cooked ground chicken sausage as an ingredient.
Serve a simple bowl of chili and your family and guests will be content. Zip in fun, colorful condiments, however, and you've got a party!
Consider these chili accompaniments:
Use quality meats. Chili was originally created to disguise the taste of cheaper cuts of meat and to tenderize really tough meats. If you do use cheaper cuts of meat, just make sure you cook them longerto thoroughly tenderize them.
Either cook your chili the day before or early in the morning of the day you're going to eat it. By cooking the day before, letting it cool, then refrigerating overnight, you give all the flavors in your chili time to blend. If you're short on time, preparing the chili in the morning and letting it simmer or slow-cook all day is an alternative method.
Terrific Turkey Chili
This chili is a snap to throw together and will keep you craving it for days.
Smokin' Scovilles Turkey Chili
This is a hearty and relatively low-fat chili recipe that is guaranteed to satisfy even the most sadistic spicy food lover...REAL MAN FOOD.
Pumpkin Turkey Chili
It's unbelievable how tasty this is, and so easy too!
Laura's Quick Slow Cooker Turkey Chili
Great topped with Cheddar cheese, crushed corn chips, and a dollop of sour cream.
Allrecipes Turkey Chili
Browse our collection of Turkey Chili recipes!
Allrecipes' cook, Valerie, has been cooking for a LONG time. As a mother of 4 boys (mostly) grown boys, she is always looking for inspiration in the kitchen and has been VERY inspired by Allrecipes.com.
"I have found so many great recipes here and the reviews are so helpful. I try to review every recipe I make so I've compiled a pretty good list of reviews to date. From day to day I'm not sure whether I'll be serving 4 or 12 so I always try to be prepared for anything!"
Valerie describes herself as a very seasonal cook, in love with cooking and baking things that suit the time of year. This includes a lot of grilling in the summer and lots of good, hearty dishes in the fall and winter. She enjoys making use of her garden tomatoes at the end of summer and into the fall. Additionally, she loves to bake and has been making pies and cakes for many years.
"I know everyone thinks that their Mom was the absolute best cook in the world but actually it was mine! I am sixth out of a family of 5 girls and 1 boy and the action was always in the kitchen. I watched and learned how to be a good cook from her. My best memories are of our large family gathering spontaneously on Sundays for a pizza party where my Mom would throw together delicious home made pizzas. Her Thanksgiving dinners were to die for with every dish made from scratch. She could throw a pie together so effortlessly without ever touching a measuring cup! She was at her best when we had crowds of people in our house waiting for anything from a pancake breakfast to a wonderfully prepared sit down dinner. She will always be my biggest inspiration."
"Next to jazz music, there is nothing that lifts the spirit and strengthens the soul more than a good bowl of chili." ~ Harry James
"Wish I had time for just one more bowl of chili." ~ Kit Carson's last words
Everyone loves chili. In fact, I could give this episode the title, "Chili, a Love Story". It has everything a love story should have.
It has sweetness. It has spice. It even had me wielding a knife, but I digress.
This week's webisode brought to mind what I remember to be my first cooking experience and my love (read obsession) for good food. As a kid living on Philmont Scout Ranch for a number of my formative years, I spent some time hiking, camping, and one time a week long pseudo-survival trip. We spent the days foraging for food, trying to trap small game and gather anything that was edible, meeting at a pre-assigned location for dinner. Luckily, some food was brought in and we typically added our meager hauls to the menu. This was all pretty cool for a 12 year old boy!
The one dish I remember the most fondly was a chili where everything under the sun seemed to end up in the pot. Except for the cowboy coffee and hard bread at breakfast, I had found nothing edible the entire day! I would have eaten my shoes with a bit of salt! The thought of that chili still makes my mouth water 30 plus years later! However, what I remember most vividly was the camaraderie of cooking with adults and kids alike, and how it brought us closer together. Food just seems to taste infinitely better when made and enjoyed with those you love. And of course, when you are mad-hungry!
From there it should be obvious that I was excited to head to San Jose, California to whip up some Turkey Chili! As I knew that Allrecipes' cook, Valerie, had 5 hungry men under her roof, I was sure there would be no dainty portions here and I wasn't disappointed!
For a bit of trivia, Chili is actually short for the full dish title, Chile con carne. Translated, this means peppers with meat in Spanish. While today's recipe isn't heavy on the chilis, there's nothing preventing you from throwing in some poblano, jalapeño, or serrano peppers. For the most adventurous, toss in some habaneros or even ghost chilis to light your mouth on fire! If you're not willing to go that far, well you've still got the makings to whip up a batch of grizzly bear repellent! The story of how chilies got their heat is pretty straightforward. A recent study suggested that capsaicin is an effective defense against a fungus that attacks chili seeds. In fact, experiments have shown that the same species of wild chili plant produces a lot of capsaicin in an environment where the fungus is likely to grow, and very little in drier areas where the fungus is not a danger. Now that's a love story!
Chili Appreciation Society International, Inc.
The Chili Appreciation Society International's mission is to promote chili and raise money for charity. Each year, nearly ten thousand cooks share their chili fun and good deeds with each other, public, and sponsors at 600 CASI cookoffs, throughout the U.S. and neighboring countries. These CASI-sanctioned events raise over a million dollars, annually, for local charities and provide a chance for cooks to qualify for the Terlingua International Chili Championship. Come on in and find out how you can share our fun and charity.
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