The problem with working retail is that I lose the months of November and December to my job. Last week, when I had stopped working six-day weeks, I realized that I couldn't remember the last time I had cooked a meal from scratch. Or had enough energy to think about cooking a meal from scratch. I had ordered a ham and pears and we ate ham sandwiches with pears for Christmas dinner. Since Christmas was the only day off I had that week, that was my speed. So last week I began my re-entry into the food world by making chili.
I had made chili one Saturday for my fellow employees. It had received rave reviews, so I made it for my family. Someone asked me for the recipe but chili is one of those dishes I don't really have a recipe for, but it goes something like this:
Brown one pound of the leanest ground turkey. Chop and saute together a small onion, three carrots, three stalks of celery, and a pound of mushrooms. Mix with the turkey in a dutch oven with two medium cans of chopped tomatoes, a large can of tomato sauce, and a packet of Lowry's mild chili seasoning. You can jazz this recipe up by using a hotter seasoning and using the chopped tomatoes with jalapenos. Add one can of red kidney beans that have been rinsed. Put the lid on the Dutch oven and cook in a 350 oven for about an hour and a half. (There is a lot of wiggle room here. You can certainly make this chili with beef, but we are trying to have a healthier new year in our house.
With half an hour to go before people will be banging their spoons on their bowls, mix the cornbread topping:
3/4 cup cornmeal 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup buttermilk 1 large egg 2 teaspoons oil
and drop by spoonfuls on top of the chili. Put the lid back on the
This was a very simple meal to make. I was warm and happy from eating the chili AND from knowing that my cooking life is coming back.
Happy New Year!
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