Turkey Chili and Cheesy Polenta Dinner December 19, 2008

I made turkey chili based on this recipe. Randomly bought some polenta at the grocery store while shopping for this dinner and decided it would be perfect with the chili.. and it was!

Here’s my recipe:

Turkey Chili (adapted from above link)
Makes a huge pot.. probably enough for 6-8 servings.

Ingredients:
Olive oil to coat pan (about 2 tbsp)
1 medium onion, small dice
1 red bell pepper, small dice
2 stalks celery, small dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Jalapeno peppers, chopped (remove seeds for less heat)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
2 Tbsp chili powder
~ 1 lbs ground turkey
½ cup corn (fresh if possible, frozen if not)
2 – 14 oz cans red kidney beans
1 – 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 – 14 oz can cannellini beans
1/2 – 32 oz carton chicken stock
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Sour cream, as garnish

Directions:
1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Sweat onion, pepper, and celery until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and Jalapeno peppers and cook for an additional 2 or 3 minutes. Add spices and stir to evenly distribute in the pot.

2. Meanwhile, brown ground turkey in a separate pan and into bite sized pieces. Add to pot when fully cooked.

3. Add corn, beans, tomatoes, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered until chili reaches desired thickness. (You can thicken with corn starch dissolved in cold water.)

4. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve with cilantro and sour cream.

Cheesy Polenta
Serves 4-6 as a side.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup polenta
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (i used the green can stuff)

Directions:
1. In medium pot heat milk and chicken stock. Stir in the polenta while the liquid is still cool to prevent lumps.
2. Add some salt and pepper. Stir often until almost to desired consistency.
3. Add cheeses and stir until melted. Serve immediately.

Sister’s Focaccia Bread August 3, 2008

My sister made some lovely focaccia bread. It came out a lot thinner than I expected but it seems like that’s how the recipe makes it. I made another recipe before and remember it to be more fluffy. I guess I will experiment later. This recipe makes a nice dense bread almost like flat bread. Very tasty and full of flavor.

Here’s the recipe she used from allrecipes.

Focaccia Bread

Ingredients:

* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
* 1 pinch ground black pepper
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 cup water
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 cup mozzarella

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water.
2. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Changes she made: omit mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and put half rosemary and half cheddar cheese (since our dad doesn’t like rosemary).

Two bentos and Tempura Jalapeno Poppers July 11, 2008

My sister and I made bentos for lunch today. She made one to bring to school and I made one for our younger brother. It took quite a while but it was fun. They came out quite pretty I think considering this was my sister’s first time making a bento box.

My sister’s box:
Contents: bottom has ham and cheese flying pig on bed of rice and cucumber and carrot garden; top has dried cranberries, plum slices, cucumbers, chicken strips and a piece of chocolate.

Here’s the one I made for my brother.
Contents: bottom has two mushroom caps with cheese, dried pork tamagoyaki (i make it with soba sauce and sweet soy sauce), and chunks of cucumber; top has cubes of colored and plain rice, ham, cucumber and carrot sticks.

Close up:

I went to the Sunrise Mart in Soho for the first time today. Sunrise Mart sold tons of Japanese groceries, snacks, drinks, cookware, bento boxes, prepared sushi and bento boxes to eat in store or for take out. It was great, the prices were cheap but they were reasonable. They even had prepackaged onigiri in different flavors for only $2 a piece! I highly recommend a visit. Check them out on yelp.com here.

So after having some spicy tuna sushi and a strawberry Calpico yogurt drink with a good friend of mine, I walked around and bought a tempura batter mix and panko (Japanese bread crumbs). I knew there were several jalapenos in my pot-garden that were ready to be eaten. So I went home and made jalapeno poppers – tempura style.

There are two eggplants in there because I had extra batter left.

I didn’t measure anything but here’s what I did. I cut four large jalapenos in half after removing the stems and removed all the seeds and membranes with my BARE fingers. Unfortunately, I forgot this fact and touched my eye for the briefest of moments. Instantly I felt like my eye was on fire. My stupidity didn’t end there because while tearing up in pain, I removed my contact with my fingers instead of asking someone else to do it. This resulted in 100 times more stinging and pain. I had to stand with my eye pride open under running water for almost 15 minutes before it stopped burning. So this serves a warning to you.

Anyways, after that scenario, I mixed together about 4 tbsp cream cheese, 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar jack cheese, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder and a dash of salt. I filled the jalapeno halves with this cheesy mixture, dipped them in the tempura batter made from the mix, dredged them in panko and then fried them in oil until golden brown. I probably will make this again soon, maybe with different fillings. It was really good.