2009 October 01 | dinner with Julie

Archive for October 1st, 2009

Turkey Chili with Butternut Squash & Apples

Today I judged a new ice-cream flavour contest at Marble Slab (a tough job, but somebody’s gotta), emceed the launch of Read Alberta Magazines Month at Art Central (and tried to not spend the entire evening in one of my favourite stores) and hung out with a world arm wrestling champion. Five eclectic ice cream flavours and assorted chunks of waffle cone + two wine samples + a small plate of butter chicken = dinner. Fortunately, it was some pretty great butter chicken, in a not-too heavy/creamy sort of way, and chef Nash (from A Fine Balance Catering in Airdrie) promised me the recipe. And here it is – a little vague, but you get the gist:

Chef Nash’s Own Melt-In-Your-Mouth Butter Chicken

Boneless chicken breasts
1 can Aylmer whole tomatoes
4 oz olive oil
2 oz red pepper, diced
2 oz onions, chopped
2 tbsp garlic purée
1/2 tsp dried fenugreek (kasoori methi)
Patak’s hot or mild curry paste
Patak’s tandoori paste
4 oz whipping cream or yogurt

Marinate chicken breasts in 2 oz olive oil, 1 tbsp garlic, 1/2 tsp curry paste and 1/2 tsp tandoori paste and bake for 20 minutes at 350F.

Start sauce by sautéing red peppers, onions and garlic in olive oil. Add 1 tsp of hot or mild curry paste and simmer for two to three minutes. Blend canned tomatoes in food processor and add to sauce. Add 1/2 tsp fenugreek, cover and simmer for 30 minutes on low heat (250 F). Dice chicken breasts and add. Add 4 oz whipping cream and check for seasoning.

M and W had leftover turkey chili (I think – they might have eaten Ichiban and Cheezies in my absence) – a recipe I had to make as soon as I saw it. It’s not your traditional chili – although it does have beans (black) it’s more loaded with chunks of butternut squash and apples, with a curry quality brought on by a can of coconut milk. Très fall. Apparently it’s pretty fab made with leftover roast turkey – I had some ground in my freezer, but I’ll be sure to make use of turkey leftovers in a couple weeks (HOW DID OCTOBER SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THIS?).

Or sooner, because I just discovered you can cook a whole entire turkey in your CrockPot. Oh yes, and you don’t have to debone it in order to cram it in! I’ll fill you in on the details soon – experiment #1 is chilling right now in its pot in my barbecue.
I love when the temperature dips to near freezing overnight and I can use my backyard as a second fridge.

CrockPot Turkey Chili with Apples

from my friend Korey Kealey of FoodThought

1 each: onion, carrot and celery stalk, chopped
2 cups each: apples, cored and chopped and butternut squash, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lb (454 g) ground turkey, cooked
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp (15 mL) ground cumin
1 tsp (5 mL) dried oregano
¼ tsp (1 mL) each: salt and freshly ground pepper
1 can (10 fl oz/284 mL) undiluted chicken broth
1 can (400 mL) light coconut milk
2 tbsp (25 mL) tomato paste
1 cup (250 mL) canned black beans, drained and rinsed
cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Combine everything in your CrockPot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Garnish with fresh cilantro, if you like.