Turkey Chili Verde (Green Chili) w/beans

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Dave'sWife

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This is a nice change of pace for Chili-lovers. it's pretty to look at and quite tasty. The idea is to play up the white and green ingredients. I add in some yellow too for contrast.

You may notice that I omit Cilantro from this recipe. I happen to believe it is an overpowering flavor that has no place in a recipe depending upon the mild and unassuming Tomatillo for the main flavor of this dish. There may well be some Cilantro in your Salsa Verde that you use as an ingredient and that's fine. Just don't be tempted to add any fresh cilantro to this dish. It can ruin the balance of flavors. Flat leaf parlsey can add the needed green.


Chili Verde
(Green Chili)
img_16921_0_e6450ca5f743094e7c611dd90e6c34c3.jpg


Ingredients - in order of addition

2 Lbs. of Ground Turkey (you can get buy with 1.5 Lbs) You may also use ground chicken or ground pork.
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil for sautéing the garlic & onions
1 Large Onion, Chopped (but not chopped too finely, you want to see it in the Chili)
3 Cloves of garlic - chopped fine
2 Bay leaves*
1 Tablespoon of Chili Powder
2 Teaspoons Cumin
1 teaspoon White Pepper
Dash of salt
24 ounces of Salsa Verde (Green Salsa made with Tomatillos instead of tomatoes)
3 Celery stalks, coarsely chopped (throw in the leafy celery tops too)
2 Green Bell peppers, Seeded and cut into 1/4 inch strips
2 Yellow Bell Peppers, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch strips
Optional - 1 bag of ReadyPak baby Spinach leaves (which have been prewashed - saves time)
6 fresh Tomatillos, peeled and chopped (they have a leathery peel)
2 Cans white Kidney beans (Cannelli), drained & rinsed
2 Cans Small White Beans (these are about half the size of Cannelli) ** drained & rinsed.
1 Can of Pinto Beans w/Jalepno - NOT drained or rinsed***
1 bunch of Green onions, chopped (including the green parts)
2 Cups of Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded
Optional - diced Jalepeno for garnish


Directions for preparation:

In a large Anodized Stock Pot, add the 2 tablespoons of EVOO and bring up to proper heat. Add chopped garlic, after it has softened and begun to caramelize, toss in the chopped onions. Let simmer until onions are translucent. Add in the ground turkey to brown the meat. Add the Cumin, Chili Powder, bay Leaves, salt and white pepper. When Meat has been thoroughly cooked, add the 24 ounces of Salsa Verde and bring temperature up to a boil. This permits the flavors to cook into the meat.

Once you get a light boil, turn down to simmer and add the chopped celery (including the leafy parts), Green & Yellow Bell Pepper strips, spinach (if using). Let these cook down a bit. When those ingredients have become fully incorporated into the chili, add in the chopped Tomatillos. Simmer a few minutes and then add in the rinsed and drained white beans both small and large and the can of Pinto beans w/jalapenos. Simmer until thick.

Ten minutes before you plan to serve the chili, add in your chopped green onions. This will ensure that they still retain their color, shape and a little crunch.

When you serve this Chili, you don't want the cheese garnish to cover up the beautiful green and white colors you have worked so hard to achieve. Therefore, add a palmful of the shredded Pepper jack (or white cheddar if you prefer) in the bottom of the bowls and then top with the chili. The hot chili will melt the cheese. Then, top the chili with diced Jalepeno. Serve.

This Chili can be a little thin depending upon thickness of the Salsa Verde you use. It shouldn't be a problem, but if it is, I have an easy remedy:

If your Chili does not thicken to the degree that you like it, there's a little trick you can do to achieve the body you want. Sprinkle in Instant Mashed Potato flakes, one quarter cup at a time until you achieve the desired thickness. Go lightly with this, however, because any leftovers will wind up even thicker as it sits. If you do this, you should not add more than one cup of Potato flakes to this amount of Chili.




Cook's Notes:

*If using California Bay leaves you will need to double amount because they are less flavorful... You can tell if they are CA bay leaves because they will appear less green in color than real Bay leaves and more brownish. CA Bay Leaves are cheaper and are usually found in the Hispanic Food section in cellophane bags. its okay to use them so long as you compensate for their lower potency.

** You should be able to find these smaller White Beans right in the grocery store. They say "Small White beans" right on the label. If you cannot, you can just use tweo more cans of Cannelli. I prefer using the two different sizes because it looks nice and provides more variety of texture in you mouth as you eat it.

*** You may want to omit these if you open them up and they appear very dark. I only include them because they have a slightly golden color and they add some variety to the dish. They can, however, ruin the look of the dish if too dark. You be the judge.

One last thing - Tomatillos are not actually related to Tomatos. They are in the same family as Gooseberries. They have a delicate texture and flavor. if you cannot find fresh tomatillos for this recipe, you may simply add some more Salsa Verde.


I hope some of you try this! The Chili Verde holds up well during reheating and also freezes well. So, even if there aren't a lot of mouths to feed, you can make this and put some away for future meals. I have some photos of this, but I have to take the time to upload them and edit them. I'll add a note to this thread when I have pix for you all.[/b]
 
I don't know about how the beans will affect each person - I find that swallowing a beano tablet is always wise when comsuming beans, bulbous vegatables such as onions, galic or leeks and gassy veggies like Bell peppers.

One way to avoid some of the gas you might get would be to sautee the Bell peppers until soft BEFORE putting them into the Chili. That also seems to reduce heartburn a little for people who have trouble digesting such things. I ALWAYS sautee onions until translucent before adding to any recipe for the same reason. It breaks down whatever it is that causes gas - but not completely. My mom, who has had a colonectomy, cannot tolerate onions, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower or beans/legumes.

As for using in Competition, please, by all means, go right ahead and use this recipe!

I have entered it myself in an online Chili contest which has since been closed for entries. When I circulate written copies, I do put my copyright info on it, but I'm not a meglomaniac when it comes to credit. Afterall, no recipe is 100% original. Mine is based on a 'Chili Blanca' recipe I found on a Real Estate Agent's Postcard. The two recipes barely resemble one another now, but it would be lying to say I would have thought it up on my own.

Beans versus No Beans

As for the beans versus no beans issue in Chili - different contests have categories for both. If you want to make this with NO beans, I would suggest adding some other green and white vegetables for color such as:

Cubed Jicama
Diced Bamboo shoots
Cubed White Turnip
Strips of Zucchini or mexican squash (which is lighter in color)
Strips of yellow squash
Bok Choi
Peeled Radishes (for a nice peppery crunch)
Okra

To add more white protien to beanless Chili verde, one could add:

Cubed firm Tofu
Textured vegetable protien
Diced Chicken (in addition to the ground turkey)
diced leftover pork


I think a beanless version could be done quite nicely! If anyone tries it, let us know what you used.
 
Why would Beans kill somebody in a competition? Is there a strong croos the boards prejudice against Chili recipes that include beans? Most of the contests I've ever entered have different categories for those with beans and those without.

I understand there is an influential school of Chili Cooking thought that says the addition of Beans is cheating or polluting the Chili. Is that really a much of a problem in regional competitions? Just curious.
 
Competition chili usually has no beans. All meat is chopped to the exact same size. Peppers and onions (if added) are usually *very* small if not pureed. At the end, You'll only "see" two ingredients. The sauce and the beef.
Teams will usually make one pot of comp chili (AKA Red), and another called "Eating Chili" for the public to taste. The eatin chili will have a rougher appearance, much less salt, and have the beans.
 
I understand the reasoning, but man, that sure kills the fun.

I don't do live competitions any more - just recipe contests . The few regional cook-offs I did enter for Chili had two categories as I mentioned. Obviously, I was not in the Big Leagues!
 
I just added photo of the dish. I finally figured out how to do the uploading and editing of photos to show off my cooking.
 
Man that looks good. I love White Chili, now I MUST do the Green Chili. Thanks Dave's Wife for posting it.
 

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