Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals (15 page)
Read Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals Online
Authors: Rachael Ray
TOPPERS
| Shredded cheeses: smoked white sharp Cheddar, such as Cabot brand; Pepper Jack, chipotle Cheddar, five-peppercorn Cheddar, Monterey Jack |
| Sliced canned jalapeños, drained |
| Salsas |
| Sour cream |
| Chopped green olives and pimientos |
| Chopped fresh cilantro |
Heat a pot over medium to medium-high heat. Add the EVOO and the ground turkey. Season the meat with the chili powder, grill seasoning, cumin, Worcestershire, and hot sauce. Break up the meat with the back of a wooden spoon into small crumbles.
Chop the onion, reserving one quarter of it for topping the chili. (Chop the reserved onion extrafine.) Brown the meat for 5 minutes, then add the onion and bell peppers and cook 10 minutes more. Add the beer and deglaze the pan, scraping up the drippings and cooking off the alcohol. Add the tomato sauce or purée, barbecue sauce, and corn and bring the chili to a bubble. Let the chili simmer for 10 minutes. Adjust the seasonings and heat level to your taste. Remove from the heat and serve with chopped raw onion and your choice of toppers.
To make a double batch, heat two pots and make one batch in each pot, rather than using one massive pot that is hard to control.
4
SERVINGS
| 4 | slices applewood-smoked bacon or black pepper bacon |
| 1 | tablespoon vegetable oil (once around the pan) |
| 2 | pounds ground sirloin |
| 2 | tablespoons grill seasoning, such as McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning |
| 4 | garlic cloves, chopped |
| 1 | medium to large yellow onion, finely chopped |
| 1 | red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped in ¼-inch dice |
| 3 | tablespoons ground chipotle chili powder (on spice aisle next to dark chili powder) or ½ small can chipotle chilies in adobo, chopped |
| 6 | ounces of beer |
| 1 | large can (28 ounces) fire-roasted tomatoes, such as Muir Glen brand |
| 1 | 8-ounce brick of smoked white Cheddar or chipotle Cheddar, such as Cabot brand, shredded |
Heat a medium pot over medium-high heat. Chop the bacon into 1-inch pieces. Add vegetable oil to the hot pot with the bacon. Brown the bacon until crisp and reserve on a plate lined with paper towels. To the bacon renderings and oil add the meat and break up with the back of a wooden spoon. Season the meat with grill seasoning. Let the meat brown for 3 minutes, then add the garlic, three-fourths of the onions, bell pepper, and the chipotle powder. The remaining raw chopped onions are for topping the chili.
Cook the meat and onions together for 5 or 6 minutes, then deglaze the pan with the beer. Add the tomatoes next and stir them in to combine. Simmer the chili over low heat for 10 minutes. Top bowls of chili with cheese, bacon, and finely chopped raw onion.
4
SERVINGS
| 2 | tablespoons vegetable or canola oil (2 turns of the pan) |
| 6 | 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces |
| Salt and freshly ground black pepper | |
| 1 | medium yellow onion, thinly sliced |
| 5 | garlic cloves, finely chopped |
| 1 | jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped |
| 2 | tablespoons ground cumin (2 palmfuls) |
| 1 | tablespoon ground coriander (a palmful) |
| 1 | cup mild or hot tomatillo salsa (green salsa on Mexican Foods aisle) |
| 4 | cups chicken stock or broth |
| 1 | can (15-ounces) cannellini or Great Northern beans |
| 1 | handful fresh cilantro, roughly chopped |
| 1 | handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped |
| Juice of 1 lime | |
| Shredded Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese, for garnish | |
| 1 | individual lunch-box-size bag of corn chips, optional and not that dangerous |
Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat with the vegetable oil. Add the chicken to the hot oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeño, cumin, and coriander and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, continuing to stir. Add the tomatillo salsa and the chicken stock. Bring the chili up to a simmer. Add half of the beans. With a fork thoroughly mash the other half of the beans, then add to the chili. This method will help to thicken the chili. Simmer the chili for 10 minutes. Remove the chili from the heat and add the cilantro, parsley, and lime juice.
Serve each bowl of chili with a little shredded Monterey Jack cheese on top. Oh, and go ahead, have a chip or two! I crush up a small bag and stir them right in!
CONFESSION
To be honest, I eat chili as an excuse to eat corn chips. I rarely need a spoon at all: one chip, two chips, three chips … well, it can get ugly is all I’m saying. To help keep my corn chip obsession in check and still feel satisfied, I buy one individual lunch-box-size bag of chips. This way I don’t have that big gorgeous bag of chips dangerously calling my name from the cupboard. If I don’t have them, I don’t eat them. I exert my self-control at the supermarket.
These are extra hearty—thicker than a soup and not quite a stew.
4
SERVINGS
| 2 | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (twice around the pan) |
| ¾ | pound diced chorizo, casing removed |
| ¾ | pound diced andouille sausage |
| 1 | large onion, chopped |
| 1 | red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped |
| 4 | to 6 garlic cloves, chopped |
| 1 | bay leaf, fresh or dried |
| 1 | pound kale, coarsely chopped |
| Salt and freshly ground black pepper | |
| 1 | can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed |
| 1 | can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes |
| 1 | quart chicken stock or broth |
| Several drops of hot sauce, such as Tabasco, to taste | |
| ¼ | pound manchego cheese in a chunk |
| 20 | jumbo pitted green olives |
| 10 | slices Serrano ham or prosciutto di Parma |
| 20 | blades of fresh chives |
| A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped |
Heat a deep pot over medium-high heat. Add the EVOO, chorizo, and andouille and sear the sausages for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and bay leaf. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the kale to the pot. Cover the pot and wilt the greens, 2 minutes. Season the greens with salt and pepper. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, and stock to the pot and bring the stoup to a full boil. Reduce the heat back to medium and cook 10 minutes longer. Add hot sauce to your taste.
While the stoup is cooking, start on your snack. Cut the manchego into small enough chunks that will fit into where the pit was in the jumbo green olive; you will need 20. Stuff each olive with the small chunk of cheese. Cut the slices of ham in half across. Bundle the ham around the olives and tie off with a chive blade. Pile up your bundles and start snacking!
Finish the stoup by removing the bay leaf and adding the chopped parsley.
Chorizo is a garlicky, spicy pork sausage that is used frequently in both Spanish- and Mexican-style dishes. Andouille sausage is a smoked spicy sausage that you have probably had before if you have ever had Cajun-style cuisine. It is flavored with garlic, paprika, cayenne, and thyme. Both are located in the packaged-meats section of the market near kielbasa, franks, and wursts.
This jumble is a lot like jambalaya, so I call it a Jumble-laya.
This is one of those flexible recipes. You can substitute turkey or tender cuts of pork and beef for the chicken. Go all seafood by bumping up the amount of shrimp and adding crabmeat at the end to just heat it through.
Andouille sausage is a spicy, smoky sausage with a flavor that packs a punch. It is used in Cajun-style food and is a staple in gumbo and jambalaya. Is okra not your thing? Substitute frozen defrosted French-cut green beans
4
SERVINGS
| 2 | tablespoons vegetable oil |
| 1 | pound andouille sausage, sliced on an angle into ½-inch-thick slices (found in packaged meats near kielbasa) |
| 2 | pounds chicken tenders, cut into bite-size pieces |
| Salt and freshly ground black pepper | |
| 1 | medium yellow onion, sliced |
| 3 | large garlic cloves, chopped |
| 3 | celery ribs, chopped |
| 1 | green bell pepper, quartered, then sliced into thin strips |
| 1 | red bell pepper, quartered, then sliced into thin strips |
| 4 | sprigs fresh thyme |
| 2 | cups chicken stock or broth |
| 1 | cup tomato sauce or V-8 juice |
| ¼ | cup hot sauce, such as Frank’s Red Hot (eyeball it) |
| 1 | pound raw medium shrimp, peeled and deveined |
| 8 | ounces (½ bag) whole or chopped frozen okra, defrosted |
| A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped | |
| 4 | scallions, green and white parts, thinly sliced |