The Big Bowl

In preparation for today's game, I did some research regarding the much-contested perfect turkey chili recipe. I'm not going to get into all of the debate between north, south, east, and west regarding what should or should not go into a good chili. Suffice to say I sifted through my own cookbooks and supplemented what I learned from books with information from the Internet.

My first book of attack was, of course, the Gourmet tome, Ruth Reichl's staggering collection of international recipes that will teach you how to make just about anything. Her chili recipe had some interesting components. For one, she used tomatillos, rather than tomatoes, as her base, making her chili green, like a salsa verde. Also, she cooked up four pounds (yes, you read that right) of turkey for her soup, which, in my estimation, couldn't have been much of a soup--or even stew--at all. I liked her use of real chiles, in this case reconstituted anchos, which are poblanos when they're fresh. But I wanted a more traditional version.

So here's what I did: I cooked up one and a half pounds of ground turkey, because that seemed like more than enough. I seasoned it with salt and pepper and put it to the side for later use. In olive oil, I sweated down one Spanish onion, one green bell pepper, one fresh poblano pepper, and one fresh jalapeno (seeds and ribs removed) with a little salt until they were translucent. I then added my seasoning, four cloves chopped garlic, one tablespoon cayenne, two tablespoons chili powder, one tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes, and one tablespoon cumin. I cooked the seasoning in for a few minutes. Then, I added two large cans of crushed tomatoes, one can of tomato paste, 3/4 cup of chicken stock, one tablespoon of kosher salt, a healthy helping of fresh ground pepper, one teaspoon of dried oregano, a can of cooked and drained kidney beans, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, one cup of frozen corn, and two chopped tomatillos.

I brought the chili to a simmer and let it cook for about an hour, by which time my kitchen was utterly destroyed from splattering tomato goo. At the end, I added a few tablespoons of light sour cream for a creamier texture. Before I serve it this afternoon, I will top it with shredded cheddar and fresh parsley.

It is a fairly hot chili and also, notably, a very healthy chili, weighing in at approximately 2,000 calories for the whole pot (it will likely serve 8, or at least 6), making it the ultimate guilt-free Superbowl snack. It seemed appropriate to use the vegetables of the southwestern United States--tomatoes, tomatillos, hot and mild peppers, corn, onions--for this particular bowl, in which Arizona, the quintessential southwestern state, will be playing.

As for the rest of the cooking, well, I'll leave that to my friends.

I'm No Harold McGee

But man, do I work hard with what I have.  

On Monday, I walked down to one of the fish markets on 30th Avenue, looking for bay scallops.  The first market I happened upon was selling the baby scallops, for a paltry $5.99/lb.  Yes, you read that right.  I paid a scant $3.00 for my half pound of bays.  

Next door, I hit up the vegetable market, allowing myself to succumb to whatever looked fresh.  That afternoon, it was baby bok choy, tiny yukon gold potatoes, green beans, fresh shitake mushrooms, and one hearty leek.  

At home, I made foil packets and chopped the veggies (minus the green beans, which I steamed separately, and the potatoes, which I boiled until fork-tender) and tossed them with toasted sesame oil, salt, pepper, ground ginger, tamari, olive oil, and rice wine vinegar.  I sliced the cooked potatoes and added them to the mix.  Finally, I seasoned the scallops, divided them between two packets, and added them to the veggies with a healthy pour of sake.  I sealed the pouches and put them in a 400 degree oven for just under 30 minutes.  

Here's the thing: the veggies steamed perfectly and the scallops were cooked through and just short of turning rubbery.  And the veggies tasted good, though I should have added more salt at the start.  But the scallops?  They were terrible.  Inedible.  So fishy that I couldn't understand why I hadn't noticed it before I'd cooked them.  

Bay scallops are generally sweeter than divers, but these reeked of bad and still salt water.  I had to throw the half pound away to salvage the vegetables, which, now lacking protein, didn't provide as satisfying a meal as I'd originally hoped.  

Well.  You can't win them all.  Last night, I opted for foods that were already in my refrigerator.  I mixed ground chicken (leftover from last week's stuffed peppers) with worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, minced onion, and minced garlic and formed them into two patties.  I cut two russet potatoes, skin-on, into thick fries and tossed them with olive oil, kosher salt, and fresh-ground pepper.  I put the patties and the fries on a baking sheet and in a 400 degree oven and left them for 15 minutes.  In the meantime, I sauteed wide rings of Spanish onion in a little olive oil, allowing them to char on the bottom.  Then, I added ketchup, Frank's hot sauce, and molasses.  Cooks beware: tomato products burn on high heat, but this was what I was looking for, a variation on a barbecue sauce replete with the burnt taste of actual barbecue.  

I flipped the chicken burgers and fries and kept them in another 10 minutes or so, long enough for the juice to run clear from the burgers' center (you can't cook ground chicken to medium-rare; it has to be cooked through).  I ate the burger atop a whole-wheat English muffin with those ketchupy onions and a half-sour pickle. 

I'm not blaming myself for the fiasco that was scallops-gone-bad.  I honestly believe it was quality of product that marked this dish's failure.  Next time, I'll hit up a different fish market.  As for the chicken burgers, I'll keep that fly-by-night recipe for later low-fat use.