Jalapenos, Ageless and Evergreen

On my break at work I daydream about what I will make for dinner.  I try to come up with a brilliant idea that I haven't seen before and of course most of the time it doesn't happen . Years ago I thought I had invented Green Chili but after a little searching realized many versions exist on the web. Of course I realized it was no Beef Wellington but I had never made it or seen it on any menu.  
Anyway, so today I am trying a 'Ground Turkey Jalapeno Soup w/Sweet Potato. I wanted to invent something but it had to be using ground turkey because I already took it out of the freezer.

I browned the ground turkey and have it simmering with green bell peppers, garlic and chopped sweet potatoes in a seasoned broth. To that I am adding roasted tomatillos and tons of jalapenos (seeded all but a couple) and onion. I want the flavor and not so much of the heat. Half I blended and half kept whole.

Jalapenos are readily available, cheap and lately huge so I feel they deserve to be the headliner more often.  They have an amazing dark green flavor when you roast them and the tomatillos add a fresh tart citrus kick.  The sweet potato adds color and just a little sweetness. I didn't allow them to get too soft in the soup, so they add substance.  This is almost a fat free soup outside of the bit of olive oil added to roast the vegetables. The spices I kept to the green varieties, like mex oregano, cumin powder & seeds, dried cilantro with the exception of a bit of chili powder to spice the turkey.  But will it top turkey chili verde with beans?

The reviews came in and it they were good!  The soup is very clean and not heavy.  The vegetables are vibrant and stimulating.  It's a light meal in a bowl and just needs a tortilla. We're having it for dinner again tomorrow.

Some Like It Hot

This food monkey has gone undercover to create a wicked hot habanero chili powder as gifts for the pepper grower and also mi padre.

The B-in-law sent a four finger bag of habanero peppers and seeds. This stuff was so potent that I had to let the blender sit unopened for five minutes each time, before I could open the lid and stir. I had to wear a scarf around my nose and mouth,glasses and of course gloves. And I STILL sneezed and coughed forever.





A couple of quick thoughts while making this chili powder blend; I can't believe how many peppers it takes to make a small amount of powder. I can't believe I never thought about doing this before because it is super fun and right up my alley! I don't see saving much money, if any, by making your own. But its SO cool to add your own mix and play around with the different peppers and honestly the difference in taste and level of flavor is indescribable!

The mix: I'm using what I feel would be good as a rub, or in a soup and in chili. Good, that is, if you enjoy painful movements, rectal bleeding and profuse sweating, like my dad. Habenero (the whole pepper, seeds and all!), cayenne, ancho, new mexican chiles, garlic, mexican oregano, spanish paprika, dried cilantro and lots of toasted whole cumin seeds.

Let's talk Mexican oregano a second: for me, just as important as the cumin in a lot of mexican dishes. It is way less sweet but its strong and has a lemony scent. It is a completely different plant then the greek version, not a mint at all. Its hard to find it in New York unless you hit the gourmet shops. They even carry dried cilantro. I finally found it at The Green Grape on my corner. I haven't gone there out of protest because everyone says how wonderful it is and I thought it was a lot of pretentious hippety-hoo-haa, but you you know they have great stuff and exactly what I had been searching for all day so I should just shut my mouth and enjoy them being so close. I had to brave Sahadi's for the whole cumin earlier that day too. I wanted to make sure it was fresh and not sitting on the store shelf for 2 years. When it was toasting I wanted to really smell it, and I did.




Since I had the blender running and all the spices out, I went ahead and made a little chipotle blend for myself and a lighter version of the devil dust.

I saved just enough of the good stuff to add to my Holiday Pork Pozole that I'm making this weekend.

I See a Red Sauce and I Want to Paint it Brown

Now that we made short work of that huge pot of chili, I've been dreamin' of that Hunter's Chicken but I remember when I was making it last time, the thought of 'Mexicanizing' it came to mind.  So, I braved the hipster market Green Grape on the corner that I know sells what I need. They'll have it, it'll be fresh and good.  It didn't kill me to be honest and they did have it.  The girl did sort of give a look for taking a bag.  Why is it so hard to remember those darn canvas bags?

I spiced up the chicken with my special cayenne habanero rub and fresh cilantro instead of the thyme.  Instead of roma tomatoes and bell peppers, I'm using green tomatillos, chipotle and jalapeno peppers.  Instead of red wine, I'm using Negra Modelo dark beer.

The wild card is cranberries.  At the end of cacciatore, you throw in a couple of tablespoons of capers and I was thinking of pickled jalapenos but I've really wanted to do something with cranberries lately and I found some so...I threw in just a handful to see what they'd bring to the table.  They brought color, a nice flavor kick and they're welcome to come to more savory dishes in the future.

Guess what does NOT suck?!  What I'm calling God's gift to Thursday, Mexican Hunter's Chicken.  I've broiled tomatillos a lot for sauces and salsas but I've never slow roasted them.  When you bite into these, all the flavors just burst in your mouth, the tartness, the acidity that cuts through the slight heat of the peppers, the fruity flavor. Wow.  I'm so proud of these chicken legs! 

Big Ed's Squirt Alert!

This food monkey has gone undercover to create a wicked hot habanero chili powder as gifts for Big Ed, the pepper grower and also mi padre.

The B-in-law sent a four finger bag of habanero peppers and seeds. This stuff was so potent that I had to let the blender sit unopened for five minutes each time, before I could open the lid and stir. I had to wear a scarf around my nose and mouth,glasses and of course gloves. And I STILL sneezed and coughed all night.





A couple of quick thoughts while making this chili powder blend; I can't believe how many peppers it takes to make a small amount of powder, no wonder they charge so much. I can't believe I never thought about doing this before because it is super fun and right up my alley! I don't see saving much money, if any, by making your own. But its SO cool to add your own mix of spices and play around with the different peppers and honestly the difference in taste and level of flavor is indescribable!

I'm using what I feel would be good as a rub, or in a soup and in chili. Good, that is, if you enjoy painful movements, rectal bleeding and profuse sweating. The mix: Habanero (the whole pepper, seeds and all!), cayenne, ancho chiles, new mexican chiles, garlic, mexican oregano, spanish paprika, dried cilantro and lots of toasted whole cumin seeds.

Let's talk Mexican oregano a second: for me, just as important as the cumin in a lot of mexican dishes. It is way less sweet but its strong and has a lemony scent. It is a completely different plant then the greek version, not a mint at all. Its hard to find it in New York unless you hit the gourmet shops. They even carry dried cilantro. I finally found it at The Green Grape on my corner. I haven't gone there out of protest because everyone says how wonderful it is and I thought it was a lot of pretentious hippety-hoo-haa, but you you know they have great stuff and exactly what I had been searching for all day so I should just shut my mouth and enjoy them being so close. I had to brave Sahadi's for the whole cumin earlier that day too. I wanted to make sure it was fresh and not sitting on the store shelf for 2 years. When it was toasting I wanted to really smell it, and I did.




Since I had the blender running and all the spices out, I went ahead and made a little chipotle blend for myself and a lighter version of the devil dust.

I saved just enough of the good stuff to add to my Holiday Pork Pozole that I made last weekend.