Bourbon, Lentil & Bacon Chili

There are few things better in this world, than bacon and Jim Beam. FEW. So when they come together and form something not only absolutely decadent and delicious, but somehow, healthy, it’s nothing short of a glorious miracle.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…

I started doing some research on lentils and found that they’re a great substitute for beans, really, anywhere you need beans. Now, my family loves some refried beans, so we won’t be subbing anything out for good, but for chili, when the other ingredients can get pretty fatty and caloric, it’s nice to contrast that with something like lentils.

When compared to beans, say, black beans, because that’s what I was going to use in this recipe. For having such little fat and calories, lentils maintain a good amount of nutrients.

Also, like beans, they add significant volume to a meal, so if you’re short on ingredients or funds and need to stretch a meal, these are GREAT!

It was REALLY easy to get the Man to eat this, he wanted to give lentils a try and LOVES Jim Beam and, of course, bacon, so there wasn’t much arm twisting. He said he felt fuller off of less food and enjoyed the taste as well, so we’re sold on lentils!

So, let’s get started!

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey
12 pieces (1pkg) of bacon, diced
3 c of COOKED lentils
1 sm yellow onion, chopped
1 head of garlic, minced
3 lbs of roma tomatoes, washed and chopped
3 c kidney beans, totally optional, I had some left so I used them up
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp chili powder
Jim Beam, about a cup
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Start by frying the bacon in a large heavy pot, when it’s got a sizzle and has started to release some fat, add the turkey. Cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the turkey is browned and the bacon is done.

Throw in the garlic and onion and let that get sexy for a few minutes until it’s fragrant and tender. Don’t stir too much, you want that crusty love to form on the bottom, because we’re going to deglaze with alcohol and then fill with liquid you don’t have to worry about the burn.

Reduce the heat just a little and add a cup of bourbon, slowly, getting all the bits off the bottom of the pan as you stir.

Add the tomatoes and bell peppers, cooking over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally. When everything is heated and starting to bubble add the chili powder, kidney beans and lentils.

At this point you can transfer everything to a crock pot to simmer for the day. High or medium, you’re not going to over cook chili. You can also keep cooking stove top until your tomatoes break down to the consistency you want.

Salt and pepper to taste and you’re done!

Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

With Black Friday over, my family home safe, I’m taking a little time to enjoy a much needed glass of wine and some peace and quiet. However, I’ve had a few of my friends ask what I made for my very first Thanksgiving in our own home… So, I figured, this would be a better way to give everybody the run down!

As we sat there, quietly enjoying the dinner I literally slaved over, (with LOVE, of course) we started talking about what we remember of Thanksgiving as children. Family, food, lots more family, more food… But also, we remembered being hurried around to this house, then this one, then over there to say hi, even into adulthood, having to deal with split families and long distance travels.

It was nice to just sit down whenever dinner was ready, and eat our food, our way. I was excited to cook my food, in my kitchen, with nobody in my way, listening to my music, drinking my bottle of wine, cleaning up behind myself as I went and running the damn thing like clock work. It was a beautiful thing, it was a beautiful Thanksgiving and I couldn’t be happier that I spent it with the two most wonderful boys on the planet!

Enjoy the run through of our dinner and I hope it looks as delicious as it was… Food photographs worse than Andy Dick sometimes…

This turkey was incredible! I’d never cooked a turkey before and I laughed when it came out so good, because the week before I was actually asking my bff how to cook a turkey! She goes, “Um, put it in the oven, turn it on and baste it, Sarah!” I went, “Where do I buy a turkey baster?” I’m a gem. 

I took some butter and smashed it with some black pepper, a little salt, a few cloves of roasted garlic (threw some in while the oven was pre-heating, it doesn’t have to be a FEAT for some roast garlic!) and rubbed it between the skin and the meat of the beasts and legs. (That last part sounded FILTHY!)

I used the rest to rub on the outside of the bird and finished with more black pepper and some thyme and stuffed some extra garlic cloves under the skin as well!

Juicy, tender, dare I say? Perfect?

 

Mashed potatoes are easy. I love the skins on, so there they are, all mixed in there with some cream cheese, a couple cloves of roasted garlic leftover from the turkey, butter and LOAD of black pepper, maybe a pinch of salt to taste.

They’re not good FOR you, but oh my fuck, they were amazing.

Creamy, chunky, filling.

Perfection, again.

I used a bean masher instead of a beater, because, I kid you not, my electric beater is from the 60’s and I was afraid it couldn’t handle the job. I need a serious electronics update in my kitchen. Stat.

I JUST threw away my 60’s blender too. It was HUGE.

My Nana hoards, I enable.

It’s a sickness.

Every woman needs to know how to make her man some gravy, so I won’t take long in this department.

Turkey drippings, made into gravy. Flour, not corn starch.

Easy, peasy.

Again, a TON of black pepper, because the only thing KFC CAN do right, is make gravy extra peppery and delicious.

Mine followed suite nicely!

 

 

 

 

This was my biggest challenge. I refuse to pay out the ass for fried onion strings after last years green bean casserole cost us $11 to make and tasted like everybody elses. “No more!” I say.

This bitch, is completely homemade.

Fresh green beans, halved. My delicious recipe for Cream of Onion & Celery soup, found here, omitting the celery and obviously the black rice. You could make cream of mushroom, but I hate them. So I went with onion. Should have done turkey or something else. It was delicious, but a bit on the onion-y side.

And finally, some homemade French’s onions. Simply, onions dredged in flour and fried to a crisp in oil.

NOT anywhere near healthy, but so delicious I fried up an extra onion for us to snack on and Mo ate them all!

 

This is always good.

Tried and true Mac n’ Cheese.

The recipe can be found here.

It’s a great freezer meal, great for a pot luck, any holiday get together where food is required!

It’s a homemade sauce starting as a roux with some Velveeta and parmesan added. Topped with panko, Ritz and herbs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Where’s the stuffing?” You ask… I ruined it. There. Are you happy?

Last, but not least…. And actually made, first… Mama made pie!

I’ve never tried making one, because honestly, I’m not that big of a fan. Give me a cookie, or fro-yo. I’m straight. A pie is like cake to me. It’s like, what’s the point? If I’m going to eat something like that, it better be bomb, elaborate and have layers and secret caverns.

I almost bought a pie. Then I went, “If I’m frying fucking thread sized onions to TOP a dish, I’m NOT pussing out a buying a pie.” So… I didn’t.

I bought cheesecake, pudding, heavy cream, a pie shell and a Hershey bar, and made a pie!

Heavy cream obvi get’s beaten into whip cream with a beater, it takes about 10 minutes, so calm your titties and wait it out. It’s worth it. Oh, and don’t forget the powdered sugar or you just have stiff milk. Ew. My pie? Not ew. Savvy?

So, there’s my turkey day!

I hope everybody’s day was as wonderful as mine was, I hope you all actually took time to thank those you are thankful for and stop to appreciate that in your life which deserves appreciation. I’ve been working on my “30 Days of Thanks” post and can’t wait to get it up… Although I feel like it will be a rambling rant of more or less 30 things I’m thankful for, ranging anywhere from my own flesh and blood to my new leather leggings. lol

Good night!

Ground Turkey Tacos, Spanish Rice & Refried Beans

This is another recipe I’ve been sitting on FOREVER.

I got a new phone and when I take pictures of my food, it’s a pain in the ass to get them onto my computer, so posting takes longer than before.

BUT, my phone takes badass pictures and I’m absolutely in love with things like Instagram. I’m going to start doing a regular post with my favorite shots from the week because the weather is getting beautiful, this town is beautiful, we get out OFTEN and I take a ton of pictures!

Anyway, back to the tacos!

This is another great freezer meal. The meat thaws and reheats well and the rice can be cooked ahead of time and frozen as well. Just make sure to shake it up periodically as it’s freezing so the liquid freezes somewhat evenly. Otherwise you’ll end up with chunky, soggy rice. No bueno.

 

TACO MEAT:

INGREDIENTS:
1lb Ground turkey meat (No need to defrost)
1tbsp Ground cumin, chili powder
1tsp Garlic powder, thyme, red pepper flakes, celery salt
1 Diced red bell pepper
1 Small sliced white onion
4 Roma tomatoes diced
Bacon grease

DIRECTIONS:
     In a large Dutch oven pot, combine frozen turkey and about 3/4 cup of water. Bring to boil, covered and simmer, breaking into pieces until evenly cooked. Uncover, add the seasonings and continue cooking until all the liquid is evaporated and meat begins to brown well. Add the bacon grease, making sure to mix to distribute evenly. Once it’s melted, add the onions and bell peppers. Cook until they start to become soft and the onions become translucent. Add the tomatoes, cover and cook on medium-low for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, seasoning to taste.

SPANISH RICE:

INGREDIENTS:
1c White rice
2tbsp Unsalted butter
1tbsp Knorr tomato bouillon
1c Water
1c Herdez red salsa

DIRECTIONS:
      In a large skillet, melt butter over medium high heat and add rice. Simmer over medium heat until golden brown. Add water, salsa and seasoning, and return to a boil, cover and cook until liquid is absorbed.

I’ve posted how to make my refried beans before, you can find the recipe here.

I make soft tacos, so I just cook the corn tortillas on a hot comal in stacks of two flipping to heat evenly and store in a tortilla warmer until it’s time to eat

.

That’s all! The only unhealthy part is the bacon grease, which you can easily omit without substitution. The rice can be cooked in EVOO as well to cut calories.

Enjoy!

The Best Turkey Burger. EVER.

I say that with confidence, that this truly is, the best turkey burger ever. I only know because I’ve been making them this way forever, it took me a long time to get this just right, and I’ve ordered a turkey burger, EVERYWHERE I’ve eaten in the past few years. They ALL pale in comparison. Red Robin’s turkey burger made me so sick I stopped ordering everybody’s turkey burger and settled on the fact that mine, reigns supreme.

I had always planned to do this post a little differently. But, we defrosted some turkey, yes, I will defrost for burgers, and decided we would rather grill by the pool than make tacos. The pictures are not nearly the quality I had hoped for, I wanted a juicy burger with the cheese, a sexy bun and some condiments. That’s right, I said condiments. I ended up with this…. But I hope that it sparks somebodies interest and they make this burger…. Because you’ll see that sexy doesn’t always equal effing delicious. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 Lb ground turkey
1 Large brown egg
1/4 White onion
1/4 Green bell pepper
1/2 Smallest can of diced green chiles
1tsp Black pepper
1tsp Garlic Salt
1 Large handful of bread crumbs. Any kind, I use the seasoned stuff.

Your choice of cheese, buns and condiments. We use whole wheat toast, because I don’t dig the excess, bleached, flavorless carbs that buns possess. 

DIRECTIONS:

Process the bell peppers, onions and chiles in a food processor.

Combine everything in a bowl.

 

Mix it well, with your hands…. There’s just no other way to get it done. Once mixed well, form in to 1/4 lb patties. If you find that the meat is falling apart and isn’t firm enough to hold it’s shape, add more bread crumbs and keep mixing until you get a consistency you can work with. If they’re too mushy, they won’t flip right, they’ll break apart in the pan and you’ll have ground turkey, again. If you’re going to grill them, use a griddle or a sturdy pizza pan. They stick to the grill really bad and you’ll end up with flaming balls of turkey. Like we did…

My darling grill master was able to salvage some of them, so this is what we ended up with!

I hope you try these burgers, they’re delicious and have SO much less fat than beef!

Enjoy!