White Chili

It's been entirely too long since I posted a recipe or talked food. I had a potluck to go to this weekend, so I pulled out one of my all-time favorites: White Turkey Chili. It's an adaptation from several white chili recipes I've seen.

White Turkey Chili

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb ground turkey, browned
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 can chicken broth
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely (you can also use two teaspoons of the jarred stuff)
• 2 tsp Cumin seed
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 2 -15oz cans white beans (great northern or cannellini), drained and rinsed
• 1-15 oz can of garbanzo beans
• jalapeno chili peppers, I usually use about half of one of those small cans.

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a 4 or 6 quart crock pot combine the chicken, beans, onions, chicken broth, garlic, cumin and oregano.

About half and hour before you're ready to serve, take about a cup of the liquid out and put two tablespoons of cornstarch in it and stir that up really well until it thickens. Then stir that mixture back into the chili. This gives you a nice, thick chili instead of a runny, soupy mess.

When I lived in the DC area there was a wonderful little restaurant around the corner from my office called Via Cucina. They made this really wonderful turkey chili and were the inspiration for me trying to recreate it. You can also use turkey cutlets that you've cut into bite-sized pieces and stir fried. Also, those pearl onions you get for martinis tossed into the mix make an excellent addition.