Turkey Chilli Rellenos with Tomatillo Salsa

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I'm glad this year is about over. As Roseanne Roseannadanna would say, "if it's not one thing, it's another."

To help make it through the season, Jenn and I took off most of Thanksgiving week. Not only did it ease up on the stress of the season, but it gave us a lot more time to play in the kitchen, which has been nice.

Quite frankly, there are few things quite as therapeutic and relaxing has having a bottle of wine and chopping the ever loving %#@! out of some onion.

Couple all that with the fact that, yet again, we have waaaay too much turkey in the refrigerator, and it's time to get those creative juices flowing at maximum (at least for me: Jenn would be content to eat turkey sammiches for the rest of her days).

This little dish, however, may have cured her of that.

Turkey Chilli Rellenos with Tomatillo Salsa

What You Need:

(Chili Relleno)
3 poblano chilis
1/4 lb. chopped turkey (smoked, preferably)
1/8 cup cilantro
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
2 1/2 ounces of panella fresca, crumbled (or you can use queso fresco, or maybe even goat cheese)
1 cup cornbread dressing
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 tsp salt

(Tomatillo Salsa)
5 roasted tomatillos (destemmed)
1 minced serrano (not seeded)
1/2 avocado
1 large clove garlic, crushed and minced
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 medium white onion
1/8 cup cilantro
1/4 tsp salt

What To Do with It:

Make the salsa. Just throw the ingredients in a blender and puree for a couple of minutes.

Cut out the tops of the poblanos, and cut out the seeds and membrane. Roast the poblanos in a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat until skin blisters, then peel off skin. (You can blanch them in boiling water, then rinse in cold water, to help the process along).

Mix your other ingredients and stuff into the poblanos. Stick a couple of toothpicks in the top (or along the sides to seal any holes).

Place the chilis in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Place 1 tablespoon crema mexicana along the length of the poblano, then add a couple tablespoons of salsa.

Serve with mexican rice (start it at the same time you put in your poblanos) and merlot.

What To Do with a Six-Legged Turkey: Smoked Turkey Legs

I'm not a huge football fan, at least not since Jerry Jones became the owner of the Cowboys. Perhaps it's better to say that I'm not a big Cowboys fan, but let's face it, if you're not a Cowboys fan, you can't really enjoy football. Even so, at least once a year I'm able to put aside my disdain for Mr. Jones and enjoy a good football game. That day is Thanksgiving.

Anyone who has watched a T-Day football game knows about the John Madden six (or even sometimes eight) legged turkey. This is all fine and dandy if you do an oven bird (and have a professional cook staff). For the rest of us, the additional-legged variety of turkey poses a problem.

The solution is quite simple, actually: cook the legs separately. With a dry rub. On a grill.

Smoked Turkey Legs

What You Need:

Turkey Legs (skin on). If you live in Dallas, you can get them at Central Market for about $1.50/pound.

Cayenne

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Cracked Black Pepper

Cracked Green Pepper

Crushed Dried Rosemary

Dried rubbed Sage

Salt

What To Do With It:

Make your rub. 4:2:2:1:1:1:1 and then salt to taste. You may also want to adjust the herbs. For six legs, you're going to want about 1/2 cup of rub, so use 1/4 cup cayenne, 1/8 cup garlic & onion powder & so on...

Dry the legs, apply the rub, and let sit for a couple of hours, until they're room temperature.

If you're smoking:

You should be going low & slow. Wrap the legs in foil, and place in smoker for two hours, then unwrap, and smoke for an hour on each side.

If you're grilling:

Place the legs on foil, but don't wrap. Cook about an hour per side, then finish for a few minutes without the foil.

Serve with beer. Make lots of cave-man noises while you eat.

Southwestern Ribollita

As Thanksgiving fades and Christmas approaches, we're all filled with the same feelings: "What in the *@!#*! am I going to do with more turkey leftovers?" Let's face it: turkey sandwiches lose their shine after two or three, and there's only so much turkey tetrazzini you can pack away before you really don't want any more.

When Jenn and I went to Italy, on our second day we discovered a soup called "ribollita." In a nutshell, it's a hearty soup with a lot of bread in it that has been boiled twice. Like a lot of soups, it's a way to get rid of some leftovers, and it's stone soup at the same time--you add those fresh ingredients you think will make your soup better (if you don't know what stone soup is, google it).

Well, a couple of days ago we were trying to figure out what to do with a few leftovers: turkey, cornbread dressing, gravy and black bean dip we had made, plus a few vegetables that were past their prime. I'm quite pleased with the way this turned out. Frankly, it doesn't have the "leftover" feel to it that turkey tetrazzini does. I'd almost expect to see something like this at a new American cuisine restaurant.

Southwestern Ribollita

32-48 oz. Chicken Broth
2 Poblanos, diced
Leftover smoked turkey (if you don't have smoked turkey, roast the poblanos in a skillet, and you might want to try about 1/4 tsp liquid hickory smoke, but don't over-do it...add 1/8 tsp at a time)
2 medium potatoes
2-3 tomatoes, peeled & diced
3-4 carrots, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
Leftover cornbread dressing (if you don't have it, make a little cornbread WITHOUT sugar)--don't add more than two cups, crushed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lime
6 sprigs cilantro (for soup and garnish)
2 tsp. Cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbps. Oregano
8-10 grinds of black pepper
1 can corn
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Avocado
Grated monterrey jack cheese
1 cup pureed black beans--we actually used black bean dip, which has sherry, cumin, shallots, garlic: but if you don't make the bean dip, add:
(1 tsp sherry)

What to do with it:

Sautee your hard veggies (poblano, onion, carrots and potatoes) in olive oil until the onions are translucent, then add the celery and sautee until the potatoes are relatively soft, but still firm.

Squeeze in 1/2 the lime and add everything EXCEPT the avocado, the cheese and the dressing (or cornbread). Cover with lid, boil, then simmer (still covered) 30-45 minutes.

Add the dressing, and bring to a boil again. Simmer another 15-30 minutes.

Dish up into bowls, squeeze a bit of lime juice, add a slice of avocado, a sprinkle of cheese and a couple cilantro leaves. You might also throw a tortilla chip or two into the soup for presentation purposes, or a corn pone if you've made cornbread.

Serve with a granache wine (we used a spanish wine, Las Rocas de San Alejandro: Garnacha, 2006 vintage)

Smoked Turkey--Your oven will miss you

I know. The latest thing in turkeys is fried. Or turducken. Or carpaccio. (Just kidding about that one). The latest fad, if the amount of ads I receive is indication, is smoked turkey.

Fads come and go. Good taste: that's enduring. Somewhere around 45 years ago, my parents were on a hunting trip at Thanksgiving. Having no oven, they used a charcoal grill to cook their turkey. They've never used an oven since. And about five years ago, I cooked a turkey on an old beat-up weber for my mother in-law. That's her favorite way now, as well.

A couple years ago, my wife and parents bought me a smoker for my birthday. As much as I like turkey cooked on a Weber...a smoked turkey is even better. The last one I cooked, when I tried to pull off a drum stick, I got just a bone. The meat was that tender.

What you need:

A turkey. Preferably fresh, and without injected solution. That stuff just tastes awful. I'm assuming a turkey that's 16-20 pounds.
2 sticks of butter
1/2 to 3/4 cup of rubbed sage leaf
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

What to do with it:

Let your butter soften. Once it's to room temperature, mix in your spices.

Next, if you've never cooked a turkey, pull out the bag from the inside with the neck, giblets, etc. Trust me. You don't want to cook that in there.

Cut some of the excess skin from the back end of the turkey, close to the meat. Now, separate the skin from the meat. You're not cutting it away, just pulling it. Once you've got some separation, make a fist and continue separating skin from meat. Concentrate on the breast, but separate all the way around (don't separate the drum sticks). You're not going to skin the turkey--you're just making space for butter.

Once you've got most of the skin separated from the breast, put about 1/3 of your butter under the skin. You don't want one big clump--spread it around. Put another 1/3 of the butter under the skin in other places (the back, for instance).

Using paper towels, dry the outside of the turkey. Massage in the remaining butter on the outside of the skin. Place the turkey in an aluminum pan, breast side up, throw in 1/4 white onion, a couple stalks of celery, about 12 ounces of water, cover with aluminum foil and set aside.
If you've only got a grill, get a good bed of coals going. Move the coals to the outside rim, close down all the air intakes, and put on the turkey. You'll cook about 20 minutes per pound. About every 2 hours, add fresh coals. Baste at the same time. The key is to keep the coals on the outside: you don't want direct heat.

If you've got a smoker, get your fire going at least an hour before you put on your turkey--you don't want it flaring up. Once your temperature is steady, put your turkey on, covered in foil. Your turkey will take 20-30 minutes per pound, with a temperature between 200 and 220 degrees. You're going to want to check the fire box about every two hours: baste the bird at that time. I like to use pecan wood for the first 4 to 5 hours, then switch to something more mellow, like fruit wood.

In either method, once you're done let the turkey rest for about 20 minutes prior to carving. It may be pink in places. That's OK. It doesn't mean it's raw, only smoked.

Remember that bag o' parts? About two hours before your turkey is due to come up, place them, along with some celery, onion, and a tiny bit of carrots into a pot with 16 ounces of chicken broth, and cook on medium-high. Check occasionally to be certain that you haven't cooked away the liquid. When your turkey comes off the grill, pull out the parts and add some of the juice to this broth along with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of milk, and then add flour or corn starch (in incremental, small amounts) to thicken to your preference. Chop up some of the liver and throw it in. Now you've got gravy for your turkey. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a good pinot noir.