MMMMMMM Good - Savory White Turkey Chili . . .

Satisfying, Sumptuous, Savory Saturdays

The weather in Alabama finally feels like fall.  We never know what kind of weather we are going to have . . .if you don't like the weather today, odds are that tomorrow . . .or at least by the next day, it will be different.  I guess we live just close enough (4 hours) from the coast . . .and somewhere in the jet stream (can you tell I know a WHOLE LOT about weather??) that we have mild fall weather.  Sometimes it seems like we have two seasons here - Hot . . .and not so hot!  This week we have had some of those days with some real nip.  Last  night we even had a frost warning for our county . . .several hours at or below freezing.  We just never know . . .odds are good that I will have on shorts on Thanksgiving day.  The whole point about that incredibly long monologue about weather -- it has been cool enough to make soups and chili.  I love soups and chili.  I'm so hot natured that you would think that I wouldn't like hot food . . .but I do!!

Last Sunday night, I put a whole turkey breast in the crockpot and cooked it so that we could have some meat to eat on this week.  We also served honeybaked Turkey Breast (the real kind!) to the young adults on Tuesday night.  I realized that we had just enough honeybaked Turkey leftovers for a couple of meal and didn't want the other meat to go to waste.  On Thursday morning before I went to work, I threw a few things into the crockpot before work and when we came home . . .yummy supper!

The recipe is really for White Chicken Chili . . .but it was really good with turkey leftovers!!!!  Really good!!  So . . .ingredients are:

White TURKEY chili

chopped onions (a small to medium one chopped - or see my notes in recipe)
chopped turkey (or chopped chicken - whatever you have - I used all the left-overs - you could even use a rotisserie chicken)
1 can rotel - I used original
2 cans chicken broth
one Mason Jar of turkey broth (saved in refrigerator from cooked turkey earlier in week - this is optional -- I just had it on hand . . .and it was so rich and flavorful)
2 (or three) cans navy beans (I do not drain my beans - I like to use the juice in most of my soups)
a tsp or so of cumin

I sprayed the crockpot with Pam and added the chopped onions and chopped/shredded chicken.  I am going to be honest - I had a container of pre-chopped onions from the produce department and I used those - equivalent to a small to medium sized onion.  You could also use frozen chopped onions or a whole onion that you chopped yourself.

Here are all the pretty ingredients (minus a few) - what can I say?  It was really early in the morning and I have not been getting enough sleep.  Look at the color of that rich turkey broth.  You can see a small amount of fat on top.  I took a spoon and scooped the fat from the top and didn't put the fat in the crockpot.

Here is the turkey . . .I just dumped it out on a paper plate and chopped and shredded it. It does not have to be in uniform pieces, etc. 

This is what it looked like after everything was in the crockpot.  The rotel adds flavor and a little color but does not make it a "red" soup/chili.

I realized that I forgot to add some cumin so the cute little jar had his picture snapped all by himself.  I love cumin.  It is one of my favorite spices.  I need to google "difference between herbs and spices" - I think cumin is a spice  . . .

 

When we got home from work . . .it was great . . .because when you came in through the basement door . . .you could smell supper.  That is a comforting smell - something cooking after a long day.  I told Mark that I wished we had some cornbread but I want to make any.  We both remembered that there was a bag of Gourmet (yes! Gourmet!!!) Hush Puppies in the freezer.  Mark grabbed those and tossed them to me and we popped those into the oven - viola' (is that how you spell that??) -- instant cornbread . . .almost.  The  hushpuppies were a great addition to our White Turkey Chili.  My daddy used to cook hushpuppies all the time as his "bread of choice" after my momma died.  I always feel a sweet connection to him when I do something . . .and then remember that he did that, too!

 

This recipe is easy to throw into the crockpot on low all day or in a regular pot on your stovetop for an hour or two.  I will tell you that because I added that extra broth . . .the chili was not quite as thick as I like it.  I was standing looking into the pantry looking for a "thickener" . . .I didn't like anything I had on hand.  I spotted a can of cream of chicken soup and thought - what the heck - why not try it?  I opened it up and plopped it into the crockpot and turned the crockpot on high.  I got out my whisk and whisked the soup into the mixture and let it continue to cook while we baked the hushpuppies, etc.  It really added some much needed body to the chili.  I don't know if I would add it up front next time . . .probably not.  I don't think you would have the problem if you only used the two cans of broth.

 

I would love for you to link up and share a recipe.  My friend, Gayle, said she would share a recipe but didn't know how to do it on the blog.  I'll have to get one from her and share with y'all - she is a good cook . . .she makes great pimento and cheese among other things!!

 

So . . .link up and share.  I want to try Robin's date cake from last week but haven't been to the store yet.  It would have been a great addition to our White Turkey chili and hushpuppies!!