I was about 10 years old when I first discovered cooking shows on TV. PBS on Sunday mornings had a string of them, back-to-back, over the course of 3 hours or so. My first ever TV cooking lesson was from the wonderfully kinetic Graham Kerr – The Galloping Gourmet. Kerr’s wit and quirky energy were electric enough to keep an easily bored 10 year old glued to the telly, something Julia Child, as giant as she was, could not do.
Other favorites over the years included: Justin ( I Gar-own-tee ) Wilson who sent me into a Cajun cooking frenzy for at least a year. Martin Yan ( Yan Can Cook ) – loved to see him smash that garlic with a cleaver. Nick Stellino. Burt Wolf – though I never liked the way he said basil “baasil.” Emeril ( Bam! ) Lagassi. Lydia Bastianich’s mom. The Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver. And of course the ever adorable Rachel Ray.
One Sunday, a-half-a-snoozin on the couch, I had one eye open on the TV watching Rachel Ray concoct a Caucasian version of chili con carne. She called it “White Chicken Chili.” At first it seemed somewhat sigogglin, a white chili? But by the time
she was done she had my full attention – and damn if that chili didn’t look good.
Our Povertystew white chili is nothing like Rachel Ray’s but it is inspired by her.
Need This
1-1/2 pounds of ground turkey
4 – 9 ounce cans of white Cannellini beans
3 stalks of celery – sliced
1 white (or yellow) onion – chopped
1- 12 ounce package of frozen corn
1- 12 ounce can of cheap beer (any brand)
2 – cans of cream of celery soup (or cream of chicken)
Olive oil
Salt
Ground cumin
Ground cayenne pepper
Blue corn chips (or yellow) – optional
Do This
Hiss a little non-stick cooking spray into a large frypan.
Toss in the ground turkey and put a medium heat under it. Brown the ground turkey, stirring frequently, until there is no more pink left.
Pour a glug of olive oil into a large pot and put a medium heat under it. Add the celery and onion to the hot oil and sweat them for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Drain and rinse the canned cannellini beans under clean cold water.
Add the browned turkey to the pot with the celery and onions, stir well, then throw in the cannellini beans.
Add the two cans of soup to the pot.
Open the can of beer and dump it all in – and I mean all of it.
Add salt, cumin and cayenne pepper to taste and stir it all up nice
Cook, uncovered, on low heat for one hour – or longer depending on how thick you want the consistency. Stir occasionally.
Add the frozen corn near the end of the cooking time.
Allow the chili to cool then refrigerate until ready to serve* – or overnight if this is a make-ahead deal. Reheat and garnish with a corn chip. Serve hot.
Serves 4 (with leftovers). My cost approx. $ 9.02 total – about $ 2.25 per serving.
*Like Sunday gravy, chili is one of those things that actually improves with refrigeration. GMN