We’ve driven out to our house in the California desert for a week. Family members begin joining us tomorrow and will come and go for about 5 days. But for the moment, my DH and I are alone. My blog guru has completed stage one of my blog conversion. You won’t see any difference yet. I’ve been busy (in the background) updating every blog post I’ve ever done. First I revised categories (so you can search on my site – correctly – for all my salad recipes, for instance) and tags (that help people find my blog when they do an internet search). The second part is opening every post I’ve ever done [ugh] and correcting font code problems. My guru guy is going to write a little program of some kind that will make all the old posts look better, but that means all the posts have to be coded the same when he writes the override. The first project took me about 10 hours to do. This one (regarding fonts) will probably be weeks of work because it takes me about 10-15 minutes per post to get just one corrected. It’s so very tedious (adding and deleting code). It will be several more weeks before there is a new design, and THEN you’ll see new fonts. Until then you won’t notice much difference.
So, back to dinner last night. In reading all my old posts, my mouth was watering over any number of them – things I’ve made in the last year and haven’t made since. So many recipes, so little time. I’ll tell you, it’s tough being a blogger of food. The one recipe that kept popping up in my head was the stuffed vegetarian Poblano (pasilla) chiles with corn that I made earlier this year. They were so awesomely good. Spying some lovely, big poblanos at the market was all it took for me to try it again. Only problem was I didn’t remember what all was in it (of course, in my own defense, I didn’t know I was going to make these until I saw the chiles, so how could I know the ingredient list . . . really). So I had to guess. I bought some fresh corn on the cob. [A little backstep here – I should know better than to buy fresh corn on the cob in November, for goodness’ sake . . . sometimes Trader Joe’s, or any other market that tries to sell these in November, are suspect. I should have put the package back and gone for the frozen corn. So, you’ll know better when you try the recipe, okay?] I decided to put some ground turkey in them this time (not in my original), and some mushrooms.
Now, knowing that most everybody here in America is going to have some leftover turkey this week, this recipe is timely. Instead of the ground turkey I used, substitute about 1 ½ – 2 cups of cubed leftover turkey. Don’t cook it, though, just add it into the mixture at the end.
Every time we drive to our desert house I stand at the open refrigerator at our main home and try to anticipate what I might need. I can’t keep both houses (cupboards and refrigerator/freezer) stocked with everything known to a home cook. So I forgot a couple of key ingredients and had to improvise. My DH said these stuffed chiles were better than the first time. I’m not so sure, but they were totally different, so even though they may look the same, they weren’t. These were less spicy. More like stuffed bell peppers in a way. These had ground turkey in them. What was missing was the chipotle chiles in adobo sauce that I think enhance so many, many dishes. They pack a wallop of heat if you use very much, but in moderation (meaning very little) it adds a depth of flavor unlike other enhancements. I didn’t have limes (used lemon instead). I also had no regular red and yellow bell peppers to add. None at all. So, this version is different – much more moderate in spicy heat. Still tasty, though. The poblanos were very mild this time – they had virtually no heat to them at all. I added a half of a jalapeno chile to the mixture too.
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Roasted Poblano Chile with Turkey (even Leftovers), Corn and
Mushrooms
Recipe: A Carolyn original
Servings: 4
Serving Ideas: Serve with hot flour tortillas on the side, if you wish. This goes well with a green salad too.
4 large Poblano chiles, also called pasilla chiles
1 medium yellow onion — minced
1 clove garlic — minced
10 ounces ground turkey — or leftover turkey cubes
4 ounces mushrooms — cleaned, diced
1 1/2 cups corn
1/2 small jalapeno chile pepper — seeded, minced
1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
3 tablespoons Feta cheese — crumbled
1/4 cup heavy cream — or fat-free half and half
3 tablespoons egg substitute, liquid
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated Jack cheese
3 tablespoons cilantro — minced
4 tablespoons salsa — optional
4 tablespoons sour cream — optional
1/2 cup guacamole — optional
1. Turn on oven to broil and allow to heat completely while you prepare the chiles. Rinse and dry the chiles and place on a foil-lined cookie sheet. When oven is hot, broil chiles for a few minutes per side (watch carefully – if you overdo it the flesh of the chiles will turn to mush or dry up), until all sides are black and crackly. Remove pan and reduce oven temperature to 350. Place chiles in a heatproof bowl and cover with foil. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes until they’re cool enough to handle, remove foil and let it sit another 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet and add a thin film of olive oil. Saute the onion for 5-8 minutes, until onion is limp but not browned. Add garlic and continue cooking for just one minute. Then add the mushrooms and ground turkey. Stir occasionally as the mixture cooks and weeps moisture, about 10 minutes. Add the corn and jalapeno chile, and cook for just a minute or two. Turn off heat and add Feta cheese and chicken bouillon granules. Stir in heavy cream and egg substitute. Allow to cool while you finish the peppers. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Remove the charred skin from the peppers. Handle them very carefully – you don’t want the pepper to open up yet as you’re removing the skin. Gently open up a slit in the chile, kind of open it like a book, leaving the stem intact. Gently scoop out the seeds as best you can without tearing the chiles.
4. On the same pan you used to char the peppers, place the opened chiles. Using a large spoon scoop the meat mixture down the center of each chile. Try to let the chile become a limp bowl, if you will. Mound the mixture up and gently lift the sides so they stick to the filling.
5. Cover filling with the combination of grated cheeses, pressing lightly so the cheese will stick. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove and serve immediately with garnishes of your choice.
Per Serving: 582 Calories (assuming you eat all the condiments); 40g Fat (60.7% calories from fat); 34g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 149mg Cholesterol; 699mg Sodium.
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