This particular bowl of experimental food I have named Thanksgiving chilly. It consists of a turkey, pumpkin, and cranberry chili, topped with a random homemade stuffing. Turned out pretty tasty. Probably could have used some corn and mashed potatoes for the full thanksgiving dinner effect.
Since I never seem to measure anything when I make food, I shall compile this recipe with vague estimations.
Thanksgiving chili:
- turkey - 1 or 2 pounds (ground, unless it's actually Thanksgiving leftovers)
- chili - a few tablespoons I'd guess (any type of ground chili will do, I usually throw in some other spices for fun. Of course there's always pre-packaged chili mixes("six gun chili" is quite good))
- tomatoes - 1 can, maybe 2 fresh, diced
- water or tomato juice - about 1 cup (needs some extra liquid for simmering and reducing)
- pumpkin - at least 1 cup (canned pumpkin is always around in huge cans, don't use the whole thing)
- cranberry sauce - 1/4 to 1/3 of the can (flavor wasn't very strong, I'd go with more if you like sweet. Also the kind with actual berries would be better than the can shaped jello kind I used)
- beans - 1 can any kind, drained and rinsed
Stuffing-ish topping:
- bread - 3 big slices or ends of something you weren't gonna eat before it got moldy anyway, cubed
- onion - just one probably, diced
- carrots - 2 small one, sliced thin
- red pepper - 1 diced (Because that's what I had, celery would be good too)
- olive oil - enough
- spices - throw on your favorite
Brown the turkey first (or grey if you wanna be literal, ground turkey does not look pleasant by itself). Throw in your chili spices, then your tomatoes and water/juice, bring that to a boil.
Mix in the pumpkin, cranberry, and beans. Boil it again and then lower the heat to a simmer. Longer cooking equals tastier chili is my experience. If it gets too think you can always add water an keep simmering.
Get a big bowl. Throw in all the topping ingredients and toss to coat them in oil and spices. Spread the whole mess out on a cookie sheet or anything you can bake in, put it in the oven and crank it up to 400. Since I have no sense of time you'll have to check these periodically to ensure the bread is at your preferred crunchiness level.
When you are content with your amount of simmering/toasting, or just freakin' hungry, throw some stuffing/crouton/whatever on top of a bowl of chili and enjoy. This recipe can be enhanced/worsened by the addition of any Thanksgiving leftovers I have missed.