I love turkey on Thanksgiving. This might be why I’ve been tasked with developing our team’s holiday turkey recipe three of the past four years. But there’s only so much leftover turkey I can eat reheated with the rest of the sides or in a sandwich before I get tired of it.
If I’m being honest, I’m usually already over Thanksgiving once I’m done preparing the bulk of the meal. That’s where soups, stews and chilies come in. They’re a great way to transform the poultry leftovers into something new and give them a different flavor profile.
This Leftover Turkey Chili is a version of one I made a couple of years ago with the remnants of recipe testing. It came together using only what I had in my kitchen. One of our photographers, Rey Lopez, had shared some roasted green chiles with the team that were taking up space in my fridge.
I had already used the turkey carcass to make stock. (Here’s my method in case you’ve never done it: After removing the meat, put the turkey carcass in a large pot, cover it with water, add some aromatics - such as onion, celery, carrots, bay leaves, parsley stems or peppercorns - if you wish, and let it simmer for a couple of hours before straining.) I grabbed a bag of green beans from the freezer because I felt like it needed some vegetables.
There’s always an onion, a couple of cans of beans and some spices in my pantry. And there you have it - turkey chili. This time around, ground cumin lends a lovely warmth, a can of fire-roas.
