Curried Turkey Sandwiches

A few nights ago, I was in need of a quick, tasty dinner.  I was in something of a sandwich mood, but also hungry for curry, so I decided to do both.

I had planned to buy some chicken breasts, slice and pound them into cutlets and make sandwiches with those, but when I got to the store, I saw they were running a special on turkey breast cutlets.  Sounded good to me.

The recipe this time around is really simple.  Mix a few things, toss in the turkey cutlets, refrigerate them for a bit, then quick-broil them.  The result is a really tasty sandwich.   These don't take much time to make, and most of the time they do take is spent having the turkey breasts marinate in the fridge.  If you're looking for something tasty, different and quick, give these a shot.   I think you'll like the result.


Curried Turkey Sandwiches

yield = 4 sandwiches

1                cup plain yogurt
2                tablespoons lemon juice
1                tablespoon Madras curry powder
2                teaspoons minced garlic
1/2             teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/2             teaspoon table salt
1/2             teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2          pounds turkey breast cutlets
4                large (tenderloin-size) sandwich buns
                  fresh lettuce, washed and dried
                  tomato slices (if desired)

Combine the yogurt, lemon juice, curry powder, garlic, pepper, salt and onion powder in a large bowl.   Stir to thoroughly mix.   Add turkey breast cutlets.  Stir to fully coat the cutlets with the curry mixture.   Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.

While the turkey breast cutlets are marinating, set an oven rack 6 inches below the broiler element and heat up the oven to low broil.   Line the inside of a broiler pan with foil.  Spray the grill surface with nonstick cooking spray.

Place the turkey breast cutlets on the cooking surface of the broiler pan.  Broil for 4 minutes, flip the turkey cutlets over and cook another four minutes or until done.  The meat should be cooked through, and the curry coating should be browned in spots.

Serve turkey cutlets on sandwich buns.  Garnish with lettuce leaves (and tomato slices, if desired).

Turkey Parmesan

Recently our hometown grocery had some nice-looking turkey cutlets for sale.   We picked some up, and after considering what to do with them, I decided to make some Turkey Parmesan.   I consulted our Chicken Parmesan recipe, published back in November, and came up with some improvements on that recipe.  After jotting down the changes, I went to work. 

One thing I discovered right away - which was not evident in looking at the package - was that the cutlets weren't even close to evenly-sized.   This forced me to cut some of the larger cutlets into two pieces before pounding them flat, because otherwise they wouldn't cook up as evenly as I'd prefer.   That wasn't too much hassle, fortunately, and everything else went off without a problem.  I breaded the cutlets in panko crumbs and Parmesan, fried them golden-brown on both sides, then tossed them on a wire rack, sprinkled them with cheese and tossed them in the oven to finish cooking.  Meanwhile, I cooked the spaghetti and made a quick and flavorful pasta sauce, and by the time those were done, the cutlets were ready to come out of the oven.

This turned out great - even better than the last time I made Chicken Parmesan.  The changes I made in the recipe really were improvements.  The cutlets were delicious - crisp outside, juicy, tender on the inside and flavorful all the way through - and the sauce was also quite tasty.   I even managed to find some good, fresh basil in the grocery (not at all a sure thing this time of year), which made for a nice garnish.

The recipe below will work fine for Chicken Parmesan, too.  Just use chicken breast cutlets in place of the turkey.   If you've printed off our Chicken Parmesan recipe, replace it with this one, because it's even better.  As far as I'm concerned, this recipe replaces our old one for Chicken Parm.

Turkey Parmesan

yield = 4 servings

1 1/2            pounds turkey breast cutlets
                    salt and pepper to taste
1                  cup all-purpose flour
2                  eggs
2                  tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, + 2/3
                    cup for frying
2                  cups panko bread crumbs
1/4               cup freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, +
                    1/3 cup
1/2               cup freshly-shredded mozzarella cheese
1                  teaspoon table salt + 1/2 teaspoon
1                  onion, finely chopped
1                  teaspoon minced garlic
1/2               teaspoon dried oregano
1/4               teaspoon crushed dried basil
1/8               teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1                  can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1/2               ounces spaghetti
1/4               cup (packed) chopped, fresh basil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil.  Set a wire rack atop the baking sheet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. 

Dry the turkey breast cutlets with paper towels and sprinkle on both sides with salt and pepper.   Put the flour in a wide, shallow dish (such as a pie plate).  Combine the eggs and one tablespoon olive oil in a small bowl.  Beat thoroughly, then pour into another wide, shallow dish.  Add the panko crumbs and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano in a third wide, shallow dish and mix thoroughly. 

Place one cutlet in the dish with the flour, flipping it to cover thoroughly and shaking off any loose flour.  Dip and flip the flour-covered cutlet in the egg mixture to coat it, letting any excess drip back into the bowl, then dip it into the panko mixture, pressing and flipping the cutlet to get the crumbs to stick on both sides.  Place the cutlet on the wire rack and repeat with other cutlets.  After coating all the cutlets, allow them to dry for 5 minutes to help the coating adhere.

Add four quarts of water and one teaspoon of salt to a large pot and start the water boiling for the spaghetti.

Heat 2/3 cup of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until smoking.  Place 2-3 cutlets in the oil and cook for about 3 minutes before flipping them and cooking another 3 minutes.  They should be browned on both sides.  Transfer the cutlets to a plate lined with three layers of paper towels.  Repeat with the rest of the cutlets, returning the fried, cooked cutlets to the wire rack. 

When all the cutlets have been fried, top each first with a bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano, then with a bit of mozzarella, dividing the cheese evenly between the cutlets.  Place in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 7 minutes.

Add the last tablespoon of olive oil to a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, add the oil and cook until it has started to brown, then add the garlic, oregano, dried basil and red pepper flakes and cook another 30 seconds.  Stir in crushed tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, when the water comes to a boil, add the spaghetti and cook per package directions.

Remove the turkey cutlets from the oven, arrange on a serving platter and spoon some of the sauce over the cutlets.  Top with chopped fresh basil.  Serve with spaghetti and remaining sauce.

Turkey Pot Pie with Savory Crumble Topping

An excellent recipe for Chicken Pot Pie with Savory Crumble Topping was published in the September 2010 issue of Cook's Illustrated.   The recipe has also been featured on the America's Test Kitchen TV show on PBS.  As written, it's a great recipe - it's as good as anything CI has ever published, in our opinion, and it's well worth trying out.   That recipe also inspired me to do a version using turkey stock and leftover turkey from last time I roasted a turkey.

Since the only real changes I made from Cook's Illustrated's recipe were to use already-cooked turkey and turkey stock in place of chicken breasts and chicken broth, I'm not going to claim this as an original recipe, and as such, I can't print the recipe here.  I can show you the preparation process and the results, though.  As with all CI recipes, Chicken Pot Pie with Savory Crumble Topping is available with a paid (or free temporary) membership to http://www.cooksillustrated.com/, so you can check there if you want the recipe.

First off you make the topping.  It's wonderfully flaky, and rich and a bit spicy due to Parmesan cheese and cayenne pepper.   Really, it's just plain delicious.  This topping is the primary factor that elevates this recipe beyond "good" to "truly excellent."

Next up, you cook onion, carrots and celery, then mushrooms.  After that, you melt some butter, stir in flour and whisk in turkey stock and milk to make a thick sauce.

The sauce is combined with the cooked vegetables and the cooked turkey, all of which is poured into a casserole dish.   The topping is sprinkled on top and the whole thing goes into the oven. 

After about 15 minutes of baking and a sprinkle of parsley, it's ready:  Bubbling filling, nicely-browned topping, the whole thing delicious and absolutely satisfying.

In addition to a really, really nice dinner, we got four servings of leftovers.  This was just as good warmed up as it was hot out of the oven.

Making this finished off the last of our leftover turkey, but next time I bake a turkey, it's very likely I'll make this recipe again.   In the meantime, I can always make the recipe as-written.  All that's different is that you simmer chicken breasts in broth, chop up the chicken and use the broth as the base for the sauce.  I'm guessing the results will be equally delicious.

Quick Turkey and Bean Burritos

Roasting a turkey, like we did over the New Year's weekend, leaves one with a lot of leftover turkey.  A lot of it went into frozen lunches consisting of turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce and baked sweet potatoes, and some more went into Turkey Soup, which used turkey stock made from the turkey carcass.   That still left us with several pounds of leftover roast turkey, though, including one full turkey breast.  I used some of that leftover turkey to make turkey burritos.

Most people probably don't think of Mexican food when they think of turkey.  Chicken is much more typical, but other sorts of poultry work just fine with Mexican cuisine, and in this particular case, using already-roasted turkey meat - mostly breast meat - makes for a quick, low-fat meal with lots of flavor.   You might not find this sort of burrito on the menu at very many Mexican restaurants, but if you give it a try, I think you'll find it a big hit at your own table.

Quick Turkey and Bean Burritos

yield = serves 6

1         tablespoon canola oil
1         large white onion, finely chopped
1         pound cooked turkey, chopped and shredded
1         can chili beans
1         can black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4      cup taco sauce
1/2      cup turkey (or chicken) stock (or broth)
4         teaspoons fresh lime juice
2         teaspoons medium chili powder
1         teaspoon ground cumin
1/2      teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/4      teaspoon table salt
6         tortillas
1         cup shredded cheddar or Mexican white cheese
2         tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering.  Add onion and cook until soft, stirring frequently.  Add turkey and cook until slightly browned.   Add beans, taco sauce, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, black pepper and salt.  Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened.

Spoon 1/6 of the turkey mixture down the middle of one tortilla, then top it with some cheese and cilantro.  Fold in one end of the tortilla, then one side to cover the turkey mixture, then roll the other side of the burrito over to make a burrito.  Repeat with the remainder of the turkey mixture and burritos, then serve.

Note:

If you don't have any cooked turkey, you can make this recipe with fresh ground turkey.  Use 1 1/4 pound of ground turkey and add it in place of the cooked turkey, cooking it through until it is cooked and slightly browned.  You can also use cooked chicken in place of the turkey. 

Turkey Soup

Having recently made a batch of turkey stock, it was almost a requirement that I make up a batch of Turkey Soup.    There's really not much to say about this recipe - it's pretty straight-forward - and there's also not a whole lot to show, since pictures of chopped parsley and cooking pasta aren't particularly dynamic.   The finished soup was really, really good, though, and hopefully the one picture can convey that. 

One cooking tip:  don't cook the pasta in the soup itself.  Getting the soup to enough of a boil to cook the pasta will probably make the pieces of turkey fall apart, and excess starch from the cooking pasta will weaken the flavor of the broth.  Adding the just-cooked pasta to the soup keeps the pasta from getting mushy.

Turkey Soup

yield = four to five servings

1              teaspoon table salt, divided
2 1/2        quarts Basic Turkey Stock
1              cup diced, cooked turkey
1              tablespoon unsalted butter
1              large carrot, peeled and diced
1/2           teaspoon minced garlic
1              tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4           teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
5              ounces medium shell pasta

Add 3 quarts of water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a medium stock pot and bring to a boil.   Meanwhile, add turkey stock and diced turkey to a large pot over medium heat.  Bring to a high simmer, then reduce heat to low simmer.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, then add the diced carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly browned on some edges (about 6 minutes).  Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds, then transfer carrots and garlic to the simmering pot.  Stir in parsley and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. 

When the water in the stock pot has come to a boil, add the pasta and cook per package directions.  When the pasta is done, drain it thoroughly then stir it into the soup.  Cook another minute or so, then serve.

Note: 
Fairly small pasta shapes work best in this soup.  I went with medium shells, but small shells would also work well.  Other good choices include orzo, stelline and ditali.

Basic Turkey Stock

After baking a turkey recently, I was left with a variety of leftovers.  I removed lots of turkey meat, including one complete breast, from the turkey, but that left me with the turkey carcass, which had a fair bit of meat still attached.  I divided the carcass into pieces and froze it, only to take it out of the freezer a week later to make turkey stock.

Turkey stock quite useful for soups, but it can also be used in place of chicken stock in any number of recipes.  My plan was to freeze a couple quarts of stock and use the rest to make a turkey soup of some sort.  I'll probably be using some of the frozen stock to make a turkey pot pie in the near future.

The following is a pretty basic recipe for stock.  It is tasty enough to stand on its own as a turkey broth, but it really shines when used as a base for other recipes.  It takes a little time, but most of that time is just simmering, with only minimal oversight necessary, and the result is well worth the time.


Basic Turkey Stock

yield = 4 1/2 quarts stock

1         carcass from a 18-20 pound turkey with ample
           amount of meat still attached, divided into sections
           to fit into a pot
2         large stalks celery, chopped course
1         large onion, peeled and halved
1         large carrot, peeled and chopped coarse
1         bay leaf
5         medium cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1         teaspoon black peppercorns, slightly cracked
5         quarts water
2         cups dry white wine
5         sprigs fresh parsley
2         sprigs fresh thyme

Add the turkey carcass, celery, onion, carrot, bay leaf, garlic cloves and peppercorns to a large stock pot (12 quarts or more works best) along with the water and wine.   Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer two hours, stirring occasionally.  Add the parsley and thyme, simmer two more hours, then strain the broth into quart-size containers.  Remove the meat from the solids and reserve for soup or other uses.  When the broth has cooled, remove and discard the fat from atop the broth.

Not Just for Thanksgiving, Part 1: Turkey, Stuffing and Gravy

Over the New Year's weekend, Juli and I made a roast turkey with gravy and stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce and a sweet potato casserole.  A lot of people think of such a meal only in connection with Thanksgiving, or perhaps Christmas, but we both love turkey, and we both love making a sort of feast in conjunction with a roast turkey.  In addition, that weekend was also our anniversary weekend, so something a bit celebratory was called for.

I cooked up the turkey in a Reynolds Oven Bag.   A lot of cooking purists aren't fond of this method, and I've seen some cooking articles really dismiss this way of cooking a turkey.  In the October/November 2010 issue of Cook's Country, for example, Diane Unger describes the results of her cooking a turkey in a bag as providing lots of juices for gravy and rendering the turkey quite juicy, but also described the turkey as "pale, its skin flabby, the meat at the bottom waterlogged."  That's never been my experience - quite the contrary, I've found this method always results in a moist, perfectly-cooked turkey with browned skin, not the least bit flabby or waterlogged.   I've always just taken for granted the bird would end up this way, so this time around I paid a bit more attention, to see if I could puzzle out why my experience with cooking a turkey in a bag has been so much better than that of many others.

One thing I realized right away was that I almost always cook the turkey stuffed.  It takes longer for a stuffed turkey to cook, and that extra time is probably one reason why I don't end up with a pale-looking, flabby turkey.  Plus, I note that the aforementioned article's author followed the minimalist - and, frankly, inadequate - directions provided along with the bags.  She just sprinkled the bag with flour, lightly oiled the turkey, tossed it in the bag with chopped celery, carrot and onion, cut a few tiny vent openings in the bag and bakes the bird.  That probably would result in a pale, sickly-looking bird.   But that's not what I do.

Before.  Here's the turkey, stuffed,
prepared and in the bag.

After.  Here's the finished turkey, ready to carve.

First off, I rub the turkey with seasoned butter, and rub some more under the skin over the breast.  As the turkey cooks, the butter and seasonings help the skin brown.   Second of all, as mentioned earlier, I always cook the turkey stuffed.  On this occasions I made a Simple Apple-Cranberry Stuffing by chopping and adding some fresh fruit to Stove Top Stuffing.  As I noted before, the stuffed turkey takes longer to cook, which gives the turkey skin more time to brown, plus the stuffing absorbs some of the juices as the turkey cooks, which probably helps avoid the waterlogged results Ms. Unger notes.

I also make longer slits across the top of the baking bag - three to four inches wide, as opposed to the half-inch slits called for in the directions included with the oven bags.  Although this allows a bit of the juices released from the turkey to cook off, what remains is more than ample, and the venting helps the turkey brown.

Finally, I skip the carrots, but add a double portion of onions and celery to the bag, along with two sliced-up apples, all of it sliced into large chunks and the turkey placed atop them.   This flavors the turkey juices with apple, which makes for a great gravy, and it also lifts the cooking turkey a bit, which probably also helps keep the turkey from being waterlogged. 

Now, mind you, I'm not saying the bag method is the only way to cook a turkey, or even the best way.   In fact, if you follow the directions in the oven bag packaging too closely, bag-baking will probably not give you a very good result.  If you change up a few things, though, bag cooking can be a perfectly valid way to roast a turkey, and the advantages provided by this method - less mess, wonderfully moist meat, ample juice for making gravy - make it my go-to method.

Jeffrey's Turkey-in-a-Bag Recipe

3            6 ounce boxes Stove Top stuffing
4 1/2      cups chicken broth
8            tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus
              3 tablespoons, softened
1            turkey-size oven bag
1            turkey, 18-20 lbs
2            tablespoons all-purpose flour
2            large onions, peeled and thickly-sliced
2            large stalks celery, sliced into pieces 3-4 inches long
2            Granny Smith apples, cored and each sliced into 8
              wedges
1 1/2      teaspoons kosher salt
1            teaspoon garlic powder
3/4         teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/2         teaspoon dried sage
1/2         teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Add chicken broth and one stick unsalted butter to a Dutch oven over high heat.  Bring to a boil, stir in contents of stuffing envelopes, cover and remove from heat.  Let stand 5 minutes, then uncover and set aside to cool.

Add flour to oven bag and shake.  Arrange bag in large roasting pan, then onion slices, celery pieces and apple slices evenly across bottom of bag. 

Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey.  Wash the turkey inside and out, then dry with paper towels.  Stuff cavity of turkey with the stuffing, being careful to not over-stuff or heavily pack the stuffing.  Excess stuffing can be stuffed into the neck cavity and beneath the skin in that part of the turkey.

In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons softened butter with kosher salt, garlic powder, black pepper, sage and thyme.  Use fingers to loosen skin over both sides of the turkey breast and to spread half the butter mixture over the breasts beneath the loosened skin.  Rub the remainder of the butter mixture over the turkey breast and legs. 

Place turkey in the oven bag, seal the bag and tuck the ends of the bag into the pan.  Roast for two hours, then rotate the baking pan.  Cook another 90 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees when placed in the thickest part of the breast or 175 degrees in the thigh.  Remove from the oven and keep the turkey covered for at least 10 minutes or until you are ready to carve it. 

Note: 
The version of seasoned butter I detail above is simply one option, albeit the one I go with most often.  You can get a different flavor by using different seasonings, of course.   I've sometimes made a more fruit-flavored seasoned butter, using orange zest and one of the Penzeys Spice seasoning mixes that include some fruit flavors.  One could make a Southwestern version (using cumin, cayenne, sage and black pepper), or any number of other possibilities.

Stove-Top prepared per the box directions isn't particularly good, in my opinion, but with a little work, it can turn out pretty good.   The following my suggestions for making it good.

1)  Use chicken broth instead of water.   This really boosts the flavor of the stuffing.

2)  Use less butter than is called for in the directions.   Less butter = healthier, plus you get enough flavor from the chicken broth that you can get by with less butter.   The directions call for 1/2 stick of butter per box of stuffing.   I used one stick for three boxes, cutting the butter by 1/3.

3)  Add something else to the stuffing for extra flavor and texture.  Fresh or dried fruit and nuts are particularly good choices for perking up the boring stuffing.

4)  Use the stuffing to stuff the bird, rather than eating it from the stove top.  Spending some time inside the bird gives the stuffing a better texture and richer flavor. 

Apple-Cranberry Stuffing
Peel and core one Granny Smith apple and dice into 1/4 inch pieces.  Prepare Stove Top stuffing as detailed above, but adding the diced apple and one cup fresh cranberries to the Dutch oven along with the chicken broth and butter. 

For me, one of the highlights of making a turkey is gravy.   Below is a simple recipe for turkey gravy.  It's pretty much foolproof, but I've nonetheless found that it always turns out better when Juli makes the gravy than when I try it.   She's just got a knack, I guess.

Turkey Gravy

2            cups pan juices from cooked turkey, fat skimmed off
1            tablespoon chicken soup base
1            tablespoon corn starch dissolved in 2 teaspoons
              cold water
              salt and pepper to taste

Pour the pan juice into a large saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in soup base.

When the liquid comes to boil, stir in the corn starch mixture.   In order to avoid lumps, continue to stir constantly until the gravy reaches the desired consistency.   Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve atop mashed potatoes, meat slices and/or stuffing.

Leftover Turkey, Part 2: Quick Southwestern-Spiced Breadsticks and White Turkey Chili

Juli's sister Cecelia made the main dish for dinner on Black Friday.  She'd decided to make a white chili using the leftover turkey, but since she didn't have a recipe handy, she decided to wing it.  I helped out with a few seasoning suggestions, and I also came up with a nice little side to go with the chili - breadsticks flavored with southwestern seasonings. 

These breadsticks represent one of those rare times when I go with pre-prepared dough instead of making my own.  I did that largely because of the convenience and speed.  I'd recently read an article somewhere about using pre-made pizza dough to make breadsticks, as opposed to using bread dough.   The author stated the pizza dough tends to crisp up better, and that sounded good to me, so I went with that idea.

Coming up with the recipe was pretty simple, really.  All I did was select some spices common to southwestern, Tex-Mex and Mexican dishes and figure out the proper ratio.   From there, it was a simple matter of slicing the dough, shaping the breadsticks, brushing them with melted butter, sprinkling on the spice mixture and tossing them into the oven for a few minutes. 

They turned out quite good, especially considering how quick and easy they were to assemble, and they were indeed nice and crispy without being hard or dried-out.  The recipe is definitely a winner, and the breadsticks went great with the chili. 

I've included both my breadstick recipe and the tossed-together-on-the-spot recipe used for the chili. 

Cecelia's White Chili

1 1/2       pounds dried navy beans
3             tablespoons butter
3             carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
6             stalks celery with leaves, thinly sliced
1             yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2          white onion, finely chopped
1             tablespoon chili powder
1             teaspoon kosher salt
3/4          teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/2          teaspoon ground cumin
1/2          teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
4             cups chicken broth
2             pounds cooked turkey or chicken
1             can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and green chilies
3/4          teaspoon garlic powder
               sour cream, chopped cilantro, chopped fresh tomatoes
               and/or grated cheese to garnish.

Add beans to a Dutch oven.  Add water to two inches above the level of the beans.  Soak 12+ hours.

Drain off water, then add fresh water to about 1 inch above the beans.  Boil one hour.  Check beans for doneness at that point; cook until beans are soft.  Once beans are soft, drain the water.  Reserve 1/3 to 1/2 of the beans; return the remainder to the Dutch oven.

Melt the butter in a skillet, then saute the carrots, celery and onions until they are softened.  Stir in the salt, oregano, cumin, chili powder and black pepper and cook for a couple minutes.  Meanwhile, add the chicken broth to the Dutch oven with the beans , then add the sauted vegetables.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.  Add the turkey (or chicken), the Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with chilis, the reserved beans and the garlic powder.   Cook for about 5 minutes to heat through; taste, adjust seasoning if necessary and serve.

Notes:
If you like larger chunks of carrots but also want them soft, microwave them for about 2 minutes before sauteing them.

Leftovers of the jalapeno corn casserole Juli made the day before mix in well with the chili.  


Quick Southwestern-Spiced Breadsticks

yield = 8 breadsticks

1       teaspoon ground cumin
1       teaspoon garlic powder
1       teaspoon onion powder
1/2    teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/2    teaspooons dried cilantro, crushed
1/4    teaspoon kosher salt
1/8    teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/8    teaspoon cayenne pepper
1       tube prepared pizza dough
2       tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Prepare two baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine the first eight ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix thoroughly.

Unroll the pizza dough and cut it into 16 slices.  Twist two slices together in a spiral pattern, pinching the two slices of dough together at each end, and place the dough twist on one of the baking sheets.  Repeat with the remainder of the pizza dough.

Lightly brush each dough twist with melted butter, then sprinkle with the spice mix.  Bake for 12 minutes or until golden-brown.  Transfer the cooked breadsticks to a cooling rack lined with parchment paper or paper towels, let cool for 5 minutes, then serve.