Arizona Dreaming...

My sister and I are California girls, born and raised.  When it came time for us to head off to college and venture out on our own,  Andrea decided to stay in California (honestly, who could blame her).  I, on the other hand decided to move here and there.  First stop Nevada, a state that I really, truly disliked for the first 4 years I lived there, but that eventually made its way into my heart and has become such a huge part of my life.  Next, it was Northern California, a brief but important journey in my life. In Northern California, I made new friends, grew into a responsible adult and found that no matter what, I could always depend on me.  After No Cal it was off to Arizona, a state that I have called home for the last 6 years.  I love it here, honestly, it is the only other place that I have truly felt at home besides San Diego.  I love the food, the wild west politics, the friends that I have made, the incredible natural beauty and the diversity of the people.  I could be happy here forever.  Okay, so here it is, wait for it... we have decided that we are moving back to Northern California and as excited as I am for new adventures, I will miss Arizona terribly.  I was thinking about dinner tonight and wanted to make something that tasted like Arizona. Whatever it was had to have fresh chilies, sun ripened tomatoes and just a little kick in the pants.  So this is it, this is what I came up with. It was super tasty, healthy and reminded me of my favorite state, Arizona. (Good thing we are keeping our house, because I plan on being back here as often as possible!)  I love you AZ! 

Pasilla Chilies Stuffed with Turkey
Written, developed and tested by: Vanessa Madigan

 Ingredients:
6 Pasilla Chilies
6 Tomatoes
1 Lime (juiced)
1.5 lbs ground turkey
salt
Tabasco
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tbs. olive oil

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• To a preheated medium sized skillet add your olive oil and turkey, brown your turkey in the olive oil.
• Once turkey is cooked add your onion, mushroom, jalapeno and garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms have lost most of their liquid, stirring frequently.
• Season the mixture with salt and Tabasco, stir to mix thoroughly.  Remove from heat.
• Add 1/2 cup of the cheese to the meat mixture. Set aside while you prepare your chilies.
• Wash your pasilla chilies and prepare as follows; using a very sharp knife and starting at the tip (bottom) cut your chilies lengthwise up the center to the stem. Using your thumb pop the top of the chili off and discard.  This should take the seeds with it, if not, gently scoop out any remaining seeds and throw them away.
• In a small bowl mix your chopped tomatoes, 2 tsp salt and the lime juice, set this aside, it will be your topping when the chilies are done.
• Once your meat mixture is cool enough to work with, take a large spoon (soup spoon size) and fill your chilies. Place your filled chilies in a large baking dish.
• Place the stuffed chilies in the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes. Once the skin begins to blister, remove the chilies from the oven and top with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of cheese.  Place the pan back in the oven for about 5 minutes and allow the cheese to melt.  Once the cheese is melted, remove from the oven.
• Top the chilies with the fresh tomato, lime and salt "salsa" and serve.