Mexican Independence Day: Ground Turkey and Poblano Chile Sopes
Many families in Mexico, including mine, gather together to celebrate on September 15th, the evening before Mexican Independence Day. We play lotería, which is similar to bingo, we reenact the famous, “Grito,” of Miguel Hidalgo at midnight (followed by fireworks), and, of course, we like to cook up something special.
On this extra special occasion each year, we like to have antojitos mexicanos, dishes like pozole, enchiladas, tacos, tamales, and sopes, among many others with Mexican cheese. I especially like sopes because you can fill them with almost anything you like, which is great for large families. The only concern is whether you have enough table space to lay out all the fixings!
Where I am right now, there is an abundance of sweet, juicy and fresh corn, so I am taking advantage of that by adding it to the meat.
While they’re perfect for celebrating, Ground Turkey and Poblano Chile Sopes are still very simple to make. Here’s how:
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WHAT YOU NEED
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 poblano chile, washed, seeded and cut into narrow 2 inch long strips
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 package Cacique® Pork Chorizo
- 1 can refried beans
- 2 fresh corn cobs steamed for 15 minutes, cooled, and then kernels removed
- 1 package of Cacique® Sopes
- Non-stick oil in spray
- 1 package Ranchero® Queso Fresco
- 8 iceberg lettuce leaves, washed
HOW TO MAKE IT
- Heat the oil in a medium pot, add and cook onion for 5 minutes until soft. Add garlic and poblano chile and cook for 5 more minutes. Add ground turkey, salt and pepper to the onion mixture and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often.
- Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
- While the meat is cooking. Heat a medium pan and cook the chorizo for 10-15 minutes stirring often. Then add the beans, mix well and let them heat through. Turn heat off and set apart.
- Add the corn kernels to the meat, mix well. Turn heat off and set apart.
- Spray oil on a baking sheet, put the sopes on it and lightly spray more oil on top of them, bake for 15 minutes.
- While the sopes are in the oven, crumble Ranchero® Queso Fresco and finely chop the iceberg lettuce leaves. Take one sope, spread the chorizo and bean mixture in the bottom, add a layer of lettuce, then a layer of meat, and finish with a generous amount of queso fresco on top. Repeat.
