Turkey Marsala

On the plate and ready to be devoured!

I've realized over the past several weeks that, while quite different in flavors and taste, a lot of what I've cooked lately looks alarmingly the same! Look at Mediterranean Baked Cod or Braised Chicken Thighs w/Mushrooms & Leeks. The same look for three very different dinner dishes. Oh well... This Marsala recipe is beyond easy and full of flavor. It's always been a struggle for me when I've made Marsala before because I never really knew what I was doing, don't know why, but that's the truth. Found this recipe and suddenly Marsala is easy-peasy! (There's a chicken marsala recipe here as well, that's delicious as well, but the ease of this one...much better!)

I used turkey cutlets (cutlet...hate that word) because it came in a package of four. It would be just as tasty using veal cutlets (!), thin-sliced chicken or thin-sliced pork.

1 pkg. turkey cutlets, 4 count (what I bought)

1/3 C. flour

salt and fresh ground pepper

2+ T. unsalted butter

2+ T. olive oil

(OR veggie oil spray)

2 shallots or 1 small onion

2 cloves garlic (optional)

8 oz. package sliced mushrooms

1 C. Marsala wine (there are no substitutes)

1 C. chicken stock/bone broth
1/2 pkg. frozen peas

rice, left-over from another dinner

Put flour in a flat container, big enough for the cutlets. Put cutlets on a flat surface and salt & pepper both sides, amount to your taste. Coat them well with the flour. In a skillet (iron skillet) large enough for the cutlets, and over medium heat, melt the butter with 1 T. of the olive oil. When butter is hot and foaming, add the cutlets. (OR heat the skillet to medium high. Spray to coat both sides of the cutlets with Pam vegetable spray - saves calories.) Cook 2 minutes per side. Remove to a plate, tent with foil and set aside. Add more oil or butter if needed and add the shallots/onion; saute for about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are tender. Add the Marsala and chicken stock, bring to a boil over high heat, scraping browned bits off the bottom and sides of the pan. Cook until the juices are reduced and thickened, about 5 or so minutes. Add the turkey cutlets and any juices that have accumulated back to the pan. Reduce heat and simmer until cutlets are cooked through, about 2 - 3 minutes. 

Rice was served with this as we had a LOT of leftover rice. Egg noodles would be the preference of choice.

From: The Spruce Eats website

Made this on 12/18/18 - it was good! Poured peas over the cutlets at the last minute, while they were still in the skillet, and served all over left-over rice. Noodles would be delicious, too.

YUM!

'till we feast again! 

xoabb

Best Damn Carando Ham

I borrowed the above image from the Carando website
as I didn't have the good sense to take a photo of our
Best Damn Carando Ham of Pure Perfection after it was baked the other night.
Full disclosure - this is Carando's photo and NOT mine! 

Many many years ago, I had a small paperback Spice Islands cookbook, from the '60's that came from my mom, probably in the '80's. The one and only recipe I ever tried in said cookbook was their "sweet and sour baked ham". It was worth having the whole damn book! Delicious! However, it wasn't soon until I took the original recipe and made it a throw 'n go, and even that has changed radically over the years. (Just now ordered from Etsy a new old original "The Spice Islands Cookbook" so I can compare the original recipe to the one I make now.) In the meantime, here's what's done today for the very best damn Carando baked ham you'll ever devour! Everyone who has ever had this has raved over it! Serendipity!

1 9 - 10 lb. Carando half ham, spiral cut

1/2+ C. Pompeian red wine vinegar (my favorite brand) not balsamic vinegar

1/2 scant C. brown sugar

2 or so T. grey poupon mustard

3/4 t. ground cloves

3 - 5  T. bourbon

4 - 6 T. any good orange liqueur (Grand Marnier)

Preheat oven to 300º.

Mix all marinade ingredients (not the ham) in a small pot and heat, stirring to boil and then till all is combined. Place hame, sliced side down in a large pan (remove plastic disc off the bone if there). Pour marinade over the ham, lifting it up so juices flow underneath ham as well. Cover tightly and roast 15 - 20 minutes per pound. Baste with the juices every once and a while. When done, remove ham to a platter and cover to keep warm. Place all juices in a pot and simmer down to thicken into a sauce. Separate spiral slices and pour sauce over all, or serve sauce on the side. The marinade is easily doubled if you desire more sauce.

The other night, we served this with Wolfgang Puck's macaroni & cheese, pureed butternut squash, a green salad and canned (!!) Le Sueur Peas. Delicious!

YUM!

'till we feast again! 

xoabb

Mediterranean Baked Cod

an iron skillet filled with cod loveliness

Cod is one of our very favorite white fishes and I'm always looking for new ways to cook it. The on-line photos for this recipe were so good looking, I knew it was a must-try! Of course, the recipe was changed a bit, but most is true to the original, here. In my mind, nothing is better than sauteed cod (or most other sauteed fish), but the nice thing about this is it's finished off in the oven, which gives you time to finish up the rest of your meal. We served this with baked red potatoes and a pot of steamed french-style green beans. Delicious! 

For 2 folks:

4 medium sized red potatoes
french-cut green beans (frozen), amount to your taste
1 lb. or so cod fillet, cut into serving-size pieces, about 6 pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced (or equivalent garlic salt/powder to taste)
chopped fresh parsley
2 scallions, thinly sliced

4 T. fresh lemon juice or the equivalent 4 t. True Lemon Crystals*
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
3 T. unsalted butter

1/3 C. flour
1 t. ground coriander
1 t. sweet paprika
1/2 t. ground cumin (to taste)
salt to taste
white pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425º. Place 2 red potatoes per person in the oven and bake for about 1/2 hour, until al dente. In the meantime, melt butter and mix with the olive oil and lemon juice/crystals in a flat bowl*. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and spices together. Pat the fillets dry. Dip fish in the butter/oil mixture and then in the flour mixture. Heat an additional 2 T. olive oil in an iron skillet, getting oil hot but not smokin' hot. Place fillet pieces in oil and saute until browned, about 2 minutes and then flip, sauteeing for an additional 2 or so minutes. Remove from heat. Add garlic to the left over butter/oil mixture, stir well and drizzle over the fish fillets. Bake in the oven for just 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the scallions and parsley over each fillet. Serve!

*If using True Lemon Crystals, use a stick blender to mix the butter, oil and True Lemon Crystals. After mixed well, pour back into the flat bowl. (Crystals won't mix in well enough if done by hand.)

*Ah, those loverly True Lemon Crystals...don't remember where I first heard about them, but, boy, am I glad I did! Now, I use True Lemon Crystals just about as much as I do fresh lemon juice. There is barely any difference in taste and it's so much easier to use than fresh lemons. There are some things it doesn't work as well for, such as in a salad dressing that uses only lemon juice and no other acidic liquid or if you need to all lemon zest to a dish for taste and looks. BUT, in a pinch, it's a god-send. AND for iced tea? Perfection! I buy it in the large jars you can get from Amazon and go through a jar++ just about every month. Follow this link to find it.

YUM!

'till we feast again! 

xoabb

Thomas Keller's Macaroni & Cheese

Gruyere cheese strands w/buttered & browned bread crumbs just before the oven

GB and I had a group of 10 of our good good friends over for dinner last Saturday night. For the first time ever, I decided to serve a baked ham for the protein (well, except for Easter). That ham recipe is coming, and I guarantee you, you won't make any other baked ham - ever - it's that good! 

We needed some sort of fantastic starchy side, and after looking around the internet, I decided on Thomas Keller's mac & cheese. This dish is NOT for the faint of heart! It calls for a pound of gruyere, 12 T. butter, 8 cups whole milk, etc., etc., BUT if you only have it once or twice a year, and don't eat the entire thing, what's the harm?? Delicious?? You could say so! 

I used shallots instead of onions as one of our guests hates onions (can't understand why).

I made this in the morning before our dinner - made the cheese sauce and then the macaroni and left them at room temperature - so that is what this recipe reflects, unlike the original.

1 lb. elbow macaroni

salt and white pepper, to taste

10 T. unsalted butter

1 C. flour

2 shallots, 1 minced and 1 whole

6 whole cloves

2 bay leaves

8 C. whole milk

1 1/4 lb. Gruyere cheese, grated (original called for Comte which I couldn't find - Gruyere was listed as a sub.)

white pepper, to taste

1 T. freshly ground nutmeg

1/3 C. panko bread crumbs

2 T. unsalted butter

Cook macaroni in a large pot of boiling water until al dente, according to package directions and your own crunch taste. Drain and if you are putting this together later, wash with cold tap water. Set aside in its cooking pot at room temperature. 

Add butter to a large pan and melt over medium-high heat. Cook minced scallions until golden, around 10 minutes. Stir in flour and incorporate into the butter, about 5 minutes. Stud the whole scallion with the 6 cloves. Add that and bay leaves to the pan. Add the milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook, stirring, wiping down the side and bottom often, until thickened, about 7 minutes or so. Strain the sauce through a fine-meshed sieve into another pan/bowl. When all is strained, put back into original washed pan. Place over medium low heat and add 3/4 of the grated cheese, fresh-grated nutmeg, salt and white pepper. Stir until the cheese is mostly melted. Set aside, covered. Melt the 2 T. butter in a small skillet and add the bread crumbs. Cook, stirring constantly, until bread crumbs are nicely browned.

When ready to put together, preheat oven to 375º. Warm cheese sauce over medium low heat and add the elbow macaroni. When just warmed through, taste and correct seasonings, then spoon into a 9" x 13" casserole dish (or equivalent). Cover the top with the reserved 1/4 cheese and sprinkle all with the toasted bread crumbs. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 45 - 50 minutes. 

And then? Just enjoy! 

YUM!

'till we feast again! 

xoabb

Butternut Squash Puree, Inspired by The Pioneer Woman

What a bowl of deliciousness!

My co-worker/office-mate, Jane, made this butternut squash puree for one of her family's sides this past Thanksgiving and brought me some for me to try. O. My. God!! What deliciousness it was! She saw the recipe on Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman website and the rest is lovely-tasting history! (Since PW's original recipe was posted in 2007, it's been redone, but I think the original recipe's photos are better.)

Do yourself a favor and make this! You'll be delighted! 

This is a true throw-n-go recipe as all flavorings are to your taste. 

To serve 10 - 12 folks: 

2 butternut squash, halved length-wise, seeds removed

1 stick++ unsalted butter

8 T. pure maple syrup (start with 8 T. - sweetness to your taste)

salt to taste

white pepper to taste (don't forget this!)

Preheat oven to 350º. 

Place squash, cut side down, on a cookie sheet. Add enough water to pan to come up about 1/4" on the squash halves. Roast for 30 - 40 minutes or until fork tender. Scoop out the squash into a food processor bowl and add remaining ingredients. Pulse processor on and off until all is well blended and quite smooth. Serve hot. 

You can make this a day or two ahead. Store in the refrigerator in an oven-proof serving dish. About 4 - 6 hours before reheating, take out of the fridge so it can come to room temperature. About 30 - 40 minutes before dinner, put in a 350º oven till all is nice and hot once again. 

YUM!

'till we feast again! 

xoabb

Braised Chicken Thighs w/Mushrooms & Leeks

Poor photo, I know...used to be good at photo-taking...lately, not so much!

This most tasty dish, which is low in fat content - surprise surprise for moi, who loves her butter, is from the gal who is the author of the food blog, SkinnyTaste. Gina Homolka, author of said blog takes her recipes very seriously. Each week she makes an entire seven days of B-L-D meals and they can all be tracked on the Weight Watchers points system. That doesn't take away from the flavor that come from the recipes of hers I've tried. And this one is over-the-top good! It is rich, buttery - just perfection in a bite. Again, a chicken dish that GB loved. Said it was now the best chicken dish he's ever tasted! Win-win for me! 

2 large leeks, white part only (to learn how to clean a leek, go here)

1 1/2 t. kosher/sea salt

freshly ground tellicherry black pepper, to taste

1/2 t. paprika

olive oil spray (tried this for the first time - and it works!)

chicken pieces, your choice (I used 4 bone-in, skin-on thighs), about 1 1/2 - 2 lbs.

2 T. unsalted butter

10 oz. pkg. whole white mushrooms, cleaned, stems trimmed and quartered

4 T. flour

2 C. chicken stock

3 or so T. sherry

Basmati rice or egg noodles, cook according to package directions

Preheat oven to 375º.

Cut green tops and bottom roots off the leeks. Slice in half length-wise and then in 1/4" thick half moons. Put all in a salad spinner filled with water and agitate the pieces. Let sit for a bit so the sand sinks to the bottom. Slowly lift the strainer out of the water and dump the water out. Rinse again and then spin the excess water out.

Mix together the salt, pepper and paprika. and season all sides of the chicken. Spritz both side of the chicken with olive oil spray. Heat a large iron skillet or Dutch oven on high heat. Once hot, brown the chicken on both sides, about 5 - 7 minutes per side, until nicely browned. Set chicken pieces aside. 

Reduce heat to medium-low and add the butter. When the butter starts to foam, add the leeks and cook, stirring until soft, about 6 - 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms, salt a bit and cook, covered, until they release their juices and juice mostly evaporates:

(Steam is not a friend of photo-taking)

Sprinkle flour over all, stir in to totally coat the flour and then add the chicken stock and sherry. Simmer for about 4 minutes:

Return the chicken to the skillet, spoon sauce over them and bake in the oven for 40 - 50 minutes, until tender. 

Serve over rice or egg noodles.

YUM! 

'till we feast again! 

xoabb

Lemon Garlic Onion Peas Chicken Thighs

In the iron skillet just before serving

GB thinks he hates chicken. Well...ok, chicken breasts are rather boring and easily over-cooked. Chicken thighs? Not so much. On hand, I had boneless, skinless thighs, and while I don't normally buy them - much prefer skin-on and bone-in - I made do! I also used my not-that-new-go-to True Lemon Crystals - no lemons in the house at the time this was made - but always a bottle of True Lemon - and it's a perfect substitute for fresh lemons! I also had no chicken stock or bullion so substituted the beef stock that was on hand. Results were delicious!

Found this recipe on the website Life as a Strawberry, adapted it a bit, and here it is! Delicious - and even better the next day! (Even chicken-hater GB agreed!)

extra virgin olive oil for sauteeing. 

2 lbs. or so boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or whatever cut of chicken you have on hand)

salt & pepper to taste

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 - 5 sprigs fresh thyme, stripped, or 2 t. dried thyme

1 large lemon, or 1 T. or so TRUE Lemon crystals

1 1/2 C. or so chicken stock (I used beef stock as I had no chicken stock)

1/2 - 1 package frozen baby peas

rice or egg noodles, cooked according to package directions

Preheat oven to 400º.

Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe (iron skillet) pan over medium heat. Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Place chicken thighs in the hot pan and sear for about 4-5 minutes per side, until browned. Remove chicken to a plate and set aside. Return pan to stove over medium-high heat and add more olive oil if needed. Add onion and garlic to the pan and saute until the onion is translucent and has started to caramelize, about 4-5 minutes. Add olive oil if needed. Add thyme to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Either juice the lemon, removing seeds and add to the pan (lemon zest as well if you like), or add your True Lemon crystals. Stir to combine. Add the chicken/beef stock. Bring to a low boil and return the seared chicken thighs to the pan. Spoon the juices over the thighs and add the frozen peas, amount to your taste. Stir so the peas are coated in the sauce. Place the pan in the oven and bake 15-20 minutes more until the chicken is cooked through (use a meat thermometer for accuracy). Serve over rice (what we did) or egg noodles.

YUM!

'till we feast again! 

xoabb