slammin' shepherds pie

I love Sundays because I have plenty of time to cook something from scratch. None of this tired or rushed throwing a meal together stuff - that's the rest of the week for me, haha. Nope. Sundays I happily "slave" over a hot stove taking the time to season and taste and really enjoy the process of creating something delicious. Like this shepherds pie:

When I think of shepherds pie, this is EXACTLY how I imagine it should taste. It's meaty and has just enough gravy. Being a potato lover, I went slightly overboard with the mashed potato topping... although, really, is there such thing as too much mashed potatoes? It's hearty comfort in a pie dish, the kind of meal that makes a man go back for seconds, thirds, and probably fourths, depending on how much you scooped out each time. And IF there are leftovers, it reheats wonderfully to make a perfect Monday night leftovers dinner :-)

Shepherds Pie
adapted from allrecipes

Meat Filling
1 lb ground beef (I used 80/20, but I'd go up to but no more than 90/10)
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1 C chopped baby carrots (cut them into thirds, so they're about 1/2")
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 dried rosemary, then crush between your fingers
2 tsp dried parsley
1 1/2 C reduced sodium beef broth
3 Tbsp tomato puree (because I had some leftover, better than having to open a new can of paste)
1 C frozen peas
salt and pepper to taste

Potato Topping
4-5 yukon gold potatoes, peeled
4-5 tbsp butter, cubed
1/2 C milk
1/2 C heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
handful or two of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Special equipment: 9" pie or tart dish, and optionally an ice cream scoop

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and then start the potatoes because you can make the meat filling while you're waiting for the taters to come to a boil and cook: Cut potatoes in half lengthwise, then cut each half into even quarters. Put in a large pot or stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a rolling boil. Cook about 10-15 minutes or until fork tender.

Heat a large pan (10"-12" and deep enough to fit the meat filling) over medium heat, and add the meat. Break up with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle a light layer of salt. (You may want to spoon off some of the fat that releases. Or not!) Add in onion and carrots and cook, stirring regularly, until meat is brown and onions are just starting to turn brown. Stir in frozen peas.

Stir in the flour, oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, and parsley. Evenly combine broth and tomato puree in a bowl, then pour into the meat mixture. Add a little bit more salt and a few grinds of pepper and stir. (Don't add too much salt and pepper yet because the gravy will reduce, concentrating the flavors.) Simmer, reducing the liquid until you get to the gravy consistency you want (mine took about 15-20 min). Taste and season with more salt/pepper to your liking.

Let's not forget about the taters! While the meat is simmering, keep an eye on the potatoes. Drain them after they are fork tender, then return to the pot. Mash lightly, then add in butter, milk, and cream. Mash and whip until fluffy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the meat filling into the pie dish. Use the ice cream scoop to plop out an even layer of the potatoes over the meat. (You don't have to use a scoop - it's just a fast way to create a layer that'll be easy to spread evenly.) Spread out the potatoes to create an even layer, or get all artsy and make a design or something. Sprinkle with cheese. Put onto a baking sheet (to catch anything that drips) and put into the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is melted. You can also add the step of turning on the broiler for a few minutes to get a browned crispy top... I plan to do that next time.

It's going to be ridiculously hot, so give it a while to cool down before you chow down!

southwest seasoning and a quick quesadilla

Say hello to tonight's dinner:

This delightful little quesadilla was perfect for one person and took me all of 10 minutes to put together because everything* was premade, including some cooked, seasoned chicken thighs I had in my fridge. All I had to do was slice some up and add it in.

I try to keep cooked chicken thighs in my fridge for quick dinners. Thighs, not breasts. I don't know what it is about chicken breasts but I can NOT cook them well. One time I boiled a chicken breast - boiled, like in liquid - and it STILL turned out dry and chalky. Ever since then I'm strictly a thigh girl, lol.

I'll buy a pack of organic thighs and then forget about them until the day they're almost bad, lol, and then bake them all off. I usually line a 9x13 with little sections of foil with edges folded up so that there are little compartments, then add different seasonings. A couple are simple salt and pepper in case I want to make chicken salad. I'll add lemon pepper to another, and in this case, I seasoned some with Emeril's spicy southwest seasoning.  Banging seasoning, btw, and I highly recommend you try it, thus, a recipe. I like heat, so I upped the hot ingredients, but feel free to use Emeril's original proportions.

Emeril's Southwest Seasoning Blend

2 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp Mexican oregano
1 Tbsp salt
1 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp chipotle chile powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients and blend well. Store in an airtight container away from sunlight and heat.

I trimmed the fat off the thighs then seasoned liberally with this southwest seasoning. I then baked them at 350 for around 20 minutes. I cut one open to make sure they were done... best to check because thickness varies

* Bonus note. The guacamole I had with that quesadilla was NOT my normal guacamole recipe. I was in a rush, and thus my recipe for insta-guac: mash up an avocado, mix in enough bottled salsa to suit your tastes. Viola.

French Dip Sandwiches

Perfeclty rare meat + buttered crusty bread dunked in jus = comfort and joy.

My brother introduced me to the french dip au jus (with juice) sandwich in LA around 10 years ago. I thought it was ridiculous he'd pay nearly $20 for a meat sandwich. But oh my, was it so worth it! Every GOOD french dip I've had has been that pricey, presumably because of the pile of thin slices of quality roasted beef, so that became my goal for making my own. While I saw different seasoning recipes all over the webs, it was on an episode of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives that I saw someone use Montreal steak seasoning before roasting. That's one of the few spice blends I use regularly because it's well balanced. That plus some extra thyme, garlic, and salt made for an exceptionally crusted and flavored meat that I roasted rare - we could eat the meat all by itself...and we did!

But it is a sandwich after all, so it was better on a fresh, buttered, toasted crisp french roll. Want to kick up the flavor and some extra texture? Add a slice of provolone, too, and broil until melted. Soak each bite in that jus and try not to dribble all over yourself while eating it!

Slow Roasted Beef
adapted from Teri's Kitchen

2.5 to 3 lb sirloin roast, brought to room temperature
Montreal steak seasoning
dried thyme
garlic powder
salt
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp butter
Special equipment: probe thermometer, dutch oven

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Heat a dutch oven (large enough to fit roast) over medium high heat.

Season all sides of roast with an even layer of steak seasoning, thyme, and an extra dusting of garlic powder and salt. Pat down so the herbs stick.

Make sure the oil is really hot and add the roast. Sear - about 2 minutes each side - until browned. Insert a probe thermometer about halfway into roast. Put roast, uncovered, into oven and cook until it reaches 130 degrees for rare (around 2 hours).

Take off the heat and allow to rest. When ready to eat, slice into thin slices -- thinner than these in this pic. Mmm look how perfectly rare and juicy!

Au Jus
pan drippings from the roast beef
1/2 carton of reduced sodium beef broth
1 to 1-1/2 C water
1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 Tbsp butter


Put the dutch oven with all the beef drippings on the stove over medium heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer about 15 minutes, or until it reaches the flavor you like. Pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove the chunky parts. Serve hot with the sandwiches.

And now I can knock off the first item on my 2012 Hit List, hooray!

Steak & Potatoes

Every once in a while I feel a need to impress with something incredibly tasty yet simple. "Simple" means few ingredients and minimal prep time, and by "impress" I mean all pieces can be put out to eat at the same time while hot, and I can still talk while putting it all together. Because some nights, just chilling out maxing, relaxing all cool with someone over a killer meal and a few glasses [sic] of pinot noir (btw, thanks Charlie and Jenny for that bottle of La Crema!) is the best gift of all.

Notes on short cuts and timing:

1) I got the small bag of prepped green beans from Wegmans -- the kind where all you have to do is microwave them to steam them. Major time saver right there. 

2) Put the cast iron skillet onto the bottom rack of the oven so you can preheat that while the potatoes roast. 

3) Also, put the steak out while that's happening so it can come up to room temperature while the potatoes roast. 

4) Start cooking the steak when there's 10 minutes left on the potatoes, because...

5) After the steak is done, you need to rest it for 5ish minutes. While the steak rests, prepare the green beans. 

6) Take the taters out, season the beans, and serve the steak all at the same time!

Roasted Potatoes

1 lb red potatoes, cubed so pieces are about the same size (i like 1-2 bite size pieces) 

1 tbsp canola oil

about 1 tbsp Montreal steak seasoning, or enough to lightly coat the potatoes

salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil (so you don't have to clean the pan later). Arrange the potatoes on it in a single layer, and drizzle with the canola oil. Make sure that they're evenly coated with the oil - you may need to use your hands. Sprinkle with the steak seasoning and just a LITTLE more salt (there's salt in the steak seasoning). Place in oven and roast for about 30 minutes, stirring/flipping so it browns evenly every 10 minutes. They're done when they're fork tender. 

Pan Seared Ribeye Steak

adapted from Alton Brown

2 ribeye steaks, about 1-1 1/2" thick

canola oil

salt

pepper

Special equipment: cast iron frying pan big enough to hold steaks

(If you followed the hints, the cast iron skillet should already be preheating in the oven and the steaks are at room temperature now.) Take the pan out of the oven and place on the range over high heat. 

Pat the steaks dry with a paper napkin. Brush oil onto each side of the steak. Generously sprinkle with salt and then grind some pepper onto it. 

Place steaks on the skillet and cook for 30 seconds without moving. Use tongs to turn them to the other side and cook another 30 seconds. Put entire pan back into oven and cook for 2 more minutes. Flip one more time and cook 2 more minutes. 

Remove steaks from pan and allow to rest for about 5 minutes for juices to redistribute. 

NOTE: this is for rare-medium rare done-ness, which, btw, is THE way to eat steak. Well done? Hellz no. If you MUST have medium, add 1 more minute on each side when steak is in the oven.

Lemon Parmesan Green Beans

1 small pack of green beans

1/4 lemon

parmesan cheese
few grinds of red pepper flakes (optional)

salt

Steam the green beans according to the package directions. Drain out the water, then place into a bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lemon and add about 1/4 tsp of the zest into the beans. Grate some parmesan cheese -- however much floats your boat. Add a pinch of salt and a few grinds of the red pepper flakes if you like spicy, and toss. 

chimichurri sauce over grilled steak

Well isn't this a pretty sight! Bright green chimichurri sauce over a chimichurri marinated grilled steak. I had it for the first time in years just a few weeks ago (hi Joyce and co!) and had been thinking about it ever since. And thus, last night's delicious dinner!

What's chimichurri, you ask? In a word, awesome.  In a few more descriptive words, it's a parsley-based Argentinian condiment that's a lot like a pesto sauce... herby, fragrant (garlicy awesomeness), fresh. This is a bit different from a traditional pesto because it's also tangy and quite spicy. It's an excellent topping for pretty much anything, and most commonly it tops grilled steak.

Oh and gee did I mention I got a new grill this year? Because I did! I got a Weber, and it's the first charcoal grill I've ever used. I invited my Cabo girls over for a grilling potluck as an opportunity to practice. I grew up with gas grills, so charcoal is a whole different ball game for me. A smoky, delicious ball game! The steaks came out perfectly and we supplemented with shrimp, corn, potato and pasta salads, and topped off with grilled peaches for dessert. I served my strawberry lemon-limeade, also. It was a delightful Sunday evening!

Chimicurri Sauce
adapted from chef blade

1 bunch flat leaf parsley
6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp diced onion or shallot
1/3 C red wine vinegar
2/3 C olive oil
1/2 lemon - zest and juice
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
pinch or freshly ground red pepper flakes

Pulse parsley in a food processor to chop. Add remaining ingredients and blend. (Or you can chop it all up and blend by hand.) Divide into 2 equal parts - half for marinade, half for topping. Allow to sit for at least 2 hours for flavors to marry. You can refrigerate it, but make sure to bring it to room temp before serving.

Marinate steak 2 hours up to overnight. Grill to desired tenderness. (For a guide to steak doneness, see here.) Allow steak to rest for at least 10 min for juices to redistribute. Slice on the diagonal for pretty presentation, and top with the chimichurri.

Carne Machaca in taquitos and nachos

This month's Girls Potluck theme made up for the Cinco de Mayo celebration we didn't have last month, lol. Thus, it was Mexican Month! There were berry mojitos and carne asada (thanks Julia!) and shrimp veracruz (thanks Ang.!) and plaintain chips and watermelon margaritas (thanks Jenn!) I wanted to make tamales, per my 2011 hit list which I am horribly behind on, but I realized I don't have a steamer. So what're my other favorite Mexican restaurant meals? Easy: the carne machaca from The Torilla Factory, and my take on machaca is what I brought to the table.

What is machaca, you ask? In a couple words: spiced, shredded beef. It's full of flavor thanks to overnight marination, then cooking with onions and peppers for hours (translation: plan ahead, this recipe takes time!)... then it's shredded and cooked down even longer. It makes an excellent filling for burritos, tacos, or enchiladas, or you can eat it with eggs and/or potatoes for breakfast. I didn't use it in any of those ways today, though... today I used them to make oven taquitos and nachos, and they were AWESOME.

Machaca 
adapted from David Bulla


Marinade:
1/4 C Worcestershire sauce
juice of 2 limes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 C canola oil

Machaca:
3 lbs chuck roast (or skirt steak), fat and silver skin trimmed, cut into 3/4 - 1 lb pieces
2 tbsp oil
1 large Spanish or Vidalia (or other sweet yellow) onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded then diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and diced
1 serrano pepper*, seeded, deveined and diced
1 10oz can original Rotel tomatoes with green chiles
1 or 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 C beef broth
1 Tbsp dried Mexican oregano
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp tabasco sauce
few grinds of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

Prepare the marinade - combine all ingredients and whisk to form an emulsion. Pour into a 1 gallon zipper bag, and add meat. Massage so meat is evenly coated. Put bag in a bowl or baking dish in case it leaks. Refrigerate overnight.

Make the machaca - Take meat out of the fridge and leave out for about 30 minutes to come to room temperature. Remove from marinade, pat dry, and discard the marinade. Prepare all your veggies.

In large pot (I used my 6 qt. dutch oven), heat oil over medium high heat until hot. Add meat and sear - you want each side to be a rich caramelized brown. You may have to cook in batches if there's not enough space in the pot for all pieces. Set aside on a plate.

Add the onions and peppers to the same pot and saute for about 3 minutes, scraping all the brown bits from the bottom. Add the garlic and saute another 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Add the meat back into the pot. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 2 to 2.5 hours.

(mmm look how brown the meat got)

Remove beef to a cutting board and shred with 2 forks. It should be tender and pull apart easily. Add back to the pot, then simmer, uncovered, until there's almost no liquid left. This took almost an hour for me., and I had it on low heat.

Taste again and add any additional seasoning/heat to your liking. (*This recipe is pretty mild with just a hint of heat from the peppers. It's a friendly recipe for people who don't like spicy stuff. Personally, the next time I make this I'm adding at least 1 more serrano pepper.)

One note - this makes a LOT of machaca, about 8 cups worth. I used half between the taquitos and nachos, then packed and froze the rest for future use.

Oven Baked Taquitos:
machaca
6" flour tortillas
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil for easy clean up later.

Spread 2-3 tbsp of machaca in a line about 1/4 the way up the tortilla, then roll. Repeat with as many taquitos as you want to make. Spray with cooking spray. Place on baking sheet seam side down. Bake 10 minutes. Take out of the oven, turn them so the other side browns, and bake another 5 minutes until golden brown.

Take out of oven, cut in half on the diagonal. Serve with guacamole, sour cream, and/or salsa.

Machaca Nachos
machaca
tortilla chips
cheddar jack cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread tortilla chips across a baking sheet. Add a spoonful of machaca to each chip. Sprinkle cheese over each chip. Bake until cheese is melted - about 5 minutes. Serve with sour cream and/or guacamole.

(not pretty, but pretty delicious)

Bacon EXPLOSION!

Pigskin for Superbowl? Pshaw... how about pig flesh! Bacon inside of pork sausage inside of bacon. Three layers of pork, rolled, mmmm. That's right, I'm talking about the BACON EXPLOSION! 

 

I feel like there should be an echo... the BACON ex-PLOOOO-ZHUNNNN... ZHUNnnnn... Shun...shunnnnn.....

I first heard about this bad boy when my girl Jen (hi Jen!) made it for some event and got 2nd place in an appetizer contest  (when really she shoulda won since 1st place was really an entree, right!). Oh, and apparently the NYT did an article about it in 2009. I've wanted to make it since, but could never really bring myself to. As my boss said the other day when I showed him the recipe, "it's like the inside of a cannibal's intestines!" Gross. But apt. But I didn't care, lol. If you're gonna make something for Superbowl, may as well go all out, right!

I so rarely do progress pics, but this is so awesome I just HAVE to :-)

BACON EXPLOSION!!!!
introduced by Jen, apparently in the NYT, and here's a link to the 1st search result from google

2 lbs thick cut bacon
1.5 to 2 lbs Italian sausage, casings removed
3 Tbsp BBQ rub
2/3 C BBQ sauce
Prep a sheet pan with a layer of aluminum foil topped. It just makes this a bit neater start to finish.

Take 10 strips of bacon and create a tight 5x5 basket weave. (What's a basket weave you ask? the NYT recipe describes it, and the BBQ addicts show it.) I should note that I had thinner strips so I eventually did 6x6 (don't mind the pic, I took 1 strip away eventualy).

Spread all of the sausage over the basket weave of bacon. All the way to the edges in an even layer.
Preheat oven to 225. (Or you can smoke it, but I don't have a smoker, so we'll be baking.)

Snip the remaining bacon into 1-2" pieces. Fry to your desired doneness- when they're about halfway there sprinkle in about 1T of BBQ rub and keep cooking. Cool. Spread the cooled bbq bacon bits over the sausage in an even layer.

Drizzle with 1/2 C BBQ sauce and sprinkle with 1 T BBQ rub.

Carefully roll the SAUSAGE and COOKED BACON into a log -- you'll need to separate it from the bacon weave. Press it so there are no air pockets, and pinch the seam and the ends shut to seal in the crumbled bacon. Roll the log again with the bacon weave until completely wrapped. Turn it seam side down. Sprinkle with 1 T BBQ rub.

Bake until internal temperature reaches 165. It's approximately 1 hour for every inch of thickness. Glaze with BBQ sauce.

Cut into 1/4" too 1/2" rounds and serve.

casserole time: turkey tetrazzini

I have a really bad habit about leftovers: I almost never eat them. I'll keep them with the best intentions, but probably 99% of the time I totally forget until I notice something green and moving in the back of my fridge. Yeah, ew. Sometimes, though, I'm smart and put them into the freezer. I often still forget about them til they're totally iced over, which is why I'm glad I found this chart. I froze some turkey from Thanksgiving, and that's within the 4 month limit for cooked frozen poultry, so I actually used it to make turkey tetrazzini. This is really easy to make, so hooray me for not wasting for once, lol!

Turkey Tetrazzini
adapted from Turkey Tetrazzini II at allrecipes.com

1/2 box (8oz) thin spaghetti
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1 1/2 C chicken broth
1 C milk
a bit more than 3/4 C grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
ground black pepper
2 C chopped cooked turkey
1 C frozen swet peas
1/2 C panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Cook spaghetti according to box instructions to al dente. Drain and put into a pie plate or similar sized baking dish.

Melt butter in a small pot over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until well combined. Add chicken broth and milk, stir, allow to come to a boil, and stir until slightly thickened. Add 2/3 of the parmesan cheese and mix until melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour over spaghetti. Add turkey and peas, and mix until evenly combined. Top with the remaining parmesan and then with the panko. Bake for 40 minutes.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

It's getting kinda chilly, which means it's a good time for soup! This hearty chicken tortilla soup is very easy to make using a bunch of canned ingredients and a rotisserie chicken, so it makes for a simple, any time meal. Also, this makes a lot - like half a stock potful - so you can freeze it and have some later, or just eat for a week, hehe.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 tbsp canola oil

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can black beans

1 can corn

1 jar salsa OR 1 can diced onions with jalapeno

1 box reduced sodium chicken stock

water, if you want it more liquidy (fill half of the stock box, shake, then dump into the pot)

1 rotisserie chicken, without skin, and shredded

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

freshly ground black pepper

shredded mexican cheese

tortilla chips

Heat oil in a stock pot over medium high heat. Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add garlic and sautee another minute. Add the black beans, corn, salsa, stock and water and chicken. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Add spices. Drop down to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20-30 minutes.

When serving, sprinkle with some cheese (which I didn't here, but it's much better if you do) and crushed tortilla chips.

Friendsgiving Turkey

Thanksgiving is 4 days away, and Friendsgiving was just last week. Neither would be complete without TURKEY!

The Friendsgiving invite put full disclosure out there: I had never made a turkey before, so I promised to have some deli turkey and sandwich bread just in case, haha! I lied, though - I had no back up plan that day! I basically obsessed over how to roast a turkey for the week before Friendsgiving and gave it my best go. I came across 2 different recipes/methods for making the turkey: the first that involves refrigerating the bird overnight w/o it's wrapping found at Simple Bites, and the other where you roast the bird breast side down so the juices all drip into the breast while cooking - I can't find the link to the site right now, but when I do, I'll edit this post. It was basically a 24 hour process - I started to prep the night before. Actual cooking day, took about 15-20 minutes to prep, and then roast away. Between the two, I totally NAILED it! My house semlled delicious, the turkey was moist and seasoned just right. AND it was gorgeous. Recipe WIN.

This is what I did. I was cooking for 14. Combined with the apps and all the delicious side dishes everyone brought, there was plenty of food to stuff us that night AND have enough leftovers to bring home a full meal each!

Roast Turkey

15 lb fresh turkey
1 stick butter, room temp
salt
large yellow onion, quartered
2 large carrots, snapped into pieces
2-3 ribs celery, snapped into pieces
1 lemon, quartered
fresh rosemary
fresh thyme
fresh parsley (I got both curly and flat leaf, mostly for decoration purposes)
Special equipment: roasting pan, meat thermometer (preferably the probe kind like this)

The night before: Make space in your oven for the bird! Remove the giblets (keep in a ziplock bag - use to make the gravy). Rinse the turkey very well inside and out. Pat dry with a paper towel. Lightly salt the inside of the turkey. Lightly salt the outside of the turkey. Spread an entire stick of butter around the entire outside of the bird. Put bird breast side down onto the rack in the roasting pan. Put back into the fridge overnight. No, don't cover it with anything - just put it on the rack and throw in the fridge. The point is to dry out the bird a bit.

(See : it's breast side down)

The day of: Take the bird out of the fridge and bring up to room temperature (took me about 2 hours). Drain/wipe up the liquid that's in the pan.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly salt the inside of the bird again. Shove the inside of both cavities with a couple sprigs of parsley, then an equalish amount of the onion, carrots, and celery, and the lemon. You'll probably use about half of what's in the ingredient list. Shove a handful of parsley and 2 sprigs each of thyme and rosemary into any leftover space between all those veggies. Try to make it kind of even. Lightly salt the outside of the bird again. Toss the leftover onion, carrot, celery and lemon into the bottom of the pan.

Stick the probe part of the thermometer into the thickest part of the bird (into the inner thigh near the breast), but don't allow it to touch the bone. (If you're using an instant read thermometer instead of the probe, first, don't leave it in the bird while cooking --  insert and check the temp when it comes out of the oven.) Roast at 400 for 30 minutes. Drop the temperature to 350 and roast for approximately 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees.

(OMG look how golden!)

Take the turkey out of the oven. Flip the breast to right side up. Be very careful and use your oven mitts - sure they'll get a bit dirty, but much better than burning yourself!

(Someone needs a tan!) 

  

Put back into the oven and roast until the breast is golden - about 15-30 minutes - and the temperature reads 165 degrees. Take out of oven.

Tent with foil. Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes. I'll say it again - let it rest! Two things happen while it rests: The turkey will continue to cook up to about 170-175 degrees, which is safe eating temps, and it allows time for the juices to redistribute throughout the bird.

To decorate (see first picture): Line plate with the parsley, and a few sprigs of the thyme and rosemary if you like. Put bird on it. I added these mini pears I found because one of the desserts was a pear and blueberry crisp. You can also use crabapples, slices of lemon, mini pumpkins, or anything really!

To carve the bird: I should have cut the legs and thigh off first, but I forgot, lol. Instead, I cut the the entire breasts free from the bird, then cut slices so everyone got the same amount of skin. My cutting was very messy, but everyone got plenty to eat.

This bird had flavor! It wasn't too salty, wasn't dry, the skin was golden and delicious... Total success! If I can do it, so can you!

One pretty important note: This recipe is for a 15 lb bird. Cooking times obviously vary according to the size. Use the Simple Bites link for a good idea of how long to roast different size birds.

let soup season commence

Today was a soup day - tons of rain, looked like it was night time at high noon, cold, and straight up dreary. I had pho for lunch and STILL wanted soup for dinner, lol. All that rain closed the softball fields tonight, giving me my first free night in a week. Don't get me wrong... I like being busy, but a night of down time is way underrated so I was going to take full advantage. Go fig the rain stopped, blue skies came out, and suddenly it was quite lovely. Quite a lovely evening, indeed, to stick to the plan and make some soup :-)

I got the original recipe off the Eating Well website and it had this long name basically telling you what's in it - chicken, spinach, pesto. Yep, it's all that and some carrots, beans, and broth and little pasta to give it extra bite. That's about it. Deceptively simple and even pretty healthy... and totally awesome. Took me all of 15 minutes to put together plus the boiling time. It's like the fresher version of the hearty chicken soups you'd eat on a snowy (ack, too soon for!) winter day. It's a nice transitional soup, comforting and light.

Chicken Soup for Fall
adapted from EatingWell.com

1 tbsp olive oil
1 C chopped carrots
8-12 oz boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped into bite size pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 C chicken broth
2-4 C water (depending on how liquidy you like it, I just refilled both broth cans ~ 4c)
6 oz baby spinach, chopped
1 15-oz can cannellini beans, rinsed
1 C little pasta (I used stelline, but you can use orzo or something similar)
salt
freshly ground black pepper
5-6 Tbsp store bought pesto (recipe from scratch in the source recipe)

Heat olive oil in a medium pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add carrots and sautee for a couple minutes. Lightly salt the chicken, then add to the pot and allow to brown lightly on all sides. Add garlic and sautee until it's soft. Add the broth and water and bring to a boil.
 
Once the soup is boiling, add the pasta and spinach. Boil according to the pasta directions. Add the beans with 2 minutes to go to heat them through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Take off the heat when the pasta is cooked al dente. Stir in the pesto.
 
Enjoy!

shrunken chicken pot pies

I've been craving chicken pot pie lately, but here's one of the moderately annoying things about being single -- making a regular 9" pie recipe for something like this would be very, very wasteful since I can't eat a whole pie by myself, I generally don't like leftovers, and even when I force myself to eat them, most of it still goes bad before I get a chance to finish it. I also rarely have enough people over to eat a whole thing before all that stuff happens. One day, when I have a family all my own, I'll be able to make a whole pie. But until then... Solution for a single gal? Mini pies!

I got this cute little lattice pocket pie mold from Williams Sonoma a while back and it made for perfectly portioned pies. Here's a little trick about this sucker, by the way -- it's a dough cutter and mold in one, but when you cut the dough it's not quite big enough for the mold (dumb, I know) so I just cut them then rolled them a little to give it the extra width. Just make sure to wet the edges before crimping or else they're going to come apart. Worked brilliantly. You can freeze them and take one out at a time for a simple meal for one.

Chicken Pocket Pies
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 lb chicken breast or thigh (boneless), cubed into bite size pieces
2 cans chicken broth
1 1/4 C carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 C green peas, frozen
1/2 sweet onion
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
rounded 1/2 tsp salt
pepper, to taste
ground red pepper flakes, to taste
2/3 C milk
2 C chicken broth (from the boiled chicken)
2 9" pie crusts (see below)

Place chicken, celery, and carrots in a medium pot and cover with chicken broth (about 2 cans). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain, saving the liquid.

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and sautee until translucent. Stir in flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and peppers. Continuously stir to allow flour to mix in and cook a little - about 2 minutes. Slowly add in milk and chicken broth. Simmer over medium low heat, stirring regularly, until thick.

Cut out, fill, and form the pocket pies -- makes 10 using the pocket pie cutter.  If baking right away, set oven to 425, place on parchment lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and bake for 16-20 minutes, or  until golden. Otherwise you can freeze them -- when ready to use, take right out of the freezer then follow the same directions above except bake for about 25 minutes or until golden.

Oh. About that crust... That flaky, buttery, lovely crust... It's really just a variation of the crust I used for the galette and peach pies.

Pie Crust for something savory -- you'll need to double this recipe to make the chicken pocket pies

1 stick butter, cut into small pieces and frozen
1 1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
4-6 tbsp ice water

Combine flour and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or food processor until it forms a coarse meal. Stir in ice water a tablespoon at a time until dough starts to come together into a dough ball. You may need fold/roll it around to get most of the pieces. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight before using.

Definitely keep pie crust cold -- Since I was cutting out shapes, I'd cut each disc into two, then roll/cut only a half at a time to make sure the rest of the dough stayed chilled.

And yay, I get to check another item off my 2010 Hit List!

a peachy keen simple salad

One of the best treats of summer (and one of my most favoritest types of fruit) is the white peach. When perfectly ripe, it's fragrant - sweet, happy and almost innocent. Yes things can smell innocent :) It's lighter than a yellow peach in hue and taste... delicate, even. And then it gives just the slightest bit to your touch. It has firm flesh but it bursts with juice when you bite into it. I would write a love poem to this fruit.

In fact, I will.

sweet white peach in hand

summer's gift to the taste buds

juice dripping down chin

Have I ever mentioned that sometimes I break into random haiku?

Anyways. I usually happily consume white peaches as they are as a midday snack - either sliced or I bite into it like an apple. But today I made a meal of it. I took a hint from those popuar proscuitto wrapped melon slice recipes -- the sweet and salty flavor combination is always a winner. I added the almonds for some crunch and cuz apparently they're really great for you, too. It's a very simple salad that I happily dug into for a light lunch. It's way nutritious, too, bonus!

White Peach and Proscuitto Salad

1 large white peach, sliced thinly
2 C baby spinach leaves
1 oz proscuitto, torn or cut into pieces
1/4 C dry roasted almonds (or pecans or walnuts)

Toss all the ingredients together and eat!

I should note, by the way, that I don't usually have dressing with salads. I like to make sure every bite has peach in it so its sweet juices coat everything - it's its own dressing! However for you dressing lovers out there, a balsamic vinaigrette would complement this quite well.

shrimp and andouille skewers

This little skewer rocked my taste buds. And it kind of looks like a cheerful cyclops, doesn't it!It's a bit naked in this picture, since these skewers get slathered with a spicy, smoky sauce. Say that five times fast :)

I find most of my recipes via the internet, so it's not often that a magazine cover grabs my attention... but Bon Appetit's June issue did just that. They looked delicious and simple, and they were exactly that. Prep took all of 10 minutes, and the skewers were on the table in under 20. Even if they were naked, I bet they'd taste great because shrimp + andouille = winning combination. But the sauce... oh the sauce! It's smoky and spicy at the same time, perfectly suited for the shrimp and a great accent to the andouille. For Fathers Day I served this over some jambalaya style rice, and like I said before - it rocked my taste buds!

Shrimp and Andouille Skewers with Spicy Smoky Sauce

adapted from Bon Appetit

Sauce:

3/4 C olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp dried thyme, chopped

5 tsp smoked paprika

4 tsp red wine vinegar

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

freshly ground black pepper

Skewers:

12 6" bamboo skewers

12 extra large shrimp (16-20 count), peeled and deveined

12 slices andouille sausage, sliced about the same thickness as the shrimp

12 grape tomatoes

12 2-layer sections of red onion, cut about the same thickness as shrimp/sausage

To make the sauce: Combine all the ingredients. Divide into 2 bowls - one to glaze before grilling, one to serve with the cooked skewers.

Soak the skewers for at least 30-60 minutes so they don't burn when grilled. Thread each skewer with a piece each of shrimp, sausage, tomato and onion (any order will do).

Heat the grill (or grill pan) to medium high. Brush skewers with the glaze (from the glazing bowl... don't cross contaminate with the serving bowl!). Grill, turning and brushing occasionally with more sauce, and cook for 6-8 minutes.

Transfer to a platter and serve with the second bowl of sauce. Mmmm smoky.

grilling time - chipotle lime chicken

Look at that fire and smoke... you can almost hear it sizzling, can't you.Somehow or other I ended up with a bunch of limes after Memorial Day weekend. So before heading to the happiest place on earth the other day, I made a plan to cook some kind of lime chicken dish. And a Bobby Flay marathon was on while I was brainstorming, so I had a major hankering to use chipotles, too. Mmmm spicy. Thus, this.

I really loved this marinade. Lots of flavor. Next time, though, I'm going to make it with chicken thighs to make it juicier. Or maybe I'll use it on a kebab. It seems like a pretty versatile recipe, and it's a definite keeper.

Chipotle Lime Chicken

adapted from RecipeZaar.com

1 chicken breast*

2 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced

1/2 tsp adobo sauce

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 C fresh lime juice (1 whole lime)

1/4 C olive oil

3 tbsp honey

salt and pepper

Lay the chicken between 2 pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap and pound out the thicker side until the chicken is an even layer (this ensures even cooking). Whisk together the next 6 ingredients. Cover the chicken breast with half the marinade. Reserve the other half of the marindade. Refrigerate/marinate for a few hours or overnight.

Grill over medium high heat for about 3-4 min each side, basting with leftover marinade. (This can be done on an outdoor grill or stovetop grill pan.) Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes. Slice on the bias. I ate it wrapped in a tortilla, but next time I'm definitely serving with Mexican rice and beans.

* The original recipe marinade makes enough for about 4 chicken breasts. I did have quite a bit leftover, but I used some of it to drizzle over the lettuce. Or I could have marinated more chicken.

chicken salad

Whenever I think of salad, I think of greens topped with other veggies or maybe some meat. Or maybe a nice fruit salad as a side or dessert. But I don't think of the mayo based chicken, egg, potato or pasta salads. Salads = healthy. Mayo does not = healthy. It's a disconnect in my head that the chicken/egg/etc kinds are consdered salads. And I can probably count the cumulative number of times I've eaten any of those on both hands.

But my coworker, Mary, was kind enough to share some of her chicken salad with me the other day, and it was pretty darn good. So I figured, I should try my hand at making it, too. I looked up a ton of recipes and found that they all pretty much have this in common: chicken, mayo, lemon juice, celery. Some have nuts, others have fruit, Mary's had capers (yum). So I figured I'd wing it with that in mind, and came up with this. I love the tang the dijon brings and that the cranberries add just a teeny bit of sweetness to it. And while I still can't see it as a traditional "salad" the way my little brain thinks of salads, I do consider it tasty :-)Chicken Salad

4 oz chicken breast, cooked (approx. 1 cup)

2 tbsp light mayo

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 celery stalk, finely diced

1 tbsp onion, finely diced

1 1/2 tbsp dried cranberries, finely diced

salt and pepper

Cut the chicken breast into small pieces (or shred it). Season with some salt and pepper. Mix together the rest of the ingredients, then fold in the chicken breast.

I'll be eating this stuffed inside a whole wheat pita with some lettuce. I'm not sure how else to eat these mayo based salads other than in a sandwich of some sort... if you have any ideas, leave a comment!

spaghetti casserole

I have a go-to baked pasta recipe that is affectionately called Death by Cheesy Goodness - one serving nearly puts me in a coma. A delicious coma. It's awesome, but let me say it again - coma. So the other night I had a craving for it but didn't want to pass out, so I came up with this "lighter" recipe. Basically it's spaghetti layered with mozzarella so the cheese gets all melty in the middle, but it's not so much that I go catatonic. The good thing about this is that it can easily be adapted - use ground turkey, italian sausage, or no meat at all. Not that I'd ever got that last route since I'm a carnivore, but I suppose chopped up portabellas could work as a meaty veggie substitute. This makes a full 9x13 dish - so easily 12 servings. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Casserole

olive oil

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb ground beef (I used 90/10)

salt, pepper, dried basil, dried oregano

1 jar/can spaghetti sauce (I used Hunt's meat flavor)

1 can diced tomatoes (with basil and oregano if you like)

16 oz part skim mozzarella, grated

grated parmesan cheese

1 box thin spaghetti

Bring a big pot of water to a boil and toss in about 2 tsp or a tbsp of salt. Drizzle oil into bottom of a large pan put over medium heat and sautee onions until soft. Add garlic and ground beef. Season with salt, pepper, basil, and oregano. Cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces, until done - taste and add seasoning as necessary. Add the spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes to the meat, and stir to combine and allow to simmer to heat through.

Preheat oven to 350 and take out a 9x13 baking dish. When the water comes to a full rolling boil, add the spaghetti. Cook for 7-8 minutes - most boxes say 9-11 min so you want to undercook it so it comes out of the oven al dente. Turn off heat and strain the pasta then put back into pot. Add about 3/4 the sauce to the spaghetti and mix.

To assemble: Spoon a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Spread half the pasta into the dish. Layer half the shredded mozzarella and enough parmesan to cover it. Add the rest of the pasta, the rest of the mozzarella, and the rest of the sauce. Grate some more paremsan on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges are bubbly and cheese is melted.

Easter dinner recipe overload

Since I'm working backwards with my Easter dinner recipes, next up is the main course. Don't really need to explain it, just show a pretty picture and the recipes for the lamb with asparagus and roasted smashed potatoes. This is not only a great holiday meal, you can impress a date with it, too. This is me, looking out for you. Oh yeah.

Timing wise, roast the lamb first. While it's roasting, boil the potatoes. While it's resting, roast the potatoes and sautee the asparagus. Boom, you'll have a complete meal done at the same time. Booyah.

Roast Leg of Lamb

3-4 lb boneless leg of lamb, rolled and tied

2 heads garlic, of which 4 cloves pulled off and minced finely

1 tbsp lemon zest (about 1 large lemon)

2 tbsp fresh thyme, minced

1/2 tsp dried rosemary, minced

1 1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 375. Combine the 4 minced cloves, zest, thyme, rosemary and olive oil and rub all over lamb. Place on roasting pan. Chop about 1/4" off the tops of the garlic heads and rub with oil and place next to the lamb. Roast for 70-80 minutes, or until meat temperature reaches 130 for medium rare. (For a chart of meat doneness, check this out. Shout out to the Reluctant Gourmet, too, for answering one of my questions about how long to put a rub on meat.)

When it reaches your desired doneness, take out and allow to rest while you roast the potatoes.

Roasted Smashed Potatoes

adapted from The Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes

2 or 3 small round potatoes per person

same herbs used in the lamb for a "cohesive meal, lol" to taste

salt and pepper to taste

oil

Boil the potatoes until you can easily stick a fork into the middle (fork tender). After you take the lamb out, turn the oven up to 450. Spread the potatoes out on a baking sheet and use a masher to smash down (you can see pics on the above link). Season with salt, pepper and herbs. Generously drizzle olive oil. Shake the pan a bit just to distribute the oil evenly on the bottom. Roast for 20 minutes or until the edges are browned and crisped.

Lemony Asparagus Tips

1 lemon, half zested and cut in half

as much asparagus as you want to eat - about 1/2 lb per person

kosher salt

olive oil

Cut asparagus tips into about 5" stalks. Heat olive oil to medium high heat. Cook until the thick end is soft enough for a fork to easily poke, but the stalk has some snap to it. Take off heat. Toss with a pinch of salt, lemon zest, and the juice of 1/2 of the lemon. Serve hot.

A taste of Jamaica

Actually, I have little experience (read: never even tried cooking it until tonight) with Caribbean food. Never been Jamaica, and no clue what "the real stuff" tastes like. All that being said, you know what, this slow cooker Jamaican jerk inspired pork tenderloin (see why I didn't make that the title?) is fall-apart soft, moist, and perfectly seasoned. Translation: awesome. I coupled it with roasted sweet potatoes that were the perfect combination of sweet, salty, and spicy. This is so easy you can eat it on any given weeknight (where you can go home for lunch to set the slow cooker), or dress it up and serve to company.

And, before I forget, shout out to Brandt for trying this recipe first, giving me a sample of it, and essentially inspiring me to make it myself.

I woulda taken prettier pictures, but I was hungry. Look how moist. I was just pulling pieces off with my fork. And all those red pepper flakes. Mmm spicy.

Slow Cooker Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin

inspired from The Examiner

2 C 99% fat free beef broth

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried thyme

1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp cloves

1 lb pork tenderloin

Special equipment: slow cooker, meat thermometer

Put the broth into the slow cooker tub. Combine all the spices into a small bowl (yay you've just prepped your dry rub!). Evenly coat/rub the entire ternderloin with the spice mix. Place in the slow cooker. Cook for 5-7 hours (mine took 5), or until the meat thermometer reads 170 degrees. Eat.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1" pieces

olive oil for drizzling

1 tsp kosher salt

ground red pepper flakes - I used about 7-8 grinds and didn't think it was hot enough, but I like it spicy

Preheat oven to 450. Arrange the potato chunks in an even layer and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and grind the red pepper flakes. Bake for 30 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes so it cooks evenly. It's the best if the edges get all crispy.

Oh and one more thing. Apparently leftovers are awesome on a sandwich, which reminds me of the Best Sandwich I Ever Had down in Peru. I would make my leftover sandwich like this: Crusty kaiser roll-ish bread, slices of pork (reheated), thin slices of fried sweet potato, mashed avocado with a bit of salt. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Pollo al Mattone, aka brick (sorta) chicken

One time in college I made dinner for me, my roomie, and a boy. The boy said to me, "Cornish hen? Oooh fancy. That's, like, stuff they serve at weddings." I remember being kind of amused and confused at the same time because I grew up eating it as a quick weeknight meal. And the idea of eating one per person? Absurd. We had one hen for 3 people, with some veggies and rice or Stovetop on the side.

My usual cornish hen preparation involves butter, salt, pepper, and an oven. Sometimes I'll shove sliced lemon up it's butt, too. Sometimes it's some smashed garlic cloves. Roast in the oven until done. But this time... I caught crazy-haired Anne Burrell's show on Food Network and saw this. First, the spices are some of my favorite. Second, it looked so easy! Therefore, I had to try it, and yay! I slightly burnt it (I've been burning a lot lately, ugh), but it's not good to eat the skin anyways right, so I just went for the meat, which was perfectly moist and tasty!

Pollo al Mattone

adapted from Anne Burrell

4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 lemon, zested and juiced

3/4 tsp paprika (I used a mix of 1/2 tsp regular and 1/4 tsp Hungarian)

1 tsp cumin

olive oil

1 cornish hen, backbone removed and butterflied (recipe calls for 2)

kosher salt and ground black pepper

Special equipment: 2 pans that can be put into the oven. I used my 2 cast iron pans.

Combine the garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon zest and juice, paprika, and cumin. Drizzle in olive oil until it makes a paste. Put hen into a big bowl, massage it with the the paste. Cover and refrigerate/marinated overnight or up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 400. Coat the bottom of the other pan with some oil and heat over high. Season the hen generously with salt and pepper. Make sure hen is open, legs tucked under, and lay into pan skin side down. Spray the bottom of another pan with oil - since I used cast iron I wrapped it in foil first then sprayed. Place that pan on top to weigh down the chicken. (This one is called brick chicken because you could wrap a brick in foil and put in the pan to weigh it down. The cast iron was heavy enough for me. ) Cook til the skin just starts to brown, about 5 minutes. (This is also the part I lost track of time, thus slightly charring it, whoops.)

Put the entire thing - chicken sandwiched between pans - into the oven and cook for about 15 minutes. Check to make sure it's done (juice runs clear). Remove chicken from pans. Now. This is where I stopped. I didn't make the sauce - I was lazy, not gonna lie. But just in case you want some, click the link above for her full recipe.

I ate the chicken as is. There was just the right amount of heat from the red pepper, and neither the paparika or cumin was too overpowering. Delightful. Roasted potatoes or cauliflower go well with it. I imagine some couscous and sliced almonds would be a great side, too.