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Thanksgiving Lite – Roasted Turkey Breast with Creamy Gravy

Even though it is only just October, before you know it we will all be thinking about Thanksgiving dinner and the different dishes we are going to prepare. The great thing about this time of year is that turkey becomes not only more available, but more affordable. For the rest of the year, the price can seem quite high for a turkey. Right about now you will start to see the price creep down little by little and you may also see the availability of different turkey parts for sale as well. I came across this half a turkey breast in the store on Monday and couldn’t pass it up. It was 2 1/2 pounds, but it only cost $4.00 and we will get a dinner and lunches out of it, so it’s a great deal. I then went looking for a recipe and found this one from Rachel Ray. I did modify it somewhat, as in the recipe she makes a cranberry pomegranate sauce and had neither cranberries nor pomegranates, so I eliminated that end of it. She also makes the recipe with two split turkey breasts and since I only had one, I had to scale things down a bit. I am posting the entire recipe she uses here for you to try.

Roasted Turkey Breast with Creamy Gravy and Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce

For the Turkey Breast:

1 full or 2 split boneless, skin-on turkey breasts

2 cloves garlic, grated or pasted

1 stick butter, softened

1/4 cup fresh herbs, such as parsley, chives, thyme, tarragon or rosemary

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt and black pepper

For the Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce:

One 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries

1 cup sugar

Pinch salt

1 cinnamon stick

1 strip orange rind

1 pomegranate

For the Creamy Gravy:

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt and black pepper

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional)

For the roasted turkey breast: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the turkey breast on a baking rack over a baking sheet. Combine the garlic and softened butter with the herbs and lemon juice. Slather about 5 tablespoons of the garlic-herb butter over the turkey breast and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper., reserving the remaining garlic-herb butter for the gravy. Roast the turkey in the oven for 45 minutes.

For the cranberry pomegranate sauce: Place the cranberries in a medium saucepan with the sugar, salt, cinnamon stick, orange rind and 1 cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until all the berries pop and the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. Cool and remove the rind and the cinnamon stick. Peel the pomegranate in a bowl of water, separating the seeds, and drain. Add the pomegranate seeds into the sauce.

For the creamy gravy: Right before serving the turkey, melt the remaining garlic-herb butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour until blended, followed by the chicken stock, to thicken. Whisk in the Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the heavy cream and the cheese (if using) and keep the gravy warm until you are ready to serve.

Slice the roasted turkey breast and serve with room temperature cranberry pomegranate sauce and the warm gravy.

A couple of things about this recipe. I left the cheese out of the gravy since I don’t really care for cheese that much and I just didn’t think it went well with the dish. I think the gravy turned out fine without it, but if you want the added creaminess from the cheese, go for it. This recipe makes a lot of turkey, which is one of the reasons I cut it in half. The one split turkey breast was more than enough for the three of us and we had plenty of leftovers as well. I liked the flavor you get from the garlic-herb butter on the turkey and in the gravy and it did help to crisp up what little skin there was on the turkey. I served this with smashed potatoes (they weren’t mashed too much; I just used a potato masher for a bit on them) and some pan roasted asparagus. It was a nice meal that you can do in under an hour and satisfy that early season turkey craving.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I still have my Oktoberfest sausage to make tonight, a roast beef recipe for this weekend, and some other things to try like a new soup recipe and a new one for banana bread. Keep checking back to see what comes up next. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on October 4, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, Gravy, Poultry, Sauce, Turkey

Tags: cranberry pomegranate sauce, creamy gravy, food network, Rachel Ray, roasted turkey breast, roasted turkey breast with creamy gravy and cranberry pomegranate sauce, turkey breast

You Can Never Have Too Many Meatloaf Recipes

20 Sep

It seems like every time I look at a cooking magazine or cooking website, there is a new recipe for a way to make meatloaf. Don’t get me wrong; I love meatloaf and could probably eat it every week, but I would have to try new recipes just to keep it from getting boring. I think that is why I am always willing to give a new meatloaf recipe a try. I saw this one in the recent edition of Cook’s Country magazine and it looked like it would have great texture and an interesting flavor to it, so I thought I would give it a try.

Meatloaf with Mushroom Gravy

1 cup water

1/4 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed

16 square saltine crackers

10 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped fine

Salt and pepper

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound ground pork

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon plus 3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 pound ground beef

3/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Microwave the water and the porcini mushrooms in a covered bowl until steaming, about 1 minute. Let the porcini mushrooms sit until softened, about 5 minutes. Remove the porcini mushrooms from the bowl with a fork and mince them. Strain the porcini liquid through a strainer lined with a coffee filter and reserve 3/4 cup.

Process the saltines in a food processor until they are finely ground, about 30 seconds. Transfer the crackers to a large bowl. Pulse half of the white mushrooms in the food processor until they are finely ground, about 8 to 10 pulses.

Heat the vegetable in a large, non-stick, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until it is browned, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the processed white mushrooms and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cook until any liquid present evaporates and the mushrooms begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer the contents of the skillet to the bowl with the saltines and allow it to cool completely, about 15 minutes.

Once the mixture has cooled, add the pork, eggs, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon of salt, 3/4 teaspoon of pepper, and 1/4 cup of the reserved porcini mushroom liquid to the cooled saltine-white mushroom mixture and knead gently until it is mostly combined. Add the beef and knead until the mixture is well combined. Transfer the meat mixture to the now-empty skillet and shape into a 10″ x 6″ loaf. Bake until the meatloaf registers 160 degrees, about 45 to 55 minutes. Transfer the meatloaf to a cutting board using a spatula and tent it loosely with aluminum foil.

Thinly slice the remaining white mushrooms. Discard any solids from the skillet and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. If you don’t have enough fat left in the pan after removing the meatloaf, you can supplement it with melted butter or vegetable oil. Heat the fat over medium-high heat until it is shimmering. Add the sliced white mushrooms and the minced porcini mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until a deep golden brown, about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the thyme and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, the remaining 1/2 cup of reserved porcini liquid and the remaining 3/4 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, scraping up any browned bits in the pan, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Slice the meatloaf and serve with the mushroom gravy.

I really liked this recipe. There is nothing better than having a good gravy with your meatloaf and this recipe certainly gives you that. If you’re not a fan of mushrooms, you may not go for the gravy but Michelle and Sean are not big fans of mushrooms and they loved the meatloaf. The texture of it was perfect, it sliced nicely and tasted great. Cooking in the skillet instead of a loaf pan made a big difference in keeping the meatloaf from getting soggy and falling apart.Sauteing the vegetables to mix into the meatloaf also made a big difference. You also get to do everything in one pan to help save on cleaning up. I served this with mashed potatoes and some fresh steamed broccoli. I’ll be using this recipe again.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for more great recipes. I still have lots to go through of recipes I have gotten from magazines and online lately, so we’ll see what comes along for next week. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

7 Comments

Posted by MikeG on September 20, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Gravy

Tags: Cook's Country, Cook's Country meatloaf with mushroom gravy, meatloaf recipe, meatloaf with mushroom gravy, mushroom gravy

It’s A Cook’s Country Recipe Week, Part 1 – Grandma’s Roast Beef and Gravy

29 Jul

I have always been a fan of America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country. I follow them on Facebook and Twitter and have several of the cookbooks. I also recently started getting the Cook’s Country magazine via subscription and I have to say I really like it. The recipes are great with easy to follow steps and they give you all kinds of great cooking advice as far as techniques, pantry items and equipment. For this week, I decided to do some of the Cook’s Country recipes I have been trying lately. First up is the roast beef dinner I made last week. Luckily I picked one of the cooler days to give it a try so I could use the oven.

Grandma’s Roast Beef and Gravy

1 (4- to 5- pound) boneless top-round roast

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 tablespoons butter

2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 onion, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch rounds

1 celery rib, cut into 2-inch pieces

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon tomato paste

2 cans beef consomme

1 1/2 cups water

Pat the roast dry with paper towels and rub with 2 teaspoons of salt. Wrap the roast in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 225 degrees. Pat the roast dry with paper towels and rub with 2 teaspoons of pepper. Heat the oil in a large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat until it is just smoking. Brown the roast all over on all sides, about 8 to 12 minutes; transfer the roast to a plate.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan. Add the butter to the skillet and melt it over medium heat. Cook the carrots, onion and celery until they are lightly browned, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the flour and the tomato paste and cook until the flour is golden and the paste begins to darken, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, push the vegetables to the center of the pan. Place the roast on top of the vegetables and transfer the skillet to the oven. Cook the roast until the meat registers 125 degrees (for medium-rare), about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. Transfer the roast to a carving board, tent with foil and allow the meat to rest for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, keeping in mind that the skillet handle will still be quite hot, return the skillet with vegetables to medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are a deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in the consomme and water, scraping up any browned bits, and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the gravy is thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes. Strain the gravy through a fine mesh strainer into a serving bowl. Discard the vegetables. Season the gravy with salt and pepper to taste.

Thinly slice the roast crosswise against the grain and serve with the gravy.

Cooking the roast beef in this method made things much easier. You do a slow roasting and everything is done in just one pan, making cleanup even easier. Salting the meat helps a great deal in drawing out some of the moisture from the meat. Also, instead of flouring the meat beforehand and searing it, adding the flour to the vegetables instead helps you eliminate that pasty flavor a roast can get from raw flour and still lets you make a rich, dark gravy. You could certainly use water instead of the beef broth when making the gravy, but the broth really does help add another layer of flavor to the gravy, so I would use it. Of course, you also then have options with leftovers like making things such as open-faced roast beef sandwiches, French dip sandwiches or Philly cheesesteaks. I served the roast beef with mashed potatoes and some fresh corn on the cob and broccoli.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time to see another Cook’s Country recipe. This time I will be making the meatballs and marinara recipe that appears in one of the issues I just received. Be sure to check that one out tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on July 29, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Gravy

Tags: Cook's Country, Grandma's roast beef with gravy, roast beef, roast beef dinner, roast beef gravy

More Ways to Make Meatloaf

01 Jun

Even though it’s been quite hot here this week, I’d been having a hankering for some meatloaf. I haven’t made one in quite a while so I went out and bought the meat and then started looking for a new way to make it. There is nothing wrong with the recipes I’ve used in the past; every once in a while I’d just like to try something different. That’s when I came across this recipe from Tyler Florence. It was listed on the Cooking Channel’s website and it looked pretty interesting so I thought I would give it a try.

Meatloaf with Tomato Relish

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and finely diced
2 tomatoes, halved, seeded, and finely diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
12 ounces ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into chunks
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 eggs
Leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 bacon slices

Preheat the oven to 350°. Coat a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place over medium heat. Sauté the onion, garlic, and bay leaves for a few minutes to create a base flavor. Add the red peppers and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until softened. Add the 2 tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the parsley, ketchup and Worcestershire; season with salt and pepper. Simmer the relish for 5 minutes until all the flavors meld. Remove the pan from the heat; you should have about 4 cups of relish.

Place the torn white bread in a bowl and add the milk to just barely cover. Swish the bread around in the milk and allow it to sit while you gather the rest of the ingredients for the meatloaf. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef and pork with 1 1/2 cups of the tomato relish, the eggs, and the thyme; season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and add the soaked bread to the meat mixture. Toss the ingredients with your hands and mix together to blend everything well.

Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Transfer the meat mixture to the center of the cookie sheet and format into a log about 9 inches long and 4 inches wide. Coat the top of the meatloaf with another 1/2 cup of the tomato relish. Lay the bacon slices across the top of the meat lengthwise.

Bake the meatloaf for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the bacon is crisp and the meatloaf is firm. Rotate the meatloaf while it is baking every 25 minutes to ensure that the bacon browns evenly. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with the remaining tomato relish on the side.

I have to say I was a little bit skeptical as to how the meatloaf itself would come out without having a lot of spices in it, but I was pleasantly surprised. The tomato relish adds a really nice flavor to the meatloaf and keeps it very moist. The great thing is that there’s always leftovers with meatloaf that you can use for sandwiches later on. I served this with mashed potatoes and corn and made a a simple beef gravy with 2 cups of beef stock, 1/4 cup of flour, 2 tablespoons of butter and some salt and pepper. I poured in some of the drippings from the meatloaf with the butter and flour, whisked it together to make a quick roux and then slowly added the beef stock, whisking the whole time to make a nice gravy. To me, you can’t have meatloaf and mashed potatoes without any gravy. I would definitely make this recipe again.

That’s it for today. Check back again next time to see what recipes come along. I have a few ideas for the coming week but I still need to do my shopping for next week so I’m not quite sure if everything will work out the way I hope. We’ll have to see what kind of ingredients I can get and what we decide to make. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on June 1, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Gravy

Tags: beef gravy, Cooking Channel, meatloaf with tomato relish, tomato relish, Tyler Florence, Tyler Florence meatloaf

Thanksgiving Dry Run

18 Nov

So I did a test dinner tonight that will be a lot like what I will make on Thanksgiving Day for dinner. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about how well this recipe would go. It is one I picked up from America’s Test Kitchen on a braised turkey with gravy. The trick in this one is that you butcher the chicken so you are cooking all the parts. They also recommend brining the turkey. Now I have heard both sides of the argument on this one and I am still not sure which would be best. I know that brining does help to keep things moist, but if you are like me, you may not have the room in your refrigerator for a tub to brine a whole turkey in, so I skipped the brining process. Everything turned out really well without it so I think you can get away with not doing it.

Braised Turkey with Gravy

Salt and Pepper

1 cup sugar

1 (5-7 pound) whole bone-in turkey breast, trimmed

4 pounds turkey drumsticks and thighs, trimmed

3 onions, chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 bay leaves

6 sprigs fresh thyme

6 sprigs fresh parsley

1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed

4 tablespoons butter, melted

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup dry wine

Gravy

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Salt and pepper

For the Turkey: Dissolve 1 cup of salt and the sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a large container. Submerge the turkey pieces in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 3 to 6 hours.

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Remove the turkey from the brine and pat it dry with paper towels. Toss the onions,celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, parsley, porcini mushrooms and 2 tablespoons of butter in a large roasting pan; arrange everything in an even layer. Brush the turkey pieces with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and season with pepper. Place the turkey pieces, skin side up, over the vegetables, leaving at least 1/4 inch between the pieces. Roast until the skin is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees. Pour the broth and wine around the turkey pieces (it should come about three-quarters of the way up the legs and thighs). Place a sheet of parchment paper over the turkey pieces. Cover the roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil. Return the covered roasting pan to the oven and cook until the breasts register 160 degrees and thighs register 175 degrees, 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 hours. Transfer the turkey to a cutting board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes.

For the Gravy: Strain the vegetables and liquid from the roasting pan through a fine-mesh strainer set in a large bowl. Press the solids with the back of a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the vegetables. Transfer the liquid to a fat separator; allow it to settle for 5 minutes. Reserve 3 tablespoons of fat and measure out 3 cups of braising liquid.

Heat the reserved fat in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour is a dark golden brown and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Whisk in 3 cups of braising liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the gravy is thick and reduced to 2 cups, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the gravy from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.

I’ll be honest- butchering the turkey was no easy feat, even with poultry shears and a good sharp knife. If you could get it butchered before you even bring it home, that would be ideal. If not, it took me about 20 minutes to do it. I didn’t think that was too bad, considering I had never done that with a turkey before. I think the results are well worth the work that goes into it. The turkey came out done perfectly. It was very moist and the skin was nice and crispy. I took the foil off for the last 10 minutes or so to crisp up the skin and it was great. It also made carving easy since all the parts were removed already.

There’s a stuffing recipe that goes along with this recipe so you can make use of the turkey wings (thought I forgot about them, didn’t you?). This recipe is designed to make stuffing for 10-12 people, so if you have a smaller group coming, cut the recipe down appropriately. I cut in half for today since they were only 5 of us for dinner and it was the perfect amount with just a bit left over.

Bread Stuffing with Sausage, Dried Cherries and Pecans

2 pounds hearty white sandwich bread (20 to 22 slices) cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I actually used a large loaf of french bread instead, and it came out fine, so use whatever bread you like)

3 pounds turkey wings, divided at the joints

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 pound pork sausage

4 tablespoons butter, plus extra for the baking dish

1 large onion, chopped fine

3 celery ribs, chopped fine

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons minced fresh sage leaves

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

3 large eggs

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup pecan halves, toasted and chopped fine

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower middle positions and heat the oven to 250 degrees. Spread the bread cubes in an even layer on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Bake until the edges have dried but centers are slightly moist, 45 to 60 minutes, stirring several times during baking. (You can toast the bread up to 1 day in advance.) Transfer the cubes to a large bowl and increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Use the tip of a paring knife to poke 10 to 15 holes in each wing segment. heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the wings in a single layer and cook until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Flip the wings and continue to cook until golden brown on the second side, 4 to 6 minutes longer. Transfer the wings to a medium bowl and set aside.

Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add the sausage; cook, breaking the sausage into 1/2-inch pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the rendered fat in the skillet.

Heat the butter with the rendered fat in the skillet over medium heat. When the foaming subsides, add the onion, celery, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened but not browned, 7 to 9 minutes. Add the thyme, sage, and pepper; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 1 cup of broth and bring to a simmer, using a wooden spoon to scrape browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the vegetable mixture to the bowl with the dried bread and toss to combine.

Grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with butter. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, remaining 1 1/2 cups of broth, the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and any accumulated juices from the wings until combined. Add the egg/broth mixture, cherries, pecans and sausage to the bread mixture and gently toss to combine; transfer to the greased baking dish. Arrange the wings on top of the stuffing, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake on the lower-middle rack until the thickest part of the wings registers 175 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 60 to 75 minutes. Remove the foil and transfer the wings to a dinner plate to reserve for another use. Using a fork, gently fluff the stuffing. Let it rest 5 minutes before serving.

The stuffing was great! I think putting the wings on the top was a great idea and added some turkey flavor to the stuffing. The dried cherries add just the amount of tartness to the dish and they rehydrate a bit with the broth while cooking.

I served the meal with mashed turnips and boiled potatoes, but on Thanksgiving I will be making mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce. We’ll also be starting the meal off with a butternut squash soup. I’ll be posting the recipes for the butternut squash soup, sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole over the next few days if you want to check them out.

I also made a triple berry pie for dessert, which I have posted on here before. This time I used only frozen berries, but it turned out just as well if you want to try it that way.

I hope everyone has great plans for their Thanksgiving. I’ll be posting more recipes and I promise to take pictures of everything on Thursday while I am cooking (I am very bad about remembering to do that, I apologize). Until next time, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal.

4 Comments

Posted by MikeG on November 18, 2012 in Cooking, Dessert, Dinner, Gravy, Holidays, Pie, Side Dishes, Turkey

Tags: americas test kitchen, berry pie, braised turkey with gravy, bread stuffing with sausage dried cherries and pecans, roast turkey, stuffing, Thanksgiving dinner

Good Eats Meatloaf and Roasted Green Beans

24 Oct

I love meatloaf. I know I have said that on here many times, but it’s always worth repeating. When we got out somewhere, if it’s on the menu I want to try it. Of course, some times I am disappointed by the results, but hey, you still have to try, right? So tonight when I decided to make meatloaf, I turned to a recipe from Alton Brown and his “Good Eats” program. I like a lot of the things he makes (and he’s great to follow on Twitter if you are on there) so I figured this recipe was a no-brainer. It got a lot of good reviews from people on Food Network’s website also, so I had to give it a try.

Good Eats Meatloaf

6 ounces garlic-flavored croutons
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, peeled and broken
3 whole cloves garlic
1/2 red bell pepper
18 ounces ground chuck
18 ounces ground sirloin
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg

For the glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon honey

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a food processor bowl, combine croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse until the mixture is of a fine texture. Place this mixture into a large bowl. Combine the onion, carrot, garlic, and red pepper in the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, but not pureed. Combine the vegetable mixture, ground sirloin, and ground chuck with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.

Pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan to mold the shape of the meatloaf. Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray. Insert a temperature probe at a 45 degree angle into the top of the meatloaf. Avoid touching the bottom of the tray with the probe. Set the probe for 155 degrees.

Combine the ketchup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes, covered, after removing from the oven. Slice and serve.

This recipe is great. The meatloaf and the glaze have a nice combination of bite from the hot sauce, cayenne and chili pepper and a sweetness from the honey. We all loved it and I’ll definitely be making this one again.

I decided to serve this with some boiled potatoes and green beans. I love green beans too, and I am always looking for a new way to make them. I came across this recipe from Williams-Sonoma that is simple and tastes great from the roasting.

Roasted Green Beans and Carrots with Red Onion

3/4 pound green beans, trimmed
1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut diagonally about 1/4 inch thick
1 red onion, sliced
2 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Place an 8-by-11-inch heavy roasting pan or a very large, ovenproof fry pan on the rack.

Bring a large saucepan three-fourths full of water to a boil over high heat. Add a pinch of salt and the green beans. Cook the beans until they turn bright green and are just tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain the beans and plunge them into a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking and drain again.

In a large bowl, toss together the beans, carrots, onion, garlic and olive oil. Sprinkle with the cumin, season with salt and pepper, and toss again to thoroughly combine. Transfer the vegetables to the preheated pan and spread them evenly. Roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and lightly browned, 45 to 55 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.

It was a something different to do and I like roasting vegetables. The flavor seems a little more intense when you roast them. You could easily add other vegetables to this if you wanted to, choosing some other fall root vegetables like parsnips, turnips, or sweet potatoes.

We also made some of the all-purpose gravy I have made before, because you must have gravy with meatloaf. Overall, it was quite a good meal.

Well, I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow night, so I am not sure I’ll get a meal in, but we’ll see what happens. Until next time, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on October 24, 2012 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Gravy, Vegetables

Tags: Alton Brown, boiled potatoes, food network, good eats meatloaf, meatloaf, roasted green beans, roasted green beans and carrots with red onion

Time to Strip (Steak) in the Kitchen (and Some Mushroom Gravy too)

18 Oct

Michelle had picked up a couple of nice looking New York strip steaks the other day and today seemed like a good day to make them.There’s nothing really fancy about them or cooking them either. You can easily pan fry them or just put them under the broiler, which is what I usually do. The other thing about steak is you want to make sure you let it rest before you slice it so all the juices stay in the steak and not run out all over the plate, leaving you with dry meat. I had bought the mushrooms a few days ago and I have been looking for an excuse to make some mushroom gravy, and this was it. Mushroom gravy is great with meat loaf or Salisbury steak, but I think it can work well with other steak or just to have with some mashed potatoes.

New York Strip Steaks with Mushroom Gravy

2 New York strip steaks, about 10 ounces each

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon butter

10 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

1 shallot, minced

3/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 1/2 cups beef broth

Take the steaks out of the refrigerator and sit, covered, on the counter for 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow them to come to room temperature. Preheat the broiler and position a rack about 4-5 inches from the element. Season the steaks liberally with salt and pepper. Place the steaks on an aluminum foil-covered broiler pan and place the steaks under the broiler. Heat for four minutes and then flip and heat for another four minutes. Remove the steaks from the oven to a serving dish and loosely tent with aluminum foil and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a medium skillet and add the mushrooms and shallot. Saute until the mushrooms and shallot are soft and the mushrooms are a deep brown, about 6 minutes. Stir in the thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the broth and the Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, whisking until thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve on the side with the steaks.

If you want a creamier sauce, you could add a 1/2 cup of heavy cream in the last-minute of the cooking of the gravy to give you the creaminess you want. Of course I served it with mashed potatoes and some broccoli, but creamed spinach would be great with this as well to make it a classic steak dinner.

That’s it for tonight. We won’t be home for dinners the next few nights but I’ll be back on Monday with a new recipe and I have some plans for a few things next week, so check back and see what I come up with. Until then, enjoy the rest of your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 18, 2012 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Gravy

Tags: broiling steak, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, new york strip steak, steak

Pass the Stove Top Roast Chicken

23 Jul

There’s nothing quite like some roast chicken. Crispy skin, juicy meat, it just plain tastes good. However, there are some days (today being one of them) where it is just too hot to turn on the stove. Sometimes you feel like using the stove for something else, like a cake or a pie. Today, it was just too hot for the oven but I had some chicken pieces that I wanted to cook. This recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, gave a good solution of roasting the chicken on the stove top. I still got the dark brown crispy skin and the moist meat, and got a really good pan sauce to go along with it.

Stovetop Roast Chicken with Lemon-Herb Sauce

Chicken

3 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces, trimmed

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3/4 cup chicken broth

Lemon-Herb Sauce

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 medium shallot, minced

1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon

1 tablespoon butter, chilled

Salt and ground black pepper

For the chicken: Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken pieces skin side down and cook without moving until golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.

Using tongs, flip the chicken pieces skin side up. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the chicken broth to the skillet, cover and cook until the thickest part of the breast registers 155 degrees and the thickest part of the thigh/drumstick registers 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 10 to 16 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate, skin side up.

Pour off the liquid from the skillet into a measuring cup and reserve. Wipe out the skillet with paper towels. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Return the chicken pieces to the skillet skin side down and cook undisturbed until the skin is deep golden brown and crisp, the thickest part of the breast registers 160 to 165 degrees, and the thickest part of the thigh/drumstick registers 175 degrees, 4 to 7 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and tent loosely with foil. Using a spoon, skim any fat from the reserved cooking liquid and add more broth if needed to measure 3/4 cup.

For the sauce: Heat the oil in the now-empty skillet over low heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the reserved cooking liquid, and bring to a simmer, scraping the skillet bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Simmer rapidly until reduced to a 1/2 cup, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in any accumulated juices from the resting chicken; return to a simmer and cook for 30 seconds. Off the heat, whisk in the parsley, chives, lemon juice and butter; season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sauce around the chicken and serve immediately.

I served the chicken with some noodles and peas. the sauce was spectacular and went perfectly with the chicken. I would make this one again for sure.

I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring for dinner. I’ve been bad about planning things out lately; we’ve just had so much going on that I haven’t really had a chance to plan. Now that Sean is home from his trip south (Yeah!) maybe we can plan things a little better. Check back and see what the next meal will be. Enjoy the rest of your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on July 23, 2012 in Cooking, Gravy, Poultry

Tags: lemon-herb sauce, stovetop roast chicken

A Father’s Day Feast for Brunch

17 Jun

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. We decided to do a brunch for Father’s Days and have everyone over here for it. We made quite a bit of food, and of course I didn’t think about taking pictures of everything until after people had already started eating, so I apologize in advance for the pictures. We put out quite a buffet spread and I’ll share some the recipes here today. We made corned beef hash and home fries, both of which I have posted recipes on before. We also made pancakes, which I have posted on before and scrambled eggs. We did make a few things that I haven’t posted recipes on before, which I will share over the next few days. We made a Sausage Gravy with Biscuits, A Cheese and Onion Quiche, Crabcakes, Steamed Mussels, a Blueberry Coffee Cake, Banana Bread and a Fruit Salad. For today, I’ll tackle the Sausage Gravy and the quiche.

Sausage Gravy

8 ounces pork sausage

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/3 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 package refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (you can certainly make your own, but we were pinched for space and time and opted for Pillsbury.)

Preheat the oven 350 degrees. Place biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake for 14 to 17 minutes until golden brown. Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink. Remove the sausage and drain on a paper towel-lined plate, reserving 1 tablespoon of the drippings in the skillet. Whisk the flour into the hot drippings until smooth; cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk, and cook, whisking constantly, for 5 to 7 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the sausage, salt and pepper. Serve over warm biscuits.

The quiche was just as easy, although we did cheat a little and used a pre-made refrigerated crust for the shell.

Cheese and Onion Quiche

1 pre-made pie crust (you can certainly make your own if you like)

4 tablespoons butter

6 cups thinly sliced onion

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

6 eggs at room temperature

2 cups cheddar cheese

2 cups cream, half-and-half or milk, heated gently until warm

Heat the oven to 425 degrees and set the rack in the middle. Prebake the chilled crust until the crust begins to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and let cool on a rack while you prepare the filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Put the butter in a large skillet over medium heat; when the butter melts. add the onion and some salt and pepper. Turn the heat up to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is very soft and lightly browned, at least 20 minutes; adjust the heat so it doesn’t brown or crisp up, but just cook it until the onion practically melts. Add the thyme and stir, turn off the heat and cool slightly. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and then add the onion mixture.

Put the semi-cooked shell on a baking sheet and pour in the egg mixture. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until almost firm (it should still jiggle just a little in the middle) and lightly browned on top; reduce the oven heat if the edges of the shell are darkening too quickly. Cool on a wire rack; serve warm or at room temperature.

There are many more things you could add to the quiche to suit your tastes. You could add some bacon, mushrooms, or any variety of vegetables that you might like, such as broccoli, asparagus, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, really nearly anything you want. Make sure the vegetables are parboiled and cooled before you add them to the eggs and don’t overcrowd it by adding too many things.

That’s all I have time to talk about today. Tomorrow I will go over some more recipes from the menu – the crabcakes and the mussels. Check back tomorrow for those recipes. Until then, enjoy your Father’s Day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on June 17, 2012 in Breakfast, Cooking, Eggs, Gravy, Pork

Tags: breakfast, cheese and onion quiche, father's day brunch, father's day meal, sausage gravy, sausage gravy with biscuits, warm biscuits

Here Chicken, Chicken, Chicken Fried Steak!

01 May

I haven’t had chicken fried steak in a long time, and I have never tried to make it myself, so this will be a good experiment. I looked at a bunch of different recipes and this one from America’s Test Kitchen seemed to be the easiest and best one to try, so here we go.

Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy

Steak

3 cups all-purpose flour

Salt and pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 cube steaks (5 ounces each) pounded 1/4 inch thick

4 to 5 cups vegetable oil

Cream Gravy

1 onion, minced

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 cups milk

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Pinch cayenne pepper

For the steak: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 200 degrees. Toss the flour, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, and the cayenne together in a shallow dish. In a second dish, beat the buttermilk, egg, baking powder and baking soda together (it will get foamy).

Pat the steaks dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Dredge the steaks through the flour, then coat with the buttermilk mixture, then coat again with the flour. Lay the battered steaks on a wire rack.

Pour the oil into a large Dutch oven until it measures one inch. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 375 degrees. Fry 3 of the steaks until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes, then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Return the oil to 375 degrees and repeat with the remaining steaks. Transfer the steaks to a clean wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.

For the gravy: Carefully strain the oil through a fine mesh strainer into a medium pot. Return any browned bits from the strainer along with 2 tablespoons of the frying oil to the Dutch oven. Return the Dutch oven to medium heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion and thyme and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the broth, scraping up any browned bits. Whisk in the milk, salt, pepper and cayenne and simmer until the gravy has thickened, about 5 minutes. Spoon the gravy over the steaks before serving.

Try to maintain a consistent oil temperature while cooking. Give the oil a chance to get back up to temperature before starting the second batch of steaks so they don’t become greasy and they cook all the way through. I making mashed potatoes with this, that seems like the side dish we should have to go with the steak and the gravy. You can find my recipe for mashed potatoes here. I’ll also just be steaming some green beans as our side dish.

I had planned to cook this last night, but I just started a new pain medication for my feet and it really knocked me for a loop, so everything got pushed back a bit. I’ll add some pictures so you can see how the steak turned out. Tomorrow, Sean would like breakfast for dinner, so we’ll be making pancakes, but I am going to post a recipe that I use for some homemade turkey sausage patties that turn out quite delicious. Check back tomorrow for that one. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

Last minute substitution with the peas for the green beans, but other than that, I think they turned out really well. The steak was nice and crispy and the gravy came out good as well.