Sauce | onedadskitchen

It’s a Meatball Frenzy Week! – Giada’s Classic Italian Turkey Meatballs

Meatballs are one of those things that everyone seems to have their own way of making. Just like it is with meatloaf, meatballs can have just about anything in them and can be all types of meat combinations depending on your preferences. I have tried a bunch of different recipes in the past, including recipes from Giada di Laurentiis, who this particular recipe is from. Not that long ago an episode of her show features several meatball recipes, including the basic one for turkey meatballs that you start out with and then other recipes you can use the same meatballs for. I decided to start out the week with the basic class turkey meatball recipe and then build out from there.

Classic Italian Turkey Meatballs

For the Meatballs:

1 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
1 tablespoon ketchup, optional
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 pound ground turkey meat (dark meat if you can get it)
1 pound Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
For the Sauce:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 onion, finely chopped 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to season
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to season
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons finely ground fennel seeds
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Two 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth, optional

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

For the meatballs: In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, basil, parsley, milk, ketchup if using, tomato paste, salt, pepper, eggs, garlic and onions. Using a wooden spoon, stir the ingredients until they are blended. Add the ground turkey and the turkey sausage meat. Using your fingers, gently mix all the ingredients until they are thoroughly combined.

Using a 1-ounce cookie scoop or a small ice cream scoop, form the meat mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls (22 to 24 meatballs). Place the meatballs on a heavy nonstick baking sheet, spacing them apart. Drizzle the meatballs with olive oil and bake until the meatballs are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

For the tomato sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet with high sides or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onions, salt and pepper. Cook the vegetables until they softened, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the basil, the fennel, oregano and crushed tomatoes. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Cook the sauce over medium heat until the sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of basil. Adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper if desired.

Add the meatballs to the tomato sauce and simmer until the meatballs are heated through, about 10 minutes. Thin the sauce with chicken stock, 1/4 cup at a time, if needed.

Serve with grated Parmesan alongside.

I have to say that of all the meatball recipes I have tried recently, I think this is the best one and since it uses only turkey meat, it might be the healthiest alternative of the ones I have made. The texture of the meatball is perfect and the flavor you get from the mix of the turkey meat and sausage along with the spices is just perfect. Throw it all in a simple sauce and you have a great meal. I actually doubled the recipe and made a lot of meatballs with this recipe to use for the other meatball recipes Giada tried on that episode, so I’ll be posting meatball options all week with what we had leftover. Of course, you can always just freeze some and use them when you want them. I left about half out of the sauce to use for some of the other recipes.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

5 Comments

Posted by MikeG on June 3, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Poultry, Sauce, Turkey

Tags: classic Italian turkey meatballs, food network, Giada di Laurentiis, Giada di Laurentiis classic Italian meatballs, meatball recipes, turkey meatball recipe, turkey meatballs

A Honey of a Recipe – Honey Chili Beer Chicken

19 May

With the prices of just about everything else going up at the grocery stores, chicken is one of the few things that has remained reasonable for some of the pieces. Boneless chicken breasts remain high-priced, in my opinion, but you can get legs and thighs for a very good price, bone-in breasts are reasonable, and you can always get a whole chicken and cut it up yourself to get several meals out of it and then some stock as well. In any case, I have been stocking up on legs and thighs lately so I have also been scouring around looking for new recipes to try to get some different tastes and flavors so it doesn’t seem like we are eating the same thing several times a week. I cam across this recipe on the Internet not long ago from The Beeroness for a honey chili beer chicken that looked great, so I thought I would give it a try.

Honey Chili Beer Chicken

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup sliced onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup brown ale, divided in half

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon red chili sauce (such as Sriracha), plus additional if desired

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1-2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

In a cast iron skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil and heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the onions and caramelize the onions over medium heat, mixing occasionally, until the onions are a nice golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and then add 1/2 cup of the brown ale, the balsamic vinegar, the honey and the chili sauce. Simmer the mixture until it is reduced and thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the sauce from the pan and set the sauce aside.

Sprinkle the chicken thighs on all sides with the salt, pepper and all-purpose flour to coat the thighs well. Increase the heat of the stovetop to medium-high, place the chicken thighs in the now-empty cast iron skillet and cook the chicken thighs until they are browned on all sides, about 3 minutes per side.

Pour the sauce back into the cast iron skillet with the chicken along with the remaining 1/2 cup of the brown ale. Cover the skillet loosely with a lid, lower the heat of the stovetop to maintain a simmer in the skillet and allow the chicken to cook until the chicken thighs are cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes, turning the chicken once during the cooking process. Remove the chicken and sauce to a platter and serve.

The sauce that you make with this chicken is really good. You get a great combination of flavors from the brown ale, the balsamic and the honey and a little bit of heat from the chili sauce to round it all out. Add in the sweetness of the caramelized onions and it seems just perfect. I am sure you could do this meal with boneless chicken breasts if you wanted to or even just make the sauce to use over something like chicken wings or drumsticks and get the same great results. The sauce might even go well with some pork chops if you wanted to give that a try as well. It was a quick, easy way to make good use of chicken and gives you some great options when you are looking for something different to try for your meal. I used a lighter ale than the recipe called for, Smithwick’s, because that is what I had on hand, but I think you could use just about any type of ale and it would work well here.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I have lots of things I have tried lately, including a bunch of chicken recipes, and I just got the latest issue of Cook’s Country (my personal favorite cooking magazine) and it has some great chicken recipes to try along with some other great options, so I will be giving a bunch of those a shot as well. until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on May 19, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Poultry, Sauce

Tags: chicken recipes, chicken thigh recipes, chicken thighs, honey chili beer chicken, honey chili beer sauce, The Beeroness honey chili beer chicken

Ahoy! A Simple Catfish Dinner

14 May

As much as I love seafood, the price of it most of the time is a bit too much for many families so don’t get to eat it that much at home unless I can find something that is on sale at the fish market. I did happen to stumble across some catfish when I was there last and decided to pick some up since it was such a good deal. I have made catfish before and posted catfish recipes here, but I had come across one from Robert Irvine a while back and had been waiting for the right opportunity to give it a try. It is a very simple fried catfish with a nice little sauce to go with it and it only takes about twenty minutes to make the whole meal.

Catfish Dinner

For the Catfish:

4 catfish fillets
2 cups buttermilk
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 to 2 cups cornmeal
Salt and ground pepper
1 to 2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten for egg wash

For the Sauce:
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup minced red onion
1/2 cup minced bell pepper
2 ribs celery, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 cups heavy cream
1 pound Louisiana crawfish tails or small shrimp
2 cups cooked grits or polenta, for serving
Chopped green onions or chives, for garnish

To prepare the catfish: marinate the catfish by placing the fillets and buttermilk in a flat-bottomed container. Allow the catfish to marinate in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 1 day.

Preheat a deep fryer, large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven to 350 degrees with vegetable oil. Before frying, remove the catfish from the marinade and allow any excess buttermilk to drip off. In separate bowls, place the cornmeal, seasoned with salt and pepper, the flour, and the beaten eggs to set up dredging stations. Coat a catfish fillet by dipping it into the flour, shaking off any excess, then dipping it in the egg wash, allowing any excess to drip off, and then dipping it in the seasoned cornmeal and repeat the process with the remaining fillets before frying. Fry the fist until the catfish reaches 145 degrees and is golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the fish from the frying oil and allow it to drain any excess oil on a plate with paper towels.

For the sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and melt it. Next, add the onions, peppers and celery and sweat the vegetables until they are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the flour, seafood seasoning and garlic to thicken the butter. This will take 1 to 2 minutes.

Next, add the cream and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook the mixture until the cream sets. Finally, add the crawfish or shrimp, if using, and whisk to blend, cooking for the final 2 minutes.

To serve the fish, place 1/2 cup of grits or polenta on the plate, then a quarter of the prepared sauce and top with a crisp cooked catfish fillet. Finish the dish with green onions or chives.

Of course, finding crawfish tails in my neck of the woods is next to impossible, and I didn’t have any tiny shrimp on hand either, so I omitted them from the recipe, but I think they would really round things out nicely. The flavor from the sauce mixed with the catfish was fantastic and I served the meal with some polenta. The combination was great and it was all very simple to make. You could try the same dish with other types of fish if your prefer, such as flounder or tilapia.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on May 14, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Sauce, Seafood

Tags: catfish dinner, catfish recipes, catfish with sauce, crawfish sauce, food network, fried catfish, Robert Irvine, Robert Irvine catfish dinner

Keeping Up with the Classics – America’s Test Kitchen Classic Pot Roast

21 Apr

Making a pot roast dinner is always a family favorite for us. I can remember the days of having a pot roast when I was a child and just the smell of it cooking was enough to make you feel good and you could not wait for dinnertime. Pot roast takes a long time, but with this recipe most of the work is done before the cooking and then you have four hours or so to do other things, relax and wait for the wonderful meal to come. This recipe from America’s Test Kitchen is a really simple one and is a little bit different from the pot roast recipe I have posted in the past. With this recipe you let the meat cook for several hours without having to turn it every 30 minutes like I have in the past.

Classic Pot Roast

1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) boneless beef chuck-eye roast, pulled into two pieces at natural seam and trimmed of large knobs of fat
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, halved and sliced thin (about 2 cups)
1 large carrot, chopped medium (about 1 cup)
1 celery rib, chopped medium (about 3/4 cup)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1 cup beef broth, plus 1 to 2 cups for sauce
1/2 cup dry red wine, plus 1/4 cup for sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 sprig plus 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
Ground black pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Sprinkle the pieces of meat with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt (1½ teaspoons if using table salt), place the meat on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet, and let the meat stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat. When the foaming subsides, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened and beginning to brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the carrot and celery; continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes longer. Add the garlic and cook until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1 cup of beef broth, ½ cup of red wine, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme sprig; bring the mixture to simmer.

Pat the beef dry with paper towels and season it generously with pepper. Using 3 pieces of kitchen twine, tie each piece of meat into a loaf shape for even cooking.

Nestle the meat on top of the vegetables. Cover the pot tightly with a large piece of aluminum foil and cover the pot with a lid; transfer the pot to the oven. Cook the beef until it is fully tender and a sharp knife easily slips in and out of the meat, about 3½ to 4 hours, turning the meat halfway through the cooking process.

Transfer the roasts to a cutting board and tent the meat loosely with foil. Strain the liquid through a mesh strainer into a 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Discard the bay leaf and the thyme sprig. Transfer the vegetables to a blender jar. Allow the liquid to settle for 5 minutes, then skim any fat off the surface. Add more beef broth as necessary to bring the liquid amount to 3 cups. Place the liquid in the blender with the vegetables and blend everything until it is smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a medium saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.

While the sauce heats, remove the twine from the roast and slice it against the grain into ½-inch-thick slices. Transfer the meat to a large serving platter. Stir the chopped thyme, the remaining ¼ cup of red wine, and the balsamic vinegar into the sauce and season it to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon half of the sauce over the meat; pass the remaining sauce separately.

This meal is wonderful and the sauce just tops everything off. Splitting the roast into 2 smaller roasts makes a big difference in the cooking time and really helps to soften and break down the meat, making it just melt and fall apart when you go to slice it. This recipe also only puts half of the broth in up front so instead of the meat braising in all of the liquid through the cooking time, it sits above a lot of the liquid, letting the roasts brown while cooking so you can skip searing the meat beforehand. The sauce tastes wonderful as well and makes great gravy for the meat, the vegetables and of course the mashed potatoes that you need to serve with any pot roast. I’ll certainly be using this recipe again when I make pot roast.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I just wanted to say a quick thank you to all that have been following along and visited the blog last week to help make it the busiest week I have ever had on the blog. Thanks for all of your interest in the recipes and I plan to keep on sharing all kinds of good things. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on April 21, 2014 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Gravy, Sauce

Tags: America's Test Kitchen pot roast, americas test kitchen, classic pot roast, pot roast, pot roast recipe

Step Up the Burrito a Notch with These Surf and Turf Burritos

18 Apr

Burritos are one of those things that are great for breakfast, lunch or dinner because you can really put anything you want inside one to make it work for you. They are easy to make and take no time at all and you can even make them ahead of time and reheat them if you need a quick meal. I decided to jazz up our burritos meal last night by making some surf and turf burritos, not using lobster meat and filet mignon of course, but opting for shrimp and some skirt steak that I had placed in some carne asada marinade. The simple marinade makes a big difference with the skirt steak as it adds great flavor to the meat and helps to break it down some to make it easier to slice and eat. If you are going to use a skirt steak or flank steak for this, you want to make sure you use a marinade along the way.

Carne Asada Marinade

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 teaspoon finely chopped canned chipotle pepper

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 tablespoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

2 pounds skirt or flank steak

Combine the orange juice, lemon juice and lime juice in a large bowl along with the garlic, soy sauce, chipotle pepper, chili powder, cumin, paprika, dried oregano, black pepper and the cilantro. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until all of the marinade is well combined.

Place the steak between two sheets of plastic wrap on a solid, level surface and firmly pound the steak with the smooth side of a meat mallet so that is a thickness of about 1/4-inch. After pounding the meat, poke the steak all over with a fork. Add the meat to the marinade in the large bowl, cover the bowl and allow the steak to marinade in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over medium high heat and lightly oil the surface with vegetable oil or olive oil.

Remove the steak from the marinade and cook until your desired doneness, about 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Discard the used marinade. When the meat is cooked to your liking, remove the steak from the grill pan or skillet and let it rest for 2 to 3 minutes before slicing thinly across the grain.

You could simply serve the meat this way with a couple of nice side dishes and you would have a great meal, but I decided to incorporate the steak into our surf and turf burritos for an extra special treat for dinner.

Surf and Turf Burritos

6 large, 10-inch flour tortillas

1 cup sour cream

1 cup guacamole or 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced thinly

1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese

2 pounds Carne Asada, sliced thinly (see above recipe)

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and cooked, chopped

1 cup salsa or pico de gallo

On a flour tortilla, spread a layer of sour cream, then a layer of guacamole or sliced avocado and then layer liberal amounts of cheese, carne asada, shrimp and salsa or pico de gallo. With wet fingertips, fold over the sides of the tortilla and roll it up. Repeat the process until you have filled 6 tortillas.

Place the rolled burritos in a hot skillet or on a medium-hot grill. Cook the burritos until they are golden brown on both sides, about 6 minutes total.

These were really good and very filling. The great flavors of everything combined were awesome and you can make a fancy sounding and great tasting meal in just minutes with this recipe. Of course, you could probably use filet mignon and lobster if you really wanted to, but for burritos this is ideal and tastes great. I also made some Tex-Mex rice and beans to go along with the meal and I will post the recipe for them tomorrow. This recipe is definitely one we will be having again since we all loved it.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

3 Comments

Posted by MikeG on April 18, 2014 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Lunch, Sandwiches, Sauce, Seafood

Tags: Burritos, burritos recipe, carne asada, carne asada marinade, flank steak, shrimp, skirt steak, surf and turf burritos

Keeping it Simple Again – Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts

16 Apr

I find I do not make a lot boneless chicken breast dinners anymore. Actually, I shouldn’t say that; I don’t actually buy a lot of boneless chicken breasts anymore. The problem is that the boneless breasts often cost a lot more money then bone-in chicken breasts and you can just as easily cut the meat off the bone and make your own boneless breasts to cook and then you still have the option of keeping the skin on to get crispy flavor and you can use the bones, roast them with some salt and pepper and use them to make some tasty chicken stock for another use. I was able to get a family pack of bone-in chicken breasts for about $6.00 the other day and it gave me 5 large chicken breasts that I took off the bone and did just that with and we got many meals out of that six dollars. I went back and bought another package and made some of the chicken breasts using this simple pan roasting recipe from America’s Test Kitchen that was quick and easy and made a great little sauce to flavor the chicken along the way.

Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts

4 (10-12-ounce) bone-in split chicken breasts, trimmed and brined if desired

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 shallot, minced

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup dry vermouth

4 large fresh sage leaves, each leaf torn in half

3 tablespoons butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled

Using kitchen shears, trim off the rib section from the chicken breasts. If you are brining the chicken, dissolve 1 cup of kosher salt in 2 quarts of cold tap water in a large container or bowl; submerge the chicken in the brine and refrigerate it until it is fully seasoned, about 30 minutes. Rinse the chicken pieces under running water and pat them dry with paper towels. Season the chicken with pepper.

Adjust an oven rack to lowest position and heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until it is beginning to smoke; swirl the skillet to coat it with oil. Brown the chicken skin-side down until it is deep golden, about 5 minutes; turn the chicken pieces and brown them until they are golden on the second side, about 3 minutes longer. Turn the chicken skin-side down and place the skillet in the oven. Roast the chicken until the juices run clear when the chicken is cut with a paring knife, or the thickest part of the breast registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter, and let it rest while making the sauce. (If you are not making the sauce, let the chicken rest 5 minutes before serving.)

Using a pot-holder to protect your hands from the hot skillet handle, pour off most of the fat from the skillet; add the shallot, then set the skillet over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the shallot is softened, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, vermouth, and sage leaves; increase the heat to high and simmer the mixture rapidly, scraping the skillet bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits, until the sauce is slightly thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Pour the accumulated chicken juices into the skillet, reduce the heat to medium, and whisk in the butter 1 piece at a time; season to taste with salt and pepper and discard the sage leaves. Spoon the sauce around the chicken breasts and serve immediately.

That’s all there is to it. You can have tender, moist chicken with a nice crispy skin and make a great little sauce all in under 30 minutes. The brining does add some extra seasoning and helps to make the chicken moist but it is not a must for this recipe at all. We all really liked the simple sauce which had nice flavor from the sage and vermouth and if you didn’t want the bones in this one you could remove all the bones when you are cutting out the rib section. It was an easy, flavorful dish perfect for a weeknight dinner.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on April 16, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Poultry, Sauce

Tags: America's Test Kitchen pan-roasted chicken breasts, chicken breasts, pan roasted bone-in chicken breasts, pan-roasted chicken breasts, sage-vermouth sauce

Cook’s Country Steak Tips with Tomatillo Salsa and Refried Black Beans

08 Apr

I look forward to getting Cook’s Country in the mails every two months more than any other magazine. They always have great recipes to try and most of them are really easy to make and give you meals with great flavor in no time at all. When I got the April?May edition of the magazine recently I saw a bunch of recipes that I immediately wanted to try out but I figured I would give this one a try first. It os for steak tips with tomatillo salsa and refried black beans. It is very simple and elegant and has all kinds of great tastes going on.

Steak Tips with Tomatillo Salsa and Refried Black Beans

1 pound tomatillos, husks and stems removed, rinsed, dried and halved

2 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded, and minced

1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper

1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak tips, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped fine

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed

Pulse the tomatillos in a food processor until they are coarsely chopped, about 8 pulses. Transfer the tomatillos to a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl and allow them to drain for about 5 minutes. Reserve 3/4 of a cup of the tomatillo liquid. Combine half of the jalapenos, 1/4 cup of the cilantro, half of the minced garlic, the drained tomatillos and 1/4 cup of the reserved tomatillo liquid in a bowl. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste and set it aside.

Pat the steak tips dry with paper towels and season the steak tips with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil on a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it is just smoking. Cook the steak until it is browned all over and the meat registers 125 degrees (for medium-rare) on an instant read thermometer, about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate and tent it loosely with aluminum foil. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and the onion to the now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until the onion is just softened, about 2 minutes. Add the cumin, the remaining jalapeno and the remaining garlic and cook until it is pregnant, about 30 seconds. Add the black beans and the remaining 1/2 cup of the reserved tomatillo liquid. Using a potato masher, coarsely mash the beans. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the steak with the beans and tomatillo salsa.

I really loved the flavor of the tomatillo salsa and the black beans were a perfect complement to the steak tips. Everything had great taste thanks to the tomatillos and since there are only a few ingredients in this meal you can get everything done in under 30 minutes. You could certainly use another cut of meat if you did not have sirloin steak tips. I think you could cut up a London broil or other steak and it will work just fine with this meal. Either way, it’s a good quick meal to make during the week when you need something fast. Serve it with a side salad and you are good to go. As you can see from the picture, this is before I added the tomatillo salsa, which I actually served on the side of the steak and beans because Sean wasn’t too thrilled with the salsa. He thought it was too spicy, but I think it was just fine.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on April 8, 2014 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Sauce, Side Dishes

Tags: black beans, Cook's Country, Cook's Country steak tips with tomatillo salsa and refriedblack beans, refried black beans, steak rips with tomatillo salsa and refried black beans, steak tips, tomatillo salsa

Going Meatless – Sparrow Veggie Burger

30 Mar

Everyone once in a while I do try to make a meatless dish so we can stay away from red meat. We don’t eat a lot of it here, but every little bit helps some, right? It’s also no secret that I watch a lot of Food Network, especially when it isn’t baseball season, so a few weeks ago Michelle and I saw Diners. Drive-Ins and Dives and Guy Fieri was a restaurant in Queens where they made this really great looking vegetable burger. Now most vegetable burgers I have had in the past have left a lot to be desired but this one looked like it had some great stuff in it so I wanted to give it a try. It took me a while to track down a recipe online and even then it was not very specific so it took a little manipulation on my part to make this one work.

Sparrow Veggie Burger

2 shredded carrots

1 shredded zucchini

1 cup barley, cooked

Corn off the ear of 1 cob

1 cup green peas

1 large sweet potato, cooked

handful of scallions

Panko breadcrumbs

1 diced red pepper

5 large chopped mushrooms

1 cup cooked brown rice

Pita bread

Lettuce or bean sprouts

Pickles

Sweet Cayenne Mustard Sauce:

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt or mayonnaise

3 tablespoons cayenne pepper

1/2 cup grain or Dijon mustard

3/4 cup agave or maple syrup

Mix the carrots, zucchini, cooked barley, corn, green peas, sweet potato, scallions, breadcrumbs, red pepper, mushrooms and the cooked brown rice together in a large bowl until blended. Allow the mixture to sit for 1 hour so the flavors can meld together.

While the vegetables sit, make the sweet cayenne mustard sauce. Mix the yogurt or mayonnaise, the cayenne pepper, mustard and the agave or maple syrup together in a medium bowl with a whisk until smooth and well blended. Set the sauce aside.

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.For the veggie burgers, measure out six-ounce portions – about the size of the palm of your hand – and form patties for the burgers. Place the patties on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Cook the patties in the oven until they are cooked through, about 45 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of vegetable and heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the patties to the skillet and cook until the burgers are browned and crunchy on the outside, about 4 minutes per side.

Drizzle the sweet cayenne pepper sauce inside a pita. Add the lettuce or bean sprouts to the pita, then add the veggie burger and the pickles and drizzle with more sauce if desired. Repeat with the remaining burgers.

Okay, here are a couple of things we noticed in this recipe. First, this recipe makes a lot more than the 6 portions the recipe purports to make. We had over twelve patties when all was said and done, so you can bake them and freeze them so you always have some ready to make when you feel like having one and just defrost it and bake it in the skillet. Second, these burgers do not hold together well because there is not much to bind them. We actually experimented with another batch and added 1 beaten egg to the mix and they held together much better than the first batch. From what I have been able to see about the Sparrow Diner, while they call it a burger, it is not really served as a burger that holds together, which is why they serve it in a pita, which is fine, but we wanted more of a burger texture so we added the egg and served it on a hamburger roll. Finally, for the sauce, I cut back on the cayenne pepper. Three tablespoons is a lot of cayenne pepper, so if you like it hot, go for it, but if you want something milder, cut back a bit and you will have a great sauce. Michelle and I both liked the results of the burger. It had great flavor with all of the vegetables and we enjoyed. In the interest of full disclosure, Sean hated it. He didn’t like the taste and said it didn’t hold together well, but I think for the majority of teenage boys who hear they are having burgers for dinner it was an understandable reaction. He did eat it, but he wasn’t happy with it, so next time around I guess it is just for me and Michelle.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I’ve been really busy lately so I haven’t been able to blog as much as I want, but I am going to try harder to keep up regularly since I still have lots to share. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on March 30, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Sandwiches, Sauce, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Tags: food network, Guy Fieri, Sparrow Diner veggie burger, vegetable burger, veggie burger, veggie burgers

Who Doesn’t Love Chicken Fingers?

19 Mar

Chicken fingers don’t have to be just the classic kid’s meal. I know plenty of adults who enjoy them as well, but most adults are a little more discriminating about the quality that they like to have. Personally, I like chicken fingers that have good crunch and flavor to them but are not covered with a ton of breading or coating and taste greasy from the deep-frying. It’s a tricky balance, but it can be done if you put your mind to it. I came across this recipe in Saveur magazine for some chicken fingers that looked great, seemed simple to make and even had a nice dipping sauce on the side to make.

Homemade Chicken Fingers

For the Chicken Fingers:

2 pounds, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cunt into 3-inch long by 1-inch wide strips

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon dry mustard powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups panko breadcrumbs or finely ground fresh breadcrumbs

Vegetable or canola oil, for frying

For the Dipping Sauce:

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh dill

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon dry mustard powder

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the dipping sauce, in a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise with the honey, dill, mustard powder and lemon juice. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste and stir together until the sauce is smooth. Set the sauce aside.

For the chicken fingers, in a medium bowl, toss together the chicken strips, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and mustard powder. Set the chicken aside. Place the all purpose flour, eggs and breadcrumbs in 3 separate shallow dishes; set the dishes aside. Pour the oil into a large Dutch oven until it reaches a depth of about 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer inserted into the oil registers 325 degrees. Working in batches, coat the chicken in the flour, shake off any excess, and then dip the chicken in the eggs; shake off any excess and the roll the chicken in the breadcrumbs. Set the chicken aside and repeat with all of the chicken pieces until they are all coated. Working in batches, fry the chicken pieces until they are golden brown and crisp all over, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat the process with the remaining chicken until all of the chicken is fried. Serve the chicken with the dipping sauce.

These were very easy to make and came out perfect. They were nice and crisp on the outside and were cooked ideally on the inside. The sauce had some great flavor with the honey and the dill and I also made the avocado ranch dipping sauce I have made in the past as well to give us a choice of sauces. Everyone loved them and these are great for a meal, a party or as an appetizer. I even used the leftovers as chicken for a buffalo chicken pizza I made the next day.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I have some great side dishes I have tried recently along with a few other dishes that have been great for sharing. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

3 Comments

Posted by MikeG on March 19, 2014 in Appetizers, Cooking, Dinner, Poultry, Sauce

Tags: chicken fingers, dipping sauce for chicken fingers, homemade chicken fingers, honey-dill dipping sauce, Saveur magazine

A Bevy of Beguiling Irish Dishes for St. Patrick’s Day

17 Mar

A Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all! While for most people who think of Irish cooking as simply corned beef and cabbage and nothing more, I can tell you there are a lot of great Irish dishes you can try beyond that typical meal. There are some great meals you can choose from all over the Internet and I have posted a lot of Irish recipes on here, being he good Irish boy that I am. I have always wanted to see the cuisine beyond the corned beef and when Michelle and I went to Dublin we got to see, smell and taste a lot of different things. So if you are looking for some things to try this St. Patrick’s Day, here are some Irish meals I have posted on the blog that you can check out, including the classic corned beef and cabbage.

Beef and Barley Broth

Irish Cream and Coffee Cookies

Irish Onion Soup

Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting

Whiskey Glazed Carrots

Irish Mussels in Guinness Cream Sauce

Beef & Guinness Stew

Guinness Chocolate Truffles

Traditional Irish Stew

Corned Beef and Cabbage in the Pressure Cooker

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Colcannon

Guinness Mustard

Grasshopper Pie

Homemade Shamrock Shake

Potato and Leek Soup

Irish Soda Bread

There are also lots more great recipes out there on the Internet that you can check out from some great sources if you are looking for something a little different. I will be making the corned beef and cabbage in the pressure cooker, along with some Colcannon, cabbage and the brown bread. Of course there will be Guinness and Irish coffee later on as well.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more great recipes. Until then enjoy the rest of your day, have a happy St. Patrick’s Day and enjoy your meal!