Braised Turkey Thigh, Forbidden Rice, White Eggplant, Apple Gravy

I am constantly looking for new ways to add something different to the blog.  I try not using a specific vegetable or protein twice in the same way, and have been pretty successful so far.  But as we get past the 130 recipe mark the challenge increases.  Here are some turnkey thighs that my friend gave to me so that I could compose something new.  This recipe takes an hour, costs about $10 and feeds two.

Braised Turkey Thighs
2 large turkey thighs, skin on
1/2 onion, diced,
1 small tomato, diced
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 cup apple cider

Start a large sautee pan over medium heat.  Once hot add season chicken thighs skin down and let cook about ten minutes or until very golden brown.  Turn thighs and add onions, tomato and garlic to the pan and let cook about five minutes. Add stock and cider and let cook five more minutes. Remove from the stove top and place in a 350 degree oven for twenty minutes. Remove thighs and then strain remaining sauce sauce.

Forbidden Rice
This is a special black rice from Indonesian that has a nutty flavor.  It takes about 35 minutes to cook and is delicious.

White Eggplant
This albino looking cousin to the standard eggplant has a slightly less bitter taste and a beautiful appearance   I sliced the eggplant and roasted it in the oven for about 25 minutes while the turkey thighs were braising. The white eggplant is a nice contrast to the black rice.

Buon Appetito!!

Breaded Turkey Breast Filet with Creamed Mushrooms and Onions

This turkey breast is a quick and tasty alternative to chicken. This recipe feeds 2 costs $10 and takes less then 30 minutes.

Breaded Turkey Breast
1 Trimmed turkey breast sliced into 3 cutlets
1/8 cup olive oil
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup flour
1 egg, scrambled
salt and pepper

Start a large saute pan on medium heat and add olive oil. Season turkey breasts with salt and pepper, dip in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs. It is important the that you push down hard on both sides to get a good coating of breadcrumbs. Once the oil is hot add the cutlets in making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Cook about 5 to 7 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Set a side on paper towel to rest for 5 minutes.

Creamed Mushrooms and Onions
1 package organic white button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 organic white onion, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine (sauvignon blanc)
10 leaves fresh basil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoon butter

Start a medium saute pan on medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add mushrooms and onions and let cook till caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add white wine and let it cook off. Then add the salt and pepper and crushed red pepper. Now add the cream and 1 tablespoon of butter. Let it cook down to the desired consistency. I like it a little thicker, more of a topping then a sauce.

Buon Apetito!

Turkey and Provolone on an English Muffin

This quick and easy open face sandwich is a good change of pace from my grilled sandwiches. I first toasted the english muffins then I used mesquite turkey breast, fresh tomatoes, some agave dijonaise (dijon, mayo and agave nectar) then some fresh thai basil from my herb garden. Finally I topped it with some great provolone cheese and melted the cheese for a few minutes to create the see through effect. A great lunch on a rainy day like today. Enjoy!

Rosemary Ham and Maple Roast Turkey with Asiago Cheese

Another in the long line of panini sandwiches. This one has some delicious rosemary ham and maple roast turkey with heirloom tomatoes, honey mustard, and some asiago cheese on potato bread. I threw in some nice red cherries to make it a meal. Enjoy!

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Cracked Pepper Mill Turkey and Jalapeño Havarti on Potato Bread Panini

This was a real spicy sandwich. I started with some Jalapeño Havarti and Cracked Peppermill Turkey. I made a spicy dressing by mixing 2 parts mayo to 1 part spicy brown mustard and 1 part "Jerome's Jamaican Hot Pepper Sauce" which is straight fire. I dressed both of the potato bread slices, laid the turkey, then some thin sliced apple to bring down the heat, then fresh spinach and topped it with the Jalapeño Havarti. Press it for a few minutes on the panini press and viola, a ridiculously spicy lunch. I sliced the remaining apple and made it a side. You kind of need the apple to cool you off between bites of fire. Yum!

Turkey Pastrami and Machego on Whole Grain

Another day another sandwich. Turkey pastrami is awesome and the salty richness of machego creates I good balance. I put some stone ground mustard and fresh parsley for bite and crisp, threw it on the press and viola. Dried plums and figs on the side made for a delicious and healty sandwich experience. Enjoy!

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Turkey Meatloaf with Roasted Fall Veggies

I haven't made a meatloaf in years, maybe ever, because they are always dry, never quite that tasty and defiantly not very healthy. Then I had this idea to use ground turkey instead of ground meat to lighten the dish and increase the protein to fat ratio in my favor. This turned out soft, supple and very tasty meatloaf. Its very easy to prepare feeds 4 plus leftovers, takes 1.5 hours and is under $20 with the roasted veggies.

Turkey Meatloaf
1.5 lbs of ground turkey (1 package, not breast meat only)
1/2 cup onions, diced
1/4 cup carrots, diced
1 Anaheim chili, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup ketchup (they have ketchup without HFCS now!)
2 tables spoons BBQ sauce
1 table spoon Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Sautee the onions, carrots, garlic and chili in a small pan on medium low until it softens, about 7 minutes. Set the mixture aside to cool. Mix the milk and the 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs in a separate bowl and let stand. Now mix all of the remaining ingredients including the milk soaked breadcrumbs and cooked vegetables with the turkey. I use a large fork and large glass bowl then kind of whip it all together. Scoop the mix into a loaf pan (9x4x4 high glass or metal pan). Spread the mixture even and top it with a bit more breadcrumbs. Place it in the oven on the middle rack and let it cook for 45 minutes. Remove and let stand for 5 minutes, slice and serve.



Pan Gravy
2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon wondra flour or AP flour, mixed into 1 tablespoon of hot water
The pan juices from the meatloaf

Start a small sautee pan on low and melt the butter. Mix the hot water and flour until it forms a paste. Add the paste to the butter and let it cook for 10 minutes or until it gets lightly golden brown. Once meatloaf is done, carefully pour out all the juices from the pan and add them to the pan. Whisk this together and let it cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat until its gets to the desired thickness. Spoon over sliced meatloaf.

Roasted Fall Vegetables
2 cups okra, chopped
2 medium beets, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 large sweet potato, chopped
2 medium potatoes, chopped
1/2 cup of dried figs, halved

Chop all the vegetables to roughly the same size. Put in a large baking dish and toss with some EV olive oil and salt & pepper. Let it cook in the same 350 degree oven as the meatloaf for 45 minutes to an hour or until the beets are soft. Scoop and serve.



The meatloaf should be super tender but stay together. Slice it and serve it over some of the veggies. Top it with the sauce and you have a pretty easy meal in about an hour. Plus those veggies and super healthy and the turkey is low in saturated fat. This may be a new dish in the rotation because both times I made it, it was delicious and mysteriously was gone the next day. Enjoy!

Turkey and Smoked Gruyère Panini with Arugula Salad

Who doesn't love a salad and a sandwich for lunch? Here is a quick fix in 15 minutes. The parsley gives the sandwich a bright and fresh taste to compliment the bold cheese.

Turkey and Smoked Gruyère Panini

4 slices of onion multi-grain loaf
1/2 lb of Boarshead Cracked Peppermill turkey
1/8 lb Boarshead Smoked Gruyère Cheese
Handful of fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, rough chopped

Mustard Aioli
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar
1 drop of agave nectar

Dress all four pieces of bread with the aioli. Place turkey, then chopped parsley, then cheese. Spray or brush the top of the bread with olive oil. Put in on the panini press and cook for 5 minutes. Let it rest on a baking rack or it will become soft on the bottom.

Arugula Salad

1 package of fresh washed arugula
1 roma tomato, chopped

Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of EV olive oil

In a large bowl combine the vinaigrette ingredients except the olive oil. Once well combined, slowly whisk in the olive oil. Toss the tomatoes in with the vinaigrette and mix well, then add the arugula and toss. Add salt and fresh pepper to taste.

Slice the panini cross wise and stack, toss the salad and you have a quick lunch for a great price. Enjoy

Eggs Benedict

This is my all time favorite breakfast. Its another one of the seemingly easy classics that most every restaurant doesn't do right. Its the little details like how to cook the egg and the muffin that make a world of difference in taste and texture. I also made the hollandaise sauce from scratch which is easy but quite the arm workout. I was out of Canadian Bacon so I used some sliced deli turkey breast I had leftover. This feeds 2 people for under $10. Here we go.


Hollandaise

2 eggs, yolks only
2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice (or 1 teaspoon vinegar)
1 teaspoon of hot sauce (or a pinch of cayenne pepper)
1 teaspoon warm water
pinch of sugar
pinch of salt
1 stick of butter, melted in the microwave

Start a small sauce pan with 2 cups of water, bring it to a boil and turn it to simmer (low). In a metal mixing bowl add all the ingredients except the butter. Whisk the ingredients for 3 minutes or until the mixture doubles in size. Now place the metal mixing bowl over the top of the sauce pan (rest it on top) and whisk for another 2 minutes. Have someone else (a lot easier) slowly pour in the butter while you continue to whisk the mixture. Whisk for 5 minutes once the butter has been incorporated. Place in a warm area, like near the stove top, and whisk every few minutes until you use it so that it doesnt seperate.

Poached Eggs
4 cage free eggs
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Fill a medium sauce pot with water and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoons of white vinegar. This helps the egg white stay together. Crack the eggs into a ladle and slowly lower the ladle in to the water, wait 30 seconds and turn the ladle over. Repeat this process with all 4 eggs, place the first egg in the pot at "6 o'clock" and the second at 9 o'clock, 3rd at 12 and 4th at 3. This way you know which was the first egg you put in. 4 minutes after first egg was put in, scoop it out with a slotted spoon and place it on a flat side plate. Grab the rest of the eggs, in order and one at a time and place them on the side plate. Put a few spoons of hot water on the the plate to keep the eggs hot and moist, cover with a pot lid for a few extra minutes of holding time.

English Muffins and Meat
2 English muffins
2 tablespoons of butter

Remove the 2 muffin from the package and DO NOT split them. Bake the whole english muffins in a toaster oven or conventional oven at 350 for 10 minutes. Start a medium sauté pan with the butter. Take the muffins from the oven and open them, careful they will be hot. Place them face down in the saute pan until they get golden brown. At this point I added the turkey to the pan to get it some color and bring out the flavor, let it cook about 1 minute on each side. Turn the english muffins over and let them brown up a bit on the bottom while the meat cooks.


To plate place each side of the muffin on a plate, top that with the turkey. Place a poached egg on each muffin and top with the hollandaise. I added a bit of basil for color and because the pictures weren't as delicious looking without. SO now you know my favorite breakfast, what is yours??

Turkey "Picadillo" with Coconut Cilantro Rice

Picadillo is a popular Cuban style dish, normally made with ground beef. I substituted turkey because its healthier and has less saturated fat. This is a great 1 pan meal that you can make in mass quantity because it is even better the next day.

Picadillo

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup white onion, diced
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
1/4 cup of green bell pepper, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 small can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of vegetable stock or water
1/3 cup of raisins
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of chili powder
3 cloves
3 bay leaves
1/3 cup of Spanish olives with pimentos, halved
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh oregano, chopped
salt & pepper

Start a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add ground turkey and cook until all the pink is gone. Add onions, jalapeño, bell pepper and garlic, cook for five minutes. Next add the canned tomatoes, stock, raisins, cumin, chili powder, cloves, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Once that gets heated through, turn the heat down to low and cover. Let this cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and add the olives, cilantro and fresh oregano. Turn off the heat, stir to combine the ingredients and let stand for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Coconut Cilantro Rice

1 cup long grain white rice
2 oz coconut oil
1 tables spoon of salt
10 cilantro stems

Follow my fool proof rice method listed here. Add oil and salt to the rice before starting the cooking process. Right before you cover it and put it to low add the cilantro stems.

Put it together and you have a traditional Latin style meal. I topped it with some fresh avocado, you can add plantains if you have them to complete the trifecta. I am writing this while eating the leftovers and they are awesome. Enjoy!

Turkey and Swiss Sandwich

Sandwich aficionado. That's what I like to think I am. Today I made a dressed up version of the old classic, turkey and swiss. I started by baking a sandwich thin. I then thinly sliced some pear, apple, onion and tomato. I made a honey mustard aioli by mixing mayo, dijon, agave nectar (instead of honey), white balsamic and some seasoning (cumin, corriander, cayenne, salt and pepper). I opened the sandwich thin, sauced each side, then layed out the sandwich in this order for maximum taste: Cracked Peppermill turkey, more sauce, pear, apple, onion, tomato, romaine lettuce, swiss cheese. Hooray Sandwich!

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