Each sticky note represents a recipe I want to try. I've decided to cook through this excellent book, as a winter cooking project. Right now, I have one of the Boston Public Library's copies. I will add a copy to my cookbook collection. I have to decide, as I work with it, if I need the Kindle or print edition.
Do you have a winter cooking project or a cookbook you should pull out and cook your way through?
First up was this quick, easy lunch of Tuna Salad with Fennel, Apple, and Parsley. Ed and I love the flavor twist and lighter notes from the fennel and apple that offset the heavier tuna flavor.
We finally broke down and added a Joule Sous Vide immersion circulator to our kitchen equipment. Penny did the reading and checked in with some of her more modernist cooking connections to be sure this one was the right one for a beginner at the method.
You can see the juice seeping from this boneless chicken breast that was vacuum sealed and cooked for 55 minutes in a 149-degree water bath.
Gremolata Flavor Component
Penny made a batch of gremolata by chopping together lemon zest, garlic, and parsley until finely minced. (If you would like a real recipe, try this one from Epicurious.)
The chicken breasts were patted dry, rubbed with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, then sprinkled with the gremolata and vacuum sealed. After their bags had spent the prescribed time in the sous vide bath, the breasts were patted dry again and quickly seared in a blazing hot cast iron skillet to add some color and caramelized flavor.
Since the garlic was still in an almost raw state after the low-temperature cooking, it didn't burn during the very quick searing process.
Simple chicken breasts were the first thing we tried after our new Joule arrived. They just had olive oil, salt and pepper. We seared one to have for supper and used the unseared, white meat for a great, moist chicken salad the next day.
With simple cooking methods, you want to showcase the product, so for the first batch Penny bought Bell & Evens chicken. We both agreed it was one of the best "poached style" chicken breasts we had ever made. The batch shown above was made with Halal chicken.
We finally broke down and added a Joule Sous Vide immersion circulator to our kitchen equipment. Penny did the reading and checked in with some of her more modernist cooking connections to be sure this one was the right one for a beginner at the method.
You can see the juice seeping from this boneless chicken breast that was vacuum sealed and cooked for 55 minutes in a 149-degree water bath.
Gremolata Flavor Component
Penny made a batch of gremolata by chopping together lemon zest, garlic, and parsley until finely minced. (If you would like a real recipe, try this one from Epicurious.)
The chicken breasts were patted dry, rubbed with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, then sprinkled with the gremolata and vacuum sealed. After their bags had spent the prescribed time in the sous vide bath, the breasts were patted dry again and quickly seared in a blazing hot cast iron skillet to add some color and caramelized flavor.
Since the garlic was still in an almost raw state after the low-temperature cooking, it didn't burn during the very quick searing process.
Simple chicken breasts were the first thing we tried after our new Joule arrived. They just had olive oil, salt and pepper. We seared one to have for supper and used the unseared, white meat for a great, moist chicken salad the next day.
With simple cooking methods, you want to showcase the product, so for the first batch Penny bought Bell & Evens chicken. We both agreed it was one of the best "poached style" chicken breasts we had ever made. The batch shown above was made with Halal chicken.
Once one of us is on the mend from a cold and ready to move on from chicken soup, I like to make a big pot of my Ground Turkey Stew. It's hot, filling, comforting, and gets better after a day in the refrigerator.
As with most stews, the exact quantities are not set in stone, you can double or triple the recipe to feed a crowd. You can add other vegetables if you like. You can leave out anything you don't like.
It starts with one package of ground turkey – whatever type you like. For my version, you'll also need Bell's Poultry Seasoning, salt, pepper, olive oil, 1 medium onion, 3 stalks of celery, 4 medium potatoes, 4 medium carrots, 14 ozs. of low sodium chicken stock, frozen peas, parsley, and 2 scallions.
Saute the chopped celery and onion in olive oil in a big pan.
Remove the onion and celery and brown the turkey in the same pan adding more olive oil if your turkey is very lean. Season the meat with 1.5 teaspoons of poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Break up the turkey into bite size pieces. (I often use a potato masher to break up ground meat like this.)
Peel and slice the carrots and potatoes into bite-size pieces. If I use red potatoes, I scrub them and leave the peels in place.
Return the celery and onion mix to the pan, add the chicken stock, carrots, and potatoes.
Cook until the potatoes are done. Adjust the seasoning with another 1.5 teaspoons of poultry seasoning (or more if you like) plus salt and pepper.
Add frozen peas and stir in until thawed and warm.
At this point, I usually pick out and mash a few pieces of potato and stir them into the pan to thicken the broth.
Add sliced scallion and chopped parsley as a final fresh layer of flavor.
Let us know if you try this dish, and tell us how you adapted it to make it your own.
Once one of us is on the mend from a cold and ready to move on from chicken soup, I like to make a big pot of my Ground Turkey Stew. It's hot, filling, comforting, and gets better after a day in the refrigerator.
As with most stews, the exact quantities are not set in stone, you can double or triple the recipe to feed a crowd. You can add other vegetables if you like. You can leave out anything you don't like.
It starts with one package of ground turkey – whatever type you like. For my version, you'll also need Bell's Poultry Seasoning, salt, pepper, olive oil, 1 medium onion, 3 stalks of celery, 4 medium potatoes, 4 medium carrots, 14 ozs. of low sodium chicken stock, frozen peas, parsley, and 2 scallions.
Saute the chopped celery and onion in olive oil in a big pan.
Remove the onion and celery and brown the turkey in the same pan adding more olive oil if your turkey is very lean. Season the meat with 1.5 teaspoons of poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Break up the turkey into bite size pieces. (I often use a potato masher to break up ground meat like this.)
Peel and slice the carrots and potatoes into bite-size pieces. If I use red potatoes, I scrub them and leave the peels in place.
Return the celery and onion mix to the pan, add the chicken stock, carrots, and potatoes.
Cook until the potatoes are done. Adjust the seasoning with another 1.5 teaspoons of poultry seasoning (or more if you like) plus salt and pepper.
Add frozen peas and stir in until thawed and warm.
At this point, I usually pick out and mash a few pieces of potato and stir them into the pan to thicken the broth.
Add sliced scallion and chopped parsley as a final fresh layer of flavor.
Let us know if you try this dish, and tell us how you adapted it to make it your own.
Once one of us is on the mend from a cold and ready to move on from chicken soup, I like to make a big pot of my Ground Turkey Stew. It's hot, filling, comforting, and gets better after a day in the refrigerator.
As with most stews, the exact quantities are not set in stone, you can double or triple the recipe to feed a crowd. You can add other vegetables if you like. You can leave out anything you don't like.
It starts with one package of ground turkey – whatever type you like. For my version, you'll also need Bell's Poultry Seasoning, salt, pepper, olive oil, 1 medium onion, 3 stalks of celery, 4 medium potatoes, 4 medium carrots, 14 ozs. of low sodium chicken stock, frozen peas, parsley, and 2 scallions.
Saute the chopped celery and onion in olive oil in a big pan.
Remove the onion and celery and brown the turkey in the same pan adding more olive oil if your turkey is very lean. Season the meat with 1.5 teaspoons of poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Break up the turkey into bite size pieces. (I often use a potato masher to break up ground meat like this.)
Peel and slice the carrots and potatoes into bite-size pieces. If I use red potatoes, I scrub them and leave the peels in place.
Return the celery and onion mix to the pan, add the chicken stock, carrots, and potatoes.
Cook until the potatoes are done. Adjust the seasoning with another 1.5 teaspoons of poultry seasoning (or more if you like) plus salt and pepper.
Add frozen peas and stir in until thawed and warm.
At this point, I usually pick out and mash a few pieces of potato and stir them into the pan to thicken the broth.
Add sliced scallion and chopped parsley as a final fresh layer of flavor.
Let us know if you try this dish, and tell us how you adapted it to make it your own.
We always find wonderful things at Formaggio Kitchen and their skill in choosing wonderful products goes way beyond cheese. So, when their staff picked their "Top 10 of 2012," we paid attention and want to share what we learned with you.
On this list you'll find cheese, vinegars, olive oil, pasta, seasonings, tea, cakes, coffee, chocolate, and more. They added a few honorary mentions. That group included the Cabot Clothbound Cheddar we told you about yesterday.
Formaggio is the perfect place to shop for gifts for the food lovers on your list. We have so many personal favorite items that entered our pantry through a visit to this wonderful collection – the best things one group of people can find to please those of us who love to splurge on great food.
Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.
We always find wonderful things at Formaggio Kitchen and their skill in choosing wonderful products goes way beyond cheese. So, when their staff picked their "Top 10 of 2012," we paid attention and want to share what we learned with you.
On this list you'll find cheese, vinegars, olive oil, pasta, seasonings, tea, cakes, coffee, chocolate, and more. They added a few honorary mentions. That group included the Cabot Clothbound Cheddar we told you about yesterday.
Formaggio is the perfect place to shop for gifts for the food lovers on your list. We have so many personal favorite items that entered our pantry through a visit to this wonderful collection – the best things one group of people can find to please those of us who love to splurge on great food.
Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.
We always find wonderful things at Formaggio Kitchen and their skill in choosing wonderful products goes way beyond cheese. So, when their staff picked their "Top 10 of 2012," we paid attention and want to share what we learned with you.
On this list you'll find cheese, vinegars, olive oil, pasta, seasonings, tea, cakes, coffee, chocolate, and more. They added a few honorary mentions. That group included the Cabot Clothbound Cheddar we told you about yesterday.
Formaggio is the perfect place to shop for gifts for the food lovers on your list. We have so many personal favorite items that entered our pantry through a visit to this wonderful collection – the best things one group of people can find to please those of us who love to splurge on great food.
Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.
While I don’t enjoy TV cooking contests, I do love to set myself a challenge now and then. A favorite one is using up what is left on hand as we get ready to leave a rental house.
We had purchased a loaf of focaccia the day before and had what we needed to make a big salad, so the focaccia became croutons. I cut the bread into cubes and sautéed those in a bit of butter and olive oil. Before they left the skillet, I tossed them with salt, black pepper, aleppo pepper, and fine french herbs. This made some of the best croutons I’ve ever had.
The salad the croutons topped was a vision in green with romaine lettuce, cucumber, and avacado. It made a great combination and cleaned out the vegetable bin.
Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.