Now that we have a delicious new way to cook turkey breast and plan to cook turkey a lot more often, we need some good recipes for turkey leftovers. In the past, we’ve tried to think outside the box when it comes to turkey leftovers — turkey paella and turkey enchiladas, for example — but this time we decided to do something a little more on the classic side. Turkey Tetrazzini is a classic American dish, but one that neither of us had ever made or eaten. We found a great recipe for tetrazzini in (go figure) “The Best American Classics” cookbook by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated Magazine. We love the folks at America’s Test Kitchen because they exhaustively test all their recipes to come up with the best possible versions — something we thought would be key to successfully preparing a dish without having any clue how it was supposed to taste. Turns out that it’s supposed to taste really delicious with surprisingly complex flavors for what basically amounts to a noodle casserole. A noodle casserole that we will crave with every future turkey breast we cook.
Category: Main Ingredient
Smoked Turkey Breast
When Dan purchased his smoker for one of the Charcutepalooza challenges, my first thought was that it would be yet another cooking gadget that he would use a couple of times before getting bored with it. Happily, I could not have been more wrong. He uses the smoker a lot, for such smoked delights as ribs, game hen and tri-tip. He also occasionally uses the smoker as a charcoal grill, for that old-school grill flavor. What I had originally thought was bought on a whim has turned out to be a very worthwhile purchase that has allowed Dan to expand his grilling repertoire. It doesn’t hurt that the smoker is incredibly easy to use and has achieved near-perfect results each time we’ve used it. If you grill often, enjoy smoky flavor and have the room and budget for it, the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker is a great investment that we definitely recommend (in a non-sponsored way.) Continue reading “Smoked Turkey Breast”
The Good Rice
A rice side dish can be a nice alternative to potatoes or pasta. Early in our home and cooking life, we used to make a lot of boxed rice dishes. Not that there is anything wrong with rice-from-the-box, but a couple of years ago we decided to cut preservatives out of our diet where possible and try to cook more dishes from scratch. The boxed side dishes were among the first to go. We thought we might miss the flavor from those little seasoning packets that come with boxed rice, but then we found this recipe, which tastes way better than the stuff from the box. We found the recipe on this awesome site, which has tons of great (non-sponsored) product reviews, happy hour recommendations and lots of fun content to browse, especially when you’re working killing some free time. Back to the rice — the ingredients are simple: rice, chicken broth, olive oil, butter, onion, garlic and salt — but they turn plain old white rice into a rich and flavorful side dish. For obvious reasons, we refer to this dish as “The Good Rice.” Continue reading “The Good Rice”
Grilled Branzini
We are big fans of Michael Ruhlman and regularly read his food blog, which is where Dan discovered that “branzini” is a really easy and tasty fish to grill. We’re always trying to work new fish recipes into our weekly menu routine, but it can be difficult because I’m not a big fan. But we are mindful of the health benefits of eating fish on a regular basis, so we continue searching for good fish dishes — especially ones that don’t involve breading or heavy sauces that cancel out the beneficial aspects. We have some old favorites (here and here), but this grilled branzini may be the most healthy — and still delicious — we have tried to date. It is also ridiculously easy.
Black Bean Soup
On our 34th (and counting) consecutive day of temperatures above 100 degrees, what sounds better than a big bowl of hot soup? It is counterintuitive, but this soup actually does sound good to me right now, even as hot as it is outside these days. Also counterintuitive? Wanting to beat the record of 42 consecutive days, even while complaining how ridiculously hot it is. It’s so hot that I don’t have the energy to make any “how hot is it” jokes. But it’s not too hot for this particular soup, which is lighter than you would expect, with southwest flavors and a creamy texture. We found the recipe in Cook’s Illustrated’s book “The Best 30-Minute Recipe” — making it even more appealing to cook on a hot summer night because the recipe is quick and means less time slaving over a hot stove or grill. Have I mentioned that it’s hot here? Continue reading “Black Bean Soup”
Mushroom Lasagne
Ina Garten does it again. Hers might be the most-used cookbooks we own — just about all of them have multiple pages tagged with recipes we have tried and enjoyed. And her books are the ones I often go to when I feel like we’re in a cooking rut, which is how I found her recipe for mushroom lasagne. Traditional lasagne with red sauce, italian sausage and ricotta cheese is one of Dan’s specialties, and we have it all the time. So I thought it would be interesting to try a completely different lasagne — with mushrooms instead of meat and cream sauce instead of tomato. The result is somehow rich yet light at the same time, hearty and delicious.
Grilled Corn
Corn is one of the quintessential summer foods. Although you can get corn year-round if you buy it frozen or canned, we think it tastes best fresh off the cob. It tastes even better if you can get it as freshly-picked as possible. Dan grew up with summers full of fresh (as in picked that morning) corn from a place called Barroner’s Farm in Pennsylvania, and it’s no coincidence that we almost always make a trip home to visit Dan’s mom during corn season (Hi Elaine!) Fresh corn conjures memories of childhood summers for me as well, since us kids used to spend a couple of weeks every summer with our grandparents in Ohio. After these visits, my parents were always happy to see us when they picked us up at the airport — no doubt they missed us, but I suspect that the big box of fresh corn coming off the baggage claim belt had something to do with their happy smiles as well. For years after moving to Texas, Dan wouldn’t even bother with the corn available here because it wasn’t as fresh as the corn from his childhood. But as his grilling repertoire has grown, he discovered a way to cook corn that, while not quite as good as fresh-picked, is still delicious and tastes like summer.
Breakfast Pizza
We love pizza of all kinds — whether it’s delivery, healthy(ish) homemade, or a pie with unusual toppings. Dan has recently been experimenting with baking bread, which means we often end up with dough remnants perfect for homemade pizza. One weekend we decided to put the leftover dough to good use by having it for breakfast. Turns out that thin pizza crust topped with cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon and cream gravy is a really nice way to start the day.
Mushroom Ragu
Prior to this recipe, Dan had never cooked with dried mushrooms, but had always been meaning to try them. We came across an online sale of a variety of dried mushrooms from a site that sells a lot of cooking stuff, so we decided to try them. I found a recipe in one of our Cook’s Illustrated magazines for this “Quick Mushroom Ragu,” under the byline asking “Is it possible to achieve deep, satisfying flavor in just 30 minutes?” The answer is a resounding yes, thanks to those talented folks at America’s Test Kitchen. This recipe achieves the rich flavor you would expect from a sauce made up of numerous complicated ingredients that cooked all day, yet it’s a relatively quick and easy dish to make with a reasonable amount of accessible ingredients — dried porcini mushrooms, portobello mushrooms, chicken broth, pancetta, olive oil, garlic, tomato paste, rosemary (or thyme for rosemary haters like me), tomatoes, and salt & pepper. Serve over spaghetti or whatever other pasta you like, and garnish with grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese. Simple recipe with fancy flavor — one of my favorite combinations.
Taco Pizza
Taco Pizza might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Independence Day, but isn’t freedom what America’s birthday is all about? We like to think so. July 4th has always been my favorite holiday, and this pizza is now one of my new favorite meals. I’m not sure what it is I love most about the 4th — fireworks and sparklers, neighborhood get-togethers, meeting new friends, barbeque and picnic food; or maybe that it marks the halfway point of summer, with the promise of several more weeks of fun, sun and good times. Whatever it is, I think of the Fourth of July as a magical wonderland, and I look forward to it every year. Happy Birthday America!