MINI-TURKEY LOAVES WITH MUSHROOMS

Posted in Poultry by sallybr

I make turkey loaf often, one of those dishes in constant rotation. My default recipe is this one, but this time I wanted to change things around and make them in cute individual portions. They cook faster and it makes dinner feel a little more special. Not easy to make brown food look good, but here we go… The pan I used to bake them is available here.

MINI-TURKEY LOAVES WITH MUSHROOMS
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

1 + 1/2 pound ground turkey
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, chopped in the food processor
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 tablespoon oil
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup almond flour
1 egg, lightly beaten

for coating:
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp white vinegar

Heat oven to 350F.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened; about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until they release their moisture and start to brown. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Reserve to cool. You can make this a couple of days in advance and keep in the fridge.

In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, the sautee vegetables and all other ingredients. Divide the mixture in small portions that will fit in a small loaf pan, you can also use large muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes, then make the coating glaze by mixing all ingredients in a small bowl. Brush the surface of the little loaves, increase heat to 400F and cook for an additional 10 minutes or so. Internal temperature should be 170F. Let the loaves rest for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: These will most certainly be at our table often. It is great to have a turkey loaf that cooks faster and looks so adorable on the plate. It also warms up nicely for leftovers next day. I often make turkey burgers with mushrooms but use them raw in the patties. They do release a lot of moisture during grilling, so I might try sautéing them to dry a bit first. These loaves ended up super moist and flavorful. We enjoyed them with broccoli and sweet potato fries.

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13Nov2021

TURKEY-BISON JALAPENO CHILI

Posted in Beef, Poultry by sallybr

This was made in a pressure cooker, but if you don’t own one, no problem. Follow my modifications for a stove-top version. I often make chili exclusively with ground turkey but this version with 50% bison won our seal of approval. Not that much additional fat, but definitely a more complex flavor.

TURKEY-BISON JALAPENO CHILI
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large shallot, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 jalapeños, minced (remove seeds for less heat)
2 large sweet potatoes, diced
1 pound ground chicken
1 pound ground bison meat
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or other red pepper of your choice)
1 can (28 ounce) whole tomatoes
garnishes of your choice

Heat the olive oil in the pressure cooker. Sautee the shallot, bell pepper and jalapeños with a little salt and pepper. When fragrant, add the two kinds of meat and saute for a few minutes. Add all other ingredients, close the pressure cooker and bring to full pressure.

Reduce heat, cook for 25 minutes. Release the pressure quickly according to the method recommended for your pan. Simmer the chili gently for a few more minutes and serve. Adjust consistency with water or by reducing it further. Serve with toppings of your choice. If making in a regular pan, simmer gently for 1 hour, adding more liquid if needed during cooking.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: As you may know, we cook with leftovers in mind, and chili is one of the perfect recipes to enjoy in subsequent days, it gets better and better. Bison meat is widely available where we live, but any ground beef will work, although the fat amount will be higher with most other cuts. We love the mixture of the two types of meat. If you have pickled jalapeños hanging around, they are a nice topping idea also. We used guacamole and yogurt seasoned with salt and lime juice.

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5Oct2020

TURKEY-PUMPKIN ROULADE WITH CIDER SAUCE AND MILLET PILAF

Posted in Poultry, Rice and Grains by sallybr

This was one delicious meal, even if I say so myself. I had never cooked turkey breasts, for some reason they’ve always intimidated me. Huge, and with that look of “I am going to be very dry and tough.” But sous-vide has a way to mellow any tough creature into perfection. If you don’t have a sous-vide, you can still make this recipe, just read my comments for changes.

TURKEY-PUMPKIN ROULADE WITH CIDER SAUCE AND CARROT-MILLET PILAF
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

2 boneless, skinless turkey breasts
Salt Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup canned pumpkin purée
¼ cup chopped toasted pecans
2 tablespoons crumbled sage,
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup + 1/2 chicken broth, divided
¼ cup apple cider
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons flour

Heat the water bath to 148F. Pound both breasts to about ¼ inch thick. Season well with salt and pepper. Make the filling by mixing the pumpkin, pecans, sage and smoked paprika in a small bowl.

Spread half the filling on each breast, then roll up each breast jelly-roll style, starting at the narrow end. Keep the roll tight with kitchen’s twine. Place each breast in a heat-safe bag, and pour 1/4 cup chicken broth + 1/8 cup apple cider in each bag. Close by water displacement. Cook in the water bath for 3 hours.

Remove the roulades from the bag, reserving the cooking liquid or one of the bags (discard the liquid from the other bag). Place the roulades on a paper towel–lined plate and pat dry. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a non-stick skillet and brown the roulades quickly on all sides. Cut the kitchen twine and place them on a platter covered with foil as you reduce the sauce.

Add one more tablespoon of flour to the skillet, and cook the flour on it for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Pour 1 cup of chicken stock and the reserved cooking liquid from one of the bags. Simmer gently until reduced, about 5 minutes. Season with more salt and a little pepper, cut the turkey in slices and serve with the sauce.

CARROT-MILLET PILAF

1 cup millet, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons olive oil, dividied
salt and pepper
3 carrots, peeled, cut in small pieces
1/4 cup slivered almonds
smoked paprika to taste

Start by roasting the carrots. Heat oven to 420F. Drizzle the carrots with 1 tablespoon olive oil, season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika. Place on a small baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 20 minutes, then add the almonds and roast for 5 minutes longer, mixing them well with the carrots. Reserve.

Cook the millet. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan. Add the millet and cook on high-heat, toasting well, for a couple of minutes. Add 2 cups of water, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until water is absorbed and grains are cooked. Immediately fluff it with a fork, add the carrots and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipes, click here

Comments: If you don’t have a sous-vide, the process is pretty much reversed. You start by browning the roulades in olive oil, then add chicken stock and cider to the pan, close it and simmer away until done to your liking. Or use your crockpot, or the pressure cooker, following the timings recommended for this type of preparation.

The millet was also delicious with it, and leftovers re-heated quite well for two more meals. This whole dinner would be perfect for a Thanksgiving for two, if you don’t want to go through the trouble of roasting a whole bird and then facing leftovers until Valentine’s Day say hello…

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15May2020

PHYLLO PARCELS WITH MOROCCAN TURKEY

Posted in Poultry, Savory Pies by sallybr

Staying safe in Corona virus time: read the guest blog post by Phillip Klebba here.

Not too long ago I blogged about a savory pie made with olive oil crust and ground turkey. It was delicious, and I knew I wanted to re-visit it shortly after. Today I share a departure on that recipe, using a very similar filling but wrapped with phyllo dough. It is considerably lighter, especially because I use a light hand with the olive oil spray in between the layers. Works great and is a lot kinder on the waistline.

PHYLLO PARCELS WITH MOROCCAN TURKEY
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

large or jumbo size muffin pan, makes about 5 parcels

for the parcels:
1 box of phyllo dough, thawed in fridge overnight
olive oil spray

for the filling:
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 + 1/2 pounds ground turkey
2 large carrots, cut in pieces
8 oz mushrooms cut in pieces
2 celery ribs, minced
1 + 1/2 tsp salt
1 shallot, minced
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tablespoon harissa, or to taste

Brown the ground turkey in a large skillet using 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and seasoning with 1 tsp salt. Once the meat is brown, transfer to a bowl. Add one more tablespoon of olive oil and saute the carrots, shallot and mushrooms, sprinkling all the spices and the final 1/2 tsp salt over the veggies as they cook. Once the veggies start to get some color, add the harissa, the ground turkey reserved, and mix everything gently. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool it completely.

Lay your phyllo sheets and cut squares large enough to cover the whole inner surface of the muffin pan. Lay 3 sheets of phyllo over each hole, each slightly twisted in relation to the previous one, and spray a very light amount of olive oil as you lay them. Add the cold filling, get one square and fold it in four, so that you are left with a small amount of pastry that can sit right on top of the filling (see photo on the composite below). Crunch all the phyllo from the base layers over the top, spray olive oil.

Bake at 375F for about 25 minutes, or until golden. Let it cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. They should un-mold very easily and neatly.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The idea for these little parcels came from the new cooking show by Nadiya Hussein, “Time to Eat.” She used this method to make little apple pies but I really liked the way she handled the phyllo and wanted to adapt for a savory meal. Instead of fiddling with one sheet of phyllo at a time, it is a lot easier to just grab several sheets, cut them all at the same time in squares and then peel them off to place in the tin. Brilliant. I highly recommend the show, available on Netflix. A recipe from it should be on the blog soon.

The filling is already cooked, so you are basically just browning the phyllo and making it all crunchy and delicious. Super easy to assemble, this would be absolutely perfect for guests, and of course you could make it vegetarian-friendly. I imagine a filling with butternut squash and mushrooms, or eggplant and sweet peppers, lots of tasty ideas. You can also go for a hearty lamb filling, but with warmer weather on the horizon, lighter is definitely better.

We enjoyed it with mashed sweet potatoes, made sous-vide, but I need to tweak that recipe before sharing, there were a few “issues.”

Depending on the size of your muffin tin, you might be able to get 6 little parcels. They hold well in the fridge and to warm up what I like to do is run them in the microwave for 1 minute (yes, 60 seconds) and then transfer them to a hot oven for 10 more minutes. They turn out perfectly warm all the way through and the phyllo retains its nice texture.

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28Mar2019

ANOTHER TWISTED SISTER OF THE SHEPHERD’S PIE

Posted in Poultry by sallybr

Gastronomic heresy alert: I am calling Shepherd’s Pie a concoction made with ground turkey and cauliflower topping. And what’s even worse, I’ve committed this sin before an I am doing it all over again, without a hint of shame. This preparation is filling but moderately so. It won’t let you go into a state of total lethargy once you move away from the table. It is also low in carbs and saturated fat, in case you worry about those details. I used a trick quite popular in keto-type recipes to give ground turkey a more pleasant texture upon cooking. It involves baking soda and a few minutes of your time. Absolutely worth it. Read on the comments for full explanation on the baking soda trick.

TURKEY SHEPHERD’S PIE
(adapted from several sources)

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 head cauliflower, core removed, florets cut in pieces
½ cup water
Salt and pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 pound 93 percent lean ground turkey
¼ teaspoon baking soda
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 tablespoon harissa
¾ cup homemade or low-sodium chicken broth
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan until ver hot. Add cauliflower and cook until softened and beginning to brown. Pour 1/2 cup water, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook until the cauliflower is fully tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a food processor, and process until smooth. Add the egg and paprika, and process a few more seconds. Reserve.

Prepare the ground turkey: in a bowl, add the meat, one tablespoon water, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and baking soda, mixing everything together. Set aside for 15 minutes. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Make sure to use a skillet that can go under the broiler. Add mushrooms and celery and cook until no liquid remains. Stir in harissa and cook for a few more minutes.

Add broth, carrots, and Herbes de Provence, and bring to a simmer. Add the turkey meat, breaking it up with a fork. Cover and cook until turkey is cooked through, about 10 minutes, stirring and breaking up the meat every few minutes. Whisk cornstarch and the 2 tablespoons water together in small bowl, then stir mixture into filling and continue to simmer until thickened, about 1 minute. Adjust seasoning, if necessary.

Pat the meat mixture to make it leveled, and spread the cauliflower puree all over the surface. If you like, use tines of fork to make a pattern of ridges on the surface. Place skillet under the broiler and broil for about 10 minutes, if necessary move the pan around to get homogenous color on the surface. Allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Quite often ground turkey develops a dry, unpleasant texture when cooked, unless you use alternative methods such as pressure cooking, or the crock pot low and slow for a long time. The addition of baking soda changes everything, by raising the pH. This has two benefits: it reduces the interaction between protein molecules in the meat (by a mild denaturing effect) and accelerates browning. Since the proteins are not able to interact with each other very efficiently, they acquire a more tender texture. It is important to not overdo it. You don’t want the meat to get all mushy, it is a delicate balance. In other words, don’t add the baking soda and walk away for a couple of hours.

This recipe can be assembled all the way and kept in the fridge. When it’s time to eat, place it covered in a low oven to warm up, then uncover and run under the broiler. Leftovers are superb, and as usual, they showed up as my lunch two more times that week.

Note added after publication: a dear friend of mine from UK brought to my attention that a lesser sin would have been to call this a Twisted Sister of the Cottage Pie, as that at least involves other kinds of meat, whereas the Shepherd is always made with ground lamb. So there you go, a bit more culinary trivia for us all. I will keep my title, since one sister was already out there… (wink, wink)