Four things to do with holiday turkey breast

Four things to do with holiday turkey breast

I baked a stand-alone breast right after the Thanksgiving holiday because I missed the usual post-holiday meals. The turkey, from whole foods and Distel, was organic boneless, about 5 pounds, I think. The directions are clear and the turkey tasted fine.

Regular dinner: I had leftover gravy, served it on turkey slices with roasted brussels sprouts and roasted little potatoes. these were made at 425  degrees tossed first i olive oil and a clove of garlic salt and pepper. Basically, the recipe in Dave’s and Maria’s cookbook.

Sandwiches: Dave’s bread, turkey, avocado, lettuce, mustard, mayo—winning combo. Sliced sourdough with turkey, cranberry relish (or sauce, but we had relish to use up), neufchatel cheese, thin slice red onion, and lettuce tastes good to me but not Mark.

Soup:  turkey or chicken broth, mirepoix from TJs, egg noodles, chopped spinach at the end, shreds of turkey meat at the end.

Pasta: shells with peas and alfredo sauce, shredded turkey stirred in at the end, fresh pepper on top.

Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes with Tzatziki Sauce

Greek lemon Chicken and Potatoes with Tzatziki sauce

Friends returned from a trip to Greece with a gift of tzatziki sauce spices, and I wanted a delicious main dish to go with it, something more exciting than pita bread sandwiches.(For one thing, I wasnt up to making fresh pita bread--it sounds as hard as croissants). I hada recipe from my 1990s "Too Busy To Cook" book from Bon Appetit, and :I found this updated version that I liked a lot. Four pounds of chicken left lots for another meal, even though the recipe says "serves 4|" and I had six.

The quality of the chicken makes a difference--I got organic thighs from Whole Foods. The recipe was also substantially enhanced by the sauce, which I'd never served before. It took the dish from solid and presentable to something special.

I've made this with skinless, boneless chicken breasts, which taste okay--they are ready about 10 minutes faster--but are a pale shadow of the original dish. I've used fingerling (barely passing flavor) and unpeeled yukon gold potatoes (better but not as good as russets).

Ingredients:

4 pounds chicken thighs, bone in and skin on

1 tbsp kosher salt

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced (I use TJ's frozen or minced in jar, also|)

3 russet potatoes, peeled and quartered

2/3 cup chicken broth plus a bit more to deglaze pan

fresh oregano for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place chicken pieces in large bowl and sprinkle salt, oregano, peper, rosemary and cayenne. Mix it around. Whisk or shake oil, lemon juice and garlic to blend it. Pour it over the chicken and mix again. Add potatoes and mix until everythingn is evenly coaated.

Put chicken pieces, skin side up, in pan, reserving the marinade. Distribute potato pieces among chicken pieces. Drizzle with 2/3 cup chicken broth. Spoon remainder of marinade over everything.

Place in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Stir, keeping skin side up. Bake another 25 minutes until chicken is browned and cooked through. An instant-read thermometer should read 165 near the bone.

Move chicken to platter and keep warm. set oven to broil on high. Toss potatoes in pan juices and place under broiler until potatoes caramelize, about 3 minutes.

Place roasting pan on stove over medium heat. Add a splash of broth and stir up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Strain; spoon juices over chicken and potatoes. Top with chopped oregano.

Thanksgiving 2019--Notes for next time

The location--Dobie Central, very lightly decorated for the occasion.

The guests: Shavers, Second Dobies (Emily, Kristin and Philip)|, Jane Rognlie, and Dobies Sr.

|The Menu:

This is my first year to try out the following dishes from Whole Foods:

Organic Turkey, 12 to 14 pound
Vegan Mushroom Gravy
Apple Cider Braised Brussels Sprouts with Pepitas
Maple Syrup Sweetened Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Herb Dressing

Emily and Kristin brought
Wild Rice Dressing (essentially mushrooms sauteed in butter plus wild and brown rices)
Three small Beckman's pies for dessert:  pumpkin, berry and apple

Carolyn made an extra-big apple crisp (see recipe on this blog) with cranberries and toasted nuts.

Abby and Julia made Cranberry-Orange relish in the morning. Stephen took on the carving (he always does) and got the carcass into my crockpot for delicious day-after broth--twice, because it was too big to fit in all at once. Whatta guy!!

I'd give the turkey and gravy five stars--everyone agreed, not just me, that the flavor and tenderness were top-notch. The turkey produced enough juice that I might have been able to combine it with a turkey broth and make my own sauce, but pouring some into the mushroom gravy worked perfectly.

I would give the maple sweet potatoes and herb stuffing a 3 1/2 star rating. Good, solid flavor. Easy enough prep--just tuck in the oven or microwave as though I'd cooked it earlier myself. With a little doctoring up, they were very presentable sides. The brussels sprouts were irretrieveable little rocks with no flavor. They b ear no resemblane to the delicious ones we've had in restaurants.




So why, one might ask, would a person who has years of experience with and has schlepped dozens of raw, big, heavy, gross, scary-looking turkeys plus sides from store to table, decide to let Whole Foods do it? Well, yes, all of the above. In the words of a note over one of my turkey and gravy prep plans from years past, "sounds so easy, looks so scary." There are the years the gravy failed, the turkey platter slid down the counter and crashed onto the floor, it was underdone in the legs or overdone in the breast (even on the same bird), the brining container wouldn't fit in the fridge, and on and on. Most years were fine. Like wine producers or farmers, I've had my banner years and my off years with the whole shebang. Lately I'd been thinking about a backup dish to have on hand just in case something major went wrong (like the year I didn't know I had to pick up the turkey at Dittmer's the Butcher's the day before, back when all the stores were closed for the holiday, except, it turned out, the local 7-11) or the year I simply couldn't fit everything in the fridge and was more than grateful for the key to the neighbor's front door. Even w;ith a relatively smaller group, the back=up meal is expensive and takes up fridge space just when I need it for the hope-it-won't flop food

This year,'s is a small, easy-to-seat, exquisitely manageable group, I thought as I planned it out. I might actually have time to enjoy their company myself. (I don't begrudge the years I watched my family enjoying each other--the Rule According to Carolyn says that renewing ties is the main reason to do these holidays.) But the idea of not worrying about any of it was irresistably seductive. As I was going online to check out the prices of Whole Foods organic turkeys (raw) and stumbled across the photo of the Whole Foods Organic Turkeys (deliciously prepared, delectably browned, sourced from the same farm as the raw one I would have purchased) I was in.

"This isn't like going to a restaurant with food from God knows where, or like the Safeway-prepared Thanksgiving Aurora and I shared when our children were mostly preschoolers" I thought to myself. Whole Foods knows what they are doing, they know their audience and they aren't going to mess around with any food failures--they've had years to work the kinks out of the system," I told myself. It became rather like having a neighbor make the turkey. |Yes, it would be cold, but a lot of folks I know make the turkey the day before, anyway.

Being Carolyn the Suspicious, I didn't just assume any of this. I dropped into the store and checked it out with the Holiday Foods Rep seated at their order-taking table, who clearly thought I was (a) from another planet or (b) a plant from Molly Stone's. Questions about the turkey were easy: Distel Farms in Sonoma County not only raises them, they also cook and deliver, and they have been doing it for many years. I felt really good about that. Questions about the freshness of the vegetables and the amount of time from farm to prep to my table were harder. I determined that the foods are mostly or probably hand cooked in giant kitchens in Emeryville and they try to keep the prep to three days before delivery date. "Do you have people working around the clock to meet that schedule? How do you find enough food prep staff to make that work?" I enquired cheerily. The Holiday Orders Lady took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and said "I think I need my boss to answer some of these questions and she isn't here right now...." I told her not to worry, I appreciated everything she had told me, and hoped she would have a happy holiday.

|Looking back, ours was  a happier holiday, if less dramatic and adventurous, for Whole Food's help. Even picking it up on Thanksgiving morning was a cheery, happy moment, with lots of people to say thank you do. I| would do the same turkey next year for sure, and the same gravy. Sides? Iwill make that call at the last minute, depending on who's here, what the weather is like, whether any major appliances are on the blink, and so forth.






 

Spinach and feta in saag paneer style

From the book Indian-ish.

Recipe:  https://www.thekitchn.com/saag-feta-indianish-22956242

We've made it twice now and it's really good!  Would also be good with real paneer instead of feta.

Slow Cooker Turkey Polish Sausage Soup

Slow Cooker Polish Sausage Soup

We had polish sausage soup for the first time in Central Europe-- probably Krakow. I found a recipe online for a more traditional stovetop version using  bacon, pork and beef sausage (relatively more of it), more and different ingredients, and a cornstarch thickening process. I like this slow cooker recipe without park just as well for flavor, and it is a lot easier to manage as a go-to winter dish. The flavor comes from getting a nice brown on the stovetop for the sausage, onion and cabbage. A nice, crusty, delicious, warm whole grain bread is perfect along side!

Ths recipe fills my 4 quart slow cooker to a couple of inches below the top.

6 to 8 main dish servings.

Ingredients

1 to 1 1/2 pounds red skinned or round white potatoes (|I used Yukon Gold, I think) . No need to peel.

1 to 1 1/2 pounds Polish Kielbasa sausage (I use turkey sausage and have used as little as 12 ounces if that's all I have around. I like the flavor of smoked and unsmoked)

2 tablespoons butter, plus a little oil if needed

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 medium cabbage, shredded or chopped

1 quart chicken stock, low sodium or unsalted

1 can (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes (optional)

4 to 6 strips bacon (optional)

1/2 tsp caraway seeds (optional)

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped (optional, mix in at the end)

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation

Dice the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes.Put the potatoes in the slow cooker. 

Dice the sausage into 1/2-inch chunks. I like to cut the sausage I buy in half, then slice.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add diced bacon if using, and cook until crisp. Drain on paper towels and add bacon to slow cooker. 

Put the skillet back on the stove, warm to medium-high, add the sausage and onion, and brown. I start with a little oil since turkey sausage doesn't produce much fat for browning. Stir while cooking until onions are soft and both have a noticeable brown edge. Put in the slow cooker.

Add the butter to the skillet, melt on medium heat, then add the cabbage and move the heat to medium high. Cook, stirring frequently, until the cabbage wilts and starts to  brown. Move to slow cooker. 

Add stock to the slow cooker along with tomatoes if using and caraway seeds if using.

Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours. If using, stir in the dill at the end.

Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Yum! Great winter fare!

Essential Apple Crisp

ESSENTIAL APPLE CRISP This and pumpkin pie are my go-to winter desserts. I also like the pear-apple deep dish pie filling with this topping or pie crust on the top only. The one time I made it with both crusts I thought the double crust made it seem not sweet enough. INGREDIENTS:* Topping 3/4 cup flour (I use light whole wheat) 3/4 cup old fashioned oats 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I don"t use organic for this because it packs differently) 3/4 tsp cinnamon 3/4 tsp nutmeg 1/2 c cold butter, cut in pieces Toasted nuts if desired. Filling 6 cups sliced, peeled apples, about six medium 2 tbsps sugar if apples are fairly sweet, up to 1/2 if tart 2 tbsps flour 1 tsp lemon juice dried cranberries or raisins, if desired. (small amounts of fresh berries, cherries that I'm trying to use up go well in this also. I tried pom seeds and thought the seed was too crunchy although the flavor was fine.) Steps: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Use a glass or ceramic baking dish, not a metal one. In a medium bowl, mix the first set of ingredients, except for butter. Mix until blended. Cut in butter pieces with pastry blender or forks until the mixture is crumbly, but not blended. I sometimes finish with my hands.) Set aside. If the kitchen is warm put it in the refrigerator so the butter does not lose all if its firmness. In a large bowl mix the filling ingredients until well coated. Spread in the dish and sprinkle topping to cover. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until topping is golden brown and juices bubbling around the edges. (I think my ceramic dish takes about 40 minutes.) *an earlier recipe has the same topping but just four sliced tart apples, plus add-ins with nothing else in the filling. It tastes good also, especially since I always add a little whipped cream or ice cream. A little whole milk is okay, also.