Garlic Scapes

Garlic scapes? You're probably asking yourself, like I did... "what on earth?!?" On Saturday mornings at Klem's in Spencer, there is a cute little farmer's market - don't you just love buying local in season produce?! Makes me feel, well, healthy.

Stuffed Green Peppers

We really can't believe that we haven't posted this recipe before - as we have made it many times! It all stems from a dish my Mom used to make that involved chopped up peppers and onions with ground beef, rice and a tomato sauce. We do like to stuff food, especially when you can eat the container it's served in! In the past we've stuffed acorn squash, chicken, pork chops - among other things - and tonight we shall stuff green bell peppers.


I must admit, I kinda cheated with this time because I did not make the rice part from scratch. Instead I used a box and a half of Rice-a-Roni Whole Grain Spanish Rice which saved time and tasted pretty good! So as this takes roughly 25 minutes, I started this first.

In another large pot, I brought some water up to boil in order to parboil our green peppers, from which I removed the tops and the inner membranes and seeds. Boil 4 peppers for 5-10 minutes until they are just fork tender, but not overcooked.

While all this was happening (many burners needed although if you are well prepared, trust me, it's not too chaotic!), I browned 1.25lbs ground turkey. After browned, I removed and began to sweat 1 medium diced onion over lowish heat for about 10 minutes. Then I added 15oz petite diced tomatoes and 8-16oz of tomato sauce depending on your tomato-y preferences. The turkey was added back along with a pinch of saffron, 1/2tbsp cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder (I had forgotten the fresh stuff), and 1 tsp Mexican oregano. Now I had made 2 boxes worth of the rice, but only added about 75% of what I had made... it just depends on how ricey you want this dish. After a stir, I gave it a taste and added salt and pepper to my liking.
Spoon the mixture into the peppers which are now in a 9 x 13" baking dish. Top it off with some shredded cheese and put into a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is starting to brown. Another option is to put chunks of cheese into the turkey rice mixture when you've taken it off the heat before spooning into the peppers... this way you'll have cheesey goodness all thoughout the pepper.

Turkey Sausage & Kale Soup

It has cooled back down this week in Boston, giving me the need to have something to warm my bones. I don't know about you, but the easiest way to warm me up is a nice bowl of soup. I had some sweet turkey sausage on hand and some frozen kale, so I knew I had what I needed as the base of the recipe.



The sweet Italian sausage was in links, so I browned them whole in the Dutch oven until all sides had crisped up. After removing from the pan, I added some olive oil with thinly sliced onion a celery (3 ribs) and 2 cloves-worth of chopped garlic. After cooking down for 10 minutes, I deglazed with a little white wine, threw in 2 bay leaves, salt, black pepper, a tsp of dried thyme and a 1/2 tsp of ground chipolte. I then added 8 cups of chicken stock, the now sliced sausage, 32 oz of rinsed chickpeas and 1 cup of small diced rutabega. After bringing that up to a simmer, I added 2 cups of thawed kale and let the somewhat thick soup simmer for another 30 minutes. In less than 1 hour, I had some great tasting soup that will fill my belly for days.



Although fresh greens like spinach and kale are best, you can't knock the versatility of having the frozen versions on hand. yum!

Spinach Meatballs

In the past, we've made meatballs by frying them in a pan which was messy and somewhat tedious - since we need to be making some sort of marinara at the same time. I then remembered seeing an episode of Good Eats where Alton Brown bakes the balls of meat instead of frying them. Why hadn't we tried this before? And you can make more meatballs at the same time as well, and more is always better!

We mixed a little over a pound of ground turkey with 1.5 cups of thawed and well drained spinach. I added about 1/4 c. parmesan, 1/2 tbsp Worchestershire, some dried oregano, basil, S&P and some Penzey's Cajun Seasoning. I mixed that together and added roughly 1/3 c of breadcrumbs until the mixture was no longer gooey. I did not add an egg to this, but in retrospect, that would've bound everything together a bit better.



After forming 1.5inch balls, I placed them on a greased pan and stuck them at 400F for 20 minutes, turned them and cooked for 5 minutes more. After plunking them into the marinara for a few minutes more, we served them up over some whole wheat angel hair pasta.

And what to do with leftovers...meatball sandwiches of course!

Italian Wedding Soup II

We finished off our Sunday by making Italian Wedding Soup. We've made Italian Wedding Soup before and we did it up very similarily this time - turkey meatballs, lots of onions and celery and parsley, carrots, spinach, and some good broth are all you really need.


Veggies, Ready To Go


Making Meatballs

Brown the meatballs first, add the veggies (hold the spinach) to the chicken broth/stock, then add the meatballs. When you're near-ready to eat, add your spinach and pasta and cook until the pasta is done. We crushed up some penne with a hammer in a paper bag to have some smaller pasta bits more suited to Italian Wedding Soup!


Simmering Away


The Final Product

A delicious end to a great Sunday - the Patriots won in a very tight and exciting game - so they are on to Indy to play in the AFC Championship on this upcoming Sunday... Sounds like we have another Sunday of food-and-football coming up!

Juicy Turkey Meatloaf

I have previously blogged on Turkey Meatloaf, but I wanted to take it up a level (And I already have ideas for a Cajun Meatloaf for the next go-around!)

This time we made a loaf that smelled like we were preparing Thanksgiving stuffing, and that’s a good thing! Into our mini-Cuisinart went a coupla ribs of celery, a small yellow onion and a handful of fresh parsley. I pulsed this very well until it was a fine chop, but not quite a paste. In the meantime, Michael chopped up 3 slices whole wheat bread and mixed that with a few splashes of milk and some seasoning. The bread and the veggies get tossed in with the roughly 1.3 lbs of ground turkey along with several shakes of Worchestershire sauce, a tsp of Dijon, several shakes of Fox Point Seasoning, a beaten egg, and about ¼ cup grated parmesan.



If the mixture seems a bit too moist, add some bread crumbs, but no more than ¼ cup. We placed the loaf in the oven at 375 for 1 hr. This was by far the juiciest meatloaf in the history of loaves! Smelled and tasted like proper comfort food. We served it up with a saute of spinach, peppers, and small-diced rutabegas.

The next time we want loaf, we'll try a Cajun-style one...until then, happy eating!

What We've Eaten II

We've been out of town, but we've still been cooking and eating! We had a great Christmas visit to the homeland - Northern Maine - where we cooked a 10-lb turkey on Christmas Day. Along with that, we had mashed potatoes, boiled turnips, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce... the works.



We brought home at least four pounds of that turkey so we are still reaping the benefits - we made a "Turkey Surprise Soup" last night which consisted of anything we had in the cupboard along with shredded turkey. Sauteed onion, carrot, and garlic; deglazed with a little red wine and vinegar; added chicken stock and some leftover herbs (oregano and thyme) and seasonings (see below!); added one can of kidney beans, one can of yellow wax beans, one can of tomato sauce, one can of button mushrooms, some frozen green-and-red pepper strips, and the shredded turkey. Cooked that for about 1/2 hour and ate it hungrily - it even seemed to help clear up some lingering colds that we're trying to shake!

Seasonings... One of the BEST Christmas presents we received was a collection of spices from Penzey's! French sea salt, tellicherry peppercorns, mexican oregano, cumin, smoked paprika. Also, some blends - Lemon Pepper Seasoning, Fox Point seasoning (very chive-and-shalloty - had some with scrambled eggs this morning, really good!) and Old World Seasoning which is a blend of just about everything... Plenty of the Old World Seasoning went in our "Turkey Surprise Soup" and really made it savory and delicious...

Before we left for Maine we cooked a quarter-ham, knowing that we were doing turkey instead of our traditional ham for Christmas in Maine this year. Glazed, smokey, and tender, it was delicious with some mashed sweet potatoes: Just peel and cut two sweet potatoes into 2-inch chunks and throw them into some salted boiling water for 10-14 minutes (Although Alton Brown says you should steam sweet potatoes instead of boiling prior to mashing). Drain them and return to the hot pan to burn off some of the residual water. Season with salt, pepper and whatever else tickles your fancy... sautéed garlic or a bit of Penzey’s Cajun Seasoning. Add a few pats of butter - or margarine/promise/whatever - and a couple tbsp of milk, half-n-half or cream depending on your dietary needs. We used promise and 2% milk and a splash of half-n-half.

We sliced the ham and enjoyed it with the mashed sweet po's with some green beans - along with a big dollop of dijon mustard.



We also had our famous Pasta Puttanesca earlier last week - but with twist.. we added fresh baby spinach to our normal recipe. Added some green and a little crunch, it was pretty good!



We'll be back with one more post to wrap up the year - our 5 favorite Boston Chef blog posts from the first year (over 50 to choose from!) - tell us your faves in comments if you like. Thanks for coming... and Merry Christmas!

Mexican Lasagna

Welcome to another addition of What Do We Have In The House??? We were out later than we thought doing some Christmas shopping and just wanted to get out of the crowds and get home without going to the grocery store. Once home, we scavanged through our fridge and cupboard and found: a package of ground turkey, a can of black beans, a can of corn, 1/2 package of wheat tortillas, a package of "taco" cheese, a small jar of pimento, a can of stewed tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce, and a big ol' zucchini. No problem, let's assemble some sort of Mexican Lasagna!

Browned the ground turkey and seasoned it at the end with cumin, chili powder, oregano, red pepper flake, and kosher salt... removed to a bowl when brown and already smelling good.



Cut up the zucchini twice lengthwise, then into little half-quarters and added it to the saute pan to start them softening. Seasoned the zucchini with the same mixture.



After four minutes, added the pimento which had been sliced up... then the can of black beans... then the corn... then the tomatoes and tomato sauce. Combined and tested the seasoning and started the oven on it's preheat to 400.



Added the turkey back in and made sure everything had a chance to come together and mingle. Got out a big, glass baking dish and started are Lasagna "layers" with a layer of torn wheat tortillas on the bottom, followed by some big scoops of the meat-and-veggie mixture, followed by a layer of the taco cheese. Repeated with a layer of tortillas, layer of good stuff, and a final layer of cheese at the top.





Into the 400-degree oven for about 30 minutes, until everything is bubblin' and the cheese is melted and brown on the top! Enjoy with a seat and a beer - a great, quick meal after a long day shopping... WITH leftovers!

Smoked Turkey, Cabbage and Black-Eyed Pea Soup

Every once in awhile, while watching either Emeril or Paula Dean, we hear them mention that you can use smoked turkey legs instead of ham hocks in soups or greens recipes. Count us in!

We are in full soup-season swing here in New England. As you can probably tell, we like nothing more than sitting in the kitchen on Sundays, watching our beloved Patriots, and constructing a soup all day that is ready for supper, leftovers, AND a freezerbag or two. This past Sunday was no exception (and the Pats won a close one!)...

They have smoked turkey at our local Stop and Shop - it's not fully cooked, but is "smoked"... We grabbed about 3 smoked turkey legs and a couple of smoked turkey wings and threw them in about 12 cups of chicken stock and water and low boiled them for about 15 minutes before adding some veggies that were cut into 1 inch cubes: 1 onion, 2 cups carrots, 2 cups celery and 4 cloves minced garlic.



For seasoning, we threw in some bay leaves, thyme and black pepper. After another 20 minutes, we took out the turkey, removed the skin, chopped it up and put it back in the pot. Our kitchen was smelling smokey-delicious at this point!



We skimmed off the fat, scum, froth, etc and then reseasoned a little - then threw in 2 cans of black-eyed peas and 2 cups of cubed butternut squash. After bringing the soup back up to a boil, we then added 1 head of Savoy cabbage which had been shredded.



Cooked for 30 more minutes, and ta-da a wonderfully smoky bean and cabbage soup!

We'd give this soup about an 8/10. It needed more seasoning to put it over-the-top, not sure what (more pepper!). And I probably would have thrown in rutabega or white potatoes in instead of the squash - which seemed too sweet for the dish. 'Til next time!

Creative Leftovers

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


Hmmmm... what to eat, what to eat...

Leftover roast chicken + leftover cranberry almond rice = the most awesome chicken salad ever!!

I cut up the leftover chicken - about 2 cups worth - and to that I added about 1 cup of the rice. I then added about a rib and a half of chopped celery, some additional dried cranberries, freshly chopped parsley and a bit of pepper. I then added about 1/2 tsp of curry powder, the juice of 1 very juicy lemon, and 2.5 tbsp mayo.

We served this up over a bed of baby greens and iceberg lettuce scoring a 10 out of 10 for the best chicken salad ever!!!

Our food pictures are terrible lately - we promise to work on that and figure out the focus and lighting!

Italian Wedding Soup (or whatever-I-have-in-my-pantry soup)

It's been pretty wet, cold and rainy here in Boston for a little while and with Labor Day upon us, it certainly feels like the end of summer. Although I am sure we'll be getting a few more 80 degree days, probably when I'm stuck at work all day. Figures. Oh and be prepared, my father consulted nature and the almanac and he insists it will be a very cold winter. With that in mind we've had comfort food on the brain. And what's better than a good soup or stew?

Mixed some ground turkey with sage, thyme, salt, pepper, grated parmesan, a little bit of breadcrumbs and some worchestshire. Form into 1 inch balls and brown them up in some oil and then set aside. Meanwhile, in a big soup pot get some chicken stock boiling and add in some chopped onions and celery. If you had fresh carrots, this would be the time to throw them in too, but we didn't. After boiling for 10 minutes, add in the balls of meat, bringing back to a slow boil. Then add in some frozen spinach that has been thawed mostly, and we had some canned sliced carrots which we put in at this point too. Cook about 5 more minutes. Add in some salt, pepper, sage and thyme to taste.

Normally, I prefer small pasta for this dish like a ditalini, but I have yet to find a wheat or multi-grain version, so I broke up some rotini, about 1 cup and put it in. Cook until pasta has cooked through, probably about 15 more minutes. This dish gets a 9 out of 10. Super yummy, it's hard to stop eating it, and it's superb the next day too!

Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's pie with ground turkey and mashed sweet potatoes

• Cut two large sweet potatoes into 2" chunks and boil until tender, about 15 minutes.
• Drain and mash with butter, salt, and a little milk to make mashed potatoes. Set aside.
• Brown 1.3 lbs of ground turkey. Drain and remove and wipe out pan with paper towel.
• Cut up 1 medium yellow onion and begin sauteing. After three minutes, add two garlic cloves, finely chopped.
• Add sliced mushrooms and eason veggie mixture with salt, pepper, and sage.
• After another minute add shredded carrots and frozen mixed veggies (corn, peas, lima beans).
• Add the turkey back in and combine.
• Add 1/2 can of cream of mushroom soup.
• Spoon mixture into a 9x11" baking dish.
• Top evenly with mashed potatoes.
• Spread some shredded cheddar cheese on the top (optional).
• Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 30 minutes.
• Remove and let cool for a couple minutes.
• Eat.

Turkey Meatloaf

We use ground turkey as much as - if not more than - we use ground beef. Any recipe that would normally call for ground beef, the majority of the time we make the same recipe but with ground turkey (and make sure any cooking time/temperature/doneness differences are accounted for). I don't even remember WHY ground turkey might be better for you (heart-wise? weight-wise? both?) but after a few years of substituting, we're used to it.

We have this old recipe for "Juicy Meatloaf" that we've been using for many years now - and it, indeed, produces JUICY meatloaf. Juicy is good when it comes to meatloaf, and this recipe is certainly juicy. So, the juicy part is taken care of - the rest is up to you.

One of the great wedding gifts we received was a mini-prep food processor. This thing is great for the majority of jobs you want to do in a food processor - but on a smaller scale. The mini-prep takes up no counter space and it is much easier to clean up after. You know how sometimes you're reluctant to use something or do a certain technique because of the clean up involved? Not with this one...

So quartered a big onion, opened a can of carrots (that's all we had, unfortunately... use real, live carrots preferably), and peeled a couple garlic cloves, threw them all in, and pulsed them until they were very finely chopped:


We took four pieces of wheat bread and shredded 'em (shredded 'em good!) and poured enough milk to get 'em moist, stirred 'em around, and turned our attention elsewhere...

To our 1.3lbs of ground turkey, we added the pulsed veggies, a tbls of dijon mustard, a few generous shakes of soy sauce, one slightly beaten egg (that egg had it coming!), the soaked bread, a good handful of grated parm, dried sage, and some ground black pepper. Knead that together and you will get a very moist meat mixture... it will feel overly moist. If it is too unruly (can't hold a shape at all) add some bread crumbs a little at a time until you get some structure. Don't over-do the bread crumbs though, you want it to JUST be able to hold a shape on it's own.

Put that in a loaf pan that's been sprayed with pam or whatever and put it in a 370-degree oven for an hour or until the loaf is 170-degrees in the middle and the juices run clear. Juicy and delicious! And like most things, even better as leftovers. We had this with a cuke-and-tomato salad and (surprise!) some roasted sweet potatoes.