Browsing: Entrees

Another Snowy Weekend

January28

By Guest Blogger Laura

One of winter’s first snowy Saturdays and as luck would have it, we planned the perfect welcoming event  – a fondue party to celebrate a friend’s birthday.  There are so many different ways to enjoy this congenial way of eating but we have our favourite plan and usually stick with it for the most part.  We use two pots of boiling oil – many people use chicken or beef broth which is terrific too – but we generally go for a combination of canola and peanut oil.    The most exciting part of the fondue for me is the creation and presentation of a wide variety of dipping sauces that allow guests to try new flavours and combinations that they wouldn’t normally try.  Each and every bite can be different from the one before and it’s that experimenting that makes this such a celebration of eating. 

Early in the day I prepare a hearty plateful of each of prime rib steak, boneless pork, boneless chicken breast and peeled and deveined shrimp.  My husband prepares the chocolate fountain and cleans strawberries, cuts bananas, peels mandarin oranges and cuts up sponge cake. 

 I wanted to be sure to have a good variety of choices.  I picked up some store bought sauces…sweet and sour, BBQ, seafood sauce and then had tons of fun preparing the homemades. 

Horseradish Cream – 1 cup sour cream, 3 T horseradish, 2 t lemon juice, 2 green onions, ¼ t worchestershire, salt & pepper

Herbed garlic butter – 1 C butter, 2 T lemon juice, 1 t fines herbes, 2 cloves garlic

Peanut sauce – 1 cup vegetable broth, ½ c peanut butter, 3 T shallots, 1 t worchestershire, 1 t sugar – cooked on stove and allowed to thicken and cool

Honey Mustard – ½ c mayo, 2 T honey, 2 T grainy mustard, salt & a pinch of cayenne

Curry Mango – ½ c unflavoured yogurt, ½ c mayo, ½ c mango chutney, 1 T lime juice, 2 t curry powder, 1 T chopped red onion, dash of cayenne

The surprising hit was one I just invented at the last minute.  I used a small jar of green jalapeno jelly and mixed it with ½ c mayo.  Then I chopped in some fresh red chile pepper and green jalapeno pepper primarily to add some colour because the sauce wasn’t looking that attractive.  Even the guests who don’t usually go for food with too much heat loved this combination of sweet and spicy. 

Our friends brought along a bowl of cheese fondue which we simply heated in the microwave and put on a warmer and then enjoyed with chunks of French bread.  They also contributed mushrooms, peppers and pearl onions along with a beer batter that worked really well in the fondue pots. 

I’m not sure there is a better way to enjoy wonderful dinner conversations than with good friends sharing  a fondue.

“When you ask one friend to dine,
Give him you best wine!
When you ask two,
The second best will do!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

invite someone to warm up at your table

The Most Decadent Lasagna

January26

Do you know the song entitled Seasons of Love from the play/movie Rent?  The lyrics are about quantifying the passing of time: 

Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In my family we recently reached a milestone.  We celebrated the 18th birthday of the thirteenth and youngest grandchild in our family.  We had been celebrating these birthdays for 20 years and in all there were 234 of them.  A person much better at math (my husband or one of my children) could calculate exactly how many birthday candles had been blown out over the years.   

Our family has grown to be so large that we have to rent a room to accommodate us all for dinner.  The special efforts put into this last soiree were handled beautifully by Sister #2 and her husband-complete with video tributes and trivia games.  And is always the case-there was a lot of love poured into the preparation of the food. 

Sister #3 is the sister that is a formally trained cook.  I am said to be an “inventive” cook and Sister #2 is an “indulgent” cook.  For this dinner she prepared four different kinds of pasta including two lasagnas that were to die for.  This recipe is appropriately entitle “Death to Dieters Chicken Lasagna” as it is made with…..Hollandaise sauce!  Can you see how she came about her title?

3 c fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 c onions, chopped

3 c hollandaise sauce (2 packets if not making from scratch)

1 lb. pakage lasagna noodles, cooked

2 lbs. chicken breast, cooked & thinly sliced

1 t basil

1 t oregano

3 c mozzarella, shredded

1 c parmesan, grated

Saute mushrooms & onions until soft.  Using 2 9″x13″ pans, spread a small amount of hollandaise on the bottom & place a layer of noodles over top, then cover with 1/2 of the chicken .  Top with 1/2 of the mushroom and onion mixture, then 1/2 of the remaining hollandaise and sprinkle with 1/2 of the basil & oregano.  Top this with 1/2 of the mozzarella and Parmesan.  Repeat the layers ending with the cheese.  Cook uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.  Serve with a salad with a tart dressing to offset the richness.  Serves 20-24. 

Kath’s quote:  “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.”-Julia Child

Today is my Mom’s 84th birthday!

Healthy(er) Perogy Lasagna

January19

 

A version of this recipe has been posted once before, but I had not prepared it myself. I decided to pull the recipe out when D & I were hosting our monthly young families’ group.  I thought that the kids might enjoy it with some veggies and dip and the adults with heaps of salad.  

Now you know that I love my carbs but the combination of fat and carbs seemed a little too indulgent in January especially knowing that I will be on the beach again in a month (travelling-not here in MB).  So I used no fat cottage cheese and sour cream.  The original recipe calls for Velveeta which I never have in my house so I substituted 250 g of Imperial Cheddar Cheese that was a gift to us over the holidays.  I also used a shredded sharp cheddar because I sense that if you use a sharper cheese, you get much more of the taste with less of the fat. I doubled the recipe to make a lasagna for the kids assembled with us in the dining room and another for the parents attempting to have some adult time together in the living room.

1 large onion, chopped

olive oil for sauteeing

250 g Imperial cheddar cheese

500 g no fat cottage cheese

500 g no fat sour cream (thinned with 1/4 c skim milk)

500 g lasagna noodles

1 c sharp cheddar (shredded)

1 lb. bacon, crumbled and cooked until extra crisp (carefully blotted with paper towel to remove all visible grease)

5 lbs. (or more) cook potatoes with the the skin ON

Lightly grease 2 lasagna pans and set aside.  In a large pot boil potatoes until they can be easily mashed; drain.  In a frying pan, saute onions until soft.  In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to package directions.  Add 1/2 onion to half of the potatoes along with the Imperial cheese, mash.  Add the other half onion to the other half of the potatoes along with the cottage cheese and mash. Pour a couple of dollops of sour cream in the bottom of lasagna pans.  Cover with a layer of noodles.

 

Layer more noodles over one potato mixture, top with 1/3 the sour cream.  Layer again over the other potato mixture, top with another 1/3 sour cream.  Add last layer of noodles, sour cream and top with shredded cheddar.  Cover with foil & bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until edges are bubbly when you peak under the foil.  Remove and let set for 5 minutes (very NB).  Top with crumbled bacon and serve.

Kath’s quote:  “Pray for peace and grace and spiritual food,
For wisdom and guidance, for all these are good, but don’t forget the potatoes.”-
John Tyler Pettee

love illuminates

posted under Entrees | 4 Comments »

Salted Roast Turkey with Herbs and Shallot-Dijon Gravy

December29

Our Christmas schedule is hectic to say the least. Over the course of 72 hours we attended one turkey dinner, hosted another, celebrated the 75th birthday of D’s Mom, hosted a Christmas Eve soiree and attended a Christmas lunch for 30. So I’ll be frank, we took some turkey shortcuts for the Christmas dinner that we hosted.  That is, we threw it in the oven with a lid before we left for most of the day, pulled it out of the oven and served it-ta da!

In the mean time, a good friend of mine, shared her elaborate turkey recipe with me to hold onto for future Christmases and here it is:  

 

salt varieties in Nice market

Herbed Salt:

1/3 c plus 1 T coarse kosher salt

1 1/2 t dried rosemary

1 1/2 t dried rubbed sage

1 1/2 t dried thyme

1 t black peppercorns, crushed

3 small bay leaves, coarsely torn

1 t finely grated lemon peel

Turkey:

1 14- to 16-pound turkey (neck, heart, and gizzard reserved)

1 large onion, chopped

1 large celery stalk, chopped

1 whole lemon, chopped with peel

1 t dried rosemary

1 t dried rubbed sage

1 t dried thyme

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups (or more) turkey stock
 

Gravy:

3 1/2 c (about) turkey

2/3 c chopped shallots

1/2 c all purpose flour

1/2 c dry white wine

2 t Dijon mustard

2 t chopped fresh rosemary

Preparation

For herbed salt:
Rub first 6 ingredients in small bowl to crush herbs finely. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; store at room temperature. Stir in peel before using.

For turkey:
Rinse turkey inside and out (do not pat dry). Pull any fat pads from main cavity and neck cavity of turkey; wrap, chill, and reserve fat for roasting. Place turkey in roasting bag; sprinkle inside and out with herbed salt. Close bag. Place on baking sheet; refrigerate 18 to 24 hours.

Set rack at lowest position in oven and preheat to 325°F. Rinse turkey inside and out; pat very dry. Stir chopped onion and next 5 ingredients in small bowl. Divide onion mixture between main and neck cavities. Fold neck skin under and secure with skewer. Tuck wing tips under. Tie legs together loosely. Place turkey on rack set in large roasting pan. Spread butter all over turkey. Place reserved fat pads and reserved neck, heart, and gizzard in pan; pour in 2 cups Golden Turkey Stock.

Roast turkey 45 minutes. Baste with pan juices. Continue to roast until thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165°F to 170°F, basting every 45 minutes, adding stock or water to pan if dry, and tenting loosely with foil if browning too quickly, 3 to 3 1/2 hours longer. Transfer turkey to platter; tent very loosely with foil and let rest 30 to 45 minutes. Reserve roasting pan with juices for gravy.

For gravy:
Remove turkey neck, heart, and gizzard from roasting pan. Pull meat off neck; chop neck meat, heart, and gizzard and reserve for gravy, if desired. Pour pan juices into 8-cup measuring cup. Spoon off fat from surface, reserving 1/2 cup fat. Add enough turkey stock to degreased pan juices to measure 5 1/2 cups total.

Place roasting pan over 2 burners on medium heat. Add 1/2 cup reserved fat and shallots; sauté 1 minute. Whisk in flour. Cook until roux is light brown, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes. Whisk in wine, stock mixture, mustard, and fresh rosemary. Bring to boil, whisking to blend. Boil until gravy coats spoon, about 3 minutes. Add neck, heart, and gizzard, if desired. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve turkey with gravy.

Thank you lovely Amanda.

Kath’s quote: “How to thaw a frozen turkey: Blow in it’s ear.”-Johnny Carson

and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make

Its Coming on Christmas

December14

D prepares an event each year round about the first week of December.  He has been catering to this same not-for-profit group for the past 12 years.  There are some dishes that are constant-turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, fresh rolls but each year he changes up the salad, stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, another veggie dish and dessert.  This year his menu was as follows:

Cranberry & Spicy Pecan Spinach Salad with Balsamic Dijon Dressing

Broccoli, Wild Rice and Mushroom Stuffing

Mashed Potaoes in their Jackets with Rosemary & Butter

Roaster Red Pepper and Herb Corn

Sliced Sweet Potatoes with Apple Butter

Chocolate Mint Mousse

Here is his Stuffing Recipe that we can’t wait to have again for our dinner on the 25th.

Broccoli, Wild Rice & Mushroom Stuffing

1/2 c uncooked wild rice

1 1/2 c water

2 c chopped fresh broccoli

1/2 c butter

1 1/2 c sliced mushrooms

1 c chopped onion

14 oz. chicken broth

1/2 c sliced almonds

1 16 oz. package of herb seasoned stuffing mix (or substitute equal volume of bread cubes and poultry seasoning to taste)

Bring rice and 1/2 c water to boil.  Cover, reduce to low and simmer 45 minutes.  Place broccoli in a pot with enough water to cover and boil 5 minutes or until slightly tender.  Remove from heat and drain.  Preheat over to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a baking dish.   Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and saute the mushrooms and onions until tender.  Mix in cooked rice, cooked broccoli, stuffing mix , broth and almonds,   Transfer to prepared baking dish .  Bake 30 minutes in pre-heated oven or until golden brown.

Kath’s quote: “No more turkey, but I’d like another helping of that bread he ate.” Anonymous

Love is all around.

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