Showing posts with label turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label turkey. Show all posts
This was the Thanksgiving weekend back in Canada. I can never celebrate it properly at the right time of year because it is impossible to get a whole turkey without paying an arm and a leg for it at this time of year, if you can get one at all. A month makes all the difference in the world. Were it November, I would be able to get one quite easily.
I suppose what I should do is buy an extra one at Christmas or Easter and have it in the freezer, but I never think to do that!
You can get all kinds of other turkey bits all throughout the year. Turkey steaks, Turkey cubes. Turkey breast fillets, ground turkey . . . just no whole turkeys.
I quite like turkey myself and enjoy it in any way shape or form.
In any case I made us these delicious Cranberry & Apple Turkey Meatballs, instead of a roast turkey and we enjoyed them.
All the flavours of Thanksgiving in a bite sized meat ball . . . moist and tender . . .
I added grated raw apple and chopped dried cranberries to the meat mixture, along with some garlic and onion powder, a bit of seasoning and some dried sage . . .
There is an egg and dried bread crumbs as well to bind everything together. You shape this mixture into balls and then bake them in a hot oven for about 12 to 15 minutes. Easy peasy.
While they are baking you make a simple and delicious sauce to pour over them.
It also uses simple ingredients. Cranberry sauce. I like the whole berry sauce . . .
A bit of unsweetened applesauce . . . some Balsamic vinegar for a tang . . . orange juice, maple syrup and some finely grated orange zest . . .
The sauce is so delicious you will want to eat it with a spoon, but please don't! You need it for the meatballs!
Together these are incredibly delicious. You can make them ahead of time and keep them warm in a slow cooker on low for several hours. You decide.
Yield: Makes about 2 dozen
Cranberry & Apple Turkey Meatballs
Sweet and tangy, deliciously moist meatballs. These low fat meatballs make a great main course or a delightful appetiser or nibble.
ingredients:
For the meatballs:
- 1 pound of lean ground turkey
- 45g dried cranberries, chopped
- 1 tart apple, peeled and grated
- 60g dry bread crumbs (1/2 cup)
- 1 large free range egg, beaten
- 1 tsp each onion granules and dried sage
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
For the sauce:
- 280g whole berry cranberry sauce (1 cup)
- 2 dessert spoons of unsweetened applesauce (1/4 cup)
- 2 TBS balsamic vinegar
- 2 TBS pure maple syrup
- 1 TBS orange juice
- the finely grated zest of one orange
instructions:
How to cook Cranberry & Apple Turkey Meatballs
- Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a baking tray with baking paper and lightly oil the paper.
- Mix the ground turkey together with the bread crumbs, egg, all of the seasonings and spices, the grated apple and the chopped dried cranberries, until well combined. Shape into meatballs using a light touch. Try not to compact them too much. Place them into a single layer on the baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. The juices should run clear.
- While the meatballs are cooking make the sauce by combining all of the ingredients in a saucepan, whisking until heated through and well combined. Add the cooked meatballs, turning to coat them in the sauce. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with some chopped parsley if desired. Serve hot.
NOTES:
You can keep these warm in a slow cooker set on low setting.
These are great as a nibble during the holiday season when people do a lot of entertaining. Today we enjoyed them as a main course. They are pretty tasty no matter how you choose to enjoy them!
Up tomorrow: The steak rub I promised for today. (In all truth my turkey was due to expire and I needed to use it pronto!)
This is a deliciously simple supper dish that I have had in my wait queue for a very long time. I don't know why it has taken me so long to post it. I guess life got in the way!
I enjoy a real love affair with Tex Mex food. When I first moved over here it was very difficult to find anything Tex Mex, and ingredients to make your own dishes were few and far between.
I used to bring my own chili powder and taco seasoning, etc. back with me when I came back to the UK after Canadian visits. I learnt to make my own seasoning mixes as well, using what I had to hand.
Thankfully it is a lot easier to find Tex Mex ingredients over here nowadays. I think we have Thomasina Meirs to thank for that. She won the BBC Master Chef competition back in 2005 and was instrumental in introducing Tex Mex flavours to the UK and the contest with her innovative style and her love of Mexico and its food.
Tex Mex ingredients are not as hard to come by these days . . . with the exception of canned green chilies and tomatillos. I still have a hard time finding them.
In fact I do my own green chilies. I buy a bag of green jalapeno chilies every time I shop just about, and roast them and then freeze them in small batches, ready to use when I need them. There is no substitute for the tomatillos . . .
I make my own Taco Seasoning and my own Enchilada Sauce. Both are very easily done and I know what is in them, preservative free, and free from any nasty chemicals, additives, etc. I can also control the amount of salt and sugar. More ready made foods contain far too much of both.
I make my own flour tortillas also. You can find my Flour Tortilla Recipe here. They are very easy to make and tastes a bazillion times better than store bought. At first you might make some rather irregular shaped ones, but with time you will get better. Of course you could use a Tortilla press, if you are lucky enough to have one. I am not. I simply roll the dough into balls and then roll it out into thin rounds with a rolling pin.
This recipe today is like stacked Enchiladas I guess . . . with separate layers of re fried beans, enchilada sauce and cheese . . .
interspersed with turkey taco meat. You can use ground beef if you want. We prefer turkey. For me its a texture thing. For Todd it is a case of eating what's put in front of you, lol.
After spending 15 years on his own before we got married, he is just happy to have someone who cooks and does it well. His meals are never boring.
You layer up the beans and the taco meat in the tortillas, along with the cheese and enchilada sauce, finishing with a final layer of enchilada sauce and cheese on top . . . after that it is an easy bake in the oven until the flavours meld together and the cheese melts and its all heated through perfectly . . .
I like to sprinkle some chopped olives and spring onions on top when they are done. I cut them into wedges and serve with up with either additional warm enchilada sauce (OR salsa) and some sour cream to dollop on top. A salad on the side also goes very well!
Yield: 4
Stacked Turkey Mexi-Melts
These are surprisingly hearty and delicious. Serve with a salad on the side for a complete meal.
ingredients:
- 6 (8-inch) flour tortillas
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 package of taco seasoning mix
- 1 small tin of re fried beans (200g/8ounce)
- 1/2 jar enchilada sauce (I make my own) (about 1 cup)
- 120g grated strong cheddar cheese (1 cup)
- 130g grated Jack cheese (1 cup)
- chopped spring onions
- chopped green and black olives
- Additional enchilada sauce or salsa and sour cream to serve
instructions:
How to cook Stacked Turkey Mexi-Melts
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F. gas mark 6. Line several large baking trays with foil. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
- Spray a skillet with some low fat cooking spray. Heat over medium heat, crumble in the ground turkey and then scramble fry it until no more pink remains. Sprinkle on the taco seasoning mix and add about 60ml/1/4 cup of water. Cook on low heat until everything thickens up nicely.
- Scrape the tin of refried beans into a bowl. Mash them up with a fork to loosen them a bit.
- Mix together both cheeses.
- Lay out two tortillas on the prepared baking sheet. spread 1/2 of the enchilada sauce over top. Spoon over the refried beans, spreading them out evenly. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese. Top with another tortilla. Divide the ground turkey between the two tortilla stacks and spread it out evenly. Top with another 1/3 of the cheese and the final tortillas. Spread the remainder of the enchilada sauce evenly over top of each stack and then sprinkle with the remainder of the cheese.
- Place into the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until heated through and slightly crisp on the edges. Remove from the oven. Mix together the chopped olives and spring onions. Sprinkle half on top of each stack.
- Cut into quarters to serve along with some warmed enchilada sauce or salsa and sour cream for spooning on top.
These are just so, so, SO good! I hope you will try them out and like them as much as we do!
Up Tomorrow: Homestyle Baked Haddock
Turkey Croque Monsieur. The Croque Monsieur Sandwich has to be one of my favourite sandwiches, and I love sandwiches.
One of my greatest weaknesses has to be sandwiches. I know that I have many weaknesses, of which these are only one, but . . . on a scale of 1 to 10, sandwiches are a 10+ for me. I just adore sandwiches.
My Aunt Freda also loved sandwiches, so I guess we are a lot alike in that respect. If it is between two slices of tasty bread, I love it . . . for the most part.
There are a very few exceptions.
I know most people will have cooked their turkeys for Christmas (or Thanksgiving) and you might not have leftover turkey in the house at the moment.
We cooked our Turkey at New Years. It is important to note that you could also make these with slices of Deli-turkey. Just so you know. You don't actually need leftover turkey to make these. Deli-turkey is delicious also!
I have made Croque Monsieur sandwiches in the past with ham. You can find that here.
They were most delicious. Topped with a fried egg, they become a Croque Madame. Also most delicious.
I found a recipe for this tasty Turkey Croque-Monsieur on the Jamie Oliver site. I love Jamie Oliver recipes, so often troll there.
Attributed to Chef Bruno Loubet from the Bistro Bruno Loubet, in London's Clerkenwell, it looked and sounded absolutely fabulous.
It would also allow me to use up some of our leftover Christmas cheeses and cranberry sauce! Win/win/win all round!
You cannot beat the combination of turkey, cranberry, bacon, cheese, etc. Need I go on?
You begin by making a delicious Stilton cheese sauce, lightly flavoured with Dijon mustard. It is luscious and rich.
This gets spread on the bottom slice of bread (use a rustic white bread) after you have spread the bread with some cranberry sauce.
Gruyere cheese gets grated on top of that and then you layer on turkey, the top slice of bread, also spread with some of that luscious Stilton cheese sauce . . .
A final grating of Gruyere cheese and they are ready to toast in the oven . . . a hot oven . . .
Just until the sauce has bubbled and melted a bit, along with that cheese . . . gilding the sandwiches with a blanket of deliciousness . . .
This sandwich is so simple to make. If you can make a simple cheese sauce, you can make this!
Its also very quick to make once you have all of the ingredients assembled . . .
And it is incredibly delicious!
So delicious that while I was meaning only to have a tiny taste . . . before I knew it half the sandwich had disappeared and I was licking my chops. I'll start my diet on Monday. 😏
Yield: 4
Turkey Croque-Monsieur
prep time: 15 minscook time: 15 minstotal time: 30 mins
A deliciously different turkey sandwich, with layers of a tender turkey breast, cranberry sauce, a Stilton bechamel, and Gruyere cheese! Rich and fabulously tasty!
ingredients:
3 TBS butter
5 TBS flour
400ml milk (1 2/3 cup)
2 TBS Dijon Mustard
100g Stilton cheese (3 1/2 ounces) crumbled
8 slices of a sturdy crusty white bread
cranberry sauce
100g Gruyere cheese (3 12 ounces)
400g sliced cooked turkey (14 ounces, scant pound)
salt and black pepper as needed
instructions:
Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a baking tray with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
Melt
the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for several
minutes. Slowly whisk in the cold milk and cook, stirring constantly,
until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Stir in the mustard and
crumbled Stilton. Whisk to melt the cheeses and then remove from the
heat. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.
the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for several
minutes. Slowly whisk in the cold milk and cook, stirring constantly,
until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Stir in the mustard and
crumbled Stilton. Whisk to melt the cheeses and then remove from the
heat. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.
Spread
four slices of the bread with cranberry sauce and then half of the
Stilton sauce. Place onto the baking sheet. Grate half of the Gruyere
cheese over top. Place the sliced turkey on top of the Gruyere cheese.
Spread the remaining Stilton sauce over the other four slices of bread
and place on top of the turkey. Grate the remaining Gruyere cheese over
all.
four slices of the bread with cranberry sauce and then half of the
Stilton sauce. Place onto the baking sheet. Grate half of the Gruyere
cheese over top. Place the sliced turkey on top of the Gruyere cheese.
Spread the remaining Stilton sauce over the other four slices of bread
and place on top of the turkey. Grate the remaining Gruyere cheese over
all.
Created using The Recipes Generator
If you don't have turkey to use, or are all turkey'd out (understandable) do bookmark this to make at some future date. You will not be sorry you did! Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for
visiting. Do come again!
I have always been fond of the flavours of Teriyaki. Teriyaki is a Japanese term for fish or meat that has been marinated or cooked in a Teriyaki sauce/marinade, which is generally composed of soy sauce, sake or mirin, ginger, and sugar (or honey). Sometimes garlic is also added
Today I decided to adapt my favourite Teriyaki Meatball recipe to use ground turkey instead of beef, with excellent results. We like ground turkey in our house, but if you don't, feel free to use ground beef in it's place, or even pork or ground chicken!
Just make sure you use a mix of ground breast and thigh meat for the best results. Using all breast meat will result in dry meatballs. Just a warning here. You want a bit of fat to help to keep them succulent!
There is plenty of garlic in the meatballs themselves, plus some spring onions, an egg white, lemon juice and seasoning. No bread crumbs are used and if you use gluten free soya sauce in the sauce, these are completely gluten free for those who are gluten intolerant.
Just mix all of the meatball ingredients together, making sure they are well combined. (Do use a light touch, as too rough a handling will toughen ground meat. ) Wet your hands and shape them into balls about the size of a walnut.
You should get about 20 balls. I like to brown them in a bit of oil in a hot skillet. Just keep turning them as they brown, until they are golden brown all over. I use an old pair of tongs for this and it works fine. They shouldn't stick.
Once they are all golden brown, I pop them into a baking dish and pour the teriyaki sauce over and bake until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce has thickened a bit. Sometimes I double the sauce because it is really very yummy and we like a lot of sauce.
These are great served with steamed or fried rice. I think steamed rice is actually best, but today I did broccoli fried rice as I had some broccoli which needed using up. Delicious!
Yield: 4
Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs
prep time: 10 minscook time: 25 minstotal time: 35 mins
I converted my favourite Teriyaki Meatball Recipe to use ground turkey instead of chicken or beef. Make sure you don't use the really lean turkey as they will be a bit dry.
ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey (use a mix of breast and thigh meat)
3 spring onions, finely minced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and grated
1 large free range egg white
1 1/2 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Oil for shallow frying
(use a mild flavoured oil, such as sunflower)
For the sauce:
80ml Japanese Mirin (Sweet Rice Wine)
2 TBS dark soy sauce
1 TBS liquid honey
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Thinly sliced spring onions to garnish
instructions:
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Have ready a shallow
baking dish large enough to hold the meatballs in a single layer.
baking dish large enough to hold the meatballs in a single layer.
Mix
the turkey, onions, garlic, egg white lemon juice, salt and black
pepper together with a fork to well combine. Shape into around 20
meatballs, setting them onto a parchment lined plate as you go along.
the turkey, onions, garlic, egg white lemon juice, salt and black
pepper together with a fork to well combine. Shape into around 20
meatballs, setting them onto a parchment lined plate as you go along.
Place
a thin layer of oil in a heated skillet. Once it is hot add the
meatballs in a single layer and cook, turning frequently, until browned
all over, about 5 minutes. Place them into the baking dish in a single
layer. Whisk together the Mirin, soy sauce, honey and ground ginger
until well amalgamated. Pour over the meatballs in the baking dish,
turning them to coat them in the sauce.
a thin layer of oil in a heated skillet. Once it is hot add the
meatballs in a single layer and cook, turning frequently, until browned
all over, about 5 minutes. Place them into the baking dish in a single
layer. Whisk together the Mirin, soy sauce, honey and ground ginger
until well amalgamated. Pour over the meatballs in the baking dish,
turning them to coat them in the sauce.
Bang
into the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the
meatballs are cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Serve hot
with the sauce spooned over, and garnished with thinly sliced spring onions. We like fried or steamed rice with these.
into the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the
meatballs are cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Serve hot
with the sauce spooned over, and garnished with thinly sliced spring onions. We like fried or steamed rice with these.
Created using The Recipes Generator
The sauce on these is not really thick and cloying, but it is really beautifully flavoured. If you don't have any mirin in your cupboard, no worries, it is a bit of an unusual ingredient. Simple subs and hacks can easily mimic mirin’s sweet-tangy flavor. Dry sherry, sweet Marsala wine, dry white wine, and rice vinegar will do the trick, for instance, if you mix in about 1/2 teaspoon sugar per tablespoon. I really hope you will try these and enjoy them! Bon Appetit!
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