Turkey Rolls

I was first introduced to this recipe several years ago by a caterer at an event.  Intrigued, I asked for the recipe and I received it.  There were just three ingredients: deli turkey slices, an instant stuffing mix, and turkey gravy.

The first time I recreated this recipe at home, I used some name brand deli turkey slices, Stove Top Stuffing (tm), and jarred turkey dressing.  It was good, but rather salty for our tastes.

The second time I made it, I sought out lower sodium turkey slices and low-sodium Stove Top Stuffing (tm).  That was much more palatable.


It has been years since I have made this dish.

Why?

Because I no longer use processed foods in this house.
No Stove Top Stuffing (tm) with its gazillion ingredients, most of which are unpronounceable.
And no more jarred turkey dressing with its chicken fat ingredients that I cannot have.

So if we are to have this dish, I will be making it the old fashioned way.

But is it any more difficult?

The ingredients for "real" turkey rolls are:

Castle Wood deli turkey slices

1 /2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup diced onion

1 rib diced celery

1/4 teaspoon dried Herbes de Provence

 2 cups dry cornbread stuffing crumbles

1 cup water

1 cup turkey stock

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Saute the onion and celery in the olive oil over medium-high heat until translucent.  Add the Herbes de Provence and the cornbread.

Add the water and stir until combined.  Take off the heat.

Place a bit of the mixture into a turkey slice and roll tightly.  Place into a baking dish.  Continue until all the cornbread mixture is used.

Make the dressing:  Melt the butter and the flour together.  Allow the flour to "cook" so that it loses the raw flavor.  Keep stirring.  Do not walk away!  Add the turkey stock and simmer until it is reduced down to a nice consistency.  Salt to taste*.

*I never salt my stocks when I make them as I never know what I will be using them for later.  This way, I can better control the sodium levels of my foods.

Pour the gravy over the turkey rolls and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Was this more difficult?  Not really.  The "stove top dressing that I made only took about seven minutes to make and only had six ingredients, not counting the ingredients that were in the cornbread.  It only took a couple of minutes to make the gravy, so no big deal there, either.

But here is the big kicker: The original recipe had 1,300 milligrams of sodium per serving.

 I was able to reduce that to 1, 140 milligrams.

However, the homemade version only has 760 milligrams of sodium per serving .

And that is just one small benefit of eating homemade foods, my friends.

 

And how good was this?

This good.

This very good.

The Palm Sunday Snow Storm

When I was a very young girl, we had to worry about tornado outbreaks on Palm Sunday.

In fact, I had a friend who survived being thrown over a mile out of her crib by a tornado from the ruins of her family's brand new home that they had just moved into that weekend.  Palm Sunday tornadoes were the stuff of nightmares in our neck of the woods.

And along comes "Global Warming."  

So what do we get?  A snow storm!

A snow storm.  

What's next?  A hurricane?  A volcano?  Killer bees?  Cuddly Kittens?

Okay, I can take the last.  

I'd take cuddly kittens any day.

Just don't tell my allergist.  He wouldn't be happy about that.

Anyway, back to the snow storm.

 The sleet turned over to snow and it started coming down in a hurry.

This was just after fifteen minutes of snow.  Stay tuned for more snow from 

Sunny Southern Indiana(tm).

Dining a la Food Truck

This past Friday the Foodie Daughter and I finally made good on our agreement to go visit the newest food truck in Bloomington.  The Big Cheeze serves gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches with playful names, such as the Wimpy, the Vatican, and the Skinny Wich.

They also serve soup, fries, and mozzarella sticks.

It's a balmy 30 degrees or so and snow flurries are in the air, so what better time to visit a food truck?

The menu.

I ordered the Momma Smacker on whole wheat bread.

This sandwich had smoked Gouda cheese melted with the BBQ Train's* pulled BBQ pork, and caramelized onions.

I never would have thought of adding pulled BBQ pork to a grilled cheese sandwich, but it works.

*The BBQ Train is another local place that puts out some good barbecue.  It runs out of a local gas station and convenience store.  Sadly, it is only open seasonally, and then only on certain days of the week.

The Foodie Daughter had the King Curtis.  

This was cheddar cheese with crispy smoked bacon.

We decided to share an order of french fries.  

Very good.

We decided to eat in the car as it was a cold, blustery day.

All this for $13.  As the Foodie Daughter said, this was worth the trip to town.

Venison Medallions Steak Diane

Sunday night saw just the Foodie Husband and myself home for dinner as the Foodie Daughter had gone up to Indianapolis (or Indy) to visit our son, his wife, and our grandson.
In preparation for a rare dinner for two, I had dug the remaining two venison medallions out of the freezer and placed them in the refrigerator to thaw.  Then I searched the Internet for a nice recipe.

I quickly found an old standard, Venison a la Diane, or Venison Medallions Steak Diane.  In the 50s and 60s, Steak Diane, made with Beef Filet Mignon, was a standard on the menus of upscale restaurants.  However, as this dish was named after Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, venison was the original meat of choice for the dish.  Sauce Diane was first mentioned by Escoffier in 1907, so this dish has been around for a while.

I made some changes to the recipe noted in the link above, but there are truly dozens of variations of Steak Diane, so I am certain that one more variation will not hurt anyone.

But first the side dish.

I have an old Jenn Air range with just two burners and a grill, which means that I usually can only use one burner at a time unless I am using two small pots at the same time.  

Since I needed a large pan to saute the broccoli after I first blanched it, I needed to finish the broccoli before attending to the venison medallions.  It's a pain to cook meals this way, but a Foodie does what a Foodie has to do.

Here the broccoli has just been blanched.  Dunk in salted boiling water for 30 seconds before immediately plunging in ice water to cool.  This sets the vivid green color.  

Then dry on a clean kitchen towel.  This step can be done ahead of time.

I have to admit that I prefer my broccoli raw, but I decided to do something different this time.

Sauteed Broccoli

serves 2

1 head broccoli, cut into florets

1 tablespoon olive oil 

Salt

Black pepper

3 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Parmigiano Reggiano, for serving

Mix the brown sugar and the cheese together and set aside.

Saute the broccoli in the olive oil and add the salt and black pepper.  I opted to omit the red pepper flakes as the Foodie Husband does not appreciate heat.

After the broccoli was finished cooking, I tossed it with the cheese mixture and placed it in a warm oven while I worked on the venison.

Venison a la Diana
serves 2

2 venison medallions
Salt
black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon onion, minced
1 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 cup venison stock or beef broth*
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Enough heavy cream to turn the sauce the color of coffee-with-cream, about 1/4 cup
Minced herbs for garnish (basil, parsley, chives, etc)**

*I didn't have beef stock in the freezer, so I had to resort to *gasp* beef base dissolved in hot water.  I also neglected to re-read the recipe and accidentally used 1 cup instead of 1/2 cup, so it took longer to reduce the sauce.  Live and learn.

**Sadly, tis the wrong time of year for fresh herbs, so no lovely garnish for the dish at the end.

1. Bring the venison loin out of the fridge, salt it well and let it come to room temperature, at least 20 minutes.
2. Heat the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat for about 90 seconds. Pat the venison dry with a paper towel and cook it on all sides. Turn the heat to medium so the butter doesn’t scorch, and take your time. It should take about 8-10 minutes or so to get a nice brown crust on the venison without overcooking the center. Remove the venison, tent loosely with foil and set aside.
3. Add the onion to the saute pan and cook for 1 minute, then add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Don’t let the garlic burn. Deglaze the pan with the sherry, scraping off any stuck-on bits in the pan with a wooden spoon. Let the sherry cook down almost to a glaze, then add the beef stock, tomato paste, mustard and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine. Let this boil down until a wooden spoon dragged across the pan leaves a trail behind it that does not fill in for a second or two. This should take about 3 minutes on high heat.
4. Turn off the heat and let the boiling subside. Stir in the cream until the sauce is as light as you like. Don’t let the sauce boil again or it could break.
5. Slice the venison into thick medallions. If you find you have not cooked it enough, let the meat swim in the sauce for a few moments to heat through. If the venison is to your liking, pour some sauce on a plate and top with the meat. Garnish with some chopped herbs. Chives are traditional, but basil and parsley are also nice. Serve with a big red wine, like a Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Petit Verdot or Graciano.

First I sauteed the venison medallions in the butter over medium to medium high heat. until nicely seared on all sides.  Then I removed the venison from the pan and covered them with foil to rest.

Even though I had read and re-read the recipe a couple of times, I still goofed.  I added the sherry before the onion and garlic.  But I did reduce the sherry nicely.

Now the onion and garlic have been added.

Then I added the remaining ingredients and reduced, reduced, reduced.  Especially since I added too much beef stock.  Just that much more flavor.

The recipe suggests that one use bread to sop up the extra sauce.  We were trying to be good and eat healthfully.  This was very good, even if my venison medallion was a bit gamy.

I would definitely recommend this sauce for venison or beef.

And the broccoli was divine as well.

Have the Parmigiano Reggiano and a grater on hand so that your guests can grate more cheese on top of the broccoli if desired.

What a lovely repast for a dinner for two.

Snow!

This has been some winter already; between a blizzard right after Christmas, a nasty sinus infection and then my computer's hard drive going wonky and being in the shop for a couple of weeks.  Is it spring yet?

*Pst, breaking news: Punxsutawney Phil says that spring will arrive early this year.  Whew.

Anyway, for those of you who like the snow,

enjoy the pics.

 There's "my" barn.

I love old barns.  

 

 The garden is sleeping.

 My daughter and I headed up the committee for the Super Bowl Party for the UClub this past Sunday.  I took this picture on the way out to the car.

 The next day I returned and took more pictures.

Enjoy and warm thoughts.

A Late Christmas Present to My Readers

Between preparing for the holidays and my other commitments, 

I have barely had time to myself, let alone time to blog.

With that in mind, I gathered up a few pictures of the season that I had been saving

and decided to gift them to you in this rare moment of downtime that I have.

It also doesn't hurt that I am currently stuck inside due to an early season blizzard.

 

 Festive lights on a horse-drawn carriage in downtown Indianapolis.

I liked the effect here as we sped past them on the street.

 The Circle Centre Mall Conservatory over Illinois and Washington Streets is lit up for the season.

 Another group enjoying a carriage ride.

 Monument Circle is lit up like a Christmas tree.

 The tree on the first floor of the Scottish Rite Cathedral is decked out.

 We enjoyed a lovely sunset on one of the final days of autumn.

 And then we received snow on the first day of winter.

I took this picture for friend and fellow blogger,

Rosie Hawthorne, of Kitchens Are Monkey Business fame.

I know how she loves her snow.

After I took this picture out the back door, I had to go collect the cat, who decided to venture outside.  Bad Minx.

 The next morning we awoke to find that we had about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of snow.

The schools were cancelled for the day.

Wimps.

 Fast forward to the day after Christmas and see what we woke up to see outside our windows.

Now this is what you call snow.

Thus far we have 11" of snow on the ground.

 Of course, this also means that I am stuck at home with a house full of people who couldn't get to work.

 We wish you and yours a happy and safe holiday season,

from all of us at the Foodie household.