Gathering Around the Table

Once again I searched for recipes for a particular cut of meat, only to end up making up my own recipe. I guess that is par for the course with me.

I had a rough plan for a turkey tenderloin that had been waiting in the freezer. I had prosciutto on hand for another dish, so I pulled that into play. I also had homemade pesto in the freezer, so I think I have the beginnings of a plan. Salt and pepper round out the ingredients for my on-the-fly recipe. Please ignore the white wine and homemade turkey stock as I opted to not use those things in this recipe.

The first step was to carefully cut the turkey tenderloin almost all the way through so that the meat could be opened like a book. This is called butterflying the meat.

The next step was to cover the meat with plastic wrap and then pound it into a uniform thickness.

A thin layer of pesto coated the tenderloin.

Then the buttery slices of prosciutto covered that.

My daughter was nice enough to pick up the camera so you could see the rolling process. I used the plastic wrap to help roll the meat.

I worked away from me in order to get a tight roll.

A bit of salt and pepper were sprinkled on the outside of the roll. The roulade was sealed in the plastic and put in the refrigerator for a few hours. This will help the roll keep its shape when cooked.

The roulade went into a hot pan and was allowed to sear. After the sides were nicely browned, the pan was placed into the oven so that the meat could finish cooking. A meat thermometer confirmed that the internal temperature had reached 155 degrees.

After resting, the roulade was sliced.

Marinara sauce added a nice component to the pesto and prosciutto. I think I have a winner here.

Roasted green beans with shallots and bacon and homemade mashed potatoes round out the dinner. See, I really do make homemade mashed potatoes; it's just that my daughter likes store-bought mashed potatoes better. Guess I need to get a potato ricer so that my mashed potatoes won't be lumpy.

Now, if you recall, I had the prosciutto on hand for something else. This was that something else...

Cantaloupe and prosciutto. The sweet melon combined with the buttery, salty prosciutto was just sublime. What a nice way to round out this Italian-inspired dinner.

Cold Weather Preparedness

The temperatures are expected to dip below freezing tonight, so I harvested the remaining tomatoes and chile peppers. I also cut the rest of the basil as it would not survive the freeze. The tomatoes and chile peppers will stay in the garage as they continue to ripen off the vine. The basil is destined to become pesto, which ironically enough, will end up in the freezer.

The last of the season's warm weather crops. Good bye, summer.

The basil leaves are ready to be processed with Parmesan cheese, pecans, garlic, salt, red pepper flakes and olive oil.





Beautiful, nutty basil pesto.



I think it's time to cook dinner now.

The cold weather is just begging for a nice, hot beef stew.
Here we have cornstarch, salt, pepper, paprika, beef, bacon, Worcestershire sauce, red potatoes, tomato, homemade beef stock, allspice, carrots, onion, bay leaves, celery, sugar, thyme and garlic.

I always find that the beef stew meat from the grocery store is cut into too large of pieces.

There, much better. Each piece should be bite-size.

First I cut and cooked two slices of bacon and set that aside. One pound of beef is cooked in batches in the bacon drippings. Add more oil if needed.

I peeled and sliced two carrots, some onion and two celery stems. I also chopped up a tomato and three small red potatoes. The garlic is minced and two mushrooms that managed to avoid the photo shoot were cut into chunks.

After the meat has been browned and set aside, the veggies go into the pot with just a bit more olive oil so that they can saute a bit before the liquid is added to the mix.

Now the meat is added back to the pot. Two bay leaves, two stems of fresh thyme, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, a pinch of allspice and 1/4 teaspoon paprika and 2 cups of still-frozen beef stock are also added. More water can be added if needed.

The beef stew simmers for a couple of hours. Half an hour before serving, mix two tablespoons cornstarch with 1/4 cup cold water. Stir together and add a bit of the hot liquid to the slurry before adding that to the stew. Stir and allow the mixture to come to a brief boil before turning the heat back down to a bare simmer. Pull the bay leaves and the thyme sprigs out and discard.

I bought a nice loaf of Pane Bello (Italian for beautiful bread) that was made by a local bakehouse. Butter and jelly and some red seedless grapes round out this simple, but filling dinner.

Let's Talk Turkey - Roulade

I finally broke down and bought a real meat mallet and I was itching to try a recipe that actually required the use of said mallet. But what to make? Well, we haven't had turkey in a while, so I bought some turkey cutlets that I could play with.

As often happens, I simply could not find a recipe for turkey roulade that I liked, so I made up my own recipe. Come along and watch the fun.

Let's see: we have three turkey cutlets, some Dijon mustard, 2 pesto portions, thinly sliced deli ham, and provolone cheese slices. Since my daughter loves her mozzarella cheese, I used that for her turkey roulade.

Place a turkey cutlet between plastic wrap.

Then pound away. See how letting a bit of aggression out works?

Spread some Dijon mustard on the cutlet.

Add the ham slices...

Next, the nice pesto...

And finally add the cheese.

Roll tightly and place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. This helps the roll to hold its shape and I didn't need to tie the roulade.

Now we cook. I seasoned with salt and black pepper before searing the roulades on all sides.

At this point, I put the pan in the oven and let the turkey roulades finish cooking. Once the internal temperature reached 165 degrees, I pulled them out of the oven and covered for 5 minutes. Notice that the turkey roulades stayed in a nice roll all through the cooking process.

I think we have a winner. The pesto and Dijon mustard added a nice bite to the roulades, while the ham and cheese added more flavor to the turkey.

Meanwhile, I got busy with a side dish. I had been wanting to try a turnip dish, but knew I would have to sneak it into my unsuspecting family's dinner.

Clockwise from left we have a turnip, red potatoes, a carrot, a russet potato, vidalia onion, some freshly dried rosemary and the remaining red onions from my garden (they were supposed to grow up to be scallions, but they apparently decided to skip that step).

This was also a great way to clear out my produce bin.

What a colorful mix. Add salt and pepper and toss with olive oil. Bake for one hour in a 350 to 375 degree oven.

After 30 minutes I added some sliced crimini mushrooms and returned the pan to the oven.

Hee, hee. No one even asked about the turnips. I'm good, oh yeah.

Pass the Pesto, Please

A few days ago I decided to Just Ask Rosietm for some ideas on what to do with my fresh basil. Pesto was one of the helpful ideas that Rosie gave me, so I went to work.

The first step was to find a recipe I wanted to use. As I had some nice roasted and salted pecans on hand, I searched for a pesto recipe featuring pecans. You might notice that this is a vegan recipe, but since we have no problem with eating real Parmesan cheese, I simply substituted that for the soy cheese.

And now, on with the show.

The mise en place (clock-wise from upper left): fresh basil (wash and pat dry just before use), sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan cheese (I have parmigiano-reggiano on hand), roasted and salted pecans, garlic cloves and red pepper flakes.

First, chop 1/2 cup pecans in a food processor.

Add 2 cups packed basil leaves, 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 cloves chopped garlic, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Briefly process. Stream in up to 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil until the desired consistency is reached. Do not over-process.

I followed Rosie's advice and portioned the pesto into an ice cube tray. I then covered it in plastic wrap and froze.

A couple of days later I popped the pesto portions out and placed them in a zip-top bag before placing them back in the freezer.

Thanks Rosie!