Thanksgiving and the Full Moon

Photograph by Katherine Brownell©2013

Mindful of the beauty of nature all around us, and with all the talk of the full moon, I felt a Thanksgiving Dinner with a twist would be appropriate.

I wanted the intense  flavors of Thanksgiving with the lightness of summer so I did a bit of a twist.





Recipe:

Ingredient list:

1 box of Stove Top stuffing
4 tablespoons of butter
Water per stuffing directions
4 boneless turkey breasts
Olive oil
1 package of prociutto
 tomatoes on the vine
frozen sweet potato fries
1 3 oz jar of pesto
Aluminum Foil

Directions:

1. I used the microwave to make the Stove Top according to the directions adding the 4 tablespoons of butter on top.  When it finished, I stirred once or twice and let it cool uncovered while I worked with the chicken.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 375 F and cover a low baking dish with foil.
3. Tear off two sheets of foil about 24 inches long and fold the long sides together a couple of times so your foil is twice as wide as it usually is and set aside.
4. Cover cutting board with plastic wrap lay out boneless turkey breasts one at a time, cover with more wrap and beat with a kitchen mallet until about 1/2 inch thick and set aside.
5. Lay out your prepared foil and spray with olive oil cooking spray to prevent sticking.
6. Put down strips of prosciutto so that you have a rectangle in the center with no foil showing.  Then, take chicken out of plastic wrap and lay on top of the prosciutto in one single layer.  The chicken should make a rectangle just slightly smaller than the prosciutto.
7. Now, drop spoonfuls of the pesto randomly onto the pesto and spread with separate knife continuing until you have a thin layer of pesto covering the entire chicken rectangle.
8. Add 1/2-3/4 of the stuffing spreading and flattening until you now see only the stuffing and no pesto.
9. Finally, pick up the closest edge of foil and carefully, pulling the prosciutto from the foil roll the meat until you have a loaf where you can see only prosciutto.
10. Make sure top of loaf has no seam, then seal foil, place on baking pan and cook for about 40-45 minutes.  Use meat themometer to ensure turkey is cooked (Juices run clear.)
11. Increase oven temp to 450 F, open foil wrap carefully and slide loaf off onto baking tray.  Cook for another 10 minutes, turning once, then turn oven temp up to broil and broil until prosciutto is golden brown. (Watch carefully)

While meat is cooking:

1. Heat skillet until just short of smoking, add olive oil, tomatoes still on vine, and frozen sweet potato fries.  Sprinkle both with coarse salt.  As tomatoes cook, rest in pan on all sides.  Cook fries as directed on package (about 3 minutes each side).

Photograph by Katherine Brownell©2013

To serve:

 When meat is finished, remove from oven and allow to rest about 10 minutes, then wrap loaf in parchment paper and cut into slices.  As you can see in the picture below, I served the end piece covered in the prosciutto; it was a lovely color.  Each inside slice shows the turkey stuffing spiral beautifully.  The tomato's color is enhanced by the stove top cooking method and the sweet potato fries were a fun summer twist.

Reflections: I forgot the cranberry so when I use the leftovers tonight, I expect to make a cranberry-merlot reduction and possibly a sweet potato puree. 

Photograph by Katherine Brownell©2013

What do YOU Want to See?

Ok, this weekend I will be working on adding the recipes to each blog post directly below the post so that you don't have to toggle between posts to find them but I have a request.

Are there any categories of recipes that you would like to see more of?

• Under 400 calorie meals
• Vegetarian or Vegan
• Meat, meat, and more meat?
• How do I successfully and easily use a certain herb?
• Fun meals for the kids in all of us?
• 30 minutes or less from grocery bag to table?

Please comment below and let me know what you might be interested in.  You'll really be helping me find direction and focus to help me heal.

Thanks,

Sally Bee

Pan Seared Trout with Parmesan Risotto

Photo taken by Katherine Brownell ©2013

For a refreshing but satisfying summer meal, on one of those 94 degree (F) days, I wanted the refreshing flavors of the wild caught trout.
Infused with rosemary, I paired it with a simple Parmesan Risotto.  Sitting down to enjoy with a glass of Pinot Noir wine, it was the perfect summer meal.

I had one small section of fish that was simply too thin to cook alongside everything else without becoming overdone.  I separated it and cooked as a crispy fish skin "chip" and it went very well with the rest of the meal.

Photo taken by Katherine Brownell ©2013

 Recipes will be added shortly right here!  Check back soon please.

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Day 2 Leftovers Create Unique Breakfast in Bed

A bit of a twist on an old friend: scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, and steak with mushrooms and ham.

In a small saucepan, I made scrambled eggs with butter, using creme freche at the end to keep them very smooth.

In a larger hot frying pan,I took some slices of potato I had cooked quickly in the microwave and tossed them on top of a couple of fresh garlic pieces, Italian seasonings, butter, and olive oil. When they were golden brown, I turned them over once.  When they were done, I popped them into a waiting coffee filter to drain.

Finally, I deconstructed the one of the last pieces of leftover Beef Wellington made with the Lawhon's Fillet and quickly heated it in the hot pan I used to cook the potatoes.  I separated all the pieces which gave me some mushroom, steak, and a bit of pastry (biscuit).

Reflections: Because I basically had everything done already and I sliced the potatoes, it took only the time to cook the eggs to make everything else and my husband had breakfast in bed; a rare treat!

Yummy Lemon Squares

A fairly easy dessert to make if you have a food processor.  I made this with my daughter.  I made the crust while she was making the filling.  This kind of teamwork in the kitchen made for a fun rainy summer afternoon as well as a terrific refreshing summer dessert.

I served with a bit of no sugar added caramel and a lovely Caramel Praline ice cream from Publix.  The sweet in the caramel and ice cream balances the tart lemon flavor that is achieved by using whole lemon in your food processor!

Reflections:  Cook a bit longer than the recipe calls for as they were no longer jiggly when we pulled them but I felt like they should have cooked another 5-7 minutes.

Easy Summer Greek Salad

So easy to make but this salad looks like you spent a lot of time on it.  I sliced sweet onions and plum tomatoes, sprinkled with good olive oil, covered the whole dish with clear plastic wrap and refrigerated for an hour. While this was cooling, I peeled a cucumber.  Once the skin was gone, I continued to peel long thin slices of cucumber and curled them on the plate like spaghetti.  I added the chilled tomatoes and onions and drizzled a bit of Greek salad dressing on the whole thing.  I would have added some fire roasted red peppers and Greek olives but didn't want to go back to the supermarket one more time; I have been living there lately.

Reflections:  Next time, I'll add small strips of fire roasted tomatoes and Greek olives for a salty finish.  I could add just few bits of feta cheese to finish it off nicely, too.