Turkey Scallopine w/ Capers & Lemon

How's everyone doing?! 

I'm on cloud 9 right now!  The quarter is pretty much over and we received our grades for our Garde Manger final practical.  We did a 6-course meal (salad, consomme, fish course, intermezzo sorbet, beef entree, and dessert).  We were in teams of 3 and we found out we got an A!  Which is a major big deal, because it's EXTREMELY hard to get an A from the chef we have - and we've done it twice - with our midterm and now with our final!  How awesome is that?!

Anyway, scallopine is usually done with veal, but I saw some turkey breast fillets on sale at the grocery this week and knew I could pull together something quick and tasty with them.  Lemon and capers are such a classic combo and this comes together in such a quick amount of time!  Fancy without the fuss!

Ingredients:

2 turkey breasts, pounded flat and cut in half
salt and pepper, to taste
flour, for dredging
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup white wine
juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon capers

Season the turkey breasts with salt and pepper. Dredge in the flour, dusting off excess.

Heat the butter in a large saute pan under medium high heat.  Add the turkey and saute until golden brown on both sides.  Remove from pan and keep covered and warm.

Deglaze the pan with the white wine and add lemon juice and capers.  Return the turkey to the pan and coat with sauce.

Serve turkey over rice and vegetables and any excess sauce.  Dig on in!

I told you it was easy!  And it's ready in no time - what are you waiting for?!

Citrus-Thyme Beurre Blanc

Happy Wednesday ya'll!

I already feel so accomplished today.  I've worked out (went for a grueling hot 3 mile run!), gone grocery shopping, and mailed off some bills!  And now I'm even doing a blog post!  I'll have to use up my free time as much as I can, because after next week, it's back to school I go!

Anyway, I've been on a sauce kick lately (can't you tell?!) and I want to share another one of my favorite sauces.  A beurre blanc - translated to "white butter".  It's basically an emulsion of white wine/white wine vinegar and butter.  Throw in some herbs, citrus, or pretty much anything, and your possibilities are endless!  Today I'll be doing a Citrus-thyme beurre blanc because those are the flavors I have on hand, but feel free to play with the combinations of flavors!

One important thing to remember with beurre blancs, unless used right away, you need to keep them warm.  However, they can't get too hot (over 136F), or the emulsion will break, releasing the butter fat.  This can be fixed though if you allow the mixture to cool to about 110-120F and then rewhisk the emulsion.  The beurre blanc also can't get too cold.  If the temperature gets below 85F, then the butter fat will solidify.  Reheating it will separate the mixture into butter fat and water.  No rewhisking in the world can save it after that.  You could, however, use it as a softened flavored butter, just not a beurre blanc.  Anyway, let's get to it!

Ingredients:

1/4 oz. champagne/white wine vinegar (I used an orange champagne vinegar from Trader Joe's)
1 oz. white wine, like a chardonnay
juice from 1 lemon
salt and pepper (white, if you have it), to taste
1/4 oz. shallot, minced
1 sprig of thyme
4 oz. butter, cut into 1 oz. portions, chilled

In a small saucepan, combine the white wine, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, thyme, and shallot under medium to medium high heat.  Reduce the mixture to about 2 tablespoons of liquid.  If too much liquid is left, your sauce will be too thin.  Remove the thyme from the mixture (it'll just get in the way when you start whisking)

Turn the heat down to low and whisk in the butter, one portion at a time.  Only add the next piece of butter when the last one is almost melted in.

 

Once all the butter is incorporated, remove saucepan from heat.  Strain the mixture and hold the sauce at a temperature between 100F and 130F or use right away.

A beurre blanc is perfect for topping seafood, chicken, or even beef!  Another versatile sauce that has many different flavors and applications.  Keep these babies in your arsenal when you want to impress - and stay tuned to what I end up doing with my beurre blanc!

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Okay, let's keep it real. 

I'm a person that strives to be the best.  I sometimes even claim to actually be the best.  But in all reality, in most situations - I'm just mediocre. 

But I'm still a competitive beast by nature.  And when things go wrong - I'm not a happy camper.

Take these muffins, for instance.  Yes, they look like normal blueberry muffins on the outside, but you know what?  I really made a big boo-boo on this one.  I forgot the sugar.

I mean... who the heck forgets the sugar?!  Maybe a novice baker.  Maybe a 10 year old.  But me?  This isn't my first baking rodeo.  I've made muffins a million times, and could probably make them with my eyes closed... or not.

It's times like these that I just have to laugh at myself.  One... for being an idiot and forgetting the sugar.  But two, because there are other things in life a little more important than some sugar in some muffins.  And because I was stubborn as all get out - I continued to eat these sugar-less muffins because I didn't want to waste them and admit defeat.  So really... maybe I did come out on top. 

So here's the recipe (as it was supposed to be, sugar-included).

Do you ever have one of those "DOH!" moments in the kitchen?  Feel free to make me feel better by saying I'm not the only one =) 

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar (don't forget it now!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice from 1 lemon
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 500 F.

Fill muffin tin with liners. 

Whisk flour, SUGAR, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.  Fold in blueberries.

In another medium bowl, beat buttermilk, eggs, oil, vanilla, and lemon juice until combined.

Mix liquid ingredients with dry ingredients until incorporated.

Fill muffin liners about 2/3 full.  Place in oven and immediately drop temperature to 400 F.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.

I even tried to salvage the muffins by making a quick glaze with some water and powdered sugar.  While it helped give a bit of a sweet note, it just wasn't the sweet note that permeated the entire muffin like that 1/2 cup of missing sugar would have given!  Oh well... There will be other muffin baking experiences to be had (hopefully including sugar next time)! 

I'm off to bed - See you guys tomorrow!

Lemon Braised Chicken Thighs

Happy Monday everyone!  How was your weekend?

We didn't do much, I had to work on Saturday so Sunday ended up pretty lazy.  With the exception of getting out to play a game of tennis with some friends.  We got our butts handed to us - I blame it on Andy being my partner.  Hehe.

I've also been working on a re-design of the blog.  Of course, it's not quite finished yet, so I'll just have to keep you in suspense.  I also wanted to get a quick opinion about a possible name change.  I realize Andy can't be my "Fiance" for eternity, but I don't know whether to change the name of the blog or not.  I've already changed it once, and if I do change it again, it'll be for good.

So a couple names I've been playing around with are "Andy Likes It So It Must Be Good" (that way, regardless of what he becomes - i.e. my husband, there's no need for a change) and "Feeding Andy".  Either way, I know I'm going to be changing my URL (because frankly, my current one is a little long and ridiculous - which was bad planning on my part when I first made this blog).  So anyway, any suggestions are welcome so feel free to give me your input!

Ingredients:

Adapted from Tastespotting the Blog's recipe

6 boneless and skinless chicken thighs
salt and pepper, to taste
canola oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup white wine
3 thai chiles, minced
2 Bay leaves
4 strips of lemon zest
juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon thyme
1 cup chicken stock
small handful of parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 F and set a cooling rack atop a baking sheet.

Season the chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large cast iron skillet (or other oven-proof skillet/pan) under medium high heat.  Add chicken thighs in one layer and cook until browned, about 4-6 minutes.  Turn thighs over and cook an addition 2-3 minutes to sear the meat.  Transfer the chicken to the cooling rack.

Reduce the heat on the cast iron to medium low and add onions.  Cook until they start to soften, about 2-3 minutes.  Add garlic and chiles and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Pour in the wine and simmer for about 2-3 minutes, or until alcohol has burnt off.  Stir in bay leaves, lemon zest, lemon juice, thyme, and chicken stock.  Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce down to a simmer. 

Transfer skillet to the oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Remove from the oven and garnish with fresh parsley.

This was definitely one of those feel-good meals.  We served it with a mixture of roasted potatoes and beets.  Of course, it would be outstanding with skin-on chicken thighs, as the skin would crisp up - but we're trying to be a tad healthier over here, so we opted out of that. 

Hope you all have a great Monday and see you back here tomorrow afternoon!

Blueberry Bourbon Cocktail

Happy Friday guys! 

Anybody planning anything fun for the weekend?

We have a meeting with a potential caterer tomorrow, so we're really excited about that!  Just another thing to check off the list you know?

And after the somewhat crazy week we've both had, I think one of these cocktails will definitely be in order as well!

But first, don't forget to vote in this week's bi-monthly poll...




Ingredients:

1 to 2 shots bourbon (we used Maker's)
1 cup blueberries
juice from 1 lemon
zest from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon maple syrup, divided
2 tablespoons sugar

We had gotten a bunch of blueberries from our CSA in the past couple of weeks, so I needed to make use of them - and what better way than to make a cocktail?

Start with about 3/4 cup of blueberries.  Muddle them down in a cocktail shaker (or bowl if you don't want to dirty two cocktail shakers) - you could strain them if you'd like, but I was kind of lazy so I went for a "rustic" cocktail.

Add in bourbon, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of maple syrup, and a dash of sugar.  Shake for a good minute or two.

Mix the lemon zest with about a tablespoon of sugar (more if needed) on a flat plate.

Brush the rim of a mason jar with maple syrup and dip in lemon zest/sugar mixture.

Fill the mason jar with ice and some leftover blueberries.  Pour the bourbon cocktail into the jar and garnish with a lemon slice.  Enjoy!

What a way to celebrate the weekend right?

What's your favorite Friday night cocktail?

Ribeye w/ Asparagus

Okay, remember that whole statement from Thursday of me saying that I was going to be getting into some debauchery, but not 'really'?  Well, 'really' happened.  Hehe.  I've been a bit behind (obviously, since there was no post yesterday), so I couldn't just leave you guys empty handed.  And hopefully I'll be up to speed Monday!

So let's talk Ribeye.  A lot of people kind of stray away from ribeye cuts.  Too much marble to work around, and all that jazz.  But me.  I love a good ribeye.  I actually LOVE the marbling (am I sick?  I don't care!)  And the beauty of a ribeye to me, is it's simplicity.  You don't have to jazz it up, you can just let the good grass-fed beef (assuming that you bought a grass-fed beef product) speak for itself.  And to pair it with some simply sauteed asparagus and squirt of lemon juice?  And you have yourself dinner in seriously less than 20 minutes. 

Think I'm crazy?  Think I'm lying?  Try it for yourself.  I'll show ya! =)

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless ribeye steak
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil, for rubbing
about 15-20 asparagus spears
juice from 1 lemon
lemon slices, optional
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, optional

Preheat oven to 500 F.

Heat a large oven-proof skillet under high heat. 

Rub ribeye with olive oil and generously season with salt and pepper on both sides. 

Place ribeye in dry skillet and cook for about 30 seconds.  Using tongs, flip over and cook an additional 30 seconds.

Carefully place skillet in oven and cook for about 3-4 minutes per side, for a medium rare/medium.

Carefully remove skillet from oven and transfer steak to cutting board to rest for about 5 minutes.

While your ribeye is resting, you can prepare your asparagus.  Gently toss the spears with some olive oil, salt and pepper.  Squeeze the juice of half of a lemon onto the asparagus. 

Carefully wipe the skillet used for the steak clean with a paper towel (it'll still be hot, so make sure you're careful!) and heat under high heat.  Melt 1 tablespoon of butter to the skillet and add asparagus.  Saute for about 2-3 minutes or until starting to soften, but still crisp and green.

Cut whole ribeye in half to serve as two steaks.

To plate, arrange about 6-7 spears on a plate and top with one ribeye steak and serve with a lemon wedge.  You can also top your steak with a little pat of butter, if you'd like.

Seriously.  Simplicity.  At. It's Finest.  No joke.  And what did I tell you?  Dinner is ready in 20 minutes!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend guys! 

And I know I've been all about the meat this week, but I promise next week will be a little 'sweeter' and 'lighter'!

Meyer Lemon Poundcake Cupcakes

Well, this post would have come sooner if a certain somebody didn't mistakenly take the USB cable for my camera with him to work instead of his own camera's cable.  But... I'm not complaining.  I've let go of that grudge. Hehe.  But trust me, I wasn't a happy camper earlier.

Anyway, it's been a pretty cruddy day.  It hasn't stopped raining since this morning and the sky is a depressing shade of gray.  Days like these I just want to stay home and bake.  Bake things that brighten up my day and my mood.  Like these cupcakes.  Guaranteed to turn any depressing, gray day into something bright and beautiful!

I brought these into work earlier this week and they practically vanished in no time!  And funny conversation, I told them I used Meyer Lemons and kind of educated them on the difference between it and a regular old lemon, and the whole time I was saying Meyer lemons, my coworkers were thinking I was talking about the grocery store we have around here, Meijer (pronounced the same way), and so they were a bit puzzled why those lemons were so special.  Silly, silly coworkers.  I really have to give them some more citrus education soon. 

Anyway, without further ado (I mean, you've waited long enough), one of the best cupcakes I've ever had...

Ingredients:
Adapted from Cooking on the Side's recipe

They're just waiting to be eaten.

For cupcakes:

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
2 & 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
juice from 1 Meyer lemon
zest from 1 Meyer lemon

For glaze:


1 cup powdered sugar
juice from 1 Meyer lemon

I'm tellin' ya, they go quick!

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and corn starch.

In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy and creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Alternate adding the flour and heavy whipping cream to sugar and eggs.  Stir in vanilla, lemon juice and zest.


Fill each paper liner about 3/4 full with batter.  I had enough batter to make 18 cupcakes and a whole loaf in a bread pan.

Bake cupcakes for about 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake come out clean.  If you decide to make a loaf as well, bake for about 1 hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.


Remove cupcakes from muffin tin and cool on a cooling rack until at room temperature.

To make the glaze, in a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice.  Using a whisk attachment, beat until glaze is smooth and free of lumps from sugar.  Add more lemon juice, if desired.  Top cupcakes with glaze.


Seriously, these were amazing.  The pound cake was perfectly dense and had just the slightest lemon tinge, which was perfect for me - and apparently Andy also, who ate like 5 in one sitting.  Whether you make a loaf or a cupcake, you'll have a hard time keeping these around because I've noticed they have a tendency to just disappear!  Enjoy guys!

Lemon-Shallot Chicken Breasts

So I have to give credit where credit is due.  Andy made this.  And it was excellent.  I'm not saying that Andy is challenged in the culinary department (he makes "man" meals).  He's actually pretty good.  But our styles are very different sometimes.

We have this system.  A system where we trade off weeks to cook.  Whoever's week it is to cook, also pays for the groceries.  A simple system, that results in good food all around. 

This is my week to cook.  But unfortunately, I've had some late shifts this week.  Well. Two.  If you count today, so really not that bad.  But it makes it difficult to sit down and cook a meal when I don't get home until 10 or 11.  So that's where Andy comes into play.  I set him down the night's recipe and he must follow it.  Of course, I'm frantically calling him to make sure he's doing it right - he still thinks margarine = butter.  So, I have all the right in the world to keep calling him, in my opinion.  Hehe.  It's all out of love, trust me.

And he was definitely good at following the directions on this one.  The chicken came out moist and delicious.  I almost feared using chicken breasts because I hate how dry they come out most of the time, but this was different.  Maybe I couldn't have cooked it better myself (but we won't let Andy know that for fear his ego will get larger than it already is).  Anyway, this is a must try!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Ina Garten's 'How Easy Is That'

2 chicken breasts
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 up Madeira wine
juice from 1 lemon
1 shallot, minced
3 tablespoons heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat your oven to 425 F.

Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.

Heat a large cast iron skillet (I'm jealous because Andy was the first to use our newly acquired cast iron that I received for Christmas) under medium high heat.  Add oil and heat until shimmering. 

Place chicken breasts, skin side down, into skillet and cook for about 5-6 minutes (if you use boneless chicken breasts, decrease the cooking time by a minute or two), or until skin is golden brown.

Flip breasts over and bake in over for about 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

While the chicken is roasting, heat a small saute pan under medium high heat.  Add madeira wine, lemon juice, and shallots.  Cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until only a couple tablespoons of liquid remain.  Stir in heavy cream.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from heat.

Stir in butter until it is fully melted.  You want to do this slowly so the sauce does not "break".  Season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Plate the chicken and top with lemon-shallot sauce. 

Andy also served this with some homemade mac and cheese (he really does make some good mac!) and a homemade dinner roll. 

This was definitely delicious and quick for a weeknight meal, that's for sure!  Enjoy guys!

Swiss Chard Stuffed Trout w/ Sauteed Squash & Corn

I've got some great news guys! I always check out food blogs in the morning and 9 times out of 10 always hear someone talking about their CSA this or CSA that. I've never thought to actually check into it and see if Louisville offered CSA services, but it turns out they do! And the CSA season has already started (obviously), but they're still accepting application for new members, so we sent ours in yesterday! I'm really excited because, #1, it'll definitely cut down on our weekly grocery bill, #2, it'll give us the opportunity to use absolutely fresh and in-season ingredients (especially just looking forward to trying new things with some of the produce). Might even do a little blip-it section on what we end up getting every week too. I feel like it's Christmas and I've just received the best present ever. (I know, I'm a little late on the CSA excitement, but hey... better late than never!)

And this is way off the subject, but this Lobster Roll looks mouth-watering and makes me want to go pick up some lobsters to make this right now.

Anyway, keeping on the seafood track, this trout was pretty delicious and easy. And it also happened to be the day that we went all over Louisville to find a WHOLE trout... still couldn't find a whole one, with the head and all, but close enough. (Whole Foods usually is the go-to place for whole fish, but their truck just happened to have broke down in Boston that day and they didn't get a seafood shipment... BUMMER!)


Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's June 2010 issue - 'Escarole-Stuffed Seared Trout'

1 cup chopped swiss chard
1 shallot, thinly sliced
juice from 1 lemon
olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 headless whole trout, cleaned
cornmeal
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
3-4 yellow squash, sliced
1 cup corn

In a medium bowl, toss the chard with the shallots, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Stuff the trout cavities and close with skewers. (My skewers were a bit too large, so you could probably use some thick toothpicks to do this also). Season the outside of the fish with salt and pepper and sprinkle with cornmeal.

In a large skillet, heat 1/8 inch of olive oil under medium high heat. Add the trout and cook until skin is crisp and fish is cooked, about 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of your trout. Transfer trout to a plate and wipe your skillet clean.

Melt the butter in the skillet and add the trout back in. Turn to coat well. Remove from the heat and allow trout to sit in butter for about 5 minutes or so. This adds so much flavor to the fish, it's definitely not a step to skip.

While you're waiting for the trout, you can make your squash and corn. In a medium skillet, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and heat under medium high heat. Add squash and corn and saute until squash starts to soften, about 5 minutes.

Serve trout with the squash & corn mixture and with lemon wedges!

We served this at a dinner party for 4 we had a couple weeks ago, and everybody seemed to enjoy it! Our friend Mike practically just left the bones on his plate, so we knew he loved it. And my friend Kendra, who's a little weary on eating whole fish or things with bones still in it, went out of her comfort zone and said she enjoyed it as well! Enjoy!

Baked Tilapia

Well, so far the week has been great. It's going by quickly, that's for sure. Had an organic test (got a B!) and tomorrow a Microbiology test (not looking forward to this one). I'm still in "engagement fever", and I don't see it slowing down. I probably have to tell the story 3-5 times daily, but I don't get sick thinking about it, or our future life! Enough about me, it's about the food! This tilapia was great! Fast, easy, gone in a flash!

Ingredients:

2 Tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons butter, melted
juice from 1 lemon
1 & 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Preheat oven to 425 F and put tiliapia fillets in a glass baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix together butter, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano, and paprika. Pour mixture over tilapia fillets.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until fish is white and flaky. Serve with a side of roasted veggies (I did roasted fingerling potatoes) and enjoy!

This was seriously gone in minutes. It was so juicy and delicious! The fish was done perfectly and the flavor was just jam packed! The only thing wrong with it was it was gone so quickly! I may make double the fish next time I do this!

Spicy Green Beans & Shrimp

First of all, I want to thank anyone and everyone that voted for my eggplant dish in Foodie Fight's Battle #8: Eggplant/White Wine. Crossing my fingers that the results turn out in my favor, or at least that I kept up with the competition!

So, in the mean time, I figured I'd post this quick and delicious recipe for Spicy Green Beans & Shrimp that Andy and I had for dinner last week. Credit goes to Dishing Up Delight's blog who found the recipe from another blog, so I guess this is just a turning into a chain, so feel free to pass it along to the next guy. This is definitely something that can be fixed up on a weeknight and not feel guilty about eating it, because it's mucho healthy.

What You'll Need:

1 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 in. pieces
3 tblsp. olive oil, divided
1/2 tea. ground coriander
1/2 tea. ground cumin
1 tea. salt, divided
1 tea. freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/8 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (I used cayenne pepper)
3/4 lb. raw shrimp (peeled and deveined, I also left the tails on mine)
zest from 1 lemon (cut lemon into wedges as garnish for plating)


As far as the cooking, it goes by pretty quick.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Toss the trimmed beans in 1 & 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, coriander, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and cayenne pepper.



Toss shrimp in separate bowl with remaining 1 & 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon zest, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.


Spray sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray and lay down green beans in single layer. Roast in oven for about 10 minutes. Make sure to stir them up mid-way.

After 10 minutes, layer shrimp on top of beans and roast for about 5 more minutes, or until shrimp looks pink and juicy.


Squeeze lemon on top of shrimp and save wedge for garnish. Enjoy!


I couldn't believe how delicious this was. So simple, so fresh... sooooooo gooood.