Turkey Meatloaf

My mom makes the best meat loaf ever, but she uses ground meat.  I decided since ground turkey was on sale last week to buy a few pounds of it.  Typically we make turkey burgers or turkey meatballs with it, but I thought why not make a turkey meat loaf with it!  It was really good!  This recipe makes about 4-5 servings depending on how big you like your piece of meat loaf!

Ingredients:

1/2 small onion, minced

1 tsp olive oil

1.3 lb 99% lean ground turkey

1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1/4 cup ketchup

1 egg

2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

1) Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) Warm a small frying pan with olive oil and add the onions and cook on low till they are translucent.

3) In a medium bowl mix turkey, onion, breadcrumbs, egg, ketchup, salt and red pepper.

4) Place mixture into a 9×12 loaf pan.  You can grease the pan a small amount if you would like.  I also like to squeeze some ketchup over top of the turkey before it goes into the oven.

5) Bake uncovered for one hour at 350 degrees.  After it is done baking let it set for about 5 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!!!

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Chocolate Molten Cake

Chris’s birthday was Sunday, but unfortunately on Sunday we were driving home from a great weekend in Boston, so he had to wait till Monday night to get his birthday dinner and his birthday cake! He is a chocolate fanatic and loves desserts that are all chocolate, so what better to make him them a Chocolate Molten Cake!  This is pretty easy to make and doesn’t take much time at all, about 15-20 minutes from start to finish.  This recipe will make two individual molten cakes!

Ingredients:
2 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, or bars, cut into bite-size chunks
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon flour
2 extra-large paper muffin cups
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Directions:

1) Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Melt butter and chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; remove from heat. Beat eggs, sugar and salt with a hand mixer in a medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Beat egg mixture into chocolate until smooth. Beat in flour  until just combined.

3) Line a standard-size muffin tin 2 extra-large muffin papers. Spray muffin papers with vegetable cooking spray. Divide batter among muffin cups.

4) Bake until batter puffs but center is not set, 8 to 10 minutes. Carefully lift cakes from tin and set on a work surface. Pull papers away from cakes and transfer cakes to dessert plates.

5) Sprinkle with some powered sugar and chocolate syrup and serve with vanilla ice cream!
Enjoy!

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Oreo Cupcakes

Who doesn’t love oreos and cupcakes! These cupcakes are awesome and can be adapted in so many ways! I found recipes that included putting the oreo filling into the actual cupcake, but I decided that I was going to of course change mine a bit! I even went out and bought pastry bags and tips to make the icing look even better! These are so worth the time, which really isn’t that much! The great thing about these is that they really go with a glass a milk, because you can take the oreo off the top and dunk into your milk after you are done! Yum yum!! This recipe makes 24 cupcakes!

Ingredients:

For the cake:
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature

For the frosting:
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp. whipping cream
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 tbsp. Oreo cookie crumbs

For garnish:
24 Oreo cookie halves

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

2) In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the brown sugar and continue beating until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3) With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated, being careful not to overmix.

4) Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature.

5) To prepare the frosting, in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed until the whipped cream holds stiff peaks. Gently fold in the cookie crumbs with a spatula.

6) Scoop the mixture into a pastry bag and pipe frosting decoratively on top of the cupcakes. Garnish with Oreo cookie halves.

Source: adapted from Annie’s Eats

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Pork Schnitzel

Chris loves his pork chops with onions and mushrooms,this specific recipe that I had gotten from didn’t include them, so I added them to my recipe. I personally don’t favor sour cream and dill and these were included in the recipe, so to be honest, I didn’t enjoy it that much, Chris on the other hand loved it, so if you like sour cream and dill this recipe is for you!

Ingredients:
2 boneless pork chops
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp milk
3/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
3 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup mushrooms
1/2 of a onion, chopped

Directions:
1) Set out 3 shallow bowls. One with a mixture of the flour, seasoned salt, and pepper. The second with the egg and milk whisked together. The third with a mixture of the bread crumbs.

2)Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Dredge the cutlets first in the seasoned flour, then dip the cutlets in the egg mixture, and then into the mixture of bread crumbs and paprika.

3) Working in batches, saute the cutlets for 6 minutes on each side. Remove the cutlets from the skillet and place in a warm oven to keep warm.

4) Add the chicken stock into the skillet to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the brown bits.

5) Add mushroom and onions and saute for about 5 minutes till onions are translucent.

6) In a small bowl mix the dill and salt into the sour cream.

7) Stir the sour cream mixture into the chicken stock. Heat and stir until mixture thickens (do not let boil).

8) Serve noodles and pork, and top with cream mixture!

Enjoy!

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French Onion Salisbury Steak

This recipe came from that magazine I had posted earlier about that my mom had gotten in the mail. This recipe was awesome! It still tasted like a regular Salisbury steak, but had a different flavor to it, it was great! Also, I usually use ground turkey meat for anything that calls for meat, but I just couldn’t on this one. This recipe makes about 4 servings.

Ingredients:

For the steak:
1 1/4 ground meat
1/4 cup of minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons of minced scallion
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 cups of onions, sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups of beef broth
1/4 cup of dry red wine
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions:
1)Combine chuck, parsley, scallion, salt, and pepper. Divide evenly into 4 portions and shape into 3/4 to 1-inch thick oval patties.
2)Place 2 tablespoons of flour in a shallow dish; dredge each patty in flour. Reserve 1 teaspoon flour.
3)Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add patties and sauté 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove from pan.
4)Add onions and sugar to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste; sauté 1 minute, or until paste begins to brown. Sprinkle onions with reserved flour; cook 1 minute. Stir in broth and wine, and then add the salt and thyme.
5)Return meat to pan and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 10 minutes and serve.

Enjoy!

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Jenn’s Bread

AKA No-knead bread from the New York Times. But Jenn is a fellow knottie and she loves to cook as well. She always makes this bread and always enjoys it! I finally made it! It turned out pretty good! It does take about two days to make because of rising time, etc, but it’s worth it! There is nothing better then fresh bread out of an oven!

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed

Directions:
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

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Chicken Fricassee

This is one of our favorite meals, and one of Chris’s favorites to make. It his mother’s recipe. The first time he made it for me, I wasn’t too fond of it, because I don’t like a strong oregano flavor and if you know my husband he loves a strong spice flavor. He finally got the oregano to a great taste that I now enjoy! You can cook this in a deep pan, but we prefer to use our wok for this. We also love to serve some warm biscuits with ours.

Ingredients:
5 Chicken Thighs
1/4 cup of Flour
3 tablespoons of Oregano
2 tablespoons of Salt
3 tablespoons of Pepper
2 tablespoons of Thyme
1 cup of mushrooms
1/4 cup of celery
3/4 of an onion
3 tablespoons of Flour
1/2 of cup Milk
1 package of egg noodles

Directions:
1) Mix together flour(1/4 cup), oregano, salt, pepper and thyme in a plastic bag.
2) Add chicken to bag and coat with mixture.
3) Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in wok or pan.
4) Bring a pot of water to boil for the egg noodles.
4) Fry chicken until golden brown on both sides and then remove chicken.
5 While chicken is frying, chop vegetables and add to chicken juices once you remove the thighs.
6) Fry vegetables in chicken juices and oil until translucent.
7) Add 2 cups of water, put chicken back in with veggies and water.
8) Simmer for 10 minutes.
9) To make sauce thicker, sift 3 tablespoons of flour into the 1/2 cup of milk.
10) Add sauce to wok or pan and simmer an additional 5 minutes or your desired thickness.
11) Put 1-2 thighs over egg noodles.

Enjoy!

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