The Cookbook

[Mik]

It was excellent! I cut the salt in the salsa down by 3/4..way too much and I knew it. We went to a local farmers market today so I put some fresh garlic scapes in it.

Highly recommend. Also recommend the Kirkland Rose Prosecco. Low alcohol and delicious. Under $10.

[George K]

@Mik said in The Cookbook:

Marry me.

Wait, never mind.

You know what I mean.

[Mik]

An excellent dinner tonight. Local chicken that was clucking Tuesday. I used sweet marsala and I thought it better. Served with a little herbed angel hair pasta and broccoli. Friends thought it a 10. I did use a little powdered roux mixed with water to thicken the sauce up a bit.

https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/quick-chicken-marsala

[Aqua Letifer]

Banana curry

Sauce:
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp coriander
zest from 1 lime
juice from 1/2 that lime
pinch of salt and pepper
2 bananas, mashed all up
3/4 cup water

Stuff:
chicken breast
1 green pepper
1 white onion
a handful of spinach, finely chopped

1. Put the Sauce in a bowl or ceramic mug. Mash to get consistent.
2. Add Stuff to bigass pan, then Sauce on top
3. Cover and put on medium heat. When it's up to temperature, drop down to low simmer.
4. Start your rice. All's done when rice is done.

[Catseye3]

Paprika Note:

From the Net: "Paprika marked as "sweet" will have almost no heat at all. It has the warm flavor of ripe peppers and sunshine, as well as a complimentary bitterness. "Semi-sweet" or "semi-hot" varieties still are relatively mild but carry some kick, like a cross between red bell pepper and cayenne. "Hot varieties" carry significant heat, though it's still much more nuanced and flavorful than red pepper flakes or cayenne. If you want to incorporate more chiles into your food but can't handle much heat, the bitter and sweet flavors and aromas of paprika are for you. And chileheads who want to singe their nostrils can go right ahead with the hot stuff knowing they're getting more flavor than from other hot peppers."

Recommended: Pride of Szeged Sweet Paprika Powder and Pride of Szeged Hot Paprika Powder, both available from Amazon.

(I've never been knowledgeable about paprika. I never realized that the common or garden variety paprika you get in your grocery store is junk. Apparently when you get a little particular with your paprika, you will never go back to that stuff.)

[Mik]

Yeah, I usually have Hungarian, Spanish sweet and hot and some Spanish smoked.

[George K]

I'm thinking of making a batch of this and using it for lasagna and spaghetti. Thoughts?

The Very Best Bolognese Sauce

2 small carrots chopped
1 small onion chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
3 cloves garlic
8 ounce pancetta
1 pound ground beef 80/20
1 pound ground pork
1 cup white wine
1 29 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 4 ounce tomato paste
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Pulse until crossly chopped. Be careful not to pulse it too long so that it turns into mush. Remove and set aside on a plate.

Add the pancetta to the food processor and pulse until it is coarsely chopped.

Add to a large skillet and cook the pancetta for 5-6 minutes over medium-high heat or until it starts to crisp. Remove and set aside on a plate.

Add in the ground beef and ground pork. Cook and crumble until it is cooked throughout. You want the crumbles to be pretty small so it might take some extra work.

Add the veggies, pancetta, white wine to the skillet. Allow it to deglaze.

Add in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken broth.

Let it simmer on low for 2 hours for the flavors to blend and for it to thicken.

The last 15 minutes of cooking add the milk. Season to taste. Serve while warm.

[Mik]

Good recipe. Some things I do to make it easier:

Buy the mirepoix frozen.

But the pancetta diced. Voila! No food processor mess.

You could include some mushrooms if you like. A lot of recipes do.

Use a spatula or something to break up the meat very fine. This is tedious but a good idea.

The lower and longer you cook it the better it will be.

[George K]

Nothing says "August" like turkey, right?

Tonight, I made a turkey breast in the air fryer, using the rotisserie mode. Seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic and onion salt.

Into the rotisserie air fryer for 60 minutes.

When you're done, it looks like this.

I found a great recipe for oven-roasted potatoes that I used, and they were a perfect side.

Since it's summer, some corn on the cob.

Great meal.

[George K]

In case you're wondering.

Probably the best oven-roasted potatoes I've ever made. I used baby reds, unpeeled, and they were great. Others might prefer another type of spud.

Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

1 1/2 lb potatoes, Note 1, about 3-4 potatoes I prefer Yukon Gold/yellow potatoes
1/2 tsp baking soda (optional) Note 2
2 tbsp unsalted butter (if using salted butter, cut down on salt)
2 tbsp olive oil
cooking oil spray
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp fresh chopped rosemary or more (optional) or 1/2 tsp dried rosemary or thyme

HEAT OVEN TO 450F. Line a large baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray well with cooking oil.

CUT AND BOIL POTATOES: Peel potatoes if desired (Note 3) and cut potatoes into 1.5 - 2 inch pieces (Note 4). Boil potatoes in a medium-large pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, for 6-8 minutes until tender, but not too soft. Drain well in a colander or sieve.

PREPARE POTATOES FOR ROASTING: Put potatoes back the pot on Medium and give them a good shake. This will dry out the potatoes and rough them up, allowing them to absorb the oil and butter better. Add butter and oil (use any combination of butter and oil as preferred to equal 5-6 tablespoons), rosemary (if using), salt and pepper. Stir gently to coat the potatoes well. Taste and add more salt if needed.

ROAST POTATOES: Transfer potatoes to the foil-lined pan, spreading them out in a single layer. Don't crowd the pan. Use two pans if needed. Roast for 20 minutes, turn them over, the roast for another 10-20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Serve immediately.

NOTES:

Which potatoes are best to use: Yukon Gold are my #1 choice. They have thin skins, creamy insides and they brown and crisp up beautifully. Russet are good too (more fluffy than creamy). They don't get quite as crispy. I often use creamy red potatoes too.

Baking Soda: Serious Eats chef Kenji Lopez-Alt adds a pinch of baking soda (in this case a 1 tsp) to the water used for boiling the potatoes. Apparently it creates a rougher surface to the potato to increase browning. I always forget and my potatoes come out brown and crisp anyways as you can see in the pictures. It might be worth a try though.

Peel potatoes or not? If I use Yukon gold (yellow potatoes) or red, I don't bother peeling them. The skins are thin and there is extra nutrition in the skins. I do, however, discard any skins that get separated from the potato chunks after boiling. These will just get burned. If you are using Russet potatoes, peel the potatoes first.

=-=-=-=-=-=

I cooked them longer than the recipe suggests - they came out just crispy enough to make them special.

I also cut them a bit smaller (about ¾ inch) and after bringing a pot of water to a boil, I boiled them for 10-12 minutes before putting them in the oven.

Fan Tas Tik.

I'm probably going to try another type of potato next time, but the baby reds we wonderful - skin on, of course.

[Mik]

Never thought of baking soda to increase the crust. Yum.

[George K]

@Mik said in The Cookbook:

Never thought of baking soda to increase the crust. Yum.

I didn't do it tonight, but I cooked roasted the spuds a bit longer than recommended.

They were just fantastic.

[Mik]

I do them a lot. So easy, so delicious. But it’s corn season so….

Tonight was the first night this past week I was really hungry. We got Sonic burgers. Yum.

[George K]

@Mik said in The Cookbook:

I do them a lot. So easy, so delicious. But it’s corn season so….

Tonight was the first night this past week I was really hungry. We got Sonic burgers. Yum.

I've never had Sonic - nothing really near me.

And by "near" I mean, "Does Doordash deliver?"

[Mik]

You have places below you and across the street. No biggie.

I never do burgers from delivery. They never get there fast enough to be prime. Q

[George K]

@George-K said in The Cookbook:

I'm thinking of making a batch of this and using it for lasagna and spaghetti. Thoughts?

Made it today.

It's a yuge batch, and I'll get at least 1 lasagna and 1 spaghetti dinner out of it.

It needs more spices, so I added cilantro and Italian seasoning.

I also cooked it for about 4 hours, rather than what the recipe suggests.

Frozen, for future use.

[Mik]

Trying out the air fryer feature of my new range tonight on a French bistro classic - steak frites. Anyone have any suggestions? I'll pan cook the steak, and using Ore Ida frozen fries. Might coat them with some melted duck fat or olive oil.

We're pretty well over the covid, so nice to have some wine with dinner.

[George K]

Nothing says "August" like turkey, right?

Oven-Roasted Turkey Breast

¼ cup butter, softened
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon salt-free garlic and herb seasoning blend (such as Mrs. Dash)
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 (3 pound) turkey breast with skin
1 teaspoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon butter
1 splash dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons half-and-half (Optional)

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Step 2
Mix 1/4 cup butter, garlic, paprika, Italian seasoning, garlic and herb seasoning, salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Place turkey breast with skin side up into a roasting pan. Loosen skin with your fingers; brush half the butter mixture over the turkey breast and underneath the skin. Reserve remaining butter mixture. Tent turkey breast loosely with aluminum foil.

Step 3
Roast in the preheated oven for 1 hour; baste turkey breast with remaining butter mixture. Return to oven and roast until the juices run clear and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast, not touching bone, reads 165 degrees F (65 degrees C), about 30 more minutes. Let turkey breast rest 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Step 4
While turkey is resting, transfer pan drippings to a skillet. Skim off excess grease, leaving about 1 tablespoon in skillet. Place skillet over low heat; cook and stir shallot in turkey grease until opaque, about 5 minutes.

Step 5
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in skillet with shallot and whisk in white wine, scraping any browned bits of food from skillet. Whisk in chicken stock and flour until smooth. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened. For a creamier, lighter gravy, whisk in half-and-half.

Here's my result...

I didn't cover the turkey breast with aluminum foil - just put it in a baking dish and let it brown on its own. I used an indwelling thermometer and cooked until 165 degrees. I basted with the butter/herb mixture a couple of times.

If you're a lover of turkey white meat with a nice gravy do this.

[George K]

Scored Potatoes

4 large baking potatoes
2 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

With a sharp knife, cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Slice each half widthwise 6 times, but not all the way through; fan potatoes slightly.

Place in a shallow baking dish. Brush potatoes with 1 tablespoon butter. Sprinkle with paprika, parsley, salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 50 minutes or until tender.

Drizzle with remaining butter.

[George K]

@George-K said in The Cookbook:

We got some large breasts from Amazon fresh - got 3 breasts at 3 ½ lb.

I thought Mrs. George and I could do with 1 breast per meal, so I took a couple of breasts and made this meal using 2 breasts, planning to freeze the remainder.

As a side, I made some (gasp) canned new potatoes:

• 2 cans of new potatoes
• ¼ cup melted butter
• "herby" salt
• grade Parmesan

Melt the butter and pour over the drained spuds. Sprinkle with salt, park and herby salt - I used Mrs. Dash and added salt.

Bake at 350 until they look a bit crispy.

Came out good.