Scott's Kitchen

Scott's Saturday Ground Turkey and Veggies Supper

A couple of weeks ago, I came across Elise Bauer's recipe for "Mom's Ground Turkey and Peppers" on her outstanding Simply Recipes web site. We made the recipe and enjoyed it very much.

This afternoon, with family company coming, we needed to put something quick together for Saturday supper - and, as it turned out, we had a package of ground turkey in the fridge.

We also had a package of Trader Joe's "Fire Roasted Vegetables with Balsamic Butter Sauce" in the freezer. (These veggies are also our favorite as a base for a quick chicken and rice stir-fry!)

So, we tried a new variation on Elise's Mom's ground turkey recipe - using these ingredients we had on hand - along with an 8 oz can of Muir Glen Tomato Sauce that was in our pantry. The result was great - in about 20 mins - with a bit more liquid/sauce than in Elise's original recipe. We served it over a package of Trader Joe's brown rice - so easy to cook in 3 mins in the microwave. Very tasty indeed!

Scott's Sunday Afternoon Braised Short Ribs with Pasta

This is a perfect recipe for a lazy Sunday afternoon! The short ribs need about 3 hours to cook - so start around 2 PM and you'll be ready for a great dinner about 5:30 or 6 PM. Have a bottle of good Zinfandel handy - it's a perfect match to this dish!

The inspiration for this recipe came from Giada De Laurentiis - but I made a bunch of modifications - basically to make it simpler and easier. I really don't like recipes that use amounts that result in wasting portions of ingredients you buy in standard size packages. So, I adjusted - and simplified using some Trader Joe's items - and the result was great!

2009 Recession-Era Slow-Roasted Roast Beef

For some weird reason, earlier this week I happened across an old Cooks Illustrated article about Slow-Roasted Beef (link works for those with subscriptions to their online edition).

Perhaps because of the current state of the economy or who knows why, I found the recipe particularly interesting - as it described a cooking technique for cheap beef roast cuts (eye-round, etc.) that made these normally tough roast cuts of beef turn out tender and delicious.

Adjusting the Williams Sonoma Cooking Probe Thermometer

This post goes in the "notes to self" category. We have a Williams-Sonoma Cooking Probe Digital Thermometer - and lost the manual eons ago. This thermometer was apparently actually made by Polder and private labelled to Williams-Sonoma.

Anyway, it's the one with the 3 foot long cord to a probe that goes in the oven and into the meat. The problem I have with it is the somewhat arcane user interface it has for setting a different alarm temperature than the various defaults it comes pre-programmed with for the various types of meat. So, here's how you do it!

Using the Meat button, scroll to the UI page. Hold down the Memory button until the Alert temperature starts blinking. Then, using the up/down (+/-) keys, set the temperature you want for the alert. Hit the Memory button again to store the new value, turn on the Alert switch, and you're now set.

Happy cooking! ;-)

Saturday Supper: Roast Beef & Balsamic Vegetables

Earlier today we picked up a copy of one of those "Best of Fine Cooking" issues at the local market that included a recipe that caught our eye: Roast Beef with Balsamic Vegetables.

This is one of those super easy Saturday or Sunday afternoon dinner dishes. Basically, you slice a red onion, cut small red potatoes in half, mix them in some olive oil, rosemay, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and balsamic vinegar and combine with a well seasoned (kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, rosemary) beef roast in the same 9x13 Pyrex dish.

I went shopping early this afternoon for the "beef rump roast or top round roast" that the recipe called for. The butcher at our favorite local market (Bianchini's Market in Ladera/Portola Valley) said he'd be happy to cut one of either of those for us but instead recommended their sirloin tip roast. Never one to turn down a professional's recommendation, I bought a 3 lb sirloin tip roast and it turned out to be a great choice.

The original recipe called for fennel - but we don't particularly like the fennel taste so we just left it out. We agreed that the next time we make it we'd either add more red onion or add shallots instead of the fennel. Not that it needed either - it was delicious the way we made it without the fennel! [Update: a friend suggests throwing in a few beets to roast as well - great idea!]

Comfort Food: Baked Penne with Meat, Mushrooms and Cheese

This Friday's San Francisco Chronicle's Wine section carried the latest "Pairings" column by Lynne Char Bennett titled "Dry Creek Zinfandel makes a penne-wise partner". Zinfandel is among our favorite red wines (along with Syrah and Shiraz from Australia's Barossa appellation) - so the article caught my eye.

Included in Bennett's column was a recipe for "Baked Penne with Meat & Mushroom Sauce" which we made - with minor variations - tonight.

Her recipe minimizes some of the fat that might otherwise be present - we used 97% lean ground beef, for example, when we cooked it and the mushrooms help extend the flavor along with the herbs that simmer into such a flavorful sauce.

Turns out this recipe was a real family crowd pleaser - we all really liked it, helped ourselves to a couple of servings, etc. We served it along with a simple Caesar salad - yummy! We paired a Ridge 2006 Dusi Ranch Zinfandel with the penne - a great combination!

We'll certainly be making the baked penne again - and are already looking forward to some left overs tomorrow night!

Christmas Day Roast Pork Loin with Apples/Shallots

For years, we've enjoyed a roast pork loin recipe titled "Roast pork loin with roasted apple compote" that was originally published in Barbara Kafka's cookbook "Roasting-A Simple Art".

Much of Kafka's book involves roasting at high heat - typically 500 degrees - and her recipe of coating the pork loin in mustard, salt and pepper at the start and then roasting with apples at that high temperature has always worked out well for us. Sometimes (depending upon how clean your oven is), roasting at that high a temperature can result in some smoking - so it takes some care.

On this Christmas Day, though, we're trying some variations - something a bit different.

Christmas Eve 2008 Oven-Roasted Tri-Tip Dinner

We'll be hosting Christmas Eve again at our house this year - and we're handling the just main courses while the rest of the family is bringing salads, side dishes, and desserts!

Last year, we were about to head for Hawaii for another family reunion - and didn't cook anything! But, this year, we're back with our favorites again: a combination of honey-baked ham along with our easy Lazy-S easy oven-roasted tri-tips.

A Time For Winter Pot Roast

It's been - brrr cold - here over the last couple of days - so a pot roast sounded just perfect for dinner last night. Rather than making our usual Perfect Pot Roast recipe, we ended up trying the super simple pot roast recipe from Elise - and it turned out just perfect. Highly recommended - just be sure you've got something to do for the 3-1/2 hours you're waiting while the aromas are wafting through the house! Yum! I used a Handley 2003 Mendocino County Zinfandel for the red wine and cooked the roast in our small Dutch oven using the smallest of our gas stovetop burners at the lowest possible heat setting as Elise recommends.

Scott's Lazy Sunday Tri-Tip Caesar Salad

This Sunday dinner is perfect when BBQ season has arrived. This afternoon in Menlo Park was ideal - light up the Weber BBQ (charcoal version) and go! The ingredients are super simple: a Santa Maria-seasoned Tri-Tip from Trader Joe's (or your favorite alternative) and a package of one of those Caesar Lite pre-packaged salads.

For a 5:30 PM dinner, start this at about 4 PM. You'll have plenty of time to read the Sunday papers in between while things are happening. Add a bottle of Bogle's Phantom and you're truly good to go! Serves 2.