BBQ glazed mini turkey meatloaves

These little meatloaves are a perennial favorite in our house.  I make a double batch in muffin tins so I can freeze the extras and reheat one at a time for a quick, protein packed snack.

1 Tbs. unsalted butter

1/2 C. each- diced onion, carrot, celery and mushrooms

kosher salt and pepper

2 Tbs. each- catsup and BBQ sauce

Saute diced vegetables and butter in a large nonstick pan on medium high heat for  5 minutes until veggies begin to soften and remove from heat.  Add catsup and BBQ sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper.  In a bowl, combine:

1 1/2 lbs. lean ground turkey

2 eggs

1/2 C. catsup

1/2 C. bbq sauce

1/2 C. bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine sautéed vegetables and remaining ingredients until thoroughly incorporated. 

Spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray and add ½ C, of the meatloaf mixture to each tin.  Add a drizzle of BBQ sauce to top of each mini meatloaf before baking, and bake for 20-25 minutes.  

Lentil, split pea and barley soup with smoked turkey

Winter is at our doorstep, and with it comes days like today when the only reasonable thing to make is a huge pot of soup.  Here's my recipe for a delicious hearty soup.  You can easily make this vegetarian by omitting the smoked turkey wings.

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 C. diced onion

1 C. diced carrots

1 C. diced celery

1 tbs. kosher salt or smoked fleur de sel

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tbs. Italian seasoning

72 oz. chicken stock

1/3 C. each- barley, lentils and split peas, rinsed

16 oz. can diced tomatoes with herbs

2 bay leaves

2 smoked turkey wings

Optional- rind of Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a large soup pot.  Add onion, carrots and celery.  Saute for 2 minutes, add remaining ingredients (including rind) and stir to combine.  Cover and simmer on medium low heat for at least an hour before serving.  

Thai meatballs with dipping sauce

I made these tonight for my family and they were a huge hit! Although they have lots of flavorful ingredients, they were not too strong for little palates.

These meatballs are delicious served in a lettuce leaf or eaten over rice and the flavorful dipping sauce is incredible!

FOR MEATBALLS:
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground turkey
3 finely chopped scallions
1/4 C. chopped cilantro
3 cubes each- frozen garlic and frozen ginger
3 Tbs. fish sauce (nap pla)
3 Tbs. vegetable oil

FOR SAUCE:
1/4 C. fresh lime juice
1/4 C. rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. fish sauce
3 Tbs. each- chopped cilantro and mint
1 grated carrot
1/2 peeled, grated cucumber
2 Tbs. sweet chili sauce
1 Tbs. brown sugar

1 head butter lettuce, leaves carefully removed
1/4 C. dry roasted peanuts

Preheat oven to 375. Combine all ingredients -except vegetable oil- in a bowl, hands work best. Heat oil in a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. While oil heats, roll meat into balls, about 2" wide. When oil shimmers, add meatballs and cook 2 minutes per side or until meatballs are golden brown. Remove from pan and add to a casserole pan. Cover with foil and finish cooking in the oven for 20 minutes.

While meatballs cook, assemble sauce by combining all sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Assemble meatballs by placing 1 meatball in a lettuce leaf, spoon sauce and a few peanuts before eating.

Turkey shepherd's pie

My daughter rarely makes requests for dinner, however the other night she asked me to make shepherd's pie. I was happy to oblige, but wanted to make it a bit healthier and we had to eat early as she had her orchestra recital that same night.

Here's my recipe for easy and delicious Turkey Shepherd's Pie.

2 C. mire aux poix, I bought the fresh pre-chopped carrot, celery and onion mix from Trader Joe's
2 Tbs olive oil
1 C. frozen peas
1 C. frozen corn
2 lbs. ground turkey
kosher salt and pepper
3 Tbs. beef demi-glace, available in most supermarkets
1 C. chicken stock
mashed potatoes, I used frozen mashed potatoes from Trader Joe's and doctored them up with milk and butter, and they were great!

Preheat oven to 375. Saute mire aux poix in olive oil in a large nonstick pan until vegetables begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, remove from pan and add to a large bowl. Add frozen peas and corn.

Saute ground turkey in the same pan for 3-4 minutes, add demi-glace and stir to combine. Add chicken stock and continue cooking until turkey is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove turkey and add to vegetables, stir to combine.

In another pot, warm potatoes with milk and butter, and cook for 6-7 minutes on medium heat.

Add turkey mixture to a deep casserole pan and spread potatoes over mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Thanksgiving leftover ideas...

We have 12 of the 14 pounds of turkey leftover and I am thinking about a few great uses... Recipes to come as they're made.

Turkey enchiladas
Asian turkey fresh spring rolls
Turkey chili -to freeze
Turkey salad with dried cranberries and tzatziki

Lemon and oregano roasted turkey thighs

It's raining here today and it reminded me of the (upcoming) cool fall days. This is a summery version of a dinner we make frequently when the weather turns cool.

3 turkey thighs
juice from 1 lemon
1 Tbs. dried oregano
large pinch of kosher salt and pepper
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 3" pieces
1 fennel bulb, white part only cut into 2" wedges
olive oil

Preheat oven to 425. In a deep sided casserole pan add turkey thighs skin side up, carrots and fennel pieces. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper. Make sure the carrots and fennel are not on top of the turkey.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and the thighs feel firm to the touch.

While the turkey roasts, peel 2 sweet potatoes and cut into 1/2" thick coins. Place on a Silpat lined cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil and celery salt. The smoked fleur de sel from Whole Foods also works well. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

We had some steamed broccoli, but any type of fresh vegetable would be fine.

Roasted turkey breast, not just for Thanksgiving!

I bought a nice turkey breast yesterday and am roasting it for dinner tonight. People generally stick to chicken when they make poultry, but I love turkey, it's got a delicious flavor and is a snap to make.

Preheat the oven to 375. I added a handful of baby carrots to a roasting pan along with 1 onion that I had quartered and 2 peeled and cubed sweet potatoes. I added 1 C. of water to the vegetables. I rinsed the turkey breast under running water and didn't pat it completely dry.

Next I drizzled a little olive oil to the to of the turkey, followed by garlic salt, adobo seasoning, cracked black pepper, and a little bit of chipotle seasoning that I just bought. Add enough of the seasonings so that the entire skin of the turkey breast is seasoned. You still want to be able to see the skin just with seasoning over it.

Next, cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice over the top. Put the lemon halves into the turkey carcass after squeezing them. This will help to season the meat from the inside as well.

Add the turkey to the roasting pan, it should sit on the vegetables.

Roast for 1 1/2 hours or until the little thermometer pops up.

I am making some rice and steamed broccoli to round out this meal.

The house smells yummy already!

Turkey chili

What a lousy day outside!!! What a perfect day for chili. I spent most of the day shuttling back and forth between the girls school-lunch duty, parent-teacher conferences. In the middle of the first conference, I get a txt message from Kirk saying, can't wait to hear the news! As if we're waiting to hear about early enrollment to Harvard!! I had to show the teacher, we both got a good laugh!

I bought a few art supplies for the girls, Model Magic, a package of new markers and landyard. They were sooooo happy!

Here's the recipe for turkey chili: It makes a lot!

Add a little olive oil to a large soup pot. When it shimmers, add a cup of frozen or fresh diced onion. I added frozen (they're great!) I also added about 1 C. of Miraupoix from Trader Joes. Basically, it's fresh diced celery, onion and carrot. It's the basis for most soups. I stirred that around for a minute or two, then added in a package of ground lean turkey meat. I stirred that around for about 5 minutes until it began to cook. I added in some chicken sausage that I removed from the casings. The easiest way to do that is to just run the sauasge between your fingers and squeeze the sausage out. Stir the sausage around and break it up with a wooden spoon. Let the meat mixture cook for about 5-7 more minutes. Add in 2 cans of rinsed beans, I used a can of red kidney and a can of pinto beans. I then added in about 1 tbs. of cumin, 1 tbs. of chili powder, a large pinch of kosher salt and pepper, and a few shakes of Adobo.

Next, I added in 2 large 32 oz. cans of diced tomatoes. Stir the whole mess around until it is combined, reduce the heat to medium low, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Taste before serving, as it might need more salt. It won't be spicy, so you will want to add spice to your own bowl.

The chili is delicious and my kids love to eat the beans and ground turkey.

turkey and zucchini burgers

We made it through the first week of the school year. Today went significantly smoother. I had a productive day at work. I seared 11 filet mignons, made ratatouille, vinaigrettes, and assorted other prep foods for an event on Sunday. Am looking forward to the weekend.

Will be doing another TV segment tomorrow morning on WTNH, Channel 8. It's the cannoli cup segment. I have some ground turkey that I want to make turkey burgers from with roasted sweet potato fries. The recipe is below.

3/4 pound ground turkey

1 medium zucchini, grated 

½ C. grated carrot 

2 cubes frozen garlic

3/4 teaspoon Greek Seasoning 

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 

1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

1 large egg

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together with a fork until well combined. Heat a large nonstick pan on medium high. Make 4 patties and cook for 8 minutes on each side, flipping burgers only once.

Roasted Sweet potato fries

2 sweet potatoes
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. Adobo or Lawry’s seasoning salt
black pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 450. Peel and slice potatoes into 1” thick coins. Toss potatoes in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lay potatoes in a single layer on the sheet. Cook potatoes about 9 minutes per side. Turn once and serve hot.

Weeks end

We have a dear neighbor who is 91 years old and still plays competitive tennis. She is amazing, and the best part is that she has a great sense of humor.

We invited her over to dinner last night. She lives alone and quite frankly, she is great fun to have around. I made a simple dinner of penne pasta with tomato sauce with ground turkey and mushrooms.

The recipe couldn't be easier. In a pan, add a little olive oil. When it shimmers, add 1 package of ground turkey and 2 cubes of frozen garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a few shakes of Italian Seasoning. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until the turkey is cooked through.

Heat a large pot of water and a healthy pinch of salt. While the water boils add a package of rinsed sliced mushrooms to the ground turkey. Saute for 3-4 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium low and add in a jar of tomato sauce, I like Rao's Marinara, it taste about as close to homemade as I've ever had. Turn the heat down to low and cover.

When the water boils in the pot, add in a box of pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes.

While the pasta cooked, I made a green salad with romaine, hearts of palm, dried cranberries, cucumber, shredded carrots, sunflower seeds, garbanzo beans, and 1 crumbled hard boiled egg.

I made a dressing with 1/4 C. red wine vinegar, a pinch of salt, pepper and sugar and 3/4 C. olive oil. Shake it all together in a jar and serve with the salad. It makes enough for at least a few salads.

We had a great evening of memories from when my friend was young and the girls got to hear about her childhood memories. She is a special woman.

Tonight was grilled boneless skinless chicken thighs and some bakes french fries (McCaines makes ones called 5 Minute Fries that are decent and not outrageouly high in sodium or fat). I've know I've written the recipe for the chicken thighs before; basically it's olive oil, lemon juice, Greek seasoning, salt and pepper. Grill on both sides and finish in a 450 degree oven covered in aluminum foil for 10 more minutes.

We ate outside and listened to the thunder storms roll in.

I've bought pork spareribs to grill tomorrow night, but we have a b-u-s-y day tomorrow and I'm not certain I will want to cook. Maybe we'll save them for Sunday.

turkey burgers

The girls are in their last few weeks of school, and the weather here has been amazing. After picking the girls up from school, play dates, etc... we took our neighbors dog for a walk and the girls wanted to catch butterflies in the backyard while I made dinner.

I had pulled a new recipe out from a magazine a few weeks back called: Turkey burgers with zucchini and carrots. I altered the recipe a little, but after eating the burger have added in the other changes I would have made. They were good, but needed a little more flavor. Below is my iteration of Turkey burgers with zucchini and carrots

1 package ground turkey meat
1 shredded zucchini
1 c. shredded carrot
1 egg
2 cubes frozen garlic
cracked pepper
kosher salt
1/4 C. shredded Parmesan cheese
shake or two of Lawry's season salt
1 tbs. olive oil

Preheat oven to 500, and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Combine all ingredients except olive oil in a bowl and mix until combined. Form burgers.

Add olive oil to a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the burgers and brown on each side for 4 minutes. When burgers have cooked on both sides, remove from pan and finish cooking on the cookie sheet for 5 more minutes.

I served the burgers with the frozen brown rice from Trader Joe's, a bowl of edamame that I had boiled while the burgers cooked, and a bowl with cherries and white nectarines. The girls scoffed initially, but wolfed them down with ketchup.

It was a good recipe (after the alterations) and I would definitely make them again.