Veal Scallopine with Dijon Sauce, Asparagus, and Avocados

Well, as you can see by my lack of posting, I was in fact coming down with a bug. And what a bug it was! I am finally coming out of my Nyquil haze and there is actually sunshine in my little corner of Washington! Imagine that!! I am hoping Spring has sprung here but ssshhhhh don't say it too loud, I don't want to scare it away.


OK, this is recipe #189. I actually made this on the 14th. It was my daughters birthday and as usual I asked her what she wanted for her birthday dinner. That is the routine with my kids, and has been for years. She surprised me by telling me that whatever I wanted to cook was fine with her. She even told me to try the veal recipe if I wanted. I was shocked! She was really kinda nervous about trying veal. Like I said she is my Miss Picky. But I pointed out to her that she likes lamb so she agreed to try veal.


The first thing that surprised me when I started prepping to cook the recipe was, when I removed the the veal scallopine I bought from it's packaging it was in thin strips. I have never cooked veal scallopine before, but I was expecting something more along the line of thin steak shaped pieces of meat, or rounds. That was just odd to me, but I kept on prepping. I was really surprised at how easy this was to make. The name makes it sound so, well, complicated I guess. Fancy name = lots of work, right? Nope, not true. Once I started cooking my biggest fear was overcooking the meat and making it tough but I cooked it just as is says in the recipe and it was perfect. 


I followed the recipe to the letter, like a good girl, and everything came out just as it was supposed to. I wasn't sure how to place it on the plate so I did the best I could with Rachael's instruction. Hopefully I was right. You can let me know how the picture looks.


As for the reviews, Jessi disliked it immediately. I think that could have been mostly in her head. She got herself psyched up that it she wouldn't like it, I am not sure. Kevin and I were both on the fence with it. I liked the veal, but wasn't jumping up and down about it. Kevin said he didn't like it. He did love the sauce with the avocados and asparagus though. I kind of thought this was a weird combo when I was making it, but really when you eat it all together it really was good. I am thinking about playing around with this sauce and the avocados and some other meats. 


If you like veal you will love this recipe. Rachael says "this dish is one buttery, delicious, edible ode to spring" and it really was very buttery. Like I said, I liked it but just that, liked it, wasn't head over heals in love with it. 

Veal Scallopine with Dijon Sauce, Asparagus, and Avocados

Ingredients

 Coarse salt
1 lemon
1 pound very thin asparagus tips
2 ripe Haas avocados
EVOO for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/4 pounds veal scallopine
Coarse black pepper
1 tablespoon all purpose flour, plus more for dredging
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/3 cup cream or half and half
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives


In a large saucepan, bring 1 inch of water to a boil. Salt the water. Add a couple of curls of rind from the lemon and the asparagus tips. Cook the tips for 3 minutes, then drain and reserve.


Cut into and around the pits of the avocados. Scoop the flesh from the avocados, and slice. Dress the slices with a little lemon juice, a drizzle of EVOO, and a pinch of salt, reserve.


Preheat your largest skillet over medium heat. Season the veal with salt and pepper on both sides. Dredge the scallopine in a little flour. Add the two tablespoons of the EVOO and the two tablespoons of the butter to the hot skillet. WHen the butter melts into the oil, add the veal and cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until evenly light golden in color. Place the veal on a platter under a loose tent of foil.


Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and the tablespoon of flour to the skillet. Cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the wine and scrape up the pans drippings. Whisk the stock into the wine and add the thyme, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir in the cream, then remove from the heat.


Arrange the asparagus and sliced avocados over the veal and pour a line of sauce over the top. Garnish the dinner plates or platter with chopped chives and serve.


Serves 4

Veal Scallopine



Asparagus



Avocado

Aussie Meat Pies, Made Quick

Boy, when Rachael said made quick she really meant it! These "pies" are super easy and super quick to make. Again, not so many ingredients, so not a lot of slaving away to be done over the meal. I did add some minced garlic to the recipe, as per Jessi's request. I don't think there is much we cook with out onions and garlic in it!


The meat smelled great after cooking with the onions and garlic and then you add the brown sugar, tomato paste mixture and it went from great to YUM. I love it when the food smells so good you want to just eat it out of the pot! I do suggest that when you bake the pastry dough sheets that you do it on parchment paper or a very good nonstick cookie sheet. I had a bit of a "stickage" issue with mine.


I think this would be great if you added some spice to the ketchup on top too. I mean if you don't like things spicy by all means the regular ketchup is great. But for those that like it a bit hot I would add some of your favorite hot sauce to it. I use Frank's Red Hot a lot or Sriracha hot sauce (you can find it in the Asian isle at your market).


Last impressions on the recipe are that it tastes great, it is easy to make, and my kids gave it two thumbs up, oh so did Kevin too! I will say I think this makes a great lunch recipe more so than a dinner one though. But either way, bring your appetite!

Aussie Meat Pies, Made Quick

Ingredients

• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, defrosted but kept chilled (recommended brand: Pepperidge Farms)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon EVOO 
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (eyeball it)
• 1 rounded tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 rounded tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon grill seasoning as in McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
• ketchup for garnish 
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives

Directions

Preheat the over to 400

With a sharp knife, cut the thawed but chilled puff pastry sheets into 4 square, 8 squares total, and arrange on cookie sheet. Season the squares with a little salt and pepper. Bake the puff pastry according to the package directions or until golden brown all over, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Let it get really hot so the meat will caramelize when it hits the pan. Add the EVOO, then the butter. When the butter melts into the oil, add the beef and really work at breaking it up as it browns-get the bits all nice and tiny. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the flour. Cook mixture a minute more. In a small bowl combine the Worcestershire sauce with the tomato paste and brown sugar, then whisk in the stock. Whisk the seasoned stock into the pan. Stir into the meat and combine. Season the meat with grill seasoning and reduce the heat to low.

When the pastry squares are ready, assemble the pies. Place a square of pastry in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Top with one quarter of the meat mixture and another square. Place a large dollop of ketchup in the center of the top pastry and sprinkle the "pies" with chives to garnish, then serve.

serves 4

Ground Meat Pie

Goooooood Morning!

Well I woke up this morning a bit tired and upset that last nights recipe didn't go very well. Like I said, I knew it was bound to happen, but I guess I would find the positive in everything. I know, get your head out of the clouds Bobbi.


This morning was recipe #1, Scramblewiches. I was nervous about this one as well. It is pretty simple, cook some deli ham in butter, add eggs with some S&P, hot sauce and a splash of milk, scramble and put them inside some scooped out bread boats with cheese topped with chives. Simple? Yes. Exciting? No. Tasty? Well, we all liked it so I guess it would be a yes. It was supposed to make 4 adult size servings, but it just seemed too big for me so I cut the bread down and made 8 normal size servings.


It was nothing fancy. Nothing I think I would crave. I don't see me waking up in the middle of the night telling Kevin "Oh My God I have GOT to have a scramblewich tomorrow or I will die!". But it was a good filling breakfast, so after last nights disappointment I will take this as a win. 


Out of 5 Stars I would give it ***

Scramblewiches

Ingredients

1 baguette (day old is fine)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 pound deli sliced ham, smoked turkey, pastrami, or corned beef

8 large eggs

a splash of milk

a teaspoon of hot sauce

salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 deli slices of Swiss cheese (halved lengthwise to fit bread), or 8 slices of cheddar (2 squares per bread), or 6 slices Provolone cheese ( 1 1/2 slices per bread, cut to fit)

chopped fresh chives or parsley

Directions

preheat oven to 200

crisp the bread in the oven, split it lengthwise, and hollow it out. Cut each piece in half again, across, making four boats. Switch the broiler on.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and melt it. When the bubbles stop, add the meat and cook, separating the pieces, for 3 minutes, or until brown at the edges. In a bowl beat the eggs with the milk, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Add to the meat and scramble, keeping the eggs a little soft. They will continue to cook in the oven.

Divide the eggs among the bread and cover with the cheese. Melt the cheese under the broiler. Take i tout as soon as the cheese softens and melts. Do not brown or allow the cheese to bubble; there are eggs under there! Garnish with the chopped chives or parsley.

A few stumbles but all ended well

Yes, yes, yes, oh sorry for the rant but I love love LOVE how this recipe came out last night. I made the Smoky Turkey Shepherd's Pie that I talked about in yesterday's blog. The one that the Beef Goulash recipe was based on. All I can say is yummmmm. I can't take all of the credit, of course it mostly goes to Rachael Ray for her recipe (DUH), but my fabulously wonderful sous chef, AKA my boyfriend Kevin, helped by chopping most of the veggies for me. And believe me there are a LOT of veggies! But that is one of the things I love about this recipe. The veggies cook in the bacon and turkey for a long time. Then the smoked paprika joins the party and WOOHOOO look out, yummy in the tummy folks!


Now of course a recipe couldn't be cooked by me without a few missteps and tweaks. I promise you I do try to keep the recipes by the book, but sometimes after tasting you just...well I will get to that in a minute. Ok so back on track here. Today's lesson is, make SURE you have everything for the recipe. Hmm didn't I have that problem with the first recipe? Well obviously I don't learn from my own mistakes, but maybe YOU can.


It calls for three large Idaho potatoes, these are a VERY important part of the recipe. I casually look in my pantry and see I have a bag of russets so I am happy with that and check that off of my list of things to buy at the market. However, when I get down and dirty and ready to roll with this recipe, OOPS, the potatoes are not that good. They are small and most of them weren't in any shape to be used for anything but a trash can filler. ARG!! 


I salvaged what I could, but it was no where near the amount I should have had, and grumbled at myself under my breath. I began stressing as soon as I saw that I had a problem with the very first ingredient in the recipe. This is about the time Kevin donned his Super Hero cape and swooped in to rescue me. Have I mentioned how much I love this man? Anyway, we got to work and as I pulled everything out and got it lined up in order, he began chopping. I got the bacon done and added the turkey (side note, I would leave quite a bit of the bacon fat in the pan if you want it to really flavor your veggies). Then we added the spices and dropped all those gorgeous veggies in the pot. Oh, it called for a small red bell pepper but we used a pretty good sized one.


From that point on it is just a matter of mashing your potatoes, (heads up don't forget to save a ladle of the cooking liquid to temper your egg, I did, but I heated up some chicken stock in it's place. Gotta work on the fly in my kitchen!), finishing up the pot with the flour, stock, and sour cream, and simmering away. Since I had used fewer potatoes than it called for, and didn't think to reduce the liquid going in, I needed to cook my mashed potatoes over low heat for awhile to try to thicken them up. But that is ok because the more you simmer, the better this stuff gets! My tweak, I added two palmfuls total (aprox 2 tablespoons) of smoked paprika, we like it extra smoky. Just taste it as it is simmering and as you adjust your pepper and salt you can figure out your level of smokiness.


So the reviews, well, Kevin LOVED it and not only had two or three helpings but laid claim to the leftovers as well. My Dad said he enjoyed it, and I was quite happily full with a smile on my face. All in all a very successful night. 

Smoky Turkey Shepherd's Pie



Ingredients

• 3 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed
• Coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons EVOO - extra-virgin olive oil - 2 turns of the pan
• 1/4 pound smoky bacon or turkey bacon, chopped
• 1 1/3 pound ground turkey breast
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, available in small cans on spice aisle of market
• (You may substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons each sweet paprika and cumin combined)
• Coarse black pepper
• 2 tablespoons, 5 or 6 sprigs, fresh thyme leaves
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 ribs celery from the heart, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 10 to 12 blades fresh chives, chopped or snipped

Directions

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the potatoes until tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

Heat a deep, large skillet over medium-high heat. Add EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, to the skillet. Add bacon and brown it up, then add ground turkey to the pan and break it up. Season the turkey with smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and thyme. When turkey browns up, add: onions, carrots, celery. Season the veggies with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, then add red pepper and peas cook another 2 minutes. Stir in flour and cook flour 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and combine. Add 1/2 cup of sour cream and combine.Simmer mixture over low heat.

Preheat your broiler to high.

When potatoes are tender, add a ladle of cooking water to the egg.Drain potatoes and return to the warm pot to dry them out a little. Add remaining 1/2 cup sour cream, butter, half of the chives, and salt and pepper. Smash and mash the potatoes, mashing in the beaten, tempered egg. If the potatoes are too tight, mix in a splash of milk.

Pour turkey mixture into a medium casserole dish. Top turkey with an even layer of smashed potatoes and place casserole 5 inches from hot broiler. Broil the potatoes until golden at edges and remove the casserole from the oven. Garnish the casserole with the remaining chives and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

4 servings