My latest healthy dish is Spaghetti Squash, I love how easy it is to make. This dish is delicious & healthy as well — who would ask for more?  Here’s the recipe in  a few quick & easy steps.

Ingredients:

1 lb Spaghetti Squash
1/2 lb asparagus
1/2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 14 oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes with garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste
1T Fresh Basil, chopped
fresh grated Parmesan cheese (for topping)

1. Score a whole spaghetti squash with a knife and roast it at 350 degrees for about an hour.

2. Slice it open and remove seeds. (allow it to cool off before handling)

3. With a Fork remove the flesh and set aside.

4. Heat oil over medium-high heat and saute the asparagus until bright and green.

5.  Add squash and can of tomatoes, mix and cook through until hot (about 5 minutes or so). Add fresh basil, Salt and Pepper to taste.

5. Serve and top with Parmesan Cheese.

Enjoy it and be healthy!

If this is the first time you make Paella there are some ingredients and equipment to buy. Paella kits take the guess work out of it and some kits come with enough for 2 – 3 meals.

Here’s a recipe from the Spanish Product Store I think you’ll love:

Paella a la Valenciana

The world famous rice dish! Perfect for any gathering.

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

6 cups of very strong chicken broth (bouillon)
1/2 tsp of saffron
1/4 tsp of smoked Spanish paprika (Pimentón de la Vera)
1 small onion, peeled
2 small chickens, about 2-1/2 lbs each
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 lb of cooking chorizo, in 1/4 inch slices
1/4 lb piece jamón serrano ham, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
4 scallions, chopped
4 tbsp chopped garlic
2 roasted piquillo peppers
1 lb small or medium shrimp, shelled
2 (Optional) Live lobsters, boiled, split and divided into tail sections and claws(discard or keep the head and small claws); or
4 (Optional) Lobster tails, split lengthwise;
8 (Optional) King crab claws; or
8 jumbo shrimp, in their shells, preferably heads on
3 cups Bomba or Calasparra rice or other short grain Spanish rice
5 tbsp chopped parsley
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 lb fresh or frozen peas
18 clams and/or mussels, scrubbed

Lemon wedges & Parsley for garnish

Preparation:

Heat the broth with the saffron, pimentón and the whole onion. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Remove the onion and measure the broth — you need exactly 5-1/2 cups.

Cut the chickens into small serving pieces — the whole breast in 4 parts, each thigh into 2 parts, the bony tip of the leg chopped off, the wing tip discarded, and the rest of the wing separated into 2 parts. Dry the pieces well and sprinkle with salt.

In a metal Paella pan, with about a 15 inch base, heat the oil. Add the chicken pieces and fry over high heat until golden. Remove to a warm platter. Add the chorizo, and jamón to the pan and stir fry about 10 minutes. Add the chopped onion, scallions, garlic, and pimentos and saute until the onion is wilted. Add the shrimp and the lobster and saute about 3 minutes more, or until the shrimp and lobster barely turn pink (the lobster will cook more in the oven.) Remove the shrimp and lobster to the platter with the chicken. Add the rice to the pan and stir to coat it well with the oil. Sprinkle in the 5 tablespoons of chopped parsley and the crumbled bay leaves. (You can make in advance up to this point.)

Stir in the chicken broth, boiling hot, the wine, rice, and peas. Salt to taste. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, over medium high heat about 10 minutes. Bury the shrimp and the chicken in the rice. Add the clams and the mussels, pushing them into the rice, with the edge that will open facing up. Decorate the paella with the lobster pieces, then bake at 325 F, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let sit on top of the stove, lightly covered with foil, for about 10 minutes. To serve, decorate with lemon wedges and chopped parsley.

Lobster can be a little expensive, so replace it with a comparable amount of shrimp if you wish!

Recipe courtesy of Spain GourmeTour magazine.

Let me know if you make it and how it came out.

This was delicious!

This is first time I’ve made this so I didn’t really measure, these are estimates.

1 tablespoon olive oil, extra virgin
1 small onion chopped
1 carrots chopped
1 cup Vegi Soup Mix by Bob’s Red Mill
4 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated (optional)

1. Heat oil over medium high heat and sauté carrots and onions until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes.

2. Add broth, vegi mix and spices, stir and bring to a boil.

3. Lower the temperature to low, simmer over low heat for 30 – 45 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.

4. top with about 1 tsp of grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Servings: 6

Would love to hear your thoughts on this dish. Please comment below.

This is a fun recipe to make where the whole family can lend a hand  — dinner always takes better when it’s a team effort.

Here’s my original recipe, feel free to substitute buffalo meat to reduce fat  instead of red meat if you wish:

Italian Style Meatballs (for Spaghetti)

2       lbs     lean ground beef
1       lb       ground pork
1       lb       ground turkey
7                 slices white bread, crusts removed; cubed
1/2    cup   seasoned bread crumbs
4       Tbs   fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2    cup   parmesan cheese, grated
1      clove garlic, pressed through garlic press
1       tsp    kosher salt
3       egg whites
1       cup  Homemade Tomato Sauce

1.  Combine all ingredients and mix into balls (using ice cream scooper)
2.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes, then put cooked meatballs into tomato sauce until cooked through.

Servings: 30

Meatballs freeze well, so make enough for a couple of dinners.

Here’s the recipe from today’s segment on Cincinnati’s Fox19 Morning News:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (6 – 8 oz each)
2 tsp kosher salt (approx)
1 – 2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbs all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Sauce:
1 small shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup low sodium chicken stock
1 Tbs unsalted butter, chilled
1 juice from a lemon

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and pre-heat oven to 275 degrees.

2. Using fork, poke thickest half of each chicken breast 5 to 6 times, sprinkle with salt.

3. Place chicken, skinned side down in a 13 x 9 baking dish. Insert probe thermometers into the thickest part of one of the breasts, and cover dish with foil.

4. Roast until breasts registers 145 degrees (about 35 – 40 minutes depending on the thickness of chicken).

5. Meantime, prepare the coating for chicken: whisk flour into the 2 T of melted butter, add ground pepper and set aside.

6. Remove chicken from oven and transfer, skinned side up to paper-towel-lined plate and pat dry with paper towels.

7. Heat up oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Lightly brush top side of chicken with half of the butter mixture.

8. Place chicken in skillet, coated side down, and cook until browned, about 3 – 4 minutes.

9. Coat other side of breast, flip chicken and cook for another 3 – 4 minutes.

10. Transfer chicken to large plate and let rest while preparing pan sauce. (note: if not making sauce, let chicken sit for about 5 minutes.)

11. Add Shallots and garlic to pan and cook over medium heat for about a minute. Add chicken broth and bring to simmer, scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits.

12. Reduce down to about 3/4 to of cup (about 3- 5 minutes).

13. Remove from heat, whisk in butter and Lemon juice. Taste and add salt and black pepper to taste. Pour sauce into a container for guests to add to plate themselves, or drizzle directly over chicken and serve immediately.

Servings: 4

Source
Author: Betty R. Hakes, GourmetBetty.com

Although I didn’t really have an issue with my chicken breasts I thought this was interesting to roast the chicken first under low heat and then finishing it off with the sear. So… did it make a difference?

Oh yeah! “Mom, this is a do-over!” says my 14 yr old son. He also thought it tasted a bit like cordon blue (but there was no ham or cheese).

Here’s the recipe with the brown sauce (slightly modified)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (6 – 8 oz each)
2 tsp kosher salt (approx)
1 Tablespoon Meyers Lemon Olive Oil (original recipe called for vegetable oil)
2 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Sauce:
1 Tablespoon freeze dried Shallots
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup low sodium chicken stock
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and pre-heat oven to 275 degrees.

2. Using fork, poke thickest half of each chicken breast 5 to 6 times, sprinkle with salt.

3. Place chicken, skinned side down in a 13 x 9 baking dish. Insert probe thermometers into the thickest part of one of the breasts, and cover dish with foil.

4. Roast until breasts registers 145 degrees (about 35 – 40 minutes).

5. Meantime, prepare the coating for chicken: whisk flour into the 2 T of melted butter, add ground pepper and set aside.

6. Remove chicken from oven and transfer, skinned side up to paper-towel-lined plate and pat dry with paper towels.

7. Heat up oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Lightly brush top side of chicken with half of the butter mixture.

8. Place chicken in skillet, coated side down, and cook until browned, about 3 – 4 minutes.

9. Coat other side of breast, flip chicken and cook for another 3 – 4 minutes.

10. Transfer chicken to large plate and let rest while preparing pan sauce. (note: if not making sauce, let chicken sit for about 5 minutes.)

11. Add Shallots and garlic powder to pan and cook over medium heat for about 30 – 60 seconds. Add chicken broth and bring to simmer, scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits.

12. Reduce down to about 3/4 to of cup (about 3- 5 minutes).

13. Remove from heat, whisk in butter & black pepper. Pour sauce into a container through a fine mesh strainer (so you don’t’ have the shallots or browned chicken pieces in your sauce).

14. Drizzle over plated chicken and serve.

Enjoy!

Let me know your thoughts… comment below.

My goal for this blog post is to give you a little history of my research, and give you my step-by-step process for my Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner. You decide if you want to marry, pull it apart or follow along.

According to Cook’s Illustrated the core brining formula is 1 gallon of water and 1 cup of table salt for a 4 to 6 hour brine. For a 12- to 14-hour brine you would reduce the salt by half.

Most chefs’ today use kosher salt because it dissolves easier. This would change your 4 – 6 hour core brining formula to 1 ½ cups of Morton’s Kosher Salt with 1 gallon of water.

Researching other chef’s brining recipes, such as Alton Brown and Martha Stewart, I notice that they use a slightly different formula but they usually brine longer than 4 to 6 hours. They also add in several ingredients in order add flavor to the turkey. Add-in I’ve seen are: regular sugar, brown sugar, allspice berries, ginger, peppercorn, maple sugar, soy sauce, herbs and even bourbon! Alton uses vegetable broth and water in his brine.

So why brine? According to Rita Heikenfeld, “brining makes the bird more moist, seasoned and better able to withstand heat in the oven. Without getting too technical, brining allows a greater concentration of water, salt and flavorings to flow into the cells. It also cleans the bird of any residue. Once exposed to heat, much of the water is prevented from leaking out, giving you a better bird.”

So what is this queen of quick & easy going to do? I like the taste of turkey and don’t want to mask the taste with too many flavorings so I’m going to use some basics. My objective to brine this years’ turkey is to produce is a moist and succulent bird (and experiment on my family…). My turkeys in the past have been great without the brine – but I’m taking it up a notch and taking advantage of a rare occurrence of being in my own kitchen for Thanksgiving. Not to mention I am super excited about my mom, sister and her family joining us this year for Thanksgiving. (Wishing my brother and his family could join us as well… but I’m maybe next year.)

So here’s the basic plan:

Wednesday: Pick up my fresh pre-ordered 15 lb Turkey

Wednesday night before dinner (approx 5ish): prepare the brine and refrigerate. This is also a good time to make your cranberry sauce and refrigerate for the next day.

Wednesday after dinner (approx 8ish) submerge the turkey in the brine and put in the fridge overnight.

Thursday morning (8 – 10 AM): remove turkey from brine, wash and pat dry. Allow to air dry in the fridge until you are ready to prep.

Thursday 1:30 PM: Spread turkey with butter, place on roasting rack, add veggies to pan and cook for about 3 – 4 hours until thick part of breast reaches 165 F. ** note a leave in temperature probe with alarm is a great investment!

Thursday 4ish: prepare and bake the stuffing, prep the potatoes and veggies.

Right before dinner: make the gravy

Dinner time (5Pish): Serve turkey along with mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, green beans, carrots, salad, and dinner rolls. Leave room for dessert

So that’s the basic plan for our Thanksgiving dinner. I have provided some basic recipes below, as always, feel free to reach out to me with any questions or post any comments here.

For those seeking some safety guidelines and cooking time table from the USDA you can click here: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Lets_Talk_Turkey/index.asp.

I pray you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving with your family and friends.

Peace to you,

Betty

————————– RECIPES ————————————-

Betty’s 12 – 14 hour (overnight) Brine:

2 gallons water

1 ½ cup Kosher Salt (Morton’s)

¾ cup light brown sugar

1 Tablespoon of whole peppercorns

3 bay leaves

Directions: add all ingredients over medium-high heat and cook until sugar and salt dissolve.

Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature and refrigerate.

When bring is completely cooled: submerge the turkey in a container/bag large enough to hold your turkey. Refrigerate overnight 12 – 14 hours.

Roasting your Turkey:

1 stick of butter

2 onions, cut in quarters

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

3 cloves of garlic

Fresh rosemary and thyme

Directions: soften butter at room temperature. Slab turkey with butter. Insert 1 quartered onion and a couple of springs of herbs into the cavity of the bird.

Place the rest of the vegetables on the bottom of the roasting pan. Make sure you use a roasting pan with a rack.

Place in the oven for 45 min’s at 425 F. Lower the temperature to 325 F, baste the turkey and allow to cook until the thick part of the breast reaches 165 F.

Allow to sit, covered with foil, for 15 – 20 minutes. In the meantime, make the make the gravy and finish up the vegetables.

Gravy:

Turkey Drippings

2 cups Chicken broth

¼ cup Cornstarch

Directions: after you have removed the turkey to allow to rest. Remove all the vegetables from the pan and pour the gravy into a gravy separator and allow to sit for a few minutes until the oil has separated. Discard the vegetables (or if you want a thicker & add to the flavor of the gravy you can mash them in a food mill or processor).

Deglaze the bottom of the pan with about ¼ cup of white wine and allow to boil for about a minute. Mix the cold chicken broth and cornstarch until dissolved, add into the pan and allow to cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until thick. Taste, add salt and pepper to taste and pour into gravy bowl.

note: add more cornstarch or liquid to create the desired consistency of the gravy.

Here’s a lower fat version of the traditional Cuban Style Ground Beef called Picadillo!

Come taste for yourself at DLM Health Fair in Springboro, Ohio! I’ll be there from 11 to 3 giving you a taste of some great tasting Buffalo from Vista Grand Ranch!