Beef Gravy over Mashed Potatoes

I have been craving beef gravy and mash potatoes lately.  Like the horrible absolutely amazing  kind they served for school lunch back in the day.  I think I caught a whiff of something walking by a diner one day and it's been stuck in my nose ever since.  My roommate was some how given a bunch of russet potatoes, so I had everything I needed to make this happen with no time to waste. 

I searched online for a couple recipes and decided to go with the one that would require me to make the gravy from scratch, so it was a white gravy.  It was good, but I think I wanted a brown gravy flavor.  Noted for the next round.  I got fancy with my potatoes and mixed up some creamy garlic mashed potatoes from the Food Network.  Absolutely delicious, although maybe too much garlic for this recipe.  I made enough for dinner for me and my roommate Sunday evening and lunch for the rest of the week.  It took some time, but it was really simple to make and I love not having PB & J's for lunch every day.   

Beef Gravy over Mashed Potatoes 

8 to 10 servings 

Mashed Potatoes

• 3 1/2 pounds russet potatoes 
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt 
• 16 fluid ounces (2 cups) half-and-half 
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed 
• 6 ounces grated Parmesan 

Beef Gravy

• 1.5 Pounds of Hamburger 
• 1 Medium Onion chopped
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 4 cups milk

1. Peel and dice potatoes, making sure all are relatively the same size.  Place in a large saucepan, add the salt, and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to maintain a rolling boil. Cook until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, brown the hamburger and the onion in a large skillet until cooked.  Drain off the fat and set aside. 
3. Return the skillet to the heat and add the melted butter then the flour with the salt and pepper.  Once it starts to clump up, add the milk and stir until the gravy begins to thicken, about 10 to 15 minutes. 
4. Once the gravy thickens add the beef and onion back in to the skillet. 
5. When the potatoes have finished cooking, drain them and set aside.  In the pot heat the half and half with the garlic over medium heat until simmering, stirring frequently. 
6. Add the potatoes back the pot and mash them with the garlic and cream mixture. 
7. Pour the gravy over the mashed potatoes and serve. 

Enjoy! 

Butternut Squash Soup

• I avoided this recipe and ones like it for awhile because of time.   Sure it came from Great Food Fast so one should think it's quick but the time says 45 minutes, if its more than 30 minutes, the recipe is probably on the shelf for some weekend task.  Silly? Probably, but when I get home from work and it's already 7 PM I really don't feel like spending much time on dinner, so I can get to all the other random stuff I need to do.  I actually made this last Monday night. Given that I didn't need to stand over it the entire time, it really wasn't much of a pain in the butt to make.  I need to stop thinking that just because the recipe says 45 minutes, means I am chained to the stove or something. 
• The soup was great even though I forgot the orange juice and didn't make the pumpkin seeds.  The juice was an accident and the seeds were on purpose.  Instead we added our own spices.  My newish roommate is from Louisiana and had some Tony Chachere's Seasoning, (mom used to have this stuff. It shocks him that some one from South Dakota knows what it is.), which we sprinkled on top for a little spice.  I would have like it to be more cream based, but the sour cream helped take care of that.  It was also nice that my gluten free friend/neighbor could join in on the meal and after feeding 4 people there was enough left over for a few lunches. 
• Next time I will try it with the orange juice, but I still recommend it the way I made it. 
• Butternut Squash Soup (Serves 4 to 6)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 piece (2 inches) fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 3/4 pounds small butternut squash, prepared and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• Sour cream

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, and squash; cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. 
2. Stir in 4 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer until squash is tender, 20 minutes.
3. Puree soup in batches. When blending hot foods, allow the heat to escape to prevent splattering. Remove the cap from the hole of the blender's lid, and cover with a dish towel or paper towel.
4. Serve hot, with sour cream, pepper, and any other seasonings.

Enjoy! 

Adventures in the Land of Ground Turkey

So I'm pretty sure if my dad were to read this, he would disown me.  Or never let me in the kitchen at home again for fear of what I might trick him into eating.  In all fairness, I've never really had much desire to try ground turkey anything, especially when ground beef already does such a good job.  (If you follow me at all, you've see all the delicious post and pictures of my latest grilling adventures.)  Regardless of my love of a good beef burger,  I decided it was time to see what all the talk was about.


I came across a few recipes Turkey Burgers while I was flipping through my recipe binder and cookbooks.  I settled on this one found in Great Food Fast.  I felt that my first adventure in the land of ground turkey needed to be mixed with other ingredients and flavors for fear of being grossed out.  I was concerned I wouldn't cook them long enough or over cook them, I was cooking a few things on the grill at once, but about 5 minutes on each side was perfect on my grill at medium high.  I don't really know what I was expecting, but they turned out really good.  I switched the cheese because I am not a fan of Gruyere and I mixed up some avocado spread.  I will definitely be trying out more recipes in the near future involving ground turkey.  

Grilled sweet potato fries, grilled zucchini halves and a turkey burger with avocado spread

Ingredients (for 2 burgers)

• 3/4 to 2/3 lb ground turkey
• 1/4 finely grated Swiss cheese
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/8 dried bread crumbs 
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard (I finally bought some!) 
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat grill to high.  In a medium bowl, use your hand to gently combine ground turkey with the cheese, scallions, breadcrumbs, mustard, and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.  Form into two 1-inch thick patties. 
2. Grill patties for 5 to 10 minutes on a side until cooked through and serve on lightly grilled buns. 

To make the Avocado Spread smash one avocado, one minced garlic clove, and the juice of one lemon (or about 2 tbsp) with a bit of salt and pepper.  Spread it over your turkey burger and enjoy!   

Tasty Spinach Pasta with Walnut Sauce

It has been raining pretty much every day since last Friday.  I've only road my bike to work once this week. ONCE.  Tomorrow's not looking to good either.  It's also been cooler than normal.  I can't really complain much about that, it's much better than the humid, hot, rain-just-makes-it -worse weather that is much more common in the summer here.  Still, temperatures below 80 degrees in the middle of summer is suddenly cold and warrants comfort like foods like tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  Add to the list Spinach Pasta with Creamy Walnut Sauce. 

From Fresh Flavor Fast, this recipe is quick, not too heavy as it might sound, and really good as a leftover for lunch the next day.  I couldn't find spinach linguine, but I spaghetti is a close enough choice. Other than that switch, I followed the recipe in amounts and all.  If you are like me and do not have a food processor, just a blender, I would dice up the garlic clove instead of throwing it in whole.  I also crushed the walnut halves to make it easier on the blender.  As an FYI, the cream mixture got pretty thick.  Maybe it's suppose to do this.  I probably was distracted and let it blend too long, but it was fine and mixed in with the pasta easily.   

Ingredients 

 I lost my pictures, so this is from Martha Stewart

• 2 cups walnut halves 
• 1 pound spinach spaghetti
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley

1. Cook the pasta according the package in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. When finished, drain and return to the pot. 
2. Meanwhile, In a large heavy skillet over medium heat, toast the walnuts in small batches. Shake the pan occasionally until fragrant and starting to darken, 2 to 3 minutes.  
3. In the blender, combine half of walnuts, the cream, and garlic and blend until smooth; season with salt and pepper.
4.  Toss with pasta, remaining walnuts, Parmesan, and parsley. Serve with more Parmesan.

Enjoy! 

A Time to Celebrate!

The past couple of weeks have brought some great reasons to celebrate.  First, I was given the clearance to start riding my bike again, my elbow is all better.  Second, I finally got my Architecture license! Whoo hoo!  Third, my very great friend, Megan was in town for the weekend on her way to a conference.  Fourth, summer is officially here, this is probably reason enough.  Melissa reminded me that I have had a bottle of champagne that my boss gave me three years ago that I still had not opened.  It was time to pop open that bottle and celebrate, so that's exactly what we did this weekend.

Time to Celebrate!

I had been wanting to host a small dinner party on the roof for some time now, so that's exactly what I did.  The menu was Avacodo Dip, Spinach, Red Onion & Cherry Craison Salad, Summer Squash Ribbons with Lemon & Parmesan, Lemon & Basil Roasted Chicken and last but not least a tasty Fruit & Pudding Trifle Megan whipped up (so good- we must beg her to post it up).  Everything was gluten free and absolutely tasty.  Everything was super easy to make time so that everything was ready when needed.  Megan made the desert before everything else so that it could set up in the afternoon.  I prepped the chicken and put it in the oven.  I mixed up everything else while it was roasting.  First the avocado dip, the salad dressing and salad and finally the summer squash just before the chicken was done.
I have made two of these recipes before, but I have three to share with you today.  I followed most of the recipes pretty closely, maybe adding more or less of this or that to some of them.  I highly recommend the Sweet Paul Magazine that I found the Avocado Dip and Lemon & Basil Roasted Chicken in.  There are so many more recipes that I need to try from it.


Avocado Dip

The avocado dip was gone in an instant & look at that chicken!

• 2 ripe avocados
• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice (I used one whole lemon)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Peel the avocado, and mash the meat in a bowl with mayo, lemon and garlic. (I tossed it in the blender for a bit to get it nice and smooth)
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Serve with chips  or other tasty dipping snackers.

Summer Squash & Zucchini Ribbons with Lemon & Parmesan

Delicious ribbons of squash!

• 1 medium summer squash
• 1 medium zucchini 
  
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup Parmesan, shaved
• kosher salt and pepper

1. Cut the squash and zucchini into long, thin strips using a vegetable peeler (discard the seedy cores). Place in a large bowl.
2. Add the oil, lemon juice, Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

Lemon & Basil Roasted Chicken

Read for the oven.

• 1 large chicken
• 1 bunch basil
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 2 lemons, cut in half
• 2 pounds small potatoes
• 2 or 3 carrots cut into 2" chunks
• 8 cloves garlic, left whole

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF. 
2. Remove the gizzards and liver if inside the chicken cavity and rub chicken well with 2 tbsp olive oil.
3. Lift up the breast skin gently and place a bunch of basil in the “pocket”. 
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper & Place in an oven-proof dish with potatoes, carrots, and garlic. 
5. Fill the cavity of the chicken with two lemon halves. 
6. Squeeze the remaining lemon over the chicken and drizzle with olive oil. 
7. Roast for 20 minutes, take it out and baste it and put it back in at 350ºF for about another 45 minutes (mine was in for 55 minutes)
8. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before serving.

We didn't even make it to our seats to eat we were so hungry & it was so good!

Take it all the to roof and Enjoy! 

Last Dinner Creation in South Dakota

 Tomorrow is my last full day in South Dakota until who knows when.  I am really going to miss the kitchen that is larger than my kitchen and living room combined in New York.  I am also going to miss a kitchen filled with many random ingredients and utensils and gadgets that your lucky if you use once a year, but I still want them. And not doing anything days on end, although I must admit that I am starting to get cabin fever.  Especially since a little blizzard ruined my night out for New Year's Eve. 
Anyway, back to the subject, all three of us older kids will be leaving on Monday, and my pickier-than-me little sister was on a "date" tonight so we decided to make tonight the last "new" meal of my trip.  She claims to be suffering from all these "different" meals that she has had set in front of her the last two weeks.  (Sunday's dinner will be calm and nice like the tocos last night.)
 Tonight I made something with peas, garlic, and onions. Mixed together.  I present you with Chicken and Dumplings. We changed a few things, but this was base recipe.  We thought we had some red and green peppers to add in, but my brother finished them off last night.  It was really good and even my brother ate it with out added more salt and pepper or salsa or sour cream.  I especially like the dumplings, I think I am going to add sage to some simple biscuits.
 

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen green peas
• 4 cups cubed cooked chicken
  DUMPLINGS:
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 3 tablespoons butter, chilled
• 3/4 cup milk

1. In a large saucepan, saute the onion and garlic in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, sugar, salt, basil and pepper until blended. Gradually add broth; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute; reduce heat. Add peas and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in chicken. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.
2. For dumplings, in a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and basil. Cut in the butter until it resembles small crumbs.  Stir in milk with a fork until moistened. Drop by tablespoonfuls into mounds over chicken mixture.
3. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes. Cover and bake 10 minutes longer or until a toothpick inserted in a dumpling comes out clean. 

  

Enjoy!