Food » turkey

House special noodles

mike — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 22:40:52 +0000

Inspired by a bowl of “house special” soup at Green Leaf that included all kinds of stuff (in comparison to my usual favorite, the elegantly simple pho), we decided to make our own house special soup with whatever was on hand. This one came out pretty good, though if the base broth (a failed pho attempt) had been better, the soup would have been as well.

Ingredients

1 quart broth (pho broth, chicken stock, etc)
6 oz noodles (hand-shaved noodles, udon, etc)
6 Vietnamese meatballs
6 frozen dumplings, shumai, etc
4-6 medium crimini mushrooms, halved and sliced
2-3 bunches baby bok choy
green onions, thai basil, or chives, chopped
hoisin sauce, chili sauce
limes
sesame oil

Directions

Prepare the noodles as directed. Meanwhile, add the dumplings and meatballs to the stock and heat it over medium heat. Saute the bok choy in the sesame oil for a few minutes over medium heat. Add the mushrooms for a minute or two.

Serve by placing a serving of noodles in each bowl, topped by some of the greens. Add dumplings and meatballs, then cover with broth. Add a squeeze of lime, hoisin, and chili sauce to taste.

Vietnamese Meatballs

mike — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:49:06 +0000

These meatballs came from a Bon Appetit recipe for meatball banh mi. We’ve made the banh mi, but also had them in soup and other dishes, not to mention snacking on them straight out of the fridge. We originally made them with pork, but they were just as good with ground turkey.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground turkey
1/4 c finely chopped fresh basil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sriracha
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
1 tbsp sesame oil

Directions

Combine all ingredients except sesame oil in a bowl. Form into 1-inch meatballs and place on a lined baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high. Add half the meatballs and saute until cooked through, turning frequently, about 15 minutes. Repeat with rest of meatballs.

Dry Sauteed Long Beans with Ground Turkey

mike — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:40:25 +0000

This dish was modeled on the dry sauteed green beans found at some Chinese restaurants (e.g. Chiang’s in north Seattle), which is composed mainly of the beans and fine pieces of spicy ground pork. I looked at a few recipes (e.g. this one) but I was surprised to find that the beans weren’t as dry sauteed as I thought — the basic procedure is basically to deep fry them in oil, then dry sautee them with the pork. Instead, I wanted to use my dry charred approach (though I ended up with a second step that was not dry sauteed). So I took a few ideas from the recipes I found, but basically made up my own. I also substituted turkey for the pork, to keep it marginally healthier and long beans for the green beans, because I like them. Either should do fine. The end result came out about perfect, just what I was going for — a flavorful dish focused on the beans but complemented by flavorful meat.

One note: I’ve done the beans in the past in a nonstick skillet, which worked pretty well. This time I tried a non-nonstick pan and don’t think it worked as well. I’m still not sure the best pan for this.

Ingredients

Long beans cut in 2-3″ lengths, about 3 cups worth
1/2 lb ground turkey
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
chili paste, ideally with seeds (e.g. sambal olek), or sriracha otherwise
sambal olek or other chili sauce or paste
soy sauce, shao hsing wine, sugar, corn starch, vegetable oil

Directions

Combine the ground turkey with about 1 tsp salt, 1tsp pepper, and 1 tsp corn starch. Mix it with fingers and let it stand. Meanwhile, heat a 12″ nonstick skillet on medium for 2-3 minutes. Mix 1 tbsp soy, 1 tbsp shao hsing wine, 2 tsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp corn starch and set aside.

Add the long beans (no oil!) and a pinch of salt and pepper. The beans may not all fit in the pan without being piled up too much, so you may need to do this in two batches. Stir the beans occasionally for about 5 minutes, adding a little more salt and pepper as you like. The beans should start to wrinkle and shrink a little. Push the beans to one side of the skillet and add a tiny amount of soy sauce; let it burn off for a few seconds, and then stir the beans through the soy. Keep the beans moving for 2-3 more minutes, adding a little more black pepper. The beans should char a bit and continue to wrinkle and darken. Remove them from the pan.

Heat some oil in the skillet at medium-high heat. Add the turkey and brown, breaking it up with the spatula so it’s in small pieces. After 2-3 minutes, clear a space in the skillet and add some soy sauce and 1/2 to 1 tsp chili paste to taste. Let it sautee for a few seconds then mix the turkey through it. Stir the turkey only occasionally, to let it char against the bottom of the pan a little. Remove from the pan.

Turn the heat to medium and add a little oil to the pan. Add the garlic and sautee until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add about 1/3 of the soy mixture and sautee for another 30 seconds or so. Add the meat back followed by the long beans. Stir fry for a few minutes, adding the soy mixture a little at a time, along with chili paste to taste. When everything is hot and mixed thoroughly, turn off the heat. Add the green onions and mix. Serve over rice.

Turkey Chili in a Pressure Cooker

mike — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:23:40 +0000

I started with this alton brown chili recipe but modified and adapted. It came out pretty good. Hot but not too hot, a fair amount of flavor. The chipotles in adobo add a nice smokiness which I wouldn’t having a little more of. When I first opened the pressure cooker, there was a little too much liquid, but after standing for 10 minutes or so, it was about right. Next time, I might try masa in place of the corn tortillas. I’d also add some vegetables and perhaps replace the salsa with some canned tomatoes and more spices.

Ingredients
2 lb ground turkey
1 tsp kosher salt
1 (12-ounce) bottle of beer, preferably a medium ale
1 (16-ounce) container medium salsa
1 14.5 oz can “chili beans” (mixed black, pinto, and kidney beans), drained
4 small corn tortillas, cut into 1″ pieces
2 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped
1 tbsp adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
vegetable oil

Directions
Mix the salt and 2 tsp oil with the meat. Brown in batches in the pressure cooker pan on medium-high, using additional oil if needed. Remove each batch to a clean bowl. With the heat on medium, add the beer to the pan and deglaze, scraping any browned bits of meat off the bottom of the pan. Add the meat and the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Turn the meat to high and seal the pressure cooker. When it reaches 8 lbs psi pressure (first red ring on Kuhn Rikon cookers), reduce heat and maintain that pressure for 25 minutes. Remove from heat, keep closed, and allow pressure to dissipate. Open, let stand for a few minutes, and serve with toppings of choice.