High Roast Turkey, Deconstructed

Thanksgiving for one.

Salt everything and let it sit in your refrigerator for 3 days. Refrigerate uncovered overnight.

Rub the turkey with melted butter. Bake an hour at 400F on a broiling pan with assorted veggies underneath. I used yams, carrots, celery, and onions. 

Your target temps are 165 for breast and 175 for dark meat. Dark meat is near impossible to overcook. White meat dries quickly.

I overcooked on the breasts this time. At one hour, temp was 150. After 10 minutes longer, temp was 175. Next time, I will put flavored butter under the skin of the breast.

Shepherd's Pie

Preheat 400F 

To a frying pan, add ground beef, diced onion, frozen mixed vegetables, worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste. Top with mashed potatoes. 

Be sure to salt and pepper along every step of the way.

Perfect Overnight Oatmeal

Weekday breakfasts used to go something like this: a bowl of multi-grain cheerios with skim, or fruit with yogurt and granola in the summer, or maybe some slices of toast. None of it was particularly nutritious, and I was always ravenous by 10 AM. The only reason I kept these options around is because they were fast. Breakfast needs to take ten minutes tops from start to finish.

A few weeks ago, I started making oatmeal in the crockpot, and I'm totally hooked. The only thing tricky here is the ratio of water to oatmeal and cooking time. This will vary depending on the size and temperature of your crockpot, but after a few runs and tweaks, I've finally found my perfect weekday breakfast -- easy, warm, and filling.

You'll need steel cut oats, water, salt, and an electrical timer. Steel cut is much better suited than rolled oats -- they're tougher so they'll hold up to the longer cooking time. (And even though I don't think this is technically accurate, they just feel like the healthier option.) Salt is key, so don't skip it. It doesn't make your oatmeal salty, just more flavorful. Brown sugar and cinnamon are optional.

 In your crockpot, mix the ingredients according with these ratios: 1 cup steel cut oats, 3 3/4-4 cups water, 3 good pinches of kosher salt. I also add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar. It will look totally unappetizing.

Set the electrical timer so that the oats cook at the crockpot's lowest setting for 2.5-3 hours and then shut the crockpot off. Time this so that the oats have about 30 minutes to thicken and finish cooking in the still-warm crockpot before you're ready to eat.

Stir before serving.

Asian short ribs/ papaya salad

Southeast Asian inspired: beef short ribs, papaya salad, and vermicelli

Marinate short ribs in Mamacita brand bbq, oyster sauce, cilantro, sugar, salt, pepper. Cook over medium charcoal.

Papaya salad making station

Vermicelli, boil, drain and cool. 

Papaya salad: roughly julienne the green papaya. Mash/beat with garlic, fish sauce, crab paste, shrimp paste, sugar, lime juice, chili pepper, tomato. Garnish with cilantro.

 

Serve with toasted unsalted peanuts.

High Roast Chicken

What makes this recipe awesome and unique:

insanely hot oven: you won't find many recipes at this heat.

heat = speed; chicken roasted in 40 minutes

brined chicken = a chicken breast that isn't tough and stringy and dry

potatoes that soak up the flavor of the chicken while getting an amazing crust

unique chicken not found at any restaurant or store

broiling pan, chop russet potatoes, toss in olive oil and seasoning.

cover in broiling pan

 lay your butterflied, brined chicken flat

tuck in its legs so that they are between the thighs and the breasts. A trick I learned from Gordon Ramsay: slice the skin in a ring at the very end of the drumstick so that the skin can move as it crisps.

another view

bake at 500F for 20 min. rotate and continue for 20 min.

breast should be 160F

 

will be super juicy make sure your cutting board is on the meat side, have towels ready

first cut straight down the middle between two breasts. Then pull off the thigh by holding the drumstick and passing your knife down the path of least resistance.

Eat immediately for best results.

Roasted potatoes

Cut potatoes. Oil and season. Place flesh down and bake covered in foil @425F x 20min. Remove foil and bake 15 min. Flip and bake 10 min. Remove and toss in garlic puree and rosemary.

I used russet potatoes (pictured here) and red potatoes. With these timings, red was superior. The potato texture was creamy and dense. The russets were fluffy and the crust was slightly leathery, disconnected from the flesh of the potato.

But both tasted amazing and the russets were crispier and less expensive.

Naan sandwiches

Buy naan to go for 75c a piece. Fill it with cold cuts, cilantro, and their yogurt cilantro dipping sauce. Wrap in foil to go.

Monte Cristo

Monte Cristo

This was the special today in the cafeteria. I couldn't resist so I got it for dessert (this is a red herring).

Guess what it is! Powdered sugar and jam toppings, I thought it was a doughnut. Then I thought it was fried chicken.

The Monte Cristo, as ARMC serves it, is a deep fried ham and swiss sandwich. Amazing.

Disclaimer: ARMC is a health promoting organization.

Kale, Carrot, Onion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbO2Q-4Ql5w

Among a cafeteria of easily available deli meats and white bread, serving a patient population that demonstrates the consequences of poor eating, I am craving vegetables these days. 

I followed the above recipe with a few modifications:

1) I used a knife to julienne carrots: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYtlIH-YZL4

2) No tahini sauce. Just salt.

3) Added a garlic clove.

So in order, add to a frying pan: onion, garlic, kale, carrots.

Omelet upgraded

Soy sauce on tomatoes makes a great side dish. The best omelette I've tasted in years. Look at how it glistens. The hint of cheese, the kick of cilantro and onion, starts the day with a bang.

Baked Tilapia

Wash and dry. Rub with spices. Add lemon and lime. Decorate with paprika and black pepper. Baptize with soy sauce and olive oil. Bake 375F 15 minutes

Served on mirepoix. Handy when you don't have leafy greens or brown rice available.

Philly Cheesesteak

Thinly sliced ribeye steak. Heat up and butter a heavy pan. Individually lay each meat slice down. Turn once. Remove the meat. Add more butter to the pan. Add onions, peppers, and mushrooms, scraping off the fond. Put the hot toppings into a Colombo roll with your choice of cheese.

Protein

Mexican steak onions egg cilantro cheese

Tilapia

Pan fried with cilantro onion soy sauce topping on brown rice.

More soup

No chicken broth, no problem. Use a can of tomato sauce with water.

Tuna salad sandwich

Tuna, celery, onion, parsley, ground ginger, mayonnaise, mustard. Bake on an English Muffin for 10 min at 350F. Top with paprika.

Chinese Chicken

Dedicated to my lil sib JH for helping me with my car's headlights: chicken stir fry. Two chicken breasts, ginger, bell pepper, onion, scallion, soy sauce, sesame oil.

 Chop your vegetables first.

 Wash and pat dry your chicken breast. Allow to come to room temperature.

Slice first ALONG the grain. Then cut against it.

 Lightly salt and pepper.

 Mix all other ingredients except for scallions.

 Pan fry, as hot as you can.

Serve over rice.