Devon's Cooking...Turkey with Cranberries and Brussel Sprouts

As I said in an earlier post, it's family-stravaganza for the Hansen clan this week. I saw Heather on Friday and Sunday and this Friday we're making pasta with Tim, Sarah and Josh (recipe to follow) and heading to my mom and dad's house for pre-Thanksgiving dinner, since none of us will be together on the actual holiday. We are going to spend the real Thanksgiving with Dave's grandparents and aunt and uncle... in short, our families might get really sick of us after the holiday season is over! And, as my mom warned me tonight, we might get sick of turkey. Turkey on pre-Thanksgiving, turkey on Thanksgiving, leftover Thanksgiving turkey, turkey sandwiches every day for lunch (that doesn't really have anything to do with Thanksgiving; I just always eat turkey sandwiches for lunch)...and we had turkey tonight! We're crazy for turkey (that's the triptophane talking)!

This was part of the trifecta of deliciousness from Bon Appetit and Dave (strange husband that he is) has been CRAVING brussel sprouts (weirdo)... so it seemed to be a perfect recipe. And, I have to say, it turned out pretty great-- not too brussel-sprouty (actually they tasted really, really good) and otherwise a wonderful homage to Thanksgiving dinner.

Ingredients:
1 to 1 1/4 pounds turkey breast cutlets
All purpose flour
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 large shallot, sliced
8 ounces brussels sprouts, trimmed, quartered through root end
3/4 cup low-salt chicken broth
1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
11/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon butter

Directions: Place cutlets in a large Ziploc bag and pour in 2 tsp of the olive oil; shake to coat turkey in olive oil. Sprinkle cutlets with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Lightly dredge cutlets with flour, shaking off any excess. Spray a heavy large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add cutlets to skillet and sauté until cooked through and golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to platter; tent with foil to keep warm.

Add remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil to same skillet. Add shallot; stir until beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Add brussels sprouts, broth, cranberries, and sage; cover and cook until brussels sprouts are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in vinegar. Add butter; stir until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon brussels sprout mixture over turkey cutlets and serve.

Devon's Cooking...Barley, Mushrooms and Kale Stew

As you know, we went to the Chargers game on Sunday... while it was REALLY warm during the tailgate, it definitely got a little chilly up in our seats (maybe because we're still pretty high up? Closer to the clouds, closer to the cold? Or perhaps it was the chilly attitudes of the Philly fans, bitter that the Chargers were scoring from the red zone for once?). At any rate, by the time we got home, I was sweatshirt-ed and ready for something warm and toasty to enjoy while we watched the Patriots make a terrible 4th quarter, 4th down decision.

Bon Appetit was ON FIRE this month with 3 healthy and delicious-sounding recipes on one page! I decided to make the Barley, Mushroom and Kale stew to warm us up on Sunday night... it was delish!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups chopped leeks (about 2 small stalks; white and pale green parts only)
1 8-ounce container sliced crimini (baby bella) mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1 cup pearl barley
4 cups (or more) vegetable broth
1 bunch kale (about 8 ounces), trimmed, center stalks removed, leaves coarsely chopped (about 8 cups packed)

Spray cooking spray into a heavy large pot and heat over medium heat. Add leeks; sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until leeks begin to soften, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, and rosemary; increase heat to medium-high and sauté until mushrooms soften and begin to brown, stirring often, about 7 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice; stir 1 minute. Add barley and 4 cups broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until barley is almost tender, about 20 minutes. Add kale; stir until wilted, about 1 minute. Cover and simmer until kale and barley are tender, adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls as needed for desired stew consistency, about 10 minutes.

Devon's Cooking...Carne Asada

Given that the holidays are now just around the corner, it's no surprise that the last week and the coming weeks are going to be family-filled! This past week, Heather and Bubba came down for the day to hang out in San Diego. While Heather got her hair done, I got to hang out with Derek-- we made a pretty amazing obstacle course with bed-jumping, somersaults and adventure rolled into one!

And then, on Sunday, Heather and Jeremy came down with Stacy Coleman (I know it's King now, but she'll always be Stacy Coleman to me!) and her husband James for the Chargers game. While they brought the most important part of any tailgate (beer), and some of Jeremy's DELICIOUS guac (you'll have to ask him for the recipe), Dave and I brought chicken marinated in Uncle Dougie's (the best wing sauce ever) and made carne asada, which turned out pretty amazing (nicely done, Dave!).

CARNE ASADA
Ingredients
3 punds flank steak
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 limes, juiced (you can also use the squeezy lime juice that comes in the squeezy lime-looking bottles full of "fresh" lime juice)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika

Directions: Mix all ingredients together in a large tupperware container. Add in an equal amount of water (this will dilute the marinade, but that's what you want to do!). Score the flank steak (make shallow knife cuts all over the meat) and add into the marinade; marinate overnight. Grill to desired doneness and enjoy!