I see that I haven't written anything since November, but I quit feeling bad about it last month, because this is supposed to be a fun thing for me and not a "have to." Life is too full of have to's to be adding one more to the list. Since November I've been concentrating on keeping my nose above the financial maelstrom of my bank account, working WAY too many hours at my job, and, of course, COOKING!
My interest in cooking ebbs and flows depending on how tired I am, and lately I've been REALLY tired, but I've had spurts of wild creativity. This week is one of them, so under advice of a Fellow Cook (who is far more organized than I), I'm going to share this really great and easy shishkabob thing I did this past week so that I can remember it too.
'Twas the week before payday . . . which means I look around the pantry, refrigerator and freezer for weeknight dinner inspiration so I don't have to spend money that I don't have. This week I found half of a turkey tenderloin that I'd stuck in the freezer. I cut it into chunks, threw it into a marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Cavender's Greek Seasoning, and in a separate bowl of marinade added mushrooms and onions. While that sat around for a few minutes, I made tabouleh salad, cut up some cauliflower, lit the grill and started warming up the oil in my deep fryer.
TIP FOR THE DEEP FRYER: My daughter has complained that when I fry anything, the heavy aroma of the oil lingers in the house, so she suggested that I do it outside. Well, there's an outlet right next to the grill, so it's easy to just plug it in out there. Smart kid.
I threaded the shishkabobs and put them on the grill for about 5 minutes each side. The cauliflower went into the deep fryer for 3 minutes (no more than that!). Once out, pat with a paper towel and sprinkle with Kosher salt -- it's a delicious way to eat cauliflower!
I was amazed at how flavorful the turkey was, even though I'd only marinated it for less than half an hour. We had very few leftovers but I saved them anyway, because . . .
I made crepes the next night! This was my first time and I was really pleased at how delicious they were (I got the recipe from "The Big Book of Breakfast": 2 eggs, 1 1/4 cups milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt -- zip it up in a blender for about 30 seconds, being sure to scrape the sides so everything is combined, and then let it rest for about an hour or however long you have). For the filling, I sauteed spinach in a little oil with chopped garlic, Kosher salt and gentle squeeze of lemon. In a separate pan, I cooked chopped shallots, more garlic, and mushrooms in olive oil, then added white wine, reduced it, added the chopped leftover turkey and added a dollop of cream and a pat of butter to make a nice sauce. Oh yeah, salt and pepper too.
As the crepes came out of the pan, I put spinach and the mushroom/turkey mixture in each, rolled them up, and topped with the rest of the mushroom/turkey mixture. Total perfection, no waste on the turkey, and you get leftover crepes to be made later into dessert crepes or breakfast crepes -- let your imagination take off!
