Friday Recipes

It's finally Friday. Here are six yummy recipes to help you through the weekend, including Slow-Cooker Braised Beef with Carrots & Turnips and Meatloaf. Enjoy!

CHICKEN WITH LIME AND AVOCADO SALSA

This is from Better Homes and Gardens, and begins, "Cool, refreshing lime combines with avocados to make a saucy salsa and chicken main-dish recipe that's ready in less than 30 minutes."

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 4 minutes; Total Time: 24 minutes; Servings: 4

To view this online, go to https://www.bhg.com/recipe/chicken/chicken-with-lime-and-avocado-salsa/.

Ingredients

4 chicken cutlets (see Making Chicken Cutlets, below)

3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 large avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

1 medium red onion, cut in thin strips

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and sliced

3 tablespoon lime juice

1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves

Lime wedges

Directions

Preheat grill pan over high heat. Coat chicken with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Add to grill pan; cook 2 to 3 minutes each side or until no pink remains.

Meanwhile, in large bowl combine avocados, tomato, onion, jalapeño, lime juice, and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with chicken. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges. Makes 4 servings.

Making Chicken Cutlets:

If chicken cutlets are unavailable, make your own using boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Steady the meat by placing your hand on top of the thickest part of the chicken breast. Cut in half horizontally, being sure to hold your fingers up and away from the blade. Once you have cut through a few inches of the breast, pull the sliced part back to open and cut down the middle, forming two pieces. If needed, gently flatten the cutlet with the heel of your hand until it is about a half-inch thick.

MEATLOAF

This is from Ree Drummond on the Food Network.

Prep Time: 15 minutes; Inactive Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes; Makes 8 servings; Level: Easy

To view this online, go to https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/meatloaf-recipe-2042541.

Ingredients

Meatloaf:

1 cup milk

6 bread slices

2 pounds ground beef

1 cup grated Parmesan

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt, such as Lawry's

1/4 to 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley

4 eggs, beaten

8 to 12 thin bacon slices

Tomato Sauce:

1/2 cup ketchup

6 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Dash or 2 hot sauce (more if you like)

Dash or 2 Worcestershire sauce

Directions

For the meatloaf: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Pour the milk over the bread and allow it to soak in for several minutes. Place the ground beef, milk-soaked bread, Parmesan, salt, some pepper, seasoned salt and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the eggs. With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined.

Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a foil-lined broiler pan, which will allow the fat from the meat to drain.

Lay the bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf to give the meatloaf some support.

Next, make the tomato sauce: Pour the ketchup into a bowl. Add the brown sugar and dry mustard, and splash in the hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Stir the mixture until well combined. Pour one-third of the sauce over the top of the meatloaf.

Bake for 45 minutes, and then pour over another one-third of the remaining tomato sauce over the meatloaf. Bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes; the meatloaf should be no longer pink in the middle. Allow to sit 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with the remaining tomato sauce on the side as a dipping sauce.

SLOW-COOKER BRAISED BEEF WITH CARROTS & TURNIPS

This is from Eating Well. It begins, "The spice blend in this healthy beef stew recipe—cinnamon, allspice and cloves—may conjure images of apple pie, but the combo is a great fit in savory applications too. Serve over creamy polenta or buttered whole-wheat egg noodles."

Prep Time: 40 minutes; Additional Time: 3 hours 20 minutes; Total Time: 4 hours; Makes 8 servings

To view this online, go to https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/256499/slow-cooker-braised-beef-with-carrots-turnips/.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3 to 3-1/2 pounds beef chuck roast, trimmed

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 cup red wine

1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes, preferably San Marzano

5 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Chopped fresh basil for garnish

Directions

Combine salt, cinnamon, allspice, pepper and cloves in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over beef.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the beef and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.

Add onion and garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add wine and tomatoes (with their juice); bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits and breaking up the tomatoes. Add the mixture to the slow cooker along with carrots and turnips.

Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours.

Remove the beef from the slow cooker and slice. Serve the beef with the sauce and vegetables, garnished with basil, if desired.

Tips

Active: 40 minutes Slow-cooker time: 4-8 hours

To make ahead: Refrigerate the browned beef (Steps 1-2) and tomato mixture (Step 3) separately for up to 1 day. Bring the tomato mixture to a boil before adding to the slow cooker.

Equipment: 5- to 6-quart slow cooker

JIM HARRISON’S CARIBBEAN STEW

This is from Sam Sifton at The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Sam wrote, “Jim Harrison, the poet and epicure, hunter and fisherman, novelist, essayist and enthusiastic cook, published a version of this recipe in the literary magazine Smoke Signals in 1981. I adapted it more than three decades later, after Harrison's death in 2016. The key ingredients: a lot of tomato paste and a good, floral hot sauce, ideally made with Scotch bonnet peppers, which combine in marvelous ways. Parboiling the ribs allows the recipe to come together relatively quickly, and the cooking otherwise is totally serial: one step after another until you slide the pot into the oven and allow the heat to do its work. Substitute different meats, or fewer, if you like, depending on availability.”

Time: 2 hours; Yield: 4 to 6 servings

This was featured in “A Larger-Than-Life Caribbean Stew”, and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018697-jim-harrisons-caribbean-stew.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds pork spareribs, cut into single ribs

2 tablespoons neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed

4 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 Italian sausages, hot or sweet

1 large yellow onion, peeled and sliced

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon red-wine vinegar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons hot-pepper sauce, ideally one made with Scotch bonnet peppers, or to taste

1 cup chicken stock, homemade or low-sodium

1/2 teaspoon white sugar

4 dashes Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons chile powder

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

Preparation

Place spareribs in a pot, and cover with water. Place pot over high heat, and bring to a boil. Lower heat slightly, and cook, covered, for 15 or 20 minutes, then remove ribs to a large bowl and discard the water.

While the ribs cook, pour the oil into a Dutch oven set over high heat, and swirl it around. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, and when the oil begins to shimmer and is about to smoke, add them to the pan, skin-side down. Brown the chicken aggressively, about 5 to 7 minutes per side, then add the chicken to the bowl with the ribs. Repeat with the sausages, browning them on all sides for approximately 5 to 7 minutes, then add to the bowl with the chicken and the ribs. Cook the onions and garlic in the fat remaining in the Dutch oven, stirring occasionally until they soften and begin to brown, approximately 5 to 7 minutes.

Heat oven to 300. Add the tomato paste, vinegar, lemon juice, hot-pepper sauce, chicken stock, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, chile powder and paprika to the onions and garlic in the Dutch oven, then stir to combine, and allow to cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the meats to the Dutch oven, stirring and tossing them so that they are well covered with the sauce, then cover the pot, and place in the oven to cook, undisturbed, for approximately 90 minutes, or until the meats are tender and, in the case of the chicken and the ribs, pulling from the bone.

JOOK

This is from Mark Bittman in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. He wrote, “I first encountered jook, also known as congee, in Hong Kong at dawn after a very long night. I was steered to an anonymous little place, where, I am quite sure, I was not the only person with a headache. It was there that I discovered that this savory Chinese rice porridge was among the world's best breakfasts, especially after a night of indulgence.

“It is transcendent stuff. You might think of it as Chinese risotto, though infinitely less pretentious. It is delightfully creamy, forgiving in its preparation and variable beyond belief.”

Time 2hours 30 minutes; Yield: 6 servings.

This was featured in “The Minimalist; From China, Hangover Help”, and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1839-jook.

Ingredients

1 cup short-grain rice

2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade, or water

1 3-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced

1/4 pound slab bacon, optional

Soy sauce or salt to taste

1/4 cup crispy cooked bacon, minced, optional

1/4 cup minced scallions

1/2 cup roasted peanuts, optional

Sesame oil for drizzling, optional

Preparation

Wash rice, and put it in a stock pot with chicken stock or water. Place over high heat until stock boils, then add about 4 cups water. Bring to a boil, and turn heat to low. Partly cover pot, simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally and adding water as necessary (probably about 2 cups more).

Add ginger and slab bacon, and simmer for an hour more or so. Jook should have a porridgelike consistency. If it becomes very thick, add water. When done, jook will be soupy and creamy, like loose oatmeal.

Remove slab bacon, and serve jook in individual bowls. Season with salt or soy sauce, then garnish with minced bacon, scallions and peanuts. Drizzle with sesame oil if desired.

TURKEY BURGERS

4 Servings

Source: Light and Easy Diabetes Cuisine

Find this recipe at: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/423.shtml

Ingredients

1 egg white

1 thin slice whole-wheat bread

1 small onion, grated

1 pound ground turkey

2 teaspoons ground coriander

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons virgin olive oil

Directions

In a large bowl, lightly beat egg white.

Tear bread into small pieces; soak in egg white 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients, except oil and thoroughly mix. Shape into four patties.

In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil. Cook patties over medium heat about 10 minutes on each side until cooked through.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 208; Protein: 17 g; Fat: 14 g; Sodium: 195 mg; Cholesterol: 48 mg; Carbohydrates: 5 g, Exchanges: 3 Meat