Turkey Cider Butter Baste

Here is a quick recipe if you have some butter, herbs and apple cider lying around!

• Servings: 4
• Time: 1 hour
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• 2 cups of apple cider
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter
• zest of one lemon and a squeeze of fresh juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2  tbsp of fresh herbs (poultry blend) I used rosemary, sage and thyme

Directions:

Boil your apple cider in sauce pan till reduced to 1/2 cup. Add your butter, zest, juice, salt and pepper, and fresh herbs.

Stir till butter is melted and incorporated into the sauce. Chill till ready to use.

I slather this stuff under the skin of the turkey, on top and brush some in the cavity of the bird before I stuff it! Yum the flavor is heavenly!!

Salmon with Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc

I made this last night and it was heavenly!!  I cooked the salmon on my wood barbecue till it was flaky on the outside and soft, slightly underdone in the middle.  It just melted in your mouth:)  Mashed potatoes was the foundation to lie this beautiful piece of fish on 🙂

I created this version of a French Beurre Blanc.  In English this means white butter. This hot butter sauce is a bit tricky to make,  you have to constantly whisk or the sauce may break…. then you will be left with a grainy unattractive mess! Some people may add a tbsp or so of heavy cream to act as a stabilizer.

LemonCaper Beurre Blanc

• Servings: 6-8
• Time: 30min
• Difficulty: moderate
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Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of dry white wine
• freshly squeezed lemon juice from one lemon
• 1 tsp of lemon zest
• 1 shallot chopped rough
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp of fresh chives chopped fine
• 2 tbsp of fresh parsley chopped fine
• 1 tbsp of capers
• 2 tsp of Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter cubed and chilled

Directions:

Place your chopped shallot in a sauce pan. Add the dry white wine and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and then reduce mixture till you have 1/4 cup of liquid. Strain mixture and discard the shallots. I press on the shallots to extract all the extra juice.

Return to the sauce pan and have your heat set at medium high. Now comes the fun part.  With whisk in hand and your cubed butter you will start to add the cubed butter few chunks at a time. Whisk on and off the heat till incorporated. The sauce will start to thicken and be silky. Keep adding the butter and whisking on the heat and off the heat. I usually do 10 seconds on and 10 seconds off. By that time the cubes are usually melted and its time to add more. Once you have used up all your butter then you will whisk in the lemon zest, Dijon mustard, parsley, chives, capers, salt and pepper.

Serve immediately with the fish. This sauce would also be lovely  drizzled over asparagus.

Bon Appetite!

Grilled Lamb Chops

I made a lamb dinner for our passover meal and these gorgeous chops were marinated and cooked on the grill till medium rare! Super yummy and easy peasy!

• Servings: 4-6
• Time: 4 1/2 hrs(including marinating time)
• Difficulty: medium
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Ingredients:

• 6-8 lamb chops (which mine were quite small)
• 1/2 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice and the zest from that lemon.
• 1 tsp of freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp of dried oregano
• 2 tsp of  kosher salt
• 3 garlic cloves minced fine
• 2 tsp of fresh thyme
• 2 tbsp of freshly chopped rosemary

Directions:

4 hours prior to the time you would like to start to cook your lamb you need to start marinating them.  So take all the ingredients minus the lamb and place in a gallon size zip lock bag and give it a good shake to mix all the ingredients up.

Put your lamb chops in the bag and let the Marinade begin! After 2 hours flip your bag to make sure all surfaces get to hang out with the concoction.

When you are ready to cook your lamb preheat your grill to 450 degrees and place chops on hot grill. After 5 minutes flip your chops for another 5 minutes for medium rare or till the internal temp is 140 Degrees. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting into the meat or you will lose all that moistness. Meat has to rest before you can dive into it. Patience and you will be rewarded with tender juicy meat, haste and you will have dry, tough meat.

 

Stay tuned for upcoming recipes this week, I served this meal with roasted mini potatoes, french green beans, matzoh crackers and red wine. Simple, rustic and delicious! Cheers!

Salty Pear Martini

This is a wonderful winter time cocktail. I love making pear and blue cheese salads, pear crumbles, and now pear martini’s. If you never tried St Germain before it smells like grapefruit! Wonderful combination 😉

Salty Pear Martini

• Servings: 1-2
• Time: 5min
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounces of pear vodka
• 3/4 ounce of St. Germain
• 1/2 ounce of simple syrup
• 1 whole squeezed lime or lemon

For the simple syrup recipe view my whiskey sour post

Directions:

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with some ice and “shake it baby,  shake it” Salt the rim of your martini glass I use kosher salt because you want larger grain salt for rimming a glass otherwise way to salty! I also add extra ice to my martini glass. Pour into your martini glass and enjoy!