We've all made garlic bread, and let's face it, it's one of the easiest and most satisfying accompaniments to almost any meal. At its most basic, all you really need is some form of bread, butter or a substitute, salt and garlic powder, and it comes out pretty good. However, it's incredibly easy to take this from meerly good to fantastic, though admittedly it's harder to do this for a crowd than for one or two people. This is my go-to method when I want or need really good garlic bread and don't want to make a whole loaf's worth. It does take a little effort, but the outcome is worth it and it also makes for some really excellent croutons.
Garlic Bread
Ingredients:
- Crusty Bread, sliced 3/4-1 inch thick. French, Italian or whatever you would like to use, except for sliced sandwich bread
- Olive oil
- Garlic clove, split open or partially smashed
- Salt (optional)
Directions:
Brush the olive oil on one side of the bread. Try to do this thinly, and use a pastry brush. If it's too much, it will just be sopped in oil and soggy after you're done. Lightly salt the bread on the oiled side if you so desire. Toast the bread in a hot skillet, as you would with grilled cheese sandwiches. When it's crisped and browned to your liking, remove from the pan and rub the raw garlic clove over the grilled side. Rub a little, it's just a little garlicky, rub a lot, it's a lot.
Notes:
- Learn from my experiments, and don't try to do this with an olive oil spray. It's an easy way to build up a thinish layer of olive oil, but it doesn't taste as good when it's done. Ideally, you're using a half-decent olive oil for this anyway, such as one that you'd use for bread dipping.
- To make this into croutons, just cube it up after you're done cooking it. If you're making it specifically for crouton purposes, oil both sides of the bread as lightly as you can, and grill both sides.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Turkey Goulash
Ok, so this is completely ripped off/adapted from Paula Deen's recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_36300,00.html?rsrc=search
After getting over the shock that this is a dish of hers that does not contain butter, I've changed the beef to de-fatted ground turkey and halved the recipe. When I made the full batch I had enough to feed about a dozen people, despite Paula's note that this serves six. Either way, it took a little while to prepare, but was pretty simple and came out really well and will freeze nicely. This is about as low-fat/healthyish as comfort food can get, and you can keep the sodium down if you use low-sodium canned goods.
I also will second Paula's suggestion to serve this with salad and garlic bread--it just makes this meal perfect.
Turkey Goulash
Ingredients:
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 pack sliced mushrooms (4oz) or 1 large can sliced mushrooms, drained (optional)
- 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 1 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon seasoned salt OR 2 chipotle flavored boullion cubes
- 1 cup elbow macaroni, uncooked
Directions:
In a LARGE pot, saute the ground turkey over medium-high heat until no pink remains. Break up the meat while sauteing. Drain any grease. Add the onions and garlic (and mushroom, if using) to the pot and saute until they are tender. Add water, along with the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, soy sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder and seasoned salt (or boullion, if using). Stir well. Place a lid on the pot and allow this to cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the elbow macaroni, stir well, return the lid to the pot, and simmer for about 30 minutes. At this point, it's ready to eat, or if you're following the Paula method, allow it to sit for 30 minutes.
Garnish with sour cream and paprika, if desired (I didn't think this was needed).
After getting over the shock that this is a dish of hers that does not contain butter, I've changed the beef to de-fatted ground turkey and halved the recipe. When I made the full batch I had enough to feed about a dozen people, despite Paula's note that this serves six. Either way, it took a little while to prepare, but was pretty simple and came out really well and will freeze nicely. This is about as low-fat/healthyish as comfort food can get, and you can keep the sodium down if you use low-sodium canned goods.
I also will second Paula's suggestion to serve this with salad and garlic bread--it just makes this meal perfect.
Turkey Goulash
Ingredients:
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 pack sliced mushrooms (4oz) or 1 large can sliced mushrooms, drained (optional)
- 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 1 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon seasoned salt OR 2 chipotle flavored boullion cubes
- 1 cup elbow macaroni, uncooked
Directions:
In a LARGE pot, saute the ground turkey over medium-high heat until no pink remains. Break up the meat while sauteing. Drain any grease. Add the onions and garlic (and mushroom, if using) to the pot and saute until they are tender. Add water, along with the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, soy sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder and seasoned salt (or boullion, if using). Stir well. Place a lid on the pot and allow this to cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the elbow macaroni, stir well, return the lid to the pot, and simmer for about 30 minutes. At this point, it's ready to eat, or if you're following the Paula method, allow it to sit for 30 minutes.
Garnish with sour cream and paprika, if desired (I didn't think this was needed).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
