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Everyone has their favorite type of kitchen gadget in their kitchen. Here are few things I can’t live without.
 
Early in our marriage my husband and I took possession of our parents stainless steel hand cranked meat slicer. My husband occasionally would use the slicer to slice leftover holiday turkey breast into uniform slices. However, several years ago to better control the sodium level and use a variety of seasonings, I decided to roast my own boneless turkey breast and have my husband slice it for lunches,
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Recently I was reading the February 2020 issue of Bon Appétit Magazine and saw a recipe for Pork Marbella in the “Home - Family Meal” column. This is Bon Appétit’s twist on Chicken Marbella from the Silver Palate Cookbook that was published in April 2007. Their chicken version cooks for 50-60 minutes whereas switching to pork tenderloin the cooking time is just 22-26 minutes. You can marinate the pork overnight, which I decided to do, but you don’t.
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I’m slowly finishing up the various cuts of venison my husband’s friend shared with us. Recently I used the ground venison for chili. I did an internet search and found a recipe that used common pantry items. The recipe is from a a website called Fox Valley Foodie. It was an excellent recipe and quite tasty. The recipe needed to simmer for three hours, so this would be a do ahead meal. 

The recipe called for two pounds of ground venison. Our friend must have included some type of ground fat in the venison (you could literally see it) straight venison would be too lean. Besides the venison, the recipe called for one 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, 2-cans of chili beans, 1-15 ounce tomato sauce, 1-6 ounce can tomato paste, red onions, poblano peppers, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth and flour. Due to my oversight, I unintentionally misread the recipe and adjusted a few quantities and omitted some. For starters I purchased two cans of diced tomatoes, omitted the tomato sauce, used yellow onions not red, red kidney not chili beans, omitted the flour and used approximately 1-1/2 cups of beef broth. With these changes my 8 quart Dutch oven was filled to the brim!
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My husband was channel surfing the other evening looking for something for us to watch before bed. In the evening, the Food Network seems to the station of food challenges, not cooking. WLIW, a PBS station called Create TV, broadcasts America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country. Fortunate for us, it seems to be on just about every evening. When we caught it on Sunday, the co-hosts were demonstrating how to roast a chicken (weeknight roast chicken). 
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Williams-Sonoma is clearing out all Thanksgiving and holiday merchandise. Items are an extra 20% off. I picked up a 15.5 ounce jar of Butternut Squash and Bacon simmer sauce. The jar recipe recommends 1-1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this sauce. The dish serves 4 to 6. Dinner is ready in approximately 18 minutes. The price was originally $14.95, deal of the day $3!

Tomorrow is the last day for the weekly sale specials at Whole Foods. Today, I picked up an Organic Air-Chilled Whole Chicken raised by Bell and Evans at a Prime Member special of $2.29/lb., normally $3.99/lb. Check my recipe page for ideas. I’m preparing a weeknight roast chicken as demonstrated on America’s Test Kitchen.  The chicken is served with a tarragon-lemon pan sauce. 
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As you know, I love a good bargain. I enjoy the anticipation of the weekly sales on the Whole Foods app and I love discovering bargains at Williams-Sonoma. Fortunately for me, I pass a Williams-Sonoma store every time I go to my gym. One of my discoveries was Giada De Laurentiis Braising Sauce - pot roast and porcini mushrooms. The robust sauce contained red wine, porcini mushrooms, onions, garlic and rosemary. The sauce originally sold for $16.95 but I purchased it for only $4.99.
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Many years ago we did a long weekend with friends in Annapolis, Maryland. We had dinner one evening at the Treaty of Paris restaurant located in the historic Maryland Inn. The inn dates back to the 1780s. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed suddenly in early December.
 
We had a wonderful time and we came away from the dinner with an appreciation for popovers. Popovers accompanied our meal and were light, airy and delicious. Returning from that trip, I purchased a popover pan to replicate those wonderful treats. I haven’t made popovers in a long time, but I had time the other day to try a recipe for garlic parmesan popovers. 
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​I am nearing the end of the venison that was given to my husband and I from his friends in Delaware. Tonight I prepared venison backstrap, better known as the tenderloin. I researched the web and found a recipe for seared venison backstrap on cdkitchen.com. The venison recipe was easy to prepare, however, I did flub it a bit. I was to marinate the venison in a mixture of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  However, I inadvertently used minced fresh garlic and added chopped fresh rosemary. The rosemary was to be added to the sauté of sliced onions, fresh garlic and brown sugar. However, my mistake paid off.
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As I mentioned many times before, I shop the Whole Foods app to see what their weekly specials are. On Prime member special until Tuesday, they have sustainable wild-caught sea scallops, 10/20 count for $12.99/lb. The price really caught my attention. I’ve seen fresh wild-caught scallops for $18.99/lb. in another local food store. When I went to Whole Foods, I saw why the price was so good, they were previously frozen. I decided I’d give them a try.
 
The next step was preparation. As you can see on my recipe page, I have a decent number of recipes using scallops. However, I didn’t want to repeat myself. I found on the Epicurious app, a recipe for scallops with apple pan sauce. The recipe was developed by Craig Cutler from the Lake Austin Spa Resort in Austin, Texas. It takes only 20 minutes to prepare and a minimal amount of ingredients. You’ll need Granny Smith apples, fresh lemon juice, a pound of scallops, and pantry staples (salt, pepper and butter). The recipe also calls for hearty sprouts (daikon or sunflower) or pea sprouts, but I left those out. 
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This past Sunday was a lazy day for my husband and me. We had company the afternoon before and wound up staying up late Saturday night, if you can call 11 pm late! For supper on Sunday, I didn’t want to fuss too much. Whole Foods has on Prime Members special until tomorrow, air-chilled boneless and skinless chicken breast for $3.99/lb. I thought chicken paninis would be good for supper.


​meet donna

A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

​If you have questions or comments, click on the envelope icon above to contact me directly. 

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