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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.
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Many years ago I found a recipe by Marian Burros for a white chicken chili done with bite size boneless chicken breasts. The other night while channel surfing, I came upon “Sara’s Weeknight Meals” and Sara was preparing white chicken chili with ground chicken. I have never tried ground chicken, but have numerous recipes for ground turkey. Her recipe was quite easy and used pantry staples. The recipe calls for an onion, garlic, all-purpose flour, chili powder, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, chicken stock, white wine, ground chicken, two cans of cannellini beans and either sour cream or yogurt. I’m now counting leftover white wine as a pantry staple for me.
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I am still working through all the various cuts of venison a friend of my husband gave us. Over the weekend, I defrosted a roast and prepared that yesterday. I was able to find a recipe for a red wine braised venison roast that had simple ingredients that I felt would make for an appealing meal. 

The recipe called for red wine, garlic, thyme, onion, celery, carrots and beef stock. The recipe was for a 1 pound piece of meat and said to cut the roast into serving size pieces. I kept my roast whole. The roast was a little bit larger than a pound.  I didn’t use 1-1/2 cups of red wine that the recipe called for. I used half that amount along with  1 cup of beef stock and vegetables. I was hoping that those ingredients would yield sufficient pan juices at the end.
The recipe said to cook the meat for 2-3 hours or until tender. I cooked my for for 2-1/2 hours. When I went to turn the roast after an hour,  the meat was starting to look almost done. I wished that I used my meat thermometer to get a reading as braising for as long as I did was too long. When I finally pulled the roast out, most of the liquid had cooked off. I wish now that I used the full amount of wine or add the difference in beef stock. The roast was a bit overcooked, but it was tender and flavorful. The vegetables were delicious and maintained a bit of chew. I have some bordelaise sauce in my freezer that I will defrost and serve over the leftover roast . Overall, a good meal despite the meat being overcooked.

I still have some backstrap in the freezer. Backstrap is the length of loin on the back of a deer. I’ll use my meat thermometer the next time so as to not over cook the venison.
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Did you ever purchase apple cider for a holiday then discover there’s still some left. You may not feel like having another cup of mulled cider, so how about something different, an apple cider sour cocktail? I read about this drink in a “20 Odd Questions” column in the December 21st issue of the Wall Street Journal in which Martha Stewart says this is her favorite holiday drink. The drink contains apple cider, a piece of fresh ginger, lemon juice and bourbon. 


​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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