Wordless Week, Episode Two: Mighty Meaty Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and steamed carrots

Emeril Lagasse's Mighty Meaty Meatloaf

Chicken Saltimbocca with roasted red potatoes and cucumber-tomato salad

Oh yeah. This is what I'm talkin' about...an easy-peasy dinner that looks awesome but is super simple to make and tastes delicious.

I had never tried Chicken Saltimbocca before seeing it featured on an episode of America's Test Kitchen. I snagged the recipe and have made it twice now. It's perfect for impressing company while not spending all night in the kitchen.

"Saltimbocca" apparently means "jumps in the mouth" in Italian, which is what the flavors of this dish are supposed to do. It's a simple combination of sage and prosciutto that I really like.


Chicken Saltimbocca
serves 4

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved horizontally into cutlets
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, seasoned generously with fresh black pepper
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, chopped
4 thin slices prosciutto (not shaved, just thinly sliced)
Kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle on just a bit of kosher salt. Dredge the chicken in the peppered flour and shake off the excess. Lay the cutlets flat, divide the chopped sage between them (one side only), and press gently to adhere. Press a slice of prosciutto on top of each cutlet, over the sage.

Heat about 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place each cutlet in the pan gently, prosciutto-side down, and cook for about 3 minutes. Flip and cook through. Serve. (I wound up flipping a second time to get the cutlets cooked thoroughly and nicely browned.)


I served the chicken with some roasted red potatoes and an easy salad of summer's favorite veggies. I drizzled sliced tomatoes and cucumbers with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sprinkled salt and pepper over them, and crumbled some feta cheese on top. So good!


The roasted red potatoes were super simple, too. I just scrubbed some small ones, cubed them (skins on, of course!), and tossed them in a roasting pan with a sliced shallot, olive oil, and garlic salt and pepper. I roasted them in my oven on the convection setting at 400º for about 20 minutes, give or take, until they were fragrant and starting to brown.

Delish!

Pork Stew with Hard Cider, Pearl Onions, and Potatoes

The February 2010 issue of Bon Appétit offers a decidedly wintry concoction called Pork Stew with Hard Cider, Pearl Onions, and Potatoes. However, I loves me some stew any time of year, and given that my husband is a die hard meat-n-taters man, I figured this would be a good choice. It was, but I'd make some changes for next time.

We thought the finished product was a little too sweet, probably due to the inclusion of a chopped Granny Smith apple. I'll leave that out next time. I'll also leave out the thickener, a paste of butter and flour whisked into the finished stew. It wasn't necessary.

A delectable mix of root veggies was used. The purple onions came out of my vegetable garden. For some reason, they all came out really small, but since this recipe calls for pearl onions, they were the perfect size!

Chopped bacon is cooked and removed to be added back later. I love bacon!

Cubes of boneless pork shoulder, also called Boston butt, are seasoned with salt and pepper before being browned in the bacon fat.

The cider I used was a kind I drink regularly, Hornsby's Hard Cider Amber Draft. I'm not a beer drinker, but this stuff tastes deliciously apple-y. I halved the recipe, so part of the cider was for cooking and part of it was for drinking. My kinda dinnertime!

This was the first time I've ever cooked parsnips, which were sautéed with chopped shallots.

The photo of the finished stew keeps winding up funky on the post's layout, so I'll try to add it again later.

Day Seventeen: Burgers and Fries

Day seventeen of Operation: Expand Horizons is a new interpretation on a family fave, burger night. Everyday Food offers up an Emeril Lagasse recipe for Pork and Chorizo Burgers with Green Chile Mayo. I also tried a new method of makinghomemade fries with a technique offered up by America's Test Kitchen.

Keep in mind that the fry recipe is available now for free from ATK, but you must have a login for their website and it won't be free forever!

While the pork and chorizo burgers weren't all that great, the green chile mayo was fantastic. It's a simple combination of roasted poblano pepper, mayonnaise, garlic, and lime juice, thrown together in the blender. I'll definitely make it again. In fact, it would be a good base for a chicken salad sandwich!

The fries were awesome as well. I think I cut them a little bit big, but they still turned out crispy and cooked all the way through without being overly greasy. Another thing to remember: the fry recipe is for Yukon Gold potatoes, not Russet! Yukon Golds have a firmer texture than Russets, and hold their shape better.

There are 3 cutting steps for evenly sized fries: squaring off the potato sides, cutting them into 1/4" planks, cutting the planks into 1/4" batons.

Finished fries. A wire spider is the key to fishing hot fries out of hot oil with a minimum of clinging oil. It's also a useful tool for cooking tempura in a wok.

Day Three: Skirt Steak with Crispy Garlic Potatoes

Day three of Operation: Expand Horizons was, unfortunately, a most dismal failure. I chose a recipe that seemed to fit with my husband's tastes, because it was his birthday. Everyday Food's Skirt Steak with Crispy Garlic Potatoes just didn't work out.

The first problem was the skirt steak. It was gamey and tough, and although I grilled it to the recipe's specifications, my husband said it was too rare. The second problem was the crispy garlic potatoes. The recipe did not indicate that the bottoms would brown faster than the tops, and my potatoes wound up overcooked.

The one thing that tasted good was the salad I made. :\