Reel Chow Blog

Culinary Postings from the Original Gourmet Craft Service Industry Insider

Tag Archives: turkey

Healthy Turkey Burrito

August 24th, 2012
   
Jenn Egatz
         
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New York Fashion Week is around the corner, and this past week I’ve been doing a lot of work for our other company. Client demands haven’t left me much time to cook dinner, but I’ve been playing with the Healthy Turkey Burrito recipe in the back of my mind for a long time now.

One of the first dishes I used to make when Ron and I were first living together was turkey tacos. It was big treat to experiment in the galley kitchen of his old bachelor pad and work on different variations until I came up with unique ones I wanted to keep making over and over.

One of the other early things I made all those years ago was Brussel sprouts. Ron said it was the first time he’d eaten non-bitter Brussel sprouts. Healthy Turkey Burritos are a great way to meld those two early flavors from our first years together. That’s my personal take on this dish. Everyone else will think they are simple and delicious treats for when you’re pressed for time, but want a little fusion flavor in your dinner. Of course, these burritos are very healthy. Please enjoy them!

Healthy Turkey Burrito topped with brussel sprouts, leeks and cranberries.

Healthy Turkey Burrito topped with brussel sprouts, leeks and cranberries. ©Reel Chow

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Turkey Tostada with Peach Ginger Salsa

July 27th, 2012
   
Ron Egatz
         
1 comment

Reel Chow Original Recipe!I love when Jenn lets loose and gets as creative as she wants to. Witness her turkey tostada with peach ginger salsa. There’s a familiarity about it, but it’s wholly original.

There’s nothing insanely exotic about this recipe, so even fussy eaters could give it a thumbs-up, and food lovers of all things new and delicious won’t be disappointed. As with the ongoing trend of covering many bases of the palate, Jenn doesn’t disappoint with this favorite of our gourmet craft service table. The turkey is slightly robust, but not overpoweringly taco-like or spicy. The peach ginger salsa itself has a lot going on between the peach, ginger, and shallot, but the balance was there, and nothing overpowered. It was the perfect cooling compliment to the turkey.

Turkey Tostada with Peach Ginger Salsa.

Turkey Tostada with Peach Ginger Salsa. ©Reel Chow

I’ve eaten this dish both with and without the feta. It works either way, so lactose intolerant readers have nothing to fear. If you’re looking to go ultra-healthy, you can skip pan frying the corn tortillas. Steam or bake them, if you wish instead. If you don’t want to have to do anything with the tortillas, you can buy wheat or whole wheat ones, but it won’t be as healthy as corn tortillas.

Here’s how to make one of Jenn’s most original and most delicious dishes. I hope you like it as much as I do.

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Moroccan Tacos

May 23rd, 2012
   
Jenn Egatz
         
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Reel Chow Original Recipe!I’ve always been fascinated by fusion dishes, but it always seems to me to be a hit or miss affair, no matter what cultures are force-collided in a pan or bowl. What follows is the melding of two flavors I’ve been playing with since we got married. An early dish I perfected was my turkey tacos, which Ron went crazy for when we still lived in his tiny bachelor apartment. This is how I brought that dish to Morocco.

I love making tacos, whether beef, fish, vegetable, turkey, etc. It’s a fun way to experiment with flavors. I have made turkey tacos many times and wanted to switch things up. This dish features spices used in eastern cuisine.

Cumin, turmeric, paprika and coriander can be found at your local supermarket. I recommend having these spices as a part of your pantry staples. I use them all the time when I cook, and they can add a nice kick to certain meats and vegetables.

I also made a yogurt herb sauce to top these international tacos, along with a radicchio and cucumber honey slaw. This dish may seem like it has many parts to prepare. It actually was simple, and the only cooking to do was the turkey mixture.

Moroccan Tacos.

Moroccan Tacos. ©Reel Chow

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Emilianos for Cinco de Mayo

May 4th, 2012
   
Ron Egatz
         
2 comments

Shortly after Jenn and I met, my friend Chris Whitley died. I had loved his music since the release of his first album, Living with the Law. Years later, in the late-1990s, when we were hanging out after the release of his Terra Incognita, I gave him a ten peso note I had brought back from Mexico. It had a great portrait of Emiliano Zapata on it, and Zapata was mentioned in the song “Power Down.”

“Look at his eyes,” I remember Chris saying in a bar on 43rd Street, down the block from where I worked at The New York Times, as he examined the bill. A few years later, I’d be hanging in that neighborhood a lot because Jenn’s sister and brother-in-law lived there. Chris and that neighborhood were somehow a transition from my old life to the life I was building with the woman I’d marry.

Chris has been gone for what seems like forever. He never met Jenn, but we play his music in the loft while we cook. I still have dreams of he and I sitting in his tiny place on Morton Street, messing around with one or two of his National Guitars. I’ll miss him for the rest of my life.

Reel Chow Original Recipe!With Cinco de Mayo fast approaching this year, Jenn suggested we do something appropriate. She came up with the following original Mexico-inspired one-bite, and we discussed how to name it. She knows I miss my old pal, but she has done more than fill the void he’s left.

This easy-to-make treat honors Chris, Emiliano Zapata, and the hope of redemption and all good things. Here’s Jenn’s Emilianos, just in time for Cinco de Mayo.

Emilianos with jalapeño-lime sauce.

Emilianos with jalapeño-lime sauce. ©Reel Chow

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Turkey Thyme Meatballs

April 27th, 2012
   
Jenn Egatz
         
4 comments

Reel Chow Original Recipe!

At the market I picked up some organic ground turkey. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with it. Some thoughts included turkey tacos, turkey burgers, or meatballs. Ron suggested spaghetti and meatballs, which we hadn’t had in years, so I went for it. This is how I created my turkey thyme meatballs.

There’s something tastier and more Spring-like about a turkey meatball versus ones made of veal, beef, pork, or combinations thereof. There’s definitely less fat with an all-turkey meatball, which is always a good move. Turkey meatballs are lighter and, to my mind, allow for more experimentation with different spices and herbs.

I made the tomato sauce based on my lasagna recipe, but tweaked it a bit. I made a little more than half of the sauce from that recipe and added in six fresh plum tomatoes (which Ron crushed with his hands), two cubanelle peppers, two tablespoons of tomato paste, one red onion, one can of tomato puree and three to four cups of lukewarm water.

Since I am a lover of quinoa noodles, I made quinoa spaghetti for myself and regular linguini for Ron.

Ingredients:

  • 1 package organic ground turkey
  • 1/4 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
  • 1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup of gluten-free flour (or regular flour) for dusting
  • a pinch or two of sea salt and fresh ground pepper

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Jenn’s Turkey Lasagna

January 6th, 2012
   
Jenn Egatz
         
4 comments

This was my first attempt ever at making lasagna. However, as much as I prefer not to follow recipes because I love playing in the kitchen creating my own, I knew with lasagna, following a recipe would pretty much guarantee a good dining experience for my guests. It would also teach me the technique for preparing good, tasty, cheesy lasagna I can apply to my future lasagna explorations.

I researched a handful of lasagnas, with cooking times varying from one hour to four hours. I based mine on the four hour classic by Giuliano Bugialli found in the New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser. I substituted the ground sirloin for lean ground turkey and left out the pancetta, but I did include the spicy and sweet Italian sausages. I thought the mix of the different meats would be tasty and light. I was afraid to do all turkey, because it might taste a little bland.

Jenn

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