If you consider yourself a creative cook, then you’ve most likely produced a few one-of-a-kind masterpieces that began as a hankering on the right side of your brain.
With that morsel of inspiration you embarked upon the age-old journey every great chef takes when building a recipe: first the concept, then a gathering of likely ingredients, followed by some educated guessing and a bit of trial-and-error. As you proceed, you add a bit of this for zest, a dash of that for oomph, until you’ve ultimately chopped, whisked and sauteed yourself to a successful outcome.
I found myself on that path recently, thanks to my friend Alicia, who was particularly taken with my rendition of a southwest-flavored salad. It was my seasoned ground turkey mixture that elevated the dish, and she wanted the recipe. I told her I was happy to share. The problem? It was a free-wheeling sort of creation; nothing was in writing.
Even with Alicia’s skills in the kitchen, as I passed along a verbal version of the recipe, with all its unique condiments and layers of steps, I realized that she’d have about as much success at nailing down this concoction as a drunken roofer in a hurricane.
So I decided it was time to produce a written recipe. This meant spending some time in the kitchen preparing the dish yet again, but this time writing everything down as I went. Not an unpleasant task. Plus, during the less demanding phases of the process my mind was able to wander. Where it landed was several years in the past.
I was attempting to duplicate a creamed spinach creation that I’d encountered in a wonderful Mid-town Manhattan restaurant. I know what you’re thinking: why would you do that? But instead of the usual long, slippery strings of dark green foliage, the mixture was light and fresh with emerald flecks mingling against a creamy base. Even the flavor was superior, rich and elegant, with no bitter aftertaste. It so inspired the inner cook in me that I had decided to reproduce the experience.
The first effort involved sauteeing a bit of onion in a bit of olive oil, then piling on a mountain of fresh, well-rinsed spinach and stirring until the leaves shriveled and shrank. I then combined the mixture with a bit of cream in my blender.
From my days in a San Francisco test kitchen, I’ve learned that the first go-round may appear doubtful, but usually provides the most insight into the solution. My youngest son wasn’t bringing similar professional experience to the dinner table. His critique was thankfully brief: “How can you even consider eating that? It looks gross.”
True, it seemed a little too green. More of an Andy Warhol interpretation of creamed spinach than the real McCoy. And simply too smooth and soupy, unless I was developing recipes for Gerber’s. In “Mastering The Art of French Cooking,” Child, Bertholle and Beck encourage the reader to first blanch the leaves, and then, when all of the water is pressed out, to simmer the vegetable in butter, meat stock or cream. Well I tried that, even though I suspected that it was exactly this classic treatment that I had gone great lengths to avoid all through childhood.
My instincts were correct. Simmering the spinach in a liquid — even after coarsely chopping the leaves — in no way alters the unalterable fact that the key ingredient will be slimy. This dish would have gagged any youngster with a keen imagination.
However, further review convinced me that blanching the spinach then wringing it dry was an important first step. Finally, real progress was made when I switched from blender to food processor in the all-important act of de-sliming the long strands of spinach. The short-but-powerful bursts from the blade effectively minced the leaves into small specks rather than soup.
In between the blanching and processing came a bit of sauteeing of onions and garlic, and simmering of cream. Ultimately, I was uttering the cry of victory: “Voila.”
Luckily, my recent southwest seasoned ground turkey effort came together much quicker. I knew all the ingredients required, just not actual amounts. So this time I wrote everything down as I went. And most importantly, when I was fine-tuning the flavors in the finished dish, I didn’t forget to re-adjust the original measurements as well.
In the process, it occurred to me that many of you probably have some specialties tucked up your sleeves. Dishes that you’ve free-wheeled into existence and assemble without a second thought to measurements or steps. A little bit of this and a dash of that. You know how it’s supposed to turn out; that tasty casserole, comforting soup, or flavorful salad dressing your family never tires of.
Well, it’s only a matter of time before you get a text from your son or daughter with an urgent request: I’m grilling for my girlfriend and her parents tonight. How do you make that dressing with the sesame seeds? And what goes into the stuff with the rice and chiles?
Wouldn’t it be lovely if you could text back: Check your iPad. I just emailed the recipe.
Southwest seasoned ground turkey mix
1 1/4 pounds ground turkey, ground beef or any ground meat combination
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup Mezzetta brand “Deli-Sliced Tamed Jalapeno Peppers,” chopped
Salsa mixture:
1/2 cup commercially prepared salsa
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon Ponzu sauce (I use Kikkoman brand; sold on condiment aisle near the soy sauce)
1 tablespoon juice from the jar of Mezzetta brand “Deli-Sliced Tamed Jalapeno Peppers”
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Green Pepper Sauce (Tabasco brand)
Here’s the recipe I finally established in writing to please my friend, Alicia Teel. I prefer to double the recipe so that most of it can be tucked away in the freezer. Indeed, after a particularly hectic day, it’s a good feeling knowing that I can reach into my freezer and scoop out a bit of the seasoned mixture, which becomes the base for any number of flour-tortilla roll-up creations, salads, or even pasta rice combos.
The unique quality of this recipe is centered around the fact that I prepare a highly seasoned liquid in one container that is poured over the skillet of browned ground meat and onions. More cooking ensues as the liquid concentrates and merges with the meat. The resulting ground meat is now highly seasoned from the inside out.
In a large non-stick skillet, over medium-high heat, brown the ground turkey in the olive oil until the meat is lightly browned. Push the meat to one side of the skillet and add the onions.
Saute until they are golden brown. Spread the ground out in the pan, mingling the meat with the onions and continue to saute until the meat and onions are well-browned. This will take several minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl or 2-cup measuring container, combine the salsa, water, cumin, Ponzu sauce, juice from the jar of Jalapeno peppers, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper sauce.
When the meat mixture is richly browned, pour the salsa mixture over it and stir well with a spatula to evenly coat the meat with the sauce. Continue cooking and stirring with the spatula as the sauce reduces and thickens. Adjust the heat slightly down so you don’t scorch the contents of the skillet. Continue cooking until the liquid is completely gone and the meat has a slight crumbly character. Remove from heat.
If not using immediately, spoon the seasoned meat into a container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Or spoon the mixture into a resealable freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months. The mixture will never freeze into a solid mass, so you can scoop serving portions from it while still frozen. How cool is that?
For tortilla roll-ups: Use it in place of regular ground beef in any tortilla combinations, and put out additional condiments such as chopped tomatoes, sliced olives, lettuce, avocado or guacamole, sour cream.
For Alicia’s Southwest Salad: In a large salad bowl, combine hearts of romaine (broken into bite-sized pieces), sliced black olives (I marinate them in a vinagrette for about an hour), sliced sweet bell peppers, diced tomatoes, chopped sweet onion or green onion, cooked or roasted corn kernels, crumbled tortilla chips, and equal portions shredded sharp Cheddar and Parmesan.
Make a zesty dressing by whisking together your favorite vinaigrette with commercially made salsa and ground cumin to taste.
Add an appropriate amount of the seasoned meat mixture (make sure it’s cooled) to the bowl of salad ingredients and toss well. Add some of the dressing (enough to ensure adequate moisture throughout), and toss again, adding more dressing if necessary. Serve immediately.
Makes 3 cups.
Lovely creamed spinach
2 pounds fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil (or combination of both)
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt (mor or less to taste)
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
Wash the spinach thoroughly in a large amount of water to remove the grit; trim away tough stems and withered or yellowed leaves.
Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the spinach, a handful at a time so that the water will remain at a boil. Once all of the spinach has been added, simmer for 2 minutes (unless you’re working with mature spinach, in which case go for 3 minutes!). Remove the pot from the burner and carefully place it in the sink and run cold tap water into the pot. Continue doing this until the spinach is floating in very cold water (alternatively, you could have a second pot filled with ice water and as soon as the spinach has finished cooking, use a slotted spoon and remove all of the spinach and place it directly into the cold water to stop the cooking and set the color).
Strain the cold spinach into a colander, then firmly squeeze the leaves to remove all of the water (if you can’t bring yourself to allow so many nutrients to escape, do this last process over a bowl and save the liquid for soup or stew). At this point the spinach can be covered and refrigerated for later preparation.
When ready to proceed, chop enough of the blanched spinach to measure about 2 cups; set aside.
Saute the onion and garlic in butter or olive oil over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped spinach and continue cooking for a few minutes, then sprinkle on the flour and stir to blend into the spinach. Add the cream, salt, and pepper and continue cooking and stirring over medium to medium-high heat until the cream sauce has reduced and thickened slightly.
Remove the spinach from the heat, carefully scrape it into a food processor (without burning yourself), and process the mixture using the “pulse” switch or an “on-Off” action to avoid over-processing the mixture. The idea is to bring the mixture to a stage in which some dark-green flecks of spinach remain; it shouldn’t look like cream of spinach soup. Serve immediately, or gently reheat.
Finishing touches:
Scrape the creamed spinach into a shallow oven-proof dish and sprinkle a 1/2 cup mixture of grated Swiss and Parmesan cheese (may be prepared up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated). Broil until golden and serve.
For a simple make-ahead spinach casserole, whisk 1 lightly beaten egg and 1/2 cup shredded cheese (Cheddar, Swiss or Monterey jack, for example) into a batch of cooled Creamed Spinach (may be prepared up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated). Bake in 350 degree oven until lightly puffed and thin knife inserted in center comes out relatively clean, about 25 minutes.
For a calorie-and-fat-reduced verions of the creamed spinach, substitute milk, light cream or chicken broth for the heavy cream and reduce the butter/olive oil to 1 tablespoon.
Makes about 22/3 cups, which is enough for six side-dish servings.
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis food writer, artist, and author of “Oregon Hazelnut Country, the Food, the Drink, the Spirit,” and four other cookbooks. Readers can contact her by email at janrd@proaxis.com, or obtain additional recipes and food tips on her blog at www.janrd.com.
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