Takeaways from some dinner flops

 

Last night’s dinner was not as good as I hoped—second time I’ve felt that way in a week. The menu was turkey meatloaves with mushroom gravy. Sounds great, right? In one way it was—flavor was so good I thought I was eating Thanksgiving dinner. But the texture countered that—the meatloaves were hard and dry.

This was not the first time I felt that way about using ground poultry. Some time ago I made chicken burgers that had the same texture problem, at least to me. But then I recently made turkey burgers we all liked. I can’t figure the difference. I thought at first it was the use of panko, but the ones we liked had panko in them too. So I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. One possibility is that the succulent burgers had enough mayo both in them and on the buns to add the moisture needed for softness. Here’s what I did that we liked:

Turkey burgers

½ c. mayonnaise

½ c. panko

1 envelope onion soup mix

2 lbs. ground turkey

Hamburger buns

Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl. Mix in turkey. Grill and serve with buns. We added tomato slices and mayo on the buns.

There was a takeaway last night though. The mushroom gravy was quick, easy, and flavorful.

Mushroom gravy*

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced

1-1/2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 cup chicken broth

¼ tsp. dried thyme

1 Tbsp. flour

Salt and pepper, if using low sodium chicken broth

           Here’s the thing I had never done when sauteing mushrooms: place them in a single layer in the skillet over medium high heat and don’t touch them for four minutes. They’ll get a nice browned surface. Then add thyme, salt, and pepper, and toss until they are limp and have released their juices. Toss with flour. Add broth, bring to a boil, immediately lower the heat to a simmer and let it cook until it’s thickened somewhat. This would be great served over those burgers instead of putting them on a bun.

Last weekend I cooked a polenta dish that was supposed to be like shakshuka—eggs cooked in little pockets. My neighbor, Jaimie, was here, and we both got involved in watching those eggs not cook in the oven. I got so impatient, I turned on the broiler, and the whites finally whitened. Jaimie said hers was good, but mine had sort of a tough skin on it, though the underneath it was runny and good. The eggs really didn’t add much to the dish at all in my opinion.

But the polenta was wonderful, and I’ll make it again. I had it for breakfast the next day, gave some to Christian, and then had it for lunch two days. One difficulty with my small kitchen: lots of recipes call for an oven-proof skillet, but there’s no way I can fit a skillet into my toaster oven, so I have to improvise. Here’s what I did:

Corn polenta**

2-3 Tbsp. butter

½ c. corn kernels (fresh, frozen or canned—all drained, of course)

4 c. chicken broth, low sodium

1 c. polenta (when I was a kid it was grits and we made mush out of it, but now it’s gotten sophisticated)

½ tsp. salt

Chopped fresh herbs—basil, cilantro, parsley, chopped green onions, what have you. Just throw in a good handful

Fresh baby spinach – again, a good handful

½ c. grated cheddar cheese, or more to taste

I used a deep kettle for this because polenta tends to bubble and splash. Melt butter and sauté corn. Let it cook a few minutes and then add the broth, polenta, and salt. Stir until the mixture thickens slightly, watching for those splashes—they sting! Add herbs and spinach. Stir in cheese.

Spoon this mixture into a greased pie plate, smooth it out, and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350^o for 20 minutes; uncover and bake for another twenty or twenty-five minutes. The polenta will be soft and delicious.

Serve this with a green salad for a great vegetarian light meal.

*Adapted from a Southern Living recipe

**Adapted from a New York Times recipe; image above is not mine.