Tag: main course
Turkey Breakfast Sausage
Turkey Breakfast Sausage
If any of my former employees knew that I made a recipe for turkey breakfast sausage, I would never hear the end of it. Why? Because I used to be the biggest hater on the planet of anything using ground poultry. Major shit talking. I hated the texture. I hated grinding it. I hated people using it as a substitute for pork and beef. But, like everything in life, things change. While pork is always king in my book, this turkey breakfast sausage is pretty damn good all considering. It is the same seasoning I use for a pork breakfast sausage. There a couple key components to making turkey sausage right. The first is to always use ground turkey thigh. If you use turkey breast, your sausage will be dry and shitty. You are already using poultry instead of meat. It’s lean enough. Keep your miserable ground turkey breast out of sausage. The other factor is making good turkey sausage is to use freshly ground turkey thigh and not pre-packed turkey in a tube. The stuff in the tubes is full of sodium and other preservatives. If you buy your ground turkey freshly ground, the quality of your sausage will be drastically better.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey thigh
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground sage
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil for sautéing
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together.
- Form into small patties. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before cooking.
- Heat up the vegetable oil on a griddle over medium high heat. Add the patties to the griddle.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes a side.
Coconut Kale Curry with Cornmeal Porridge (Mbowa and Xima)
Coconut Kale Curry with Cornmeal Porridge (Mbowa and Xima)
Mbowa and xima are two commonly eaten dishes in Mozambique. Mbowa is kale simmered in coconut milk with chickpeas. If you prefer a different green other than kale, spinach and collards are a suitable replacement. Xima is a simple cornmeal porridge; a typical side dish similar to polenta and grits. There is so much flavor going on that this vegan meal would please the mightiest of carnivores.
Ingredients
Coconut Kale Curry (Mbowa)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp ginger minced
- 1 roma tomato finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/8 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 bunch dino kale washed and chopped
- 1 can chickpeas drained
- salt to taste
Cornmeal Porridge (Xima)
- 5 cups water
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 cup cornmeal
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil in a large sauté pan over medium low heat. Add in the cumin seeds and let sizzle for 2 minutes.
- Turn the heat up to medium high and sauté the onions for 5 minutes.
- Add in the ginger and garlic. Sauté for a minute.
- Add in the tomato and the rest of the seasonings. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and water. Bring to a boil.
- Add in the kale and chickpeas. Season with salt.
- Cover. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Uncover. Turn the heat up to medium high and simmer until the majority of the liquid has evaporated; about 10 more minutes.
Cornmeal Porridge
- Bring the water and salt to a boil in a pot.
- Pour in the cornmeal. Reduce the heat to low and consistently whisk for 12-15 minutes until the cornmeal has thickened.
Prego Steak Sandwich
Prego Steak Sandwich
In addition to the prego rolls, the Portuguese also introduced the prego steak sandwich to South Africans. This might be the most ultimate steak sandwich you’ll ever eat. It is that good and fairly easy to make. Thinly sliced sirloin steaks are marinated in a peri peri based marinade, then quickly grilled. The steaks are topped on a prego roll with onion and tomato. I made a simple peri peri aioli to smear on top of the roll.
Servings: 4 sandwiches
Equipment
- immersion blender
Ingredients
Steak Marinade
- 3 tbsp peri peri sauce
- 1 small roma tomato chopped
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Prego Sandwich
- 4 prego rolls sliced in half
- 1 1/2 lbs top sirloin cut into 4 steaks; each steak sliced in half and pounded to 1/8” thick
- tomato thinly sliced
- onion thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp peri peri sauce
- olive oil
Instructions
- Place the marinade ingredients in a small bowl.
- Using an immersion blender, purée the ingredients.
- Marinate the sirloin for 8 hours.
- Heat up a tbsp of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Toast the prego rolls until golden brown.
- Add another tbsp of olive oil to the pan. Increase the heat to high. Add in the sirloin in 2 batches, making sure not to overcrowd the pan.
- Cook the sirloin for no more than 2 minutes a side.
Sandwich Assembly
- Place 2 pieces of steak on the bottom part of the prego roll.
- Mix together the mayo and peri peri and smear the top part of the bun. Top the steak with sliced tomato and onion.
Prego Rolls
What a lot of people don’t realize is that South Africa was discovered by a Portuguese explorer in 1488, heavily influencing the country’s cuisine. The Portuguese introduced prego rolls (amongst many other things) to South Africa, becoming a staple at the dinner table. The rolls only have a couple of ingredients and are fairly easy to make if you have the patience to allow dough to rise. Prego rolls are good on their own with butter, but even better as a prego sandwich.
Equipment
- standing mixer with dough hook attachment
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 4 1/4 cups bread flour plus more
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add the warm water, yeast, sugar, oil, and salt to the bowl of a standing mixer on low speed. Mix for 2 minutes. Pour in the milk.
- Slowly incorporate the flour into the bowl until a ball forms. Knead in the mixer on medium low speed for 5 minutes.
- Take the dough off the hook. Cover with a towel and let rise for 45 minutes.
- Lightly flour a clean surface. Roll the dough out into one long cylindrical shape. Cut that in half. Then cut 6 equal pieces out of each cylinder, for a total of 12 pieces.
- Roll each piece into a ball and cut an X into the top.
- Place each dough roll on a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the baking sheet on the center rack.
- Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown.
Peri Peri Sauce
Peri peri is eaten all over Southern African countries such as Mozambique and South African. The sauce, which can double as a marinade, has the perfect balance of sweet, salt, and acidity, with a tremendous amount of heat. It pairs well with just about every meat, fish, and seafood. The base of the sauce comes from African bird’s eye chilies. Since these peppers aren’t accessible outside of Africa, Thai red bird’s eye chilies are a suitable replacement. All of the ingredients are puréed in a food processor, then slowly simmered to cook out the raw flavor of the ingredients. Peri peri can be stored in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 red onion chopped
- 8 garlic cloves chopped
- 1/2 cup red bird’s eye chilies chopped
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 2 small roma tomatoes chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 small lemons juiced and zested
- 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tbsp oregano
- 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients in a food processor.
- Purée until smooth.
- Place the purée in a small pot over medium low heat. Simmer for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring.
