Over the past year I have decided to work my way through recipes that I have saved online for nearly 10 years…pre-Pinterest. It’s been a fun adventure AND I feel like my cooking techniques have improved. Some recipes are excellent, and if that’s the case, then they earn a spot in my 3-ringed binder and become a resident in our permanent recipe collection. If they suck, then its straight to the recycling bin and removed from my virtual folder, forever. Each week I pick out a handful of new recipes that utilize seasonal ingredients or ingredients that I can reuse for another recipe. DireMole reviews my selections and approves if he will eat the culinary creation or not.
A few weeks ago we went through this process and agreed to bake a turkey breast stuffed with spinach and bacon. To take it up a notch, the turkey is topped with a fig and port wine sauce. By all means, this should have been an awesome dinner. How can you go wrong with figs, bacon and wine?? We had a few potatoes on hand so we whipped up mashed potatoes for the side.
Dire and I followed the directions and removed the turkey bones, flattened it out, and then rolled that turkey breast like we were a bunch of Chipotle superstars. We browned the sides and let the turkey bake while the figs simmered. It was teamwork at it’s finest, especially for a Monday night. I served dinner and arranged the food on the plate to make anyone question if I was really a 5-star chef in disguise. Dire picked a movie so we could relax on the sofa with our fancy-pants meal. We savored our first taste of the stuffed turkey… and my verdict? It sucked. A waste of time, flavor and ingredients. I was really excited to try this meal and it fell below expectations. However, my meat-rolling skills are worth mentioning, so I guess that’s good. Poor figs, they really deserved a better fate.
This is still a really fun project (working through recipes) but it has its ups and downs. I’d like to think that I’m working on curating a family recipe/cookbook and one day I will pass my “tried-and-true” recipes as a coveted trophy to the most deserving family member. I want to be that grandma one day. The one that OWNs the best family dishes.
Champions of the Human Race 