Sonoma Turkey Salad

This recipe is a riff on the Whole Foods Cookbook recipe which actually calls for chicken instead of turkey. I picked turkey, however, because first of all I prefer the taste and second, it's also a SuperFood. I always try to get a few SuperFoods in each day, and this is one easy way to do it (in fact there are three SuperFood ingredients within this recipe, which I note with an asterisk).

This dish is tremendously easy to make and also extremely summery. It would be great at a potluck or eaten as a light entree with a crisp white wine or an ice cold margarita. I also imagine adding a bit of horseradish to the dressing would give it some interesting punch -- though I have yet to try it. Excellent stuff! My grade: A+

Sonoma Turkey Salad

Ingredients:

Salad:

2 lbs turkey breast, cooked, cubed, chilled * (I buy mine cooked from Trader Joe's, but you can make your own, or use chicken breasts)
2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
1/2 red onion, diced
3/4 cup roasted pecan halves *
(sunflower seeds would probably also be great in this)

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise
5 teaspoons good honey (the darker the better) *
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
4 teaspoons red wine vinegar (I use raspberry red wine vinegar for added dimension)

Directions:

In a bowl, combine mayonnaise, honey, poppy seeds and vinegar. Mix until thoroughly combined and there are no lumps.

In a separate bowl, add cubed turkey, pecans, diced onions and halved grapes. (Celery would also be good in this for some nice crunch.) To this mixture add the dressing, a quarter of a time. I never use all the dressing I make, but would rather have it on hand then not have enough. I usually use about three-fourths of the dressing for this entire dish. (The rest of the dressing is great on salads or can even be used as a marinade for fish, etc.) Mix well. Serve chilled as an entree (with a nice spinach salad) or in a sandwich.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/cook: 20 minutes (unless cooking your own turkey or chicken)

Mahogany Beef Stew with Red Wine and Hoisin

Mmmmmm stew. Sometimes it's hard to beat a good stew or pot roast, especially when you live in the Arctic tundra such as I do, with snow and wind and rain freezing everything in sight. It makes you want comfort food; lots and lots of it. Corn breads, mashed potatoes, pot pies, that kind of thing. Oh, and stew.

Growing up, I never liked stew. Maybe it was because of the Dinty Moore-type quality my mother used to make, or all the mushy peas and carrots, or maybe the overly thick sauce. Whatever it was, it killed the stew mood for me, every time. Recently, however, I had to start questioning: how bad could stew be? I loved pot roast, for example, and that wasn't very different from stew, was it? Still, I wanted to find the best stew recipe out there, and so I scoured the internet until finally a good friend turned me on to her favorite stew recipe from epicurious.com (which I believe came from Bon Appetit). I'd actually seen it once or twice in my internet travels, but upon receiving her recommendation, I knew I had to try it.

Keep in mind I didn't have all the hoisin sauce the recipe called for, nor did I ultimately need the cornstarch. I also added Worcestershire sauce fairly liberally and used a Zinfandel, not a Cabernet. In addition I threw in some sun dried tomatoes (something I saw both Ina and Giada do), pearl onions (as opposed to sliced regular), and probably two or three cups of beef stock.

And so did I like it? Boy did I ever. The husband did too, calling it "refined and spectacular". Even the kid enjoyed it, but especially the easy mashed potatoes I whipped up to accompany the stew. Raves all around, and I do hope you'll try it. My grade: A-

Mahogany Beef Stew with Red Wine and Hoisin Sauce

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed, cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 cups chopped onions
2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained
1/2 cup hoisin sauce*
2 bay leaves

1 pound slender carrots, peeled, cut diagonally into 1-inch lengths
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation:

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over high heat. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Add meat to pot; sauté until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Push meat to sides of pot. Reduce heat to medium; add 2 tablespoons oil to pot. Add onions; sauté until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Mix meat into onions. Add 1 cup wine, tomatoes with juices, hoisin sauce, and bay leaves. Bring to boil.

Reduce heat to low, cover pot and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrots and 1 cup wine. Cover; simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, increase heat to high; boil until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes longer. Reduce heat to medium, add cornstarch mixture and simmer until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Season stew with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before serving, stirring occasionally.) Transfer stew to large bowl. Sprinkle with parsley; serve.

* Available at Asian markets and in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets.

Serves 6