Roast Chicken Salad | You've Got Meal!

This week we had a great organic chicken to cook and for such a beauty we had to make a roast,a simple, full of flavor whole chicken roast. There is only the two of us in this household, so we can't be done with a whole roasted chicken in one dinner, so the next day we had to use the leftovers in a fresh and healthy salad.

This is also a great way to take some of the previous evening dinner at the office for lunch. Plus, it happens to all of us, once the spring arrives we just want to make the most of those beautiful fresh vegetables.

You will need:

• chicken leftovers (for 2 portions we had half of the breast and a thigh)
• 2  handfuls of cress
• about 6-8 radishes
• 6-8 cherry tomatoes
• a handful of pomegranate seeds
• 1 medium red onion

For the dressing:

• 150 g yogurt
• the juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• fresh coriander leaves
• salt and pepper

Wash the cress leaves thoroughly, place them in a salad bowl with the chicken. We cut the chicken pieces in big cubes. Add the tomatoes, halved and the radishes cut in quarters. Cut the red onion in thin rings, add it to the bowl, then sprinkle the pomegranate seeds on top.

For the dressing, crush the garlic, add it to the yogurt, pour the lemon juice over them and season with salt and pepper. Add the chopped coriander and mix well. 

Pour the dressing over the salad and you are done! It would be great if you would comment below telling us how do you use your weekend roast leftovers.

XO XO,

Sticky Ribs with Goose Fat Fries | You've Got Meal!

Ah, sticky ribs, the reason God gave you fingers. And there you go. Enjoy! Just kidding, Mrs. G says I have to give you guys the full details of the recipe. Not that I wouldn’t have done that, but I think I mentioned before I’m kind of lazy. 

The main idea of the whole meal is to enjoy a Friday night sticky, greasy, delicious dinner made of some oven baked ribs, some potatoes cooked in goose fat, everything balanced by some crunchy and tangy salad leaves with beets and pumpkin seeds. 

The ingredients we used: 

• 3 single ribs, about 100 grams each (makes it easier to cook), 
• some potatoes, preferably new, 
• salt, pepper, 
• thyme, oregano, smoked paprika, 
• ketchup. 

For  the salad we had some crunchy iceberg leaves, with some radicchio rosso, an oven cooked small beet, cut into sticks, pumpkin kernels, salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and a tsp. of some not very strong mustard.

I find that cooking ribs has a positive effect on my mood, maybe because of the delicious smell of grease and condiments melting away into something great. Despite that, it has a definite negative impact on the look of the kitchen, especially if you pan sear it. So, I like to slow cook the ribs in the oven, in an covered tray until the fat melts and the meat gets nice and tasty.

1. Start of by rubbing the meat with the dry condiments and some salt. 
2. For the next step, you can choose to use a tray with a grill on top, so the fat will melt and fall into that, or you can place the ribs straight in an oven tin, in which case the fat will melt and the ribs will also cook in it. 
3. We went for the second, mainly because I find that cooking meat in fat of any kind makes it really tender and elevates the taste. 
4. So, we covered the tray with some tin foil, and cooked the meat for 80 minutes on a medium low heat, turning the ribs half-way and covering back the tray with tin foil. 
5. In the last 10 minutes, remove the tin foil and brush the ribs with some ketchup or barbeque sauce. Turn up the heat and cook in order to create a glaze.

Meanwhile, you can cook the spuds by, you’ve guessed it, frying them in goose fat. Start of by cooking them on high heat for a couple of minutes, in order to get some color, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for around 15-20 minutes, until you get a golden brown color on all sides.

The salad helps the meat and the potatoes tone down on the fatty note. Just make a vinaigrette with the juice of half a lemon, 3 tbs. of olive oil, 1 tbs. of red wine vinegar, 1 tsp. of mustard, salt and pepper. Mix the result with the salad leaves of your choice – choose some crunchy ones, the beet and pumpkin seeds.

This meal, that you’ve just got – pun intended, screams for some Cabernet or a nice, red ale, so take your pick with the alcohol.  A full, heart meal that can get you ready for a lazy weekend at home, perhaps in the company of some chicken wings? Because that’s the second reason God gave you fingers.

Guys, we try and give you in every recipe we post here our honest and explicit experience with food, and any feed-back or tips for further improving any dish is well appreciated. So feel free to comment, criticize or like any post here, can’t wait to be hearing from you!

Enjoy,

Turkey Meatballs | You've Got Meal!

We stopped at this recipe one of these day just before our cooking inspiration was close to zero. You know those days when you have no special cravings, no idea what to cook and you just stare at your fridge and freezer, but no option satisfies you.

We got lucky when we spotted a large piece of turkey breast in the freezer. Turkey meat is a nice and lean meat that is very versatile. If you find the meat dull and you have a bigger piece it is a great idea to grind it or part of it for meatballs or burgers to get a great flavor. It is easier to add the flavor you want in meatballs or burgers.

That being said, we used about 600 grams of ground turkey and made some nice meatballs and served them with mashed sweet potatoes and some pickled cauliflower.

You will need:

• 600 g ground turkey
• 1 small onion, finely chopped or grated
• 2 carrots, grated
• 2 eggs
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tbs salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 handful chopped fresh parsley

For the mashed sweet potatoes:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 2 medium potatoes (basically you need to have a 50/50 ratio of potatoes and sweet potatoes)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 50 g butter
• 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1. Mix all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and form balls from about 1 tbsp of composition.
2. Heat 2-3 tbsp olive oil in a skillet and fry the meatballs on all sides, about 7 minutes , until brown.
3. You can take them out on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
4. For the mash, boil the potatoes, mash them, add the butter, ginger and the seasoning and mix well.

Enjoy,

Beef Steak with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

One of our favorite dinners in the YOUVEGOTMEAL kitchen is a tender, juicy, delicious beef tenderloin steak. And when paired with some crispy on the outside, tender on the inside potatoes, these 2 make for a memorable dinner (red wine also helps- it ALWAYS helps). We had 3 pieces of beef, about 150 grams each, 500 grams of potatoes, cut into wedges and washed 2-3 times in cold water, 4-5 garlic cloves, a couple tbs. of fresh rosemary, olive oil, 2-3 tbs. of red vinegar, salt, pepper. 

This whole meal screams comfort food, and you can choose to add some ingredients both to the meat or to the spuds -  for example use some herbs to crust the meat or change the flavor package for the potatoes (I’m gonna get to that in a while). 

Take the meat out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking it, heat up a non-stick pan with 2-3 tbs of olive oil and fry the steak on medium-high heat for 1 minute on all sides. Next, pop the meat in the same pan that you’ve seared it in for 7-10 minutes (depending on how rare you want it)- make sure the pan doesn’t have plastic components.

The potatoes- put them in salted water and boil them for 7 minutes, then remove them and let them steam for 3 minutes- make sure you give each wedge plenty of room. Next, put the potatoes in an oven tray, again, making sure, they have enough room, and give them a small splash of olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook the potatoes on medium heat for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, lightly crush the garlic cloves and mix them with the rosemary leaves and the vinegar, plus a little more olive oil. Sprinkle this mix on top of the potatoes and cook them for another 10 minutes. 

We served everything with a fresh and crispy salad made of salad leaves (something lettuga bowl) and  endives with a simple lemon-olive oil dressing. Sometimes, less is more, even in the kitchen.

Enjoy,

Spicy Chicken Wings and Special Fries | You've Got Meal!

The title doesn’t really do justice to this dish as it is a very nice fusion of American, Chinese and Italian cuisine (the Italian part being the beautiful Nero D’Avola that accompanied the meat and potatoes J). This thing is a singe to make and it guaranteed to impress, especially with the spicy food loving crowd.

We used 10 wings that we cut in half, you can adjust the amount of wings according to your own desire. The idea behind cooking the meat here is that we wanted to cook it in a healthier way that just frying it, and we managed to do just that without sacrificing taste. Making these wings is a 2 step process. Start of by flouring the wings (that you’ve thoroughly washed) and placing them on an oven tray that you pop in the oven, at high heat for around 30 minutes. Meanwhile you have time for the second part, another dead easy step. Heat up 75 grams of butter on bain-marie, and this will serve as the base for a sauce that will coat the oven cooked wings. To the butter add 2 (or more, you hot devil J)hot pepper sauce -  I used tabasco, 1 tbs Worchester sauce and 1 tsp of red wine vinegar (I find this step optional, as the hot sauce usually has a fair amount of vinegar in it). Next, choose you condiments. My suggestion is to use ground ones, that mix well in the butter, and don’t overdo it as you can get a dusty feel to the meat. I used  smoked paprika, ground ginger, cardamom, dried garlic powder, curcuma, salt and pepper. Mix the spices with the spicy butter. After the wings are done, remove them from the tray and place them in a large bowl. Pour the sauce on the wings and mix really well, making sure the meat is fully covered with the spicy goodness, and you’re done with the meat. I find this recipe to hold its ground over traditional deep fried wings and you can choose it when you want to avoid an oily situation.

This being a super easy wings recipe, the side dish couldn’t be far away from it. For the Chinese style fries you’ll need to slice your spuds thinly and evenly – think of a No.2 pencil and quarter it- that’t the size you want. Clean the potatoes really well, making sure you get rid of that starch, and let them rest in salted water for 10 minutes. The other things you’ll need are 2 tbs of dark sugar, hot sauce- about 2-3 tbs., and (optional, I’ve explained above why), 1 tbs of rice vinegar, 1 tbs. of soy sauce and some cucumbers, cut the same way as the potatoes. Heat up your wok, add a couple tbs. of peanut oil (or vegetable oil) and add the sugar, hot sauce and vinegar. Immediately pop in the potatoes and mix them well to make sure they are coated with the flavor base. Cook them until almost done. Next add the soy sauce and cucumbers and cook those for another minute or so (you can sprinkle some chopped coriander on top for a more Chinese touch).

I can assure you that this wing and fries mix has nothing to do with its fast food cousins. It may be fast, but make no mistake, it packs a big punch and it is poised to surprise you.  

Enjoy,

Bourbon Beef Steak with Blistered Broccoli and Napa Cabbage

You know those shirts that say:“I cook with wine, sometimes I put in my food”?. Think of that and replace wine with bourbon for this recipe. You would be surprised how versatile good old Jack can be not only for the meat, but also for the side dish. So let’s start breaking this recipe down.

The meat- grab yourself a nice piece of beef steak. Now, I wanted to mix things for the meat so I did a super easy and delicious trick that can give a real lift to any steak. Cook your meat to your desired result (remember that test to check your meat by comparing to different variations of your clenched fist? Use it!). 

With one minute or so to spare throw in the pan 20 grams of bourbon and flambé the meat. Also, it will impress anyone else in the room making you look like you performed a Holywood-like stunt. What can I say? The ladies enjoy a live flambee…. Back to business, let the meat rest for 3-4 minutes, lightly brush one side with some spicy mustard (try and get the type that has horseradish in it) then grab the meat and put the mustard side in some ground pepper. This will give your meat a strong, pregnant peppery taste and you can always use this trick to cover one or more sides of a steak that didn’t really came out your way.

So where should we use more bourbon you ask? Why, the sauce, of course. 

Grab yourself 75 grams of butter, 

some shimenji mushrooms (or whatever type make you happy on the inside), 

50 grams of whisky, 

50 grams of stock and 

the same amount of cream. 

Start of by melting the butter in the same pan that you cooked the meat in. Add in the mushrooms and cook them for 3 minute on high heat, then pour in the whisky. Take advantage of this occasion to perform some more pyrotechnics, cook for another minute, then reduce the heat and add the stock and cream. In about 3 minutes add the salt and pepper and remove from heat. 

For the side dish, I served the meat with some blistered broccoli and stir fried Napa Cabbage. Regarding the last ingredient, it was a nice surprise for me as its taste proved to work very nice with the meat. Simply cut it any way you want and throw it in a pan with a couple tbs. of olive oil on high heat. Cook for 2 minutes and add just a touch of bourbon to, you guessed it, flambé the cabbage, cook for another 2 minutes. Touch of salt and pepper and you’re done.

The other vegetable didn’t get the bourbon treatment, but I can’t complain: Mrs. G liked it a lot, so much that I can’t cook broccoli in any other way. What can I say? Broccoli can do that to a woman. I found this recipe on Instagram, on the @bonappetitmag account. Cut the veggie into florets making sure you keep a long enough stalk for each floret.

Then cut each one in half so you have a flat surface for each broccoli. Heat up some olive oil on high heat, put the veggie with the flat side down in there and cook until you get a dark brown color. Flip the broccoli and place the pan in the oven for 10 minutes. Plate the broccoli and add a splash of lemon juice, some chili flakes and garlic slices. Absolutely delicious. It’s a wonderful way to give broccoli a nice twist, similar to a Ottolenghi recipe for a broccoli salad that applied similar that technique, but in which you first blanched the veggie before grilling it on a super hot grill.

So, that was our bourbon beef dinner, but feel free to use whisky instead of bourbon. As a suggestion here, go for Islay whisky, some Laphroaig would really hit the spot with its peaty, rich taste.

Enjoy,

Caramelized Chicken with Coconut Rice

The way I imagined this dish to look was a red/yellow color combination, but I didn’t have enough time to follow through on my initial plan to cook the chicken into red, so  I opted for a caramelized version of the meat, still in contrast with the coconut rice, that had a powerful yellow color from using turmeric. All of this combined with a fragrant green from using chives makes a lovely dish, with a gorgeous visual appeal, that also packs some great taste.

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Beef Strips with Worchester Sauce Coating and Oven Baked Vegetables

Talk about a long title. Nonetheless, it was the only (reasonable) title that I could think of without sounding silly (not that is a genuine concern of mine). Again, this dish is one that represents one of my core beliefs about cooking: versatility. This meat you can cook and use for salads, serving as steaks, sandwiches or wraps and it’s super easy to make (you can also cook it in advance and store it for a day or two), and the vegetables make it justice with a simple saffron yogurt dressing (oh, yeah, the title could have been longer).

So, the meat, use a 3-4 cm thick piece of beef, that would be nice to be flat and even. Season your meat with some pepper, toss it in your dried herbs of choice (you can use rosemary, thyme, parsley, coriander, tarragon) and pop it in a preheated pan with 2 tbs of olive oil. The reason for using a less thick piece of meat is because we are gonna turn it once every minute or so for about 5 minutes, so we kinda make sure that the heat stays in all the time and it doesn’t dissipate through the meat. 

So, on high heat, meat in, turn it every minute for 5-6 minutes, depending on your desired taste and meat size and then add a generous amount of Worchester sauce (4-5 tbs). The thing is the sauce will caramelize very fast, and you need to make sure you coat the meat with it on both sides. After that, take the meat out and let it rest. 

For the veggies, it’s a matter of choice, I went with carrots, courgette (both diced), onion (sliced in rings), and I also used 3 garlic heads (I used a sort of baby garlic, not that it was small in size, but it was very young, without all of layers formed, it has a much sweeter taste with a bit of a green, grassy take). Mix everything (except the garlic) with some olive oil, salt and pepper and put them (including the garlic) in an oven, on high heat, for 20-25 minutes, after which you just have to put the veggies on a plate and sprinkle some chopped parsley on top. 

For the sauce, heat a up a tiny amount of water (couple of tbs), put in a pinch of saffron and let it infuse for 3-4 minutes. Then, in a pestle squish and bash with a mortar the contents of a baked garlic head (you’ll have a sort of a baked garlic puree, one of the most delicious things ever discovered), then put in the saffron infusion (condiments included), 1tbs olive oil, 150 grams of yogurt (I used the greek type, with 10% fat) and mix everything into a beautiful dressing for the meat.

And, hey, if you don’t feel like sitting at the table for this dish, then don’t: just grab yourselves a tortilla wrap, put the meat, veggies and sauce in and take it on the go, either way, it’s delicious. 

Enjoy,

Mr. G.

Jamon Serrano Covered Turkey Roulade

I’m not a fan of cooking roulades, rolls or whatever you wanna call them. But I have to admit that they look nice on a plate and they give the possibility of pairing some interesting options as filling. In this case, I chose turkey meat because it is basically flavorless and thus, great for choosing strong spices or other ingredients to improve the dish. So the ingredients: about 400 grams of turkey meat, 4-5 mushrooms finely sliced (I used champignon), 1 medium onion, finely diced, 3-4 cloves garlic, 200 grams bacon, asparagus, jamon slices for covering the meat rolls, I used about 100 grams, thyme, olive oil, salt pepper.

So, about the turkey, I had an almost square piece of breast meat, that I cut in 2. For each piece, I cut it in the middle, but not all the way through (think it like it’s a book), then I tenderized the meat (to be read: beat it with a meat hammer which is also to be read rolling pin), reducing its thickness and creating 2 sheets of meat. 

For the filling, I diced the bacon, fried for 6-7 minutes on high heat, then added the onion, mushrooms and garlic, salt (taste your bacon, it may not be necessary) and pepper.

Cook this until the mushrooms have lost almost all their water (10-15 minutes). This is important because, otherwise, the water will come out of the roulade and flood the tray you’re cooking it in (or you can just cook the roll on a grill on top of the tray). Bacon wise, I diced the meat into medium chunks, you can try with a smaller size, it should give you a crispier outcome.

Before putting the filling in, I used the mortar and pestle to mash a couple tbs of thyme leaves into a paste to which I added some olive oil, and I rubbed the inside of the turkey meat with the resulting paste. After that, I put some filling on the meat (leave it to cool before this, it will make handling it a lot easier), and, in the middle, an asparagus spear that has decorative value when you slice the roll (I used the white type, green works better me thinks). Roll your turkey meat, and the cover it with some thin jamon slices (you could use prosciutto, pancetta, spek, or any other cured ham smoked or not) all the way around.

 Put this in the oven for 30- 40 minutes on high heat, and leave it to cool for 10 minutes when getting it out.
 We served it with tabbouleh, as shown in the previous post you can enjoy here. 

Have a great day,
Mr. G.