I am a big fan of crock pot cookery — especially since I got my new crock pot with the removable, uh, ceramic crock? It’s great because I don’t have to try and soap it all out and what-not without getting the cord all wet and damaged. Just lift the ceramic part out, rinse and into the dishwasher with it! Ha!

Another nice thing about crock pot cooking is the pour-everything-in-and-then-leave modus operandi. That can be nice. Especially if you set it all up in the morning and come home to a wonderful smelling house and a hot, tasty dinner.

This recipe is kind of based on one from Mable Hoffman’s Crockery Cookery but I’ve added and changed some stuff (surprise!) Actually, I’ve changed a lot but it still has turkey, sour cream and wine.

I think browning the turkey first gives it more flavor, as does sautéing some onions, garlic and mushrooms. Originally, the recipe called for leeks and watercress. I had neither. I really didn’t let that stop me. Here’s what I did.

Turkey and Arugula Over Noodles:
1 1/2 tsp Better than Bouillon chicken base, or one cube low-sodium chicken bouillon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 pckg skinless turkey breast tenders or about 3/4 - 1 lb of skinless turkey breast
1 big handful arugula leaves (uh, about 1 cup loosely packed)
12-15 button mushrooms, halved
1 small onion, sliced into rings, then halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp corn starch
1/2 non-fat (or low-fat) sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
Cooked noodles or parpardelle pasta, buttered and with a litle chopped parsley

Heat olive oil in a large pan or skillet and sauté onions, garlic and mushrooms over medium heat until they get a little golden, 6-7 minutes.

Add to crock pot with the bouillon paste (or crushed cube) and cover with arugula leaves. Return pan to high heat. Salt and pepper turkey breasts very lightly (there’s already salt in the bouillon). Add a bit more olive oil if needed and add turkey breasts. Sear on each side (about 2 minutes each).

Lay turkey in crock pot over the arugula. Pour wine over turkey and cover. Cook on High for 4 hours. You could also probably do it on Low for 8 hours, but I didn’t try doing that, so experiment with that option if you’d like. Also, after about 2 hours, I lifted off the lid and kind of submerged the turkey under all the wine/juices, then replaced the lid. I’m probably not supposed to lift the lid off and let heat escape, but oh well. It turned out fine.

After cooking time, remove turkey and cover with foil to keep warm. Keep pot on High. Stir cornstarch into sour cream and add to crock pot. Mix in with the wine, juices and onions/mushrooms. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

To serve, I placed the pasta on a platter, put the turkey down on top and covered it all with the sauce. On the side, a big green salad (spinach or more arugula works well, with an oil and vinegar dressing).

The arugula made the sauce slightly greenish (it breaks down while cooking) and a bit peppery/spicy. The sauce was also all creamy due to the sour cream, which is always a plus in my book.

And hey, check out the turkey moistness! It just kind of fell apart.

It sounded interesting
Saturday, I had a hair appointment and while I was there, I started leafing through this magazine. In it, there was an article on easy brunches and a recipe for Eggs Benedict. Although, this was a cheater’s Eggs Benedict, as you made everything in a silicone Muffin tray. I was just so intrigued by the concept that I knew I had to try it! Besides, yay! for cheating…

In addition, the recipe called for a faux hollandaise sauce, made with low-fat mayonnaise, lemon juice and Dijon mustard. Now, I love hollandaise as much as the next person and I could probably suck it down with a straw but the time for holiday excess is over. It’s January now. No carrying on like it’s still December. So, I decided to throw caution to the wind and try the not-hollandaise sauce too.

What follows, is what I did for two servings. Obviously, making three servings in a 6-cup muffin tray would be ideal but two worked just fine for jwa and I.

Experimental Eggs Benedict w/ a Silicone Tray:
4 eggs
4 slices black forest ham
2 English muffins
2 asparagus stalks, chopped into 1-inch pieces and steamed for 2-3 minutes
Non-stick cooking spray
Salt & pepper
Special equipment: silicone muffin tray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray the silicone muffin pan with cooking spray. Crack an egg into each muffin cup and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Since I was only using four of the cups, I filled the middle two ones with pie beads. I think I read once that having something in unused muffin cups helps the heat distribute more evenly through the cups that do have batter or what-have-you, in them. That may be wrong though — I don’t know. I need my own personal Alton Brown for situations such as these. I had pie beads — I used them.

Next, place a couple of asparagus pieces and then a slice of ham over each cracked egg.

Butter two, split English muffins, placing the buttered sides down over the ham, asparagus and egg. Bake for about 13-15 minutes. The less baking time will produce runnier yolks, the whole 15 minutes will produce solid yolks. I left mine in for 15 minutes and my yolks were indeed cooked all the way. Next time, I will pull them out a couple of minutes earlier, as I appreciate a little runniness in my tasty Eggs Benedict-type dishes.

To get the eggs out of the tray, I put an upside down baking sheet on top of the muffin tray and then flipped, so that the muffin tray was upside down. If you do use pie beads or dried beans, just scoop those out (not with your fingers!) before you flip.

Then I gently pushed the eggs and muffins out and topped with my sneaky, fake hollandaise sauce.

Citrus Not-Hollandaise Sauce:
1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp orange juice (yes, I used a blood orange as I had some in the house –hence the pink colored sauce in the pictures)
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp lemon juice

Whisk mayonnaise, mustard, orange juice, grated orange peel, and fresh lemon juice in small bowl to blend.

Stir sauce in a heat-safe glass bowl over a pot of simmering water until just heated through, about 2 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Top each Eggs Benedict with about a tablespoon or so of sauce and there you go. You’re all set.

The Verdict:
Okay, so real hollandaise sauce is better — there’s no question about tthat. But this wasn’t bad and I felt less guilty eating it than I would a whole plate sopping with the real thing. (mmmmm!)

As for the muffin tray trick, again, pretty good. I feel the need to play with the timing a bit to get the right yolk runniness for my palate but I’d definitely give it another try. All in all, a pretty tasty experimental breakfast was had at Je Mange la Ville that day.

They’re Hella Shiny & Pretty…
A few weeks ago I splurged and bought myself this pan set at Amazon. They retail for over $200 but I got them for only $79.95 — with free shipping. The set includes a 3-quart saucepan with lid, 8-quart stockpot, 10-inch open skillet. In addition, everything is dishwasher-safe and has a limited lifetime warranty. So far, I completely love them.

I still use my grill pan all the time and I do like non-stick pans, but the saucepan in this set is quickly becoming my go-to pot. So, if you have been looking for a pretty good deal on some stainless steel pans, you may want to check these out!

The idea, is that I am trying to upgrade my pan collection. It’s been something that I have slowly been working on since college. It started with a major Calphalon splurge a few years ago. Since then, every so often, if I see a sale or a good deal I try to budget it in. I figure I use my cookware enough, I should start buying stuff that’s going to last for a while. Oh, justification is my friend!