What I ate for dinner this week

I don't post here nearly enough, so I thought I might beef up the blog with a quick run down of our weekly din-din's. 

What do you think?

Simple and easy enough, just grilled bratwurst with a smattering of mustard and crispy cold sauerkraut. I picked up the sauerkraut at my local farmers market where they make it in-house, but the bagged kraut at the grocery store isn't too bad. Just make sure to avoid the canned stuff...ick!

 

Grilled Lemon Chicken with Charred Corn Salad. The chicken was literally as it sounds...marinated in a little lemon juice with olive oil and grilled. The corn salad was the highlight of this meal, my husband went back for seconds and I later caught him scraping the last bits out of the bowl. Needless to say, I'll be making this again soon. 

Thai Larb. I make variations of this same dish but this was my first time trying this particular recipe. We liked it, but I'll make some adjustments the next time around. I made it with ground turkey because it's what I had on hand, and I'll add chopped nuts for more texture. OH...and shortly after this photo was taken this was slathered in sriracha. Sriracha makes everything better...didn't you know?

                                    

Chips do not a meal make, and no...we didn't eat this for dinner. BUT these little chippies were a satisfying pre-dinner snack. Chicken + Waffles and Sriracha are two of the limited time Lays flavors that were submitted during their "Do Us A Flavor" contest. I think the Sriracha flavor has the best chances of winning, but they were both fun to try!

                                       

This is also not something we ate for dinner. I'm still getting used to remembering to take photos of what we eat before we dive in. However, this doughnut is notable because it haunts my dreams. No really. I have a difficult time articulating how wonderful it is. It's from a local doughnut shop in Atlanta called Dutch Monkey Doughnuts. If you're even remotely local, let me first say that it's way out in the burbs but I would still suggest paying them a visit. I'll never look at doughnuts the same way again. Their lemon meringue is my favorite with it's not-to-sweet lemon filling and wonderfully silky meringue topping. Ugh...I'm dying just typing about this. 

     

So that was a snapshot of what we had this week! Did you have a notable meal?

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Apple Braised Turkey Thighs

We've been on apple overload lately. I keep finding ways to throw them into sweet and savory dishes because they're delicious and I have an entire bushel of them. A few weekends ago we did our annual trip to North Georgia to pick pumpkins and apples. We've been making this trip for the past several years and it's I look forward to it all year!

The weather this time of the year is gorgeous, which doesn't even compare to the colors of the fall leaves in the mountains. Not to mention we have the coolest pumpkin farm on the face of the planet. The apple farm is pretty fun too, the apple season is almost over at this point so instead of picking apples off the trees we generally buy them from their store. We also buy their apple butter and the best dang candy apple I've ever tasted. For realz.

Anyway - on to more important matters. This was one of those recipes that I found knew that I had to make this immediately. It's a good thing I did, this recipe is the epitome of Fall. It's super delish, crazy easy to make, and makes you want to curl up on the couch with a blanket and a book. There's nothing better!


Apple Braised Turkey Thighs
Adapted from: Martha Stewart


1 Tbs Olive Oil
2 Turkey Thighs or 2 lbs (Boneless, Skin-on)
2 Large Shallots, thinly sliced
4 Apples peeled, quartered, & cored (I used a mixture of granny smith and gala)
2 Cups Apple Cider
14.5 oz Chicken Broth
3 tsp Cider Vinegar 


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot. Season the turkey thighs with S&P and place skin side down and cook until skin is crisp and golden and then transfer to a plate to rest (yes, just cook one side). Add shallots and cook until soft. Add apples and cook until slightly soft (about 5 minutes).


Return the turkey to the pot (skin side up) and add the cider, chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once the liquid starts to boil, cover the pot and place in the oven and cook for 1 1/2 hour. Uncover and cook for another 30 minutes.


Take the pot out of the oven and move the turkey to a plate to rest. Skim the fat from the cooking liquid or use a fat separator, and stir in the vinegar to the remaining gravy. Serve turkey with apples and gravy! Enjoy!

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