< PreviousWILD TURKEY SCHNITZEL 1 wild turkey breast (boneless and skinless) All-purpose flour Panko breadcrumbs 3 eggs Vegetable oil Kosher salt Black pepper Slice the turkey breast cross- wise into 4- to 6-ounce chunks or strips. Place each piece of turkey, one at a time, between two layers of plastic wrap. Using a hammer, dish, meat mallet or any other solid object, pound the pieces of turkey until they’re about 1 ⁄ 3 - inch thick. Season each piece of turkey with kosher salt and black pepper. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add a little bit of water to them. Place the flour and bread- crumbs on separate plates or dishes. Roll the pieces of turkey in flour, dip them in the egg/ water mixture, then coat them in panko breadcrumbs. Heat 1 ⁄ 3 -inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet or pan over medium-high heat. Fry the turkey pieces until they’re golden brown on one side, then turn and cook until they’re brown on the other side. Serve over a bed of mashed potatoes with fresh lemon slices or a mushroom cream sauce. MUSHROOM CREAM SAUCE Mushroom slices Olive oil 1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of mushroom condensed soup Chicken broth Sauté the mushroom slices in a pan over medium heat with some olive oil until they’re browned and tender. Add cream of mushroom soup to the pan. Stir and simmer. Add small amounts of chicken broth as necessary while you stir to create the consistency that you prefer for the sauce. Simmer and serve as a top- ping for turkey schnitzel. 70 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2023 GAME ON SCRUMPTIOUS SCHNITZEL This wild turkey recipe comes with a German twist story, recipe and photo by CAPT. NATE SKINNER S chnitzel can be defined as a thin meat cutlet that has been pounded until it’s tender, and then breaded and fried. It’s a culinary staple in German-speaking countries and communities and a dish of which many Americans and Texans are quite fond. Schnitzel is especially scrumptious when made out of the breast meat from a wild turkey. The key to creating premium wild turkey schnitzel lies in the dish’s preparation. You want to make sure that you pound the strips of meat into thin, tender morsels that almost will melt in your mouth after they’re fried to perfection. Wild turkey schnitzel served over a bed of buttery and creamy mashed potatoes soon will become a wild-game recipe favor- ite. Top it off with a spritz of lemon juice from a freshly sliced lemon, or a mushroom cream sauce, and get ready to dig in. A feeling of satisfaction soon will follow.COCONUT FLAN Servings: 8 1 cup sugar 1 (13.6-ounce) can coconut milk 1 cup crème of coconut 1 cup sweetened condensed milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 5 large eggs Toasted coconut flakes for garnish Preheat oven to 325 F. Com- bine sugar and ½ cup water in a heavy sauce pan; cook over low heat 10-12 minutes or until sugar melts and turns a light golden brown. Remove from heat; immedi- ately pour hot caramelized sugar evenly into 8 (6-ounce) ramekins. Let stand until sugar hardens (about 6 minutes). Whisk together coconut milk and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl until smooth. Pour mixture evenly over sugar in each ramekin. Place in a large roasting pan, adding hot water to the pan to a depth of 1 inch. Cover loosely with foil. Bake until flan is set but still jig- gly in the center, about 1 hour. Using tongs, carefully remove the ramekins from the water. Transfer to refrigerator to cool completely. When ready to serve, gently run a butter knife around edges and invert onto serving plates. Top with toasted coco- nut for garnish. 72 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2023 DESSERT ISLAND WORLD TRAVELER This custard dessert traces its roots to Ancient Rome story and recipe by PHIL NEWTON | photo by JENNIFER REYNOLDS F lan dates back to Ancient Rome. Romans were the first to domesticate chickens for farming purposes, according to historians. With the abundance of eggs came the need to create recipes to use them. Custards were one of the early methods of using eggs in the preparation of foods, both sweet and savory. Even after the fall of the Roman Empire, flan remained popular in the rest of Europe, particularly Spain. When the Spanish arrived in the Americas, they brought flan with them, and it became a delicacy. Mexico and Cuba both have had a heavy influence on what flan is today. The caramel topping for which flan is known came about because of the abundance of sugar cane in the New World. The use of whole eggs and vanilla also is a New World tradi- tion. What we call flan in other parts of the world is sometimes referred to as crème caramel. PHIL NEWTON is a Galveston baker/cook. He’s the owner/operator of Stiglich Corner with partner Cindy Roberts.Make your comeback stronger than your setback. If you’re dealing with a back, spine, or orthopedic issue, you understand how not feeling your best can aff ect your daily life. Our team at St. Luke’s Health is here to help you get back to the activities you love and we have the expertise to help you come back stronger and stronger. Don’t just watch from the sidelines. Enjoy everything life has to off er. What will your comeback story be? Get started at StLukesHealth.org/Ortho.74 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2023 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2023 75 DOWN HOME GOOEY GOODNESS Baker takes a page from grandma to make this dessert classic story by SHANNON CALDWELL photos by STUART VILLANUEVA W hen it comes to sweet treats, grandma knowns best, said Kalie Trahan, owner and cake designer of League City’s Craved Creations Bakery. Some of her most popular treats come from her grandmother’s recipe book, in- cluding gooey chocolate brownies that are perfect every time. “Her recipe uses Hershey’s cocoa powder and chocolate chips, so it is really fudgy,” Trahan said. “People get excited when we sell them in the store, and if we haven’t had them for a while, they request them.” The recipe requires only one bowl and the hardest part is making sure not to overcook the brownies, which would dry them out. Trahan isn’t a fan of nuts in desserts, so she usually adds choco- late chips, she said. But walnuts or pecans work well in the recipe. Although some people crave the chewy corner pieces of brownies, Trahan is “a gooey center person all the way,” she said. As a child, Trahan loved baking with her mother and has fond memo- ries of making her grandmother’s recipes from a handwritten cookbook, she said. As a teenager and young adult, her baking obsession grew to a small business making custom cakes from her parents’ kitchen. “I became known for making carved cakes and made some crazy designs over the years,” she said. “I made a lot of dogs and other ani- mals because I was good at those, and I even made a boat once.” Trahan opened Craved Creations six years ago on League City’s Main Street. The cute villa with flower boxes outside is famous for scratch-made cupcakes in four always in-store flavors, as well as a series of special flavors that change each day. The bakery also makes custom cakes to order and has a “cookie of the day” Trahan and her team create each day, depending on their mood. There also are custom treats, including cinnamon rolls that are sell-out hits. (Left) Kalie Trahan’s gooey chocolate brownies are popular treats at her bakery Craved Creations in League City. The recipe, from her grandmother’s cookbook, uses Hershey’s cocoa powder and chocolate chips, so the brownies are really fudgy, Trahan said.76 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2023 In Independent Living you can be who you were meant to be.... It’s never too late to discover new hobbies, start an exercise program, and make new life-long friends. Choose The Meridian Independent Living and let us take care of the little things ~ so you can live big! Enjoy our fine dining, coffee bar, on-site library, fitness room and movie theater. Spend some quiet time in our chapel. Participate in scheduled activities. Take a walk on the beach. Your days can be filled with all of this and more! The Beach House Assisted Living & Memory Care gives the residents the support they need while they maintain their dignity and independence. On our Post-Acute Skilled Unit we provide Skilled Nursing and Therapy after a hospital stay where Medicare and Insurance will often cover your stay. We also offer Long-Term Care. At The Meridian, we are not just community... we are Family. Call us today or Book a Tour here! We can’t wait to meet you! www.themeridian-galveston.com Call today 409.763.6437 2228 Seawall Boulevard, Galveston Island, TX 77550 The Meridian is a Senior Living Community “I make the yeast dough from scratch, so the cinnamon roll recipe is quite complicated,” she said. “It’s an old family recipe that people always ask about, but I couldn’t share that one.” Working around cakes all day means she has lost her sweet tooth, but there’s one treat she’ll never turn down, she said. “Chocolate chip cookies are classic for a reason,” she said. “I could never get sick of a chocolate chip cookie.” Trahan, who has a degree in Business Administration from the University of Houston, opened Craved Creations in 2017 when she re- alized her side hustle could be her main job. She couldn’t have done it without the love and support of her husband, Mark, her sister Ahrian Trueheart and her parents, Mike and Dee Peterson, she said. She’s proud the bakery has loyal customers and makes everything from scratch with fresh eggs from her chickens and real butter. “I just love my life,” she said. “I can set my own hours and it is so simple and calm. Cakes make people happy because they are usually buying them to celebrate something, so it’s lovely to be surrounded by that.” DOWN HOME GOOEY CHOCOLATE BROWNIES ½ cup unsalted, melted butter 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 1 ⁄ 8 cups granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ½ cup all-purpose flour ½ cup Hershey’s cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment paper in 8-inch square pan, set aside. Combine melted butter, oil and sug- ar in a bowl, and whisk for about a minute. Add eggs and vanilla, mix for another minute. Add flour, cocoa powder, chocolate chips and salt to the bowl. Fold these in until just combined. Don’t overmix. Pour mixture evenly into pan. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. For gooey brownies, be careful not to over bake, or they’ll seem dry. Remember, they’ll continue to bake in the pan after they come out of the oven. The key to Kalie Trahan’s gooey chocolate brownies is not to overcook them. COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2023 77 presents www.islandetc.org for tickets78 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2023 COUNTER CULTURE RED CHILI ROMANCE This island couple met at a cook-off and sometimes compete against each other story by BARBARA CANETTI | photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS K evin and Donna Foley are award-winning chili chefs. They met years ago at a chili cook-off. And they spend a lot of time honing their skills at chili competitions. But don’t ask them to cook chili in their West End Galveston cottage. “We cook lots of things here and we eat out a lot, but we are not cook- ing chili at home,” Kevin Foley said. In September, Kevin was awarded first prize for his red chili at the 55th annual International Chili Society’s World Championship cook-off in Myr- tle Beach, South Carolina. It was the couple’s 18th wedding anniversary. In 2021, he came in second in the International Chili Society Home- style Chili cook-off. And in 2016, he earned a Grand Master Red Chili Cook Award at the World Chili Cook- off Championship. (Above) Kevin and Donna Foley both are award-winning chili chefs. The Foleys, who met at a chili cook-off, prefer to make anything but chili in the kitchen of their West End home in Galveston. (Opposite) A bowl of Kevin Foley’s Texas red chili topped with onions and shredded cheese. COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2023 79Next >