Happy Turkey Day!!

Well, here we are again despite all that 2020 has thrown at us this year we still have the Holiday Season.  Whether you are meeting family in person or virtually I hope you have a great time.  

I got a Turkey from Butcher Box a couple weeks ago as part of a promotion so I made a practice Turkey Dinner with all the trimmings and thought I would share the recipes with you all!

Thanksgiving 2020

Sides

Fresh Bread with Butter

Crispy Brussel Sprouts and Bacon and

Roasted Carrots

Winter Squash with Honey Poached Cranberries and Goat Cheese

Mashed Potatoes

Classic Stuffing

Roasted Grape and Cranberry Sauce

Entrée

Sage Roasted Turkey

Dessert

Assorted Pies with Whipped Cream

Whole Wheat Bread

3 c Bread Flour

1 c Whole Wheat Flour

2 c Water

1 T Yeast

1 T Brown Sugar

1 T Diastatic Malt Powder

2 T Olive Oil

1. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a mixer and mix 5 minutes’

2. Turn onto counter and form into a ball

3. Let rest 1 hour

4. Form into 2 loaves and let raise

5. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes

Crispy Brussel Sprouts and Bacon and Carrots

1 lb. Brussel Sprouts, halved, outer leaves removed and kept separate

        8 Carrots, peeld

2 T Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper TT

6 oz Bacon, diced

1. Preheat oven to 425º

2. Toss brussels sprouts halves, carrots and two tablespoons olive oil and spread on a baking sheet

3. Season with salt and pepper and roast 30 minutes

4. Stir, then add bacon and roast another 15 minutes

5. Add the brussels sprouts leaves and roast another 15 minutes until crispy

Roasted Squash and Goat Cheese and Honey Poached Cranberries

1 Winter Squash 

8 oz. Goat Cheese, crumbled

½ c Pecans, toasted

    Honey Poached cranberries – recipe below

1. Preheat oven to 450°

2. Roast Squash until tender, about 40 minutes

3. Break open the squash and remove seed

4. Place arugula in the squash with goat cheese, pecans and poached cranberries

5. Drizzle with Balsamic glaze

Honey Poached Cranberries

¾ c Honey, divided

6 T White Wine Vinegar, divided

16oz. Cranberries

1. Working in batches, into a medium pan, add 1/4 cup honey and 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  

2. Simmer for 2 minutes.  Remove pan from heat.  Add just enough cranberries to cover the bottom of the pan in one layer only.  

3. Return pan to stove and heat over medium low flame, stirring carefully from time to time.  The cranberries should be plumped, but not burst.  

4. With a spoon, remove any burst berries from pan.  After about 8 minutes, the cranberries should be soft and plump.  Test the largest berry in the pan to make sure it is tender.

5. Transfer soft cranberries to a container.  Repeat process until all ingredients are used, cleaning pan between batches.

Classic Stuffing

16 c Stale Bread Diced

½ c Butter

2 c Onions, diced

2 c Celery, diced

2 t Sage

1 t Thyme

1 t Rosemary

¼ c Parsley

6 c Turkey Broth

Salt and Pepper TT

1. Combine breads in a large bow

2. Melt butter in a large skillet

3. Add onions and celery and sauté until celery is soft

4. Stir in seasonings and mix into bread

5. Add broth to bread mixture

6. Season to taste with salt and pepper

7. Stuff turkey or bake at 350º for 30 minutes in an oven safe pan

Mashed Potatoes 

4 lb. Potatoes, scrubbed and peeled

1 t Salt

2 t White Pepper

½ c Butter

2 c ½ and 1/2

` 1 T Salt

1. Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water and 1 t salt

2. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer for 15 minutes

3. Drain potatoes and put in the bowl of a mixer with a whip attachment

4. Add remaining ingredients and whip until fluffy

5. Season to taste

Quick Gravy Prep

¼ c Butter

1 c Onion, chopped

4 Cloves Garlic

6 T Flour

4 c Chicken Broth

1 c White Wine

10 Sage Leaves

2 Bay Leaves

2 t Salt

1 t Pepper

Pan Drippings to finish

1. Melt butter in skillet and sauté onions five minutes

2. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes

3. Add flour and mix well

4. Stir in broth, sage, bay leaves, salt and pepper and bring to a boil

5. Reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes

6. Cool slightly and strain

7. Store in refrigerator for up to a week or freeze

8. To server strain fat from pan drippings and stir into gravy base

9. Season to taste with salt and pepper

Sage Roasted Turkey (Cook approximately 15 minutes per pound)

Stuff Turkey, rubbing butter and sage leaves under the skin.

Preheat oven to 450º

11:00 – Turkey in Oven turn temp down to 350

11:30 – Baste Turkey

12:00 – Baste Turkey

12:30 – Baste Turkey

1:00 – Baste Turkey

1:30 – Baste Turkey

2:00 – Baste Turkey Check Temp

2:30 – Baste Turkey Check Temp

3:00 – Baste Turkey Check Temp

Cook Turkey to 150º White Meat, 170º Legs and Thighs

Remove from oven

Cover with Foil and let rest 30 minutes

Get in the Kitchen and Cook Something!

 

Hello Hello Hello!

I'm back, sorry I haven't been a very good blogger and I know I've said it before (but this time I really mean it!) I will be posting more blogs.

I am really excited, I have just published my first cookbook on amazon. 

Now that people are actually buying it I am a nervous reck... How many typos did I miss? is everything good? What did I do wrong?

Well I guess we wll have to wait and see.  I will be posting some pictures of the recipes in there and If I am really energetic, maybe even some videos.

So, If you have gotten one, please give it a rating and let me know what you liked!

Here is the link to it on amazon : Cooking in Real Life

Now, Get in the Kitchen and Cook Something!

Just a few images from the Holiday Food Collection!

Christmas Salad and                   Grilled Chicken Breasts 

      Tenderloin Roast                   With Fries and Green Beans

New Years Eve Crostini with

Mushrooms, Cheese or Olives and Peppers

    Asian Slaw with                      Buffalo Chicken Deviled

Moo Shu Pancakes                                     Eggs             

         

Close up of the Tenderloin Roast with

Stu's Peppercorn Sauce 

Some Lovele Roasties                Mini Yorkshire Puddings

Christmas Morning Apple Pancakes

Curried Encrusted Rack of Lamb with

Roasted Cranberries and Grapes

Gamberetto Norcina

     Well, I came home from work last night already to make Pasta Norcina for dinner.  We are on Weight Watchers so I had toned down the recipe some, using evaporated skim milk instead of cream to keep the Smart Points low.  I had been thinking about it all day but when I got home chaos ensued. Jen was on her way out with Jonathan and announced Nathan had a hankering for some shrimp...

     There was some shrimp in the freezer so that wasn't a problem, I started my sauce by sauteing up some sweet Italian sausage, when that was nice and brown I drained it and added some white wine to de-glaze the pan.  Then I added some diced tomatoes and garlic, let the liquid reduce, added some shrimp and my sausage back in with some lemon juice.  Then I seasoned it with some hot pepper flakes and salt and tossed with some pasta... Viola!  In a separate pan I sauteed some of my morel mushrooms that I froze and have been hoarding, I served those on the side, no sense wasting them on the kids...

This is based on the Strozapretti Norcina I had a while back at Bacco Ristaurante in Southfield.  It is served with a creamy sauce and truffles.  Personally I was expecting a light to shine down from heaven and angels to start singing when I tried truffles for the first time, I prefer the Morels if you can get them, if not crimini or shiitake mushrooms work well.  Trying to be good and WW friendly, I omitted the cream and the lemon juice was a nice change.

The recipe

Gamberetto Norcina

     1lb Sweet Italian Sausage
     1 c White Wine
     1 T Olive Oil
     3 cloves garlic, chopped
     3 c Tomatoes, diced
     1 lb Shrimp, peeled and deveined
     Juice of 1 Lemon
     Dash Red Pepper Flakes
     Salt to Taste
     Shredded Parmesan and Fresh Herbs to Garnish

     1.  Cook pasta of your chouice according to package instructions
     2.  Heat a nonstick pan over medium high heat
     3.  Add sausage and cooked until brown
     4.  Drain sausage and set aside
     5.  Meanwhile add wine to the pan and stir to deglaze
     6.  When the wine is almost gone, add the oil and garlic and saute 1 minute
     7.  Add tomatoes and saute 5 minutes
     8.  Add shrimp and lemon juice, cook until almost cooked through, turning once, about 5 minutes total
     9.  Add sausage and red pepper flakes
    10. Season with salt and toss with pasta
    11. Garnish with cheese and fresh herbs

Enjoy!
Now Get in the Kitchen and Cook Something!

The Joy of Cooking

Sometimes I think the best part about knowing how to cook is just being able to create something.  I enjoy Meatloaf, not the food although I like that too, but the singer.  Some of his songs go on way to long, but I can imagine him sitting there playing the Piano and not wanting to stop just for the joy of it - Anything for Love and Everything Louder than Everything Else come to mind.  I also have some good friends that can play the guitar, passing the lead back and forth to each other without a word.  Just playing for enjoyment for themselves and those listening.

I can strum a guitar to a limited set of songs and can't play the piano at all but when it comes to food my creative abilities kick in and I can create if not a masterpiece at least something enjoyable and tasty.

This is not really going to be a recipe per say but the process I went through on making dinner last Saturday.

I started with some canned tomatoes I had from my garden, I grew some San Marizinos and wanted to see how they were.  I opened the jar and poured them into a pan with a little white wine and set them to simmer and reduce the liquid a little.

Next I poured some olive oil in my trusty cast iron pan and let it heat up.  Last summer I had some left over sliced peppers and onions from the church fair that I had bagged and froze so I took a handful out and chopped them a little more and added them to the oil.

Meanwhile I had found some dried morels in the pantry so I crushed those and added them to my tomatoes to reconstitute and add some flavor.  Once my onions started to brown I added my tomatoes so I was down to one pot.

I had a gift card from Sur la Table and back in august I purchased a Miracle Grow Aero Garden and had quite a bit of basil, both Thai and Genovese, so I made a pesto with some Manchego, pine nuts and olive oil, which I stirred in to my tomato sauce.  In the back of my fridge I found some half an half that hadn't expired yet so I poured it into a pan and let it reduce by half and then poured it with everything else.  Finally with my trusty immersion blender I gave everything a thorough mix, leaving some recognizable pieces of tomatoes and morels.

A quick boil for some artisan pasta and then mix it all and sprinkle with some parmesan cheese and dinner was ready. 

Of course during all this there were a couple games of chess with William, he won 1 out of four games, listening to Jonathan practice piano and raking, bagging and tilling some leaves into my garden... a fabulous fall day.

Now, Get in the Kitchen and Cook Something!

From Picture to Reality!

I have had subscriptions to various food magazines, Bon Appetite, Food and Wine, Food Network, Saveur, at various times in my life.  Some of the issues I still have but more often than not I look through them as soon as I get them, I love the beginning of the month!  More recently I have started going through them a second time and folding over the pages of recipes that I find interesting.  Finally, a couple days later, I go through and rip out the recipes that I might actually try.  This usually helps but every once in a while, I have to search online for something that I kind of dimly remember but didn’t make the cut.

Last month in Bon Appetite there was an ad for their Cooking School or a cooking school or something that showed this beautiful fish dish.  Unfortunately, there was no recipe, cause well, it was an ad I guess.  Nevertheless, I tore the page out and hung it up in my kitchen to look at.  I really enjoy creating recipes and sometimes a picture, a name, or just an idea can trigger one.

So, I bought some salmon, and some fresh fennel and tried to figure out what to do.  I started by slicing the fennel about a sixteenth of an inch thick on my mandolin and then adding some lemon juice and lime juice, then a little mayonnaise and sour cream, a dash of salt.  For a little extra zip a threw in some Old Bay seasoning.  That I stuck in the refrigerator and prepped my fish.

I have several of these thumb press pepper grinders that I fill with different whole spices.  For the fish, I used a blend of fennel seeds, dill seeds (I found these at Penzy’s Spice), coriander seeds and course sea salt.  A light sprinkle on the fish and a little old bay seasoning. And then into the broiler.

The picture from the add looks like an entrée, server over a cream sauce of some sort, I decided to do more of a salad and serve it cold.  It was a big hit, I hope you enjoy it!

Get in the Kitchen and Cook Something!

Broiled Salmon and Fennel Slaw Salad

     For the Slaw
            1 Bulb Fresh Fennel
            Juice of 1 Lemon
            Juice of 1 Lime
            1 t Kosher Salt
            ½ c Mayonnaise
            ½ c Sour Cream
            ½ t Old Bay
     For the Salmon
            4 – 6oz Salmon Fillets
            1 t Salt
            1 t Pepper
            1 t Old Bay
            Fresh Ground Coriander, Fennel and Dill Seed – optional
     For the Salad
            Mixed Lettuce
            Assorted vegetables, I used beets, artichoke hearts, green olives, garbanzo beans,
            radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes and butternut squash.  Apples and peaches are
            also nice.

1.      In a mixing bowl, combine the fennel, lemon and lime juice, mayonnaise, sour
       cream, salt and Old Bay.
2.      Mix well and transfer to a container and refrigerate.

3.      Meanwhile, turn on the broiler

4.      Combine salt, pepper, old bay and other spices if using

5.      Sprinkle evenly over the salmon

6.      Heat a large skillet over medium heat

7.      When pan is hot, arrange salmon in it in a single layer

8.      Cook for about 2 minutes then transfer the pan to the broiler for 6 minutes

9.      To serve hot, arrange the fish on a plate and top with the fennel slaw

10.  To serve cold, place the salmon in a container and cool it down in the refrigerator

11.  Arrange lettuce on a plate

12.  Place Salmon in the middle of the lettuce

13.  Arrange the remaining vegetables around the salmon

14.  Top the salmon with some of the fennel slaw.