Not-Thanksgiving

The thing about Thanksgiving is that it's long been an in-between holiday for me. After my parents divorced, it was one of the few holidays no one hopped a plane to visit the other house; we rarely saw the other siblings. And once the oven broke at my mom's, it sort of stopped happening... And working retail, Thanksgiving was simply the short breath before going underwater for a month or so. There have been a few gatherings, and some occasions where certain parts of the family were together with cousins and aunts and uncles, but for the most part it's been a pretty solitary affair as far as family was concerned.

This wasn't always the case; before the divorce and even the year after, Thanksgiving seemed extravagant to me: we drove to Phoenix and went to my grandparent's house, or my uncle's, and we dressed up and had namecards and a kiddie table and all kinds of forced bonding that really did go a long way in cementing the relationships you make when you're a kid.

Now, it'd been about twenty years since all four kids were together on Thanksgiving weekend, with my mom. It'd been about six years since all four kids were with my mom and my stepdad, and it'd been three years since the four of us gathered in one place. So my brother David decided it was time-- and he hauled his girlfriend, my younger brother Ben and Ben's daughter, Isabel all the way out from Utah to my mom's house.

Traveling on Thanksgiving kind of sucks, and with a three-almost-four year old, it wasn't exactly an easy drive, I'm sure. But they made it and on Friday morning, we started cooking. David has a great way with food, and since the oven at my mom's house is STILL broken (seriously!) we cooked the majority of stuff at my house and brought it to my mom's. (Dinner couldn't really happen at my place because of my cats, and allergies, and besides-- it doesn't count unless we eat at Mom's!)

Here was the menu:

Roast Turkey & gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Stuffin' Muffins

Bourbon Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans with Bacon, Shallots & Vermouth

Peach & Mango cobbler

My sister Sarah handled the dessert, and my mom took over the mashed potatoes (easy for those who are oven-impaired) and David and I wrangled the rest.

I took the lead on the turkey, and used Alton Brown's Roasted Turkey recipe from the food network. This was my very first turkey ever (I'd helped a few times with a friend-thanksgiving when we lived on Athol, but never on my own) and I was super duper nervous. I defrosted that sucker, brined it, stuffed some aromatics in it's excavated cavity, rubbed it down with canola oil and then stuck it in the oven at 500 for a half hour, then 350 for about two hours (after covering the breast with Alton's famed "Foil Turkey Triangle").

I had to use an ice bath to defrost it.

Turkey is a funny thing-- you really don't have a chance to stop and wash your hands and take pictures and resume... it's really just... get it done.

Anyway, I followed his recipe to a T with no changes.

Not-Thanksgiving Ingredients

Stuffin Muffins

Tools: 12-cup non-stick muffin tin, 12-inch skillet, measuring utensils & cups, cutting board, knives, ice cream scoop

Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil (about two turns of the pan), 1/2 cup butter, softened, 1 fresh bay leaf (or dried), 4 ribs celery & chopped greens from the heart, 1 medium chopped yellow or sweet onion, 3 chopped red apples, 2 tbsp poultry seasoning, 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley, 8 cups unseasoned cubed stuffing mix, 2-3 cups chicken stock

Pre-heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil and 1/2 the butter. As the butter melts, drop in the bay leaf. As you chop the vegetables, add them: celery, onions, then apple. Sprinkle the vegetables and apples with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Cook for about five minutes or until everything begins to soften.

Add the parsley, and slowly add the stuffing mix as you combine. Once everything is combined, moisten the stuffing with the chicken broth, a little at a time, until it's soft but not soggy. Butter the muffin tins, and then use an ice cream scoop to mound the stuffing into muffin shapes in the tin. Remove the bay leaf as you scoop the stuffing. Pop those bad boys in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the stuffing sets and the tops are nice and crispy brown.

Bourbon Sweet Potatoes

Tools: large pot for boiling, 13 x 9 glass pan, spoons, colander, masher, knives, cutting board, peeler, measuring utensils & spoons

Ingredients: 3 medium peeled sweet potatoes, cut into chunks; 3 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces; 1/2 cup chopped pecans; 3 tbsp brown sugar; 2 oz bourbon; 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 tsp grnd nutmeg, salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Bring a pot of water to poiling, add the sweet potatoes and boil until very tender, about 12-15 minutes. Drain those suckers in a colander.

Return the pan to medium heat and add the butter. When it melts, add the nuts and toast for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and let it bubble. Add the bourbon (don't inhale the bourbon fumes!) and cook out the alcohol for about a minute. Add the orange juice (to taste) and the sweet potatoes. Mash 'em and season with nutmeg & salt and pepper.

Transfer the sweet potatoes to the 13 x 9 pan and stick in the oven for about 15-18 minutes or until slightly browned on top.

And in the meantime, I made some gravy.

Tools: whisk, measuring cups & utensils, strainer, medium saucepan, plate for dredging

Ingredients: drippings from turkey; 4 tbsp flour; 14 oz chicken stock; 1/2 cup white wine; bay leaf; 6 tbsp butter; giblets; salt & pepper to taste

I deglazed the bottom of the roasting pan over a high flame with a little bit of the wine. Then I strained all of the drippings into a large measuring cup and let it settle. I skimmed about 3/4 of the fat. I dredged the giblets in flour, tossed 2 tbsp of butter into a hot pan and added the giblets and bay leaf, cooking for about 5 minutes. I removed the giblets. I melted the remaing butter until it was bubbly, then added the flour, whisking and whisking and whisking and whisking.

When the roux was nice and golden I added the drippings, still whisking, and then 1/2 the stock, whisking until smooth. I slowly added the rest of the stock, and when it thickened, I added the wine and let simmer for 2-3 minutes. Then it was taste test time and I added salt and pepper to my liking.

Then we loaded up the food into David's car, packed ourselves into ours, and headed to my mom's house.

At my mom's, I made the green beans.

Green Beans with Bacon, Shallots & Vermouth

I adapted this recipe from The America's Test Kitchen cookbook.

Tools: Cookie sheet, wire rack, measuring cups and spoons, colander, 2 12-inch skillets, bowl of ice water; large boiling pot; knive, cutting board

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs green beans, stem ends snapped, 1 tbsp salt; 2.5 quarts water; 6 thinly sliced shallots; 4 tbsp unsalted butter; 6 strips bacon; 3 tbsp dry vermouth; salt and pepper to taste

I blanched the green beans and cooked the bacon the day before. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot, and then salt, then add the green beans. Return to a boil and cool until they are bright green, about 3 minutes. Drain the beans in a colander, then transfer immediately to an icewater bath. When they aren't warm anymore, drain them again and dry them.

Put the wire-rack in the cookie sheet, then lay the bacon out. Put in the oven and heat to 400 degrees. After the oven comes to temperature, it'll be about 5-8 minutes for the bacon to finish crisping-- this really is dependent on your own personal oven so you'll want to keep an eye out.

Let the bacon fat drain, remove from wire rack and set aside until cool. Slice the bacon and set aside until needed.

Heat two tablespoons of butter in one skillet until foaming. Toss in the shallots and stir frequently, cooking until it smells super good, you start to see some crisping at the edges and the majority of the shallots are turning a nice golden brown. Set aside and warm the green beans in the other skillet with 1/4 cup of water. Once they're warmed through, put the shallots back onto a high heat and stir in the vermouth until it comes to a simmer. Whisk the remaining butter and stir in the bacon. Add the green beans and toss. Season with salt and pepper to taste, put in a serving dish and serve ASAP.

David carved the turkey. It turned out very pretty & juicy!

The turkey was good, and I always love my mom's mashed potatoes, but I have to say-- the green beans and the sweet potatoes stole the show!

We topped it off with a mango-papaya crumble dish my sister made-- it was such a hit I barely was able to snap a picture. I'm definitely getting the recipe for this.

It was really fun to cook with my brother, and I had a great time with my family. Though we didn't recreate the magic of Thanksgivings of yore, I think we made our own new magic and hopefully we'll continue this tradition. Next year I think we all need to head to the place in Arizona for a Mexican-inspired Not-Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Bread

There I was at my desk, minding my own business when I realized that I desperately wanted pumpkin bread and the only way I'd get it (at least, if I wanted it to be any good) was probably going to be to make it.

I've made other fruit breads-- this one should be no different, right? But I always need guinea pigs, and luckily there are nearly thirty people willing to consume something I bake and give me feedback. So I found a recipe, adjusted it slightly and set out to Lucky to pick up some pumpkin puree. If I make this again, I might try roasting my own pumpkin but for this version, a can of Libby's did just fine.

Pumpkin Bread -- makes three loaves

Tools:

Can opener, measuring utensils, two large bowls, whisks, three 9 x 5 loaf pans, spoon, spatula

Ingredients:

1 29 oz (about 3 1/2 cups) can pumpkin puree, 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil, 4 cups white sugar, 6 eggs, 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 heaping tbsp sour cream, 1 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease & lighly flour your loaf pans. I like to use butter wrappers for the greasing but butter or shortening will do just fine. You can also use one of those crazy sprays if you like. Tap out excess flour over the sink for a bit less of a mess.

I used the kitchen aid for this, but you know a handheld mixer will work just fine.

Mix the pumpkin and the oil until incorporated. It will be a bit soupy. Add the vanilla and the sour cream. Add one egg at a time, mixing well. Finally add the sugar and mix on low until smooth and creamy.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. Whisk together until everything is evenly distributed. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet pumpkin mix until it's blended and smooth.

Distribute evenly between your loaf pans and sprinkle the tops with brown sugar.

Stick 'em in the oven and bake for about an hour and ten minutes, or until the top springs back when pushed lightly and a toothpick comes out clean. Check your bread after an hour-- some ovens, pans and elevations make things vary. The original recipe I found said this would be ready in 45 minutes but they must have some crazy kind of oven because it took mine about an hour and fifteen minutes in the metal pans and an hour and ten in the glass pan.

Serve as is, or you can whip up this sour cream glaze. It's a little bitter from the unsweetened chocolate, so if you like something supersweet let your pumpkin bread go naked.

Chocolate Sour Cream Glaze-ish Frosting

Tools:

metal bowl, pot, whisk, measuring utensils

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz bittersweet baker's chocolate, 7 oz sour cream, 6 tbsp powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp - 1 tsp hot water, 1/2 tsp milk, 3 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp vanilla

Put water in the pot over medium heat. Put the metal bowl over it (look ma! a double boiler!) and melt the chocolate and butter, whisking constantly. Whisk in the vanilla and 1/2 the powdered sugar. Whisk in the sour cream. Whisk, whisk, whisk as it comes to a bubbling state, then add the rest of the sugar. Whisk, whisk, whisk. Add the milk and the water, a little at a time, until the icing thins and forms a ribbon when you lift the whisk. Whisk in two pinches of salt, remove from heat and let drizzle over your intended target.

I drizzled one loaf with the chocolate, one loaf was 1/2 chocolate and the other I left plain.

The house smelled amazing by the time it was through and my tastebuds (and craving) were satisfied. Packed it up and brought it to work, where the guinea pigs devoured two loaves. I passed the recipe on to a coworker searching out pumpkin muffins... I can't wait to hear how they turned out for her!

CrockPotChickenzzzzzzzzz

So the best part about a crockpot is that you can walk away.

The worst part about a crockpot is that you have little control over seasoning.

To me, this means crockpots are good for things that you don't really want to season too heavily while cooking: larger poultry, stews, and even soups.

To this end, I really, really enjoy cooking a whole young chicken in the crock.

Tonight's variation:

1 crock pot PLUS 1 4 lb chicken, 3 baby carrots, 1/4 of a sweet onion, 11 cloves of garlic, 1 1/2 tsp herbs de provence, 1/4 tsp summer savory, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp lemon pepper, 2 bay leaves, 1 stalk celery, 1/4 cup chicken stock, 1/2 cup chardonnay, cheesecloth

Sauce-- if desired-- 1 sauce pan, 1-2 tsp flour, 1 1/2 tbsp butters, leftover drippings/liquid from chicken

Remove giblets and any visible trimmable fat from the chicken. Rinse inside and out and pat that sucker dry.

Mix the spices together. Rub them under the chicken skin and on the chicken skin. Place the chicken into the crock.

Crush the garlic cloves, and add the bay leaves, onion, carrot and celery. Roll it up and stuff it into the bird's cavity.

Pour the wine and stock around the chicken. Cover and cook for 5 hours on high, then 1.5 hour on low. Remove skin and bones and cavity-cheese-cloth-seasoners and separate yummy chickens, or just remove meat and skim fat from liquid.

(Either way, get rid of the fat if you're making gravy.)

Once it's separated, keep it warm in the oven at about 200 degrees.

If you're a gravy fan, put the butter in a sauce pan and melt, then whisk in the flour. Keep whisking about 3-5 minutes, until cooked. Add the strained & skimmed crockjuices. Whisk. Bring to a boil, boil for about a min and the reduce heat drastically, to a simmer, and let it chill like that until it gets to the desired thickness.

I like to roast potatoes in a wine/butter/broth combo for about 40 min at 400 degrees, and then a veggie of your choice. (Tonight, broccoli: 4 tbsp water or broth added to a pan of broccoli that went into about 2 tbsp of olive oil, lightly salted, covered after adding liquid and steamed for 3-4 minutes...)

It Always Begins In Chaos: Citrus Bread + Maple Bacon Muffins

The other day my coworker pops off with, "Can you make a bacon muffin?"

That sounds like a challenge.

So, I took to the google.com and searched high and low for a recipe. I looked at a few and finally settled on one from Evil Shenanigans with a few variations.

Also, just so you know, Cori-- it's not all little cups to start!

Maple Bacon Muffins were precipitated by Citrus Cranberry Muffins, a variation on a raspberry muffin recipe I made a while back. We had some milk (read: an excess) and aside from cake, which is harder to divvy and transport, the only thing I could think of to make that would utilize the milk were these muffins. So I made 'em, and sent some off with Nate to work to give to his folks, and sent some off to the aforementioned coworker. Contemplating these muffins and my extreme affection for Peet's Citrus Bread, I thought I'd try my hand. Next time I'll go lower-and-slower with temp and time, but otherwise, this made for a great morning bread!

Maple Bacon Muffins-- yields approx 30-33 muffins

tools:

muffin tins totaling 33-- two 12's plus a 9 work well, a large bowl, a pot, measuring utensils & cups, two whisks (or one whisk you can easily rinse + dry) muffin cup liners, a medium bowl, wire rack, jelly roll/cookie sheet and an ice cream scoop (if you want to get fancy).

ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tbsp baking powder, 2 tsp kosher salt, 8-10 slices bacon, cooked crisp & crumbled, 2 cups milk, 4 eggs, 1 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp maple syrup (real stuff, no fakies)

3 tsp bacon fat

If you're bacon unsure-- here's my recommend: lay the bacon out on a wire rack nestled inside of a jelly roll pan, lined with foil or parchment paper. Put it in your oven. Turn your oven to 400-- when you start to smell the bacon (or about 5-6 after you oven comes to temp) you're going to have about 3-7 minutes left-- this is all dependant on how crispy you like your bacon. I recommend crispy crispy crispy for this recipe.

Preheat your oven to 425. set out your tins and line 'em with the paper muffin cups. Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. I like to use a whisk to incorporate it all together in a thorough manner. Then add the bacon:

and toss thoroughly until it's evenly distributed and sufficiently coated.

In a separate bowl, mix the milk, eggs, oil and maple syrup. Make sure they are mixed well-- again, a whisk does the job nicely here.

Make a well in your dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Fold. It will be lumpy.

Use the ice cream scoop to fill your muffin cups 1/3 full. Bake for 22-24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 2-5 minutes before removing from tin to a wire rack.

Best served warm-- so if it's the next day about 20 seconds in the microwave should do it.

Cranberry Citrus Bread

tools: 2 loaf pans, measuring utensils, measuring cups, 1 saucepan, 1 large bowl

ingredients:

2 cups milk 3 tbsp orange zest

1 cup butter 3 tsp vanilla extract

4 large eggs 4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar 5 teaspoons flour

1 1/2 tsp salt (iodized) 3 cups (approx) of cranberries

Preheat oven to 375.

Grease loaf pans, bottom & side, with lard/shortening/butterwrappers.

Melt butter. Add orange zest. Whisk in milk and vanilla extract. Remove from heat.

When mixture is cool to the touch, whisk in the eggs.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the milk mixture and stir *just* until blended. Add cranberries and fold, fold, fold.

Divide evenly into two pans and bake for an hour or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes clean from the center.

Now, I'm not a wasteful girl (or at least, I try).

Neither is Don.

He says, squeeze those oranges & add gin!!!!!

Dinner of the Week

Nate can cook, too.

Mmmm.

When Sarah Came For Dinner

When I was in high school I was a vegetarian. It's true-- the carnivore in me subsided and I ate a lot of vegetables and Morningstar Chik Patties. This went on for quite some time, and was spurred by a bloody vein in a piece of undercooked chicken. Nate might say that's one reason I cooked chicken to death when we first started living together: a fear of bloody veins and some kind of food poisoning. I'd only been "cooking" for about the same amount of time I'd been eating meat again, and it wasn't the most successful kitchen moment in history.

All it took for the tooth to turn from omnivore? A turkey sandwich from The Sandwich Board in Alameda did the trick. After that it was downhill: burgers, tacos, enchiladas, curry chicken and endless turkey sammiches.

But Sarah, my friend from Minnesota and former co-worker, has held steady with her vegetarian diet. She came for dinner a week or so ago, and I found myself contemplating my vegetarian repetoire.

There are a lot of things that can be adapted to serve a vegetarian diet, and I'd already cooked my favorite vegetarian meal for her a month or so before. A few nights before I'd thrown together a linguini, veggie & chicken dish that turned out for the better, only I'd found myself wanting more vegetables. I resolved to recreate the serendipitous pasta dish, only sans chicken for Sarah.

Linguini Mess With Vegetables + Chicken

Tools:

Chopping knives, cutting boards, meat mallot, measuring utensils, 1 large pan for sauteeing, 1 sauce pan, 1 additional oven-safe pan for chicken (optional), whisk, spatula & tongs, pasta pot & pasta scoop or collander

Ingredients:

(Everything's approximate & to taste since I sorta threw it together)

1 cup chopped spinach 3/4 cup grape tomatoes (add more if you like 'em)

1 orange bell pepper, diced 8-10 baby carrots, thinly sliced on a diagonal

1-2 shallots, thinly sliced 3 cloves garlic, minced

1 zuchinni, diced 10 crimini mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (optional)

1 tablespoon butter for each chicken breast

olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Sauce: 1/2 cup white wine, 1/2 cup pasta water, 2 tbsp butter & 1/2 tbsp (tops!!!) flour

First things first, get your water going in your pot for your linguini. You don't want to have ready-to-go veggies and nothing for them to go into, ya know? So, Polly put the kettle on (or large pasta pot, in this case), and get that sucker going.

Once I've made sure the pasta is in a good place, it's veggie time.

Oil into the pan at about the same time you toss the pasta into the water. Linguini takes 8-11 minutes, roughly, depending on the tooth of your liking. I tend to toss the veggies in, give it a sec, and then start the pasta cooking.

Add those vegetables, giving a good stir with each addition. Give them a gentle salt-and-peppering.

If you're into meat like I am (and like Nate is) then you'll want to make sure you don't mix the two and contaminate the veggie dish.

Pound until even and season liberally. Then chicken meets hot pan with a bit of oil. Let it get a nice sear and then add a bit of butter in the center for some real rich flavor. Once the butter is mostly melted and running down the sides of the chicken, flip and transfer the pan to the oven to finish (about 5-7 minutes).

Meanwhile, keep stirring and rotating those veggies over medium heat.

As if there wasn't enough to do, you'll want to pull your white wine sauce together. In your saucepan, melt the butter and sprinkle in the flour, a tad bit at a time, whisking constantly for about five minutes. Whisk in the wine & pasta water plus a pinch of salt and whisk, whisk, whisk until it's mixed consistently, simmer for about a minute. By now, linguini should be ready and drained (you can always lift directly from pot into pan using a stellar pasta scoop)-- add it to the veggies and toss with the white wine sauce.

Serve, if all veggie. If adding chicken, remove from oven, let stand a few and then cut into strips and plate atop the linguini.

Top with shredded parmesan cheese regardless of meat stature.

Sarah said it smelled pretty good.

She's either a diplomat or really dug it, because she cleaned her plate just like at our first company party.