I'm back!

I'm allowed to take a break, too. Not from food, of course. No big whoop - let's talk.

First things first - here are the recipes I talked about in a previous blog:

Cranberry-orange ginger chutney

For my grandmother's cornbread dressing...well...the recipe seems to change a little every year. Here are the basics:

- one bag cornbread stuffing mix (just the cubed, dried bread)
- 4 slices white bread (preferably pepperidge farm)
- 1/2 of a large onion cut in small pieces
- 1 stalk of celery cut in small pieces
- 1 stick of butter
- buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- s&p and poultry seasoning to taste

Add the bread to a large bowl while cooking the onion and celery in the butter.

*Note the lovely kitchen appliances; I'm cooking at my mom and step-dad's house.*

Add the onion and celery mixture to the bowl of bread and mix with the eggs and enough buttermilk to slightly moisten the mixture. Add s&p along with poultry seasoning to taste. Add to a greased baking dish. Place cubes of butter to the top. Cook at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until crunchy on top.


We also found an Alien egg...



Ahh! Where's Ripley when you need her?!! "Game over, man! Game over!"

Back to reality...and maple-pumpkin pie. My mom thought of a cute idea to add the filling to individual graham cracker shells, which was perfect. They were incredibly cute and easy to carry around instead of a large pie.

Maple-pumpkin pie (adapted from a Wegman's recipe)
- 1/2 of a large can or small can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 3/4 cup good maple syrup (Sorry, couldn't resist the Ina-ness)
- 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- 3 eggs
- dash of salt
- dash of vanilla
- seasonings, to your liking: ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg

Either use 12 individual graham cracker bowls, with a bit left over, or fill a regular 9 inch pie shell.

Mix ingredients together, add to crust(s), bake at 350 degrees. For individual pies, 20-35 min. For large pie, 50-60 min. (Just make sure the filling stops wiggling)

What a great Thanksgiving celebration. I'm very fortunate and thankful for my family and friends...and bacon.

Oh, oh! Although I forgot to take a picture of it (blonde moment), I did make eggnog "waffles" Black Friday.

I took the remaining white bread from the dressing and added it to a mixture of:

- eggnog
- 1 egg
- cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
- orange zest
- touch of brown sugar

Drench the bread in the mixture and add to a waffle iron. You can also add it to a griddle to make french toast, if you do not have the iron. Add syrup to the finished product -- or -- the remaining orange-ginger cranberry sauce. yum

Thanksgiving #1

The madness is finally over, and *plop, plop, fizz, fizz* we are recovering (with the help of Mr. Antacid) from the first round of culinary indulgence. My mom started with a dry rub on a pork shoulder and let it cook for 10 hours in the oven on 275 degrees. When we woke up at 8 am, we were greeted with an incredible smell and fall-off-the-bone tender meat. It turned into pulled pork sandwiches with bbq sauce and coleslaw.

The other main event was another great alternative to the traditional turkey: fried chicken. Buttermilk, flour (seasoned, of course), grease and voila!

We ended up with chicken breasts the size of Paris Hilton's dogs.

Along with the usual mashed potatoes, asparagus and biscuits, my mom whipped up two other incredible side dishes: shrimp and corn chowder and pumpkin gratin. Here are the recipes for both:

Chowder

Gratin

Substitute shrimp for the lobster in Ina's recipe, if you wish.

We also made lovely profiteroles for dessert. Here is a good recipe: profiteroles.

I think this gives me a good start to the holiday season, and a good reason to consider joining Merritt Athletic Club...again.

Craziness!

I have been endlessly testing recipes and shopping for four upcoming Thanksgiving meals in the next six days. The first is tomorrow, hosted by my mom. I'll be helping her tonight and in the morning to prepare for the meal and will post information (and hopefully pics) on Sunday. I will also be shopping for the remaining three meals and will cook the following:

- orange cranberry relish

- maple pumpkin pie bites

- my grandmother's cornbread dressing

More detailed recipes to follow, hopefully sometime during the crazy week of family fun.

Until then, check out some of my favorite food sites:

Bakerella

EpiCute

Cake Wrecks

Food Network Humor

A BLT without the 'L'??

*Gasp!* It's true! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, gather 'round and watch as the bacon lady whips up a BLT without lettuce!

Alright, here's the truth - I don't enjoy the taste of lettuce. So, there. I love almost all other vegetables, but lettuce? Rabbit food. Honestly, some spinach would be nice, but you would end up with BS, and get snickers before finishing the acronym.

I prefer BAT's (stop snickering) bacon, avocado and tomato. Don't laugh yet - let me put some citrus mayonnaise on the bread for you. Not expecting that, were you?


Mix orange zest, a squirt of lemon and your favorite mayo for a perfect topper.

I've also been in the mood for some beef and broccoli, but the delivery guy (along with the pizza guy) can't seem to understand the calling system outside my apartment, so I decided to come up with my own recipe.



Crispy Orange Beef and Broccoli

- flank steak
- broccoli
- brown rice (cook according to label instructions)
- fresh ginger
- sesame oil
- bottled spicy orange sauce
- oil for frying
- corn starch
- s&p

Cut flank steak against the grain into very thin strips. Add to zip-up bag with enough cornstarch to cover and mix. Set aside. Use the back of a spoon to remove the skin from ginger. Grate about a 1/2 tbs. per serving. Add the remaining ginger (not grated) to the rice while cooking.

Blanch broccoli and set aside. Add oil to pan, enough to cover about half of the flank steak strips and turn to medium heat. Add strips to hot oil and cook about a minute on each side. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Add a little bit of sesame oil to a new pan and add broccoli and s&p to taste. Add enough spicy orange sauce to cover broccoli without drowning the florets. Add crispy beef strips and broccoli to top a bowl of the ginger scented rice (remove the ginger before serving). Add some sesame seeds and enjoy!

Rainy night

It has been cold, rainy and windy for the past few days in MD. I needed a meal tonight to warm me up (since I didn't want to turn the heat on - lest I get a huge electric bill). Some roasted garlic mashed potatoes and curried corn bread muffins would do the trick.

To start, remove most of the white, paper skin of a whole head of garlic. Cut it in half, add olive oil, salt & pepper. Add to a 350 degree oven. Leave it alone for about an hour until it turns golden brown. Pop the garlic cloves out of the skin.


During this time, prep the muffins by adding muffin tins to a muffin pan. I took a box of Trader Joe's cornbread mix and followed the ingredients label. I then added 2 tablespoons of honey and 2 teaspoons of curry powder (more of less, depending on the type). Fill muffin tins and place in oven. Bake for 15 - 20 min on 350.

Start chopping potatoes for the mashed potatoes. I prefer yukon gold. Cut them into quarter-sized slices and add to salted, boiling water. Let them cook for 15 min., or until tender.

Add drained potatoes back to the pan and add a few tablespoons of butter, a little bit of milk and chicken stock. (The amount depends on the potato and how much you decide to cook). Smash potatoes with the roasted garlic and mix.

Take muffin out of tin, add butter and enjoy.

Thanksgiving side and pie: test 1

Isn't it a pleasure to find fresh, beautiful produce in a grocery store? You know, the quality that you would expect to find in a road-side farm stand. I certainly take advantage of the grocery store more now since daylight savings time ended, resulting in farmers closing their stands earlier. During a recent trip, I found gorgeous carrots that turned into one of my favorite recipes: carrot noodles.

My mom acquired this recipe from a woman name Elaine in Mustique, who taught her how to make this sweet and savory dish. This is my mom's recipe, with my additions in red.

-Make long strands of carrot with vegetable peeler.

- Simmer carrots in chicken stock, or water with chick buillion cube til tender. I used stock.

- Drain liquid and keep noodles warm on another plate.

- Add couple tablespoons of butter to pan (I used olive oil)....add a bit of chopped onion (I added garlic) and saute til tender.

- Add carrot noodles back to pan.

- Add small amount of white wine, butter and 1/2 and 1/2, or heavy cream (I used heavy cream).

- s & p to taste.

Enjoy!

I love the tender, pasta texture of the carrots with the simple sauce. Obviously, the recipe can be "healthified", but what is a Thanksgiving without an indulgent amount of tryptophan? I consider it a natural version of tylenol pm, so I can fall asleep by 8 and wake up at 4 for the black friday specials. Look out, JC Penney, here I come!

I'm also working on pumpkin pie recipes for Thanksgiving. Here is the first batch of pumpkin maple pie. The filling was delicious, but the crust? Meh. I'll start working on a ginger cookie crust. The final recipe should be posted soon!

jambon

Darn you, Food Network. I was perfectly happy with my grocery store purchases until you decided to air episodes that dealt with cooking ham. The southern woman in me emerges when you mention smoked ham, and much like the Hulk, nothing else can satisfy the appetite that consumes me. I have to run to the grocery store at 10 p.m. wearing crocs (good grief), my glasses and the "dirty-hair" ponytail. Praying that no one I know spots me, I run to the meat section, pick up the ham, bread 'n butter pickles and tomatoes. My mission was clear: ham sandwich.

I bought a small quarter ham, placed it in a shallow pan (hey, that rhymed!), covered it in aluminum foil and cooked it low 'n slow at 275 degrees for 45 minutes. Then, I poured a layer of dijon mustard on top along with a mixture of ginger, Dr. Pepper, brown sugar, nutmeg and tabasco on top. I took the aluminum foil off and let it cook for the last 15 minutes uncovered.


Mmmmm....can you smell it?

I had to force myself to leave it alone for a half hour for it to cool down so I could make the wonderful sandwich.

Aww yeah.
Beeeutiful!

After letting it cool in the fridge overnight, I removed the last of the spiral sections, and stored some for sandwiches later. The other half was made into ham salad by placing it into a food processor with a few of the bread 'n butter pickles. Add mayo, dijon mustard and pepper and voila! Yummy new sandwich delight. The last large hunk of meat and bone were placed in the freezer for delicious bean soup during the winter.

Note: the photos of the author gnawing on the remaining bone were removed from this page because it would make the reader jealous. Thank you.

Ben's Cookies - Test 1

The first recipe was ok. The cookies looked and smelled a lot like Ben's cookies, but the texture was a little too dry. The flavor was slightly off as well. I did enjoy the candied ginger with the dark chocolate, but will omit the added nutella that I added to the recipe. (I couldn't help myself.)


Round 2: slightly less flour and higher oven temperature to achieve the crispy outside and cake texture in the middle.