Combining Two Memories

This was our first Thanksgiving cooking at home. Because I am the primary cook in our household, it fell to me to try to create a Thanksgiving meal that recalled our fond memories of childhood, but still satisfied my need to make it unique. The argument begins over the stuffing...

We both love stuffing, but we have very different memories of what is the perfect stuffing. Ray's is very sweet, with apples, currants and roasted chestnuts. Mine is very simple, with celery, onions and sage. So, we combined the two, and miraculously, they worked together ! Here it is:

Chestnut,Sausage,Apple,Cranberry and Sage Stuffing

3 medium onions, diced
1 bunch celery, diced
1/2 cup butter
4 cups turkey or chicken stock
2 pounds mild turkey breakfast sausage, browned
One package fresh poultry herbs (sage, rosemary and thyme), chopped fine
1 1/3 pounds roasted chestnuts (weight before roasting), shelled
3 small Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
6 ounces dried cranberries
12 cups dried, cubed wheat bread

Saute onions and celery in the butter until soft. Add the stock, and cook until bubbly. In a large pot or bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients. Pour the stock mixture over the bread mixture and combine well.

We like the stuffing in the bird, but this will increase your baking time a bit. Or, put the stuffing in an oven proof pot and bake for about a hour. This will give you the nice crunchy bits on the outside, and a nice moist stuffing on the inside.

Oh, and for the record, brining a turkey is awesome, but contrary to a lot of web advice, the Alton Brown method of roasting a turkey was not very effective for a stuffed bird.

More to come on leftovers, and "the morning after" breakfast.

The Fiadone Incident

Technical difficulties prevented me from posting the pics of this beautiful Italian pie. But, you need to read the story.

Since Ray and I have known each other, he has been talking about this pie from his childhood. The first effort was a search for candied citron, which you only find around the holidays. So we stocked up on this last year, and I never got around to making the pie.

I don't like to make things I need to roll out, like pie doughs, sugar cookies etc. But, I promised, so I finally sat down with this recipe. The crust isn't really like a pie crust, it is more like a cookie, so it didn't need to be rolled out quite as thinly as a regular pie. It also has anise seed in the crust, which gives the actual pie a very distinctive flavor.

The filling is very simple, it is two pounds of ricotta cheese (yes, two pounds!) eggs, candied citron, raisins, eggs, salt and sugar. Then you mix it up and bake ! It originally called for a lattice top, but to save time I cut some maple leaves out of the dough with a cookie cutter. Baked, and done ! It really did not take as long as I thought it would, so I procrastinated for no reason.

There are those times when you bake something for someone you love and it doesn't have any impact. This was NOT one of those times. Ray ate almost half of the pie at the first sitting. The remaining pie lasted only two more days. I will make it again, and Ray promises next time to share with others, as it is really too wonderful not to do so.

Next, the foodie Thanksgiving !

Really Homemade Dinner

Since I met Ray, he always talked about this meal, where everything on the table is from us...so, deer meat from hunting season, veggies from the garden, our homemade wine.

So here it is. Nothing all that fancy, but this is Ray's deer steak, roasted acorn squash and pan seared brussel sprouts from the garden. Add a glass of our blueberry melomel, and dinner is served !

Lazy Sunday Part 1

I have to admit, it is hard to dedicate yourself to blogging when life is so busy ! So I have some catch up work to do !

Last Monday, we wanted to use up the last of the bounty from the garden, so I made a batch of my famous Steak Fajita Chili. I had some small sirloins in the freezer I had purchased on sale, about three pounds worth. I marinated them in store bought mojo sauce, and rubbed with fajita seasoning, and browned them to a medium rare in the bottom of the chili pot. I took them out to let them rest about 5 minutes. While they were resting, I added some olive oil to the pot, and sauteed 3 cloves of chopped garlic and 2 diced medium onions.

I cubed the steak into one inch pieces, and added back to the pot. I added 3 cups of V-8 juice, and then diced up about three pounds of roma tomatoes. I also had small small green peppers and jalapenos from the garden, so I added those as well. You can control the heat with more or less jalapeno, but I generally like my chili more on the spicy side. Then I seasoned with chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, all to taste. Again, I generally like my chili pretty intensely flavored, so I am generous with the spices. After that, I just cooked it down, and served with some sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

I usually make more than we can eat in one serving, so we have leftovers for lunch the next day, and some to freeze for dinners in a hurry.

Comfort Food

Fall is upon us ! And as the colder weather sets in, I start to crave comfort food. We spent most of the weekend clearing out all the remaining vegetation from the garden, so stocking up for the long winter was on our minds.

We planted tomatillos with the intent of making green enchilada sauce. Little did I know we would have 15 pints after it was all canned ! I found we like the taste of homemade much more than the store-bought kind. It is very simple. We roasted about 15 pounds of tomatillos, then pureed them with 10 jalapenos, 4 large anaheim peppers, 5 cloves of garlic, 4 chopped onions and about 1 cup of diced cilanto. I added cumin, dried oregano, canning salt and black pepper, and a little sugar to take some of the "bite" out. Now, we have quick enchiladas all winter long !

After all this work, I made tuna casserole for dinner on Sunday (Hot Dish if you are from Minnesota!). I made a simple white sauce, added about 1/4 pound each of diced Havarti and Farmer cheese. Then, I seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne and a pinch of nutmeg. Pour the sauce over your favorite noodles, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and butter and bake. Ray ate half a pan before bed ! We only got one lunch out of the leftovers, and it is gone.

Next up are soups using the giant carrots and potatoes from the garden.

Parent's Dinner...YUMM !

Since my parents were the original inspiration for this blog, I felt it was appropriate to make an entry about the latest dinner we hosted for them.

Sunday was a busy day, with church in the morning, football in the afternoon. After the big Vikings win, we started on dinner.

Ray loves to make homemade pasta, so I take advantage of his contribution when I can. I had some acorn squash from the garden, so I made a filling:

Squash filled raviolo and white wine sauce

2 small acorn squash, seeded, then baked, and filling scooped out
2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup asiago cheese, grated

We make 4 large "raviolo" as an appetizer for the meal, and about 2 dozen small ravioli with this filling. I made a very simple reduction of white wine, with thyme and garlic for the sauce, and finished it with about a tablespoon of butter. Each person had one, and it was nice, light appetizer. Then, the big show stopper was Opah en Pappilot (fish wrapped in paper for the less exotic among us)

4 6-8 ounce portions of a firm, white fish (swordfish, blue marlin would work well here)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
4 cloves of garlic
Salt and garlic pepper to taste.

For this process, you need 4 sheets of parchment paper, or you can use foil. Divide the sliced onion, fennel and garlic on each sheet. Season both sides of the fish and lay on top of the vegetables. Top with the lemon, and seal each paper packet by twisting the edges shut. Bake in a 400* oven for 12-15 minutes, depending on the size of your fish fillets.

I will attempt to start posting photos of more of these items !

Canned meat and more !

We have been so busy with the garden, camping and, well, just life ! But I wanted to brag about our dinner last night!

We can meat ! Back in the day, this was used because there was not sufficient storage or refrigeration when farmers butchered. We, however, like the convenience of the canned meat for a nice dinner on the fly.

The canning does take a little time. We usually watch for roasts (pork or beef) on sale, and then can. It is so simple, just cut the meat into small pieces (or sometimes the butcher will do it for you). Sutff them into a jar as tightly as you can, add a little salt, and pressure can them. I have to admit, the meat does not look very pretty in the jar, but it does taste good !

So, dinner last night was a quick stroganoff. I just sauteed 2 cloves of garlic, one small chopped onion, about a cup of mushrooms, and a cup of red wine together. Stirred in a quart of canned beef, salt and pepper, and let it simmer until the sauce had thickened. Then, just stir in about a cup of sour cream at the end, and serve over buttered noodles. Dinner in half an hour !

So, camping last week, we discovered the joy of grilled pizza, and what a great way to use up some left overs! Our "leftovers" usually have a decidedly Italian slant anyway, so pizza isn't a big stretch. We had some left over spaghetti sauce, pesto, goat cheese, mushrooms, bruschetta, stuffed mushrooms. This all made for some excellent pizza. And it was so easy, we are going to do it again with some friends this weekend. Well, we won't make them eat leftovers :).

Chocolate chip cookies tonite. And peeling more tomatoes in preparation for the great salsa run in September !