Turkey Spinach Wild Rice Leftover Soup.

As we planned our Thanksgiving menu, I was determined not to have the traditional green bean hotdish. So, I came up with a recipe for a spinach and mushroom gratin, that was a bit less than successful. The flavor was nice, but it had a lot of liquid, so was a bit slimy.

Not wanting to be wasteful, I turned it into a soup ! The gratin was originally fresh spinach and mushrooms, sauteed in garlic, then layered with sliced roma tomatos and parmesan cheese, and topped with buttered bread crumbs. I dumped the whole thing in a pot, added some extra chicken stock, diced up leftover turkey and wild rice. I let it cook for a bit, then thickened it with a roux and added a bit of half and half just before serving.

I seem to have a knack for making a mistake, and then turning it into something really unique. The problem with these dishes is that they are difficult to replicate. But, it is all a lesson on re-imagining everyday foods.

Dutch Babies

Contrary to what this might sound like, this is actually a traditional breakfast, not small children from Holland. Some people remember these from the Pannekoeken restaurants.

It is somewhere between an omelet and a pancake, baked in the oven. I had never tried one until Ray mentioned it was a traditional holiday breakfast in his family. So, the challenge had been issued...

Dutch Baby

Preheat oven to 425. Place a heavy skillet in the oven and heat for at least 10 minutes.

Mix the following in a blender (I use the immersion blender):

4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
Nutmeg or cinnamon to taste (optional)

When pan has been heated, remove from oven and place 3 tablespoons unsalted butter into the pan. Let it melt, then pour in the batter. Return the pan to the oven, and bakeabout 20 minutes, until it is golden brown and puffy. It can be very dramatic to slide the finished Dutch Baby from the pan onto a plate on the table. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with fresh fruit.

We soaked some berries in Grand Marnier the night before. And we always enjoy these with a mimosa, made with mango orange juice. These are simple, and very impressive !

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.