All Set!

Wishing you a day filled with family, friends, and gratitude.

Also great food. And drink.

We have much to be thankful for, don't we?

Cranberry Cocktail

I just hate it when a recipe I love gets bad reviews (especially recipes I've written). Jeesh. People need to get a grip and stop being so harsh...and learn how to cook for goodness sake. And if you modify a recipe, adding or subtracting or, god forbid, substituting ingredients then you can't really say whether the recipe as it was written was good or not, can you? Do these people actually have taste buds? Or common sense? I think not. And I'm pretty sure that most reviewers haven't passed third grade grammar either. I assure you that the Barefoot Contessa did not RUIN your dinner party because the cooking time she stated in the recipe was too long. Perhaps you just need to calibrate your oven...and not drink so much wine.

It's tough going sometimes...

That said, constructive criticism is always helpful. Like, I made the recipe as you said, but the crust is too crumbly...or the cake is too tough. Or... In Australia I can't find x ingredient. I substituted y and it didn't turn out very well. What do you suggest? Or... Your recipe calls for 2 egg whites. Should one of those be a yolk? Yes, these are the types of helpful suggestions and questions that make me (and I imagine other folks who make recipes) want to fix the problem.

Which brings me to today's recipe (which is not originally mine, by the way). Though it gets mixed reviews on the Epicurious website, I think it makes a fabulously flavored syrup, perfect for mixing with vodka. Sure, you can top it with club soda if you find it a little thick, as did some of the reviewers. But I like to mix it in a shaker, one part syrup with two parts vodka and strain it into sugar-rimmed martini glasses for a gorgeously hued holiday cocktail. We enjoy this on Thanksgiving, and again on Christmas. Strain it into a nice bottle, and it makes a wonderful gift as well. Be sure to attach the martini recipe.




Garnet Martini Syrup

We enjoy this gorgeously-hued cocktail on Thanksgiving, and again on Christmas. Strain it into a nice bottle, and it makes a wonderful gift as well. Be sure to attach the martini recipe.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: makes about 16 martinis

Ingredients:

6 cups of fresh or frozen cranberries
4 1/2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

Preparation:

1. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until a glossy syrup has formed. It will thicken as it cools.

2. Strain through a fine sieve into a pitcher and chill for at least 3 hours or up to a couple of weeks.

3. To make one martini, shake 1 part syrup with 2 parts vodka with a handful of ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a martini glass (with a sugared rim, if you'd like) and top with a splash of club soda if desired. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and serve immediately.

Thanksgiving 2010: The Menu

This year, Thanksgiving has crept up on me like so many holidays do. I knew it was coming, I've been posting about it for weeks, after all. But for some reason, in my head, it seemed like that far-off holiday, the thing that is coming sometime way in the future. Well ready or not, it's here. And in my family Thanksgiving is the jumping off point into crazy-town, filled with birthdays, parties, decorating, food and CHRISTMAS. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love the holidays, but I think I need another week, please.

Here's my menu with necessary ingredients, subject to change, of course. I've included links to recipes where available. I find it helpful to write it down so I can review it for a few days and figure out who is bringing what and see what I still need to shop for. We will be serving 10 adults and 6 or 7 kids. Thanksgiving is definitely a group effort around here--and that's certainly another thing for which I can be truly thankful!

Thanksgiving 2010

The Menu

Appetizers

o Mushroom Turnovers: Jessica

o Baked Brie: Jim and Jody

o Crudités: Mom

o Butternut Squash Soup: Jenny

o Champagne: Me

o Garnet Martinis: Me

o Cranberries, sugar, rosemary for syrup

Dinner

o Salad: Kale and Apple Salad with Walnuts and Pancetta: Me

o Turkey and Gravy (Brined): Fried (Ron) and Roasted (Me)

o Stock

o Aromatics (onion, celery, herbs)

o Mashed Potatoes: Me

o Cream

o Butter

o Stuffing (La Brea Bread): Me

o Onion

o Celery

o Sage Breakfast Sausage

o Apple (granny smith)

o Haricot Vert: Me

o Corn Casserole: Mom

o Cranberry Chutney: Me

o Cranberry Relish: Me

o Rolls: Crescent Style (Trader Joes)

o Wine Selection: Chris

Dessert

o Pumpkin Pie: Lindsey

o New England Rum Pie: Mom

o Pecan Pie and/or Cranberry Frangipane: Jessica

o Coffee (decaf): Me

o Whipped cream: Me

Heart of the Homework

Most afternoons we find ourselves in the kitchen together, snacking, chatting, cooking and completing homework. My kids prefer to do their homework at the kitchen table, rather than at their desks in their bedrooms. I'd like to think they want to be close to me, but they probably just want to be close to the pantry. But for whatever reason, here we converge just about every day.

At the beginning of the school year, I put together this homework caddy, so that they would have all of the supplies they need for their homework and school projects at hand. It helps them be more independent, and it helps me because my meal preparation is less interrupted by constant badgering...MOM! Where is the [fill in the school supply here]?

I found a silverware caddy with a nice antique finish at Home Goods that fits my pint size mason jars perfectly. There is also room for larger containers that hold everything from rulers to glue guns. Yes glue guns. I don't know about your kids, but mine get an outrageous amount of projects to be completed at home. Everything is neatly labeled, so the kids can even clean up after themselves. In theory. Ahem.

Gotta have all sorts of glue....



Some watercolors tucked in the side....Time to replace, I think!



Must have magic erasers...they truly are magic.



One jar for scissors and other tools, one for colored pencils, one for pens, and one for freshly sharpened pencils. In the back I have a large container for glue, one for rulers and angles, tape and erasers, and I've also tucked in a much-used stapler. I also usually have white index cards (but we just ran out) so that the kids can make flash cards or vocabulary cards as needed. And if your kids ever get "bored" a great activity for them is to make sure all the colored and regular pencils are sharpened.




On the wall next to the kitchen table, we have some "wall pockets," one for each child and one for me. This is where they store extra paper (plain, graph and lined) as well as their homework folders. I'd show you a picture of those, but they are an over-flowing disaster. Guess what I'm doing today?

How do you organize your homework area?

Oh My, Cranberry Pie

We had a little chat the other day my facebook page (do you like me yet?) about whether a food processor or stand mixer gets more use. I rattled off some nonsense about how my kitchen is too small to drag out my appliances (I store them in the garage) and about how I'm too lazy to wash them anyway so I just use my knives for chopping and my hand mixer for mixing. However, since that conversation I have used my food processor about 4 times and my stand mixer zero times, so I guess my food processor wins (and I am a liar).

It's cranberry season folks, and while it's not entirely impossible to chop cranberries with a knife (have you ever tried to herd a pile of bouncy balls with a broom?), it is an exercise in frustration to be sure. Which is why my food processor comes out again and again during this time of year.

Anywho, this week on Pioneer Woman, Ree is baking pies in preparation for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Today she featured a Nantucket Cranberry Pie. Why on earth haven't I heard of this before? I love Nantucket. I love cranberries. I love pie. And let me tell you that after I baked this one up, I learned that Nantucket+cranberries=one fantastic pie...or cake....or cobbler or whatever. It is too easy and too good. Make it for Thanksgiving...or just make it for dessert tonight. And make the entire thing in...you guessed it...your food processor.








Nantucket Cranberry Pie

This recipe is so easy to make, and so easy to eat. The tart cranberry underbelly is spiked with walnuts then topped with a glorious almond-scented butter batter that turns golden and crunchy when baked in the oven. I've adapted it from Laurie Colwin's recipe that originally appeared in Gourmet Magazine in November of 1993.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
Yield: serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2 heaping cups of fresh or frozen whole cranberries
1 scant cup of walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
Zest from one orange
1 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon almond extract

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a deep dish pie plate or 8 inch cake pan and set aside.

2. Place cranberries in the bowl of your food processor fitted with the steel-blade attachment, and pulse until they are chopped. Pour into the pie plate.

3. Place walnuts into your food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped (but not a paste) and pour over the cranberries.

4. Sprinkle the cranberries and walnuts with the orange zest and 1/2 cup of sugar.

5. Rinse the bowl of your food processor and return it to the base. Add the rest of the sugar, the flour, eggs, butter and almond extract. Run the food processor just until the mixture is evenly mixed.

6. Pour the batter over the cranberry and walnut mixture, and sprinkle the top with additional sugar if desired. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Turkey Time!

Do not fear the turkey, my friends! It's not as hard as you think. In fact, roasting a turkey is one of the simplest holiday meals to prepare (except for the dishes...ugh). Sure, you've read all about brining versus dry brining, roasting versus frying, stuffing versus...well, not stuffing. But truth be told, you can make your turkey prep as complicated, or as simple as you like. I'm not going to lie to you--I do prefer a dry brined bird. But last Friday, just for kicks, I roasted a turkey the old fashioned way, dotted with butter and sprinkled with (dry) herbs. It was about as plain and simple as you can get. And you know what? It was delicious, and juicy, and wonderful...without all the fuss.

Here is how I did it. You should try it too!

First, toss some onions, carrots and celery in the bottom of your roasting pan and lay the rack on top of them.


Then, remove the ugly bag of gizzards from the neck cavity and the hacked-off neck from the body cavity. To keep my turkey's dignity intact, I refrained from photographing this part. It's not pretty. I personally, save the neck and use it to make the turkey stock, but I toss the bag of goodies away because I think gizzards are nasty, even my dog won't touch them. If you love gizzards, then by all means cook them with the neck in the stock and chop them up for the gravy. Anyway, I had some rice on hand so I stuffed it into the neck cavity to help the breast look fuller and prettier. You don't have to do this step but I learned it from Martha and I think it's a nice, easy touch.


Then pull that extra skin up over the rice (or just over the cavity) and "sew it closed with a skewer.


Flip the turkey onto it's back and turn the wings so that they are up and under the breast like this....




It may crack a bit, but don't worry, you are not hurting the turkey. It's already dead. Then pat it dry with a paper towel.



I like to squeeze a little fresh lemon or orange juice over the top of my bird.



Then I stuff it inside the cavity, along with some more onions and celery (and fresh thyme and sage if I have it...I didn't).



Then I dot the entire surfaced of the turkey with softened butter. For a big turkey, you may need about a stick. This is not health food...it's a holiday turkey. Turkey needs butter.



Then I sprinkled the entire bird, inside and out with dried sage...



And dried thyme...



And salt and pepper....to taste, of course.



This is what it looks like when all is said and done.




Finally I put some stock in the bottom of the pan...about 1 cup. I will add more stock periodically as it roasts to make sure that there is plenty of gravy and plenty of juice to baste the turkey with.


And that's all there is to it. I roasted this bird at 350 degrees for about 2 1/2 hours. Do you have this book? It tells you exactly how long to cook just about anything and it is a fantastic resource to have. Your turkey will be done when the breast reads 165 degrees and the thigh reads 175-180 degrees. I like to baste my turkey about every 30 minutes with the pan juices and I add a little more stock to the bottom of the pan as necessary to keep the veggies from burning and the juices flowing.

Fear not....this is the year you will master the turkey. And if not, well, there's always next year.

Happy cooking!

Duck, Duck, Fries!

It's not every night that we have French fries for dinner, especially those that have been fried...well, baked rather, in duck fat. But then it's not every day that a new Williams-Sonoma opens in your hometown that carries jars of said duck fat. And it's not every day that your ten-year-old begs...begs...for you to buy it, especially when he learns that french fries can be made out of it. So please excuse my dinner which consisted of french fries, sliced tomatoes (the last from my garden), and leftover lamb shanks. We created a poutine of sorts--fries smothered in gravy and dotted with cheese curds. And it was shamelessly good.

I feel like I should never eat again.....ever. Well, I'll at least wait until morning.








Duck Fries

Oh my! These are not for the faint of heart...or those with high cholesterol or heart disease. Oh heck, they're not good for anyone! But they sure do taste good, and they made for an outrageously rich and delicious, once-in-a-blue-moon dinner. Top with leftover stew with lots of gravy and cheese curds to bring it right up over the top. Look for jars of rendered duck fat at your specialty grocery store, Williams-Sonoma, or online...or make it yourself by straining the duck fat left after you've roasted a duck.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Yield: serves 4

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
1/4-1/2 cup rendered duck fat
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Scrub the potatoes and peel if desired. Lay the potatoes flat on a cutting board. Cut in 1/4 inch slices through the midline (as you would split a bagel), then cut from the top down creating long strips.

3. Place cut potato slices in a bowl of cool water to keep from coloring as you cut the rest of the potatoes.

4. Drain potatoes and pat dry with a paper towel. Return to bowl. Drizzle duck fat over the top of the potatoes, using your hands or tongs to toss so they are coated evenly.

5. Pour fries onto two baking sheets, making sure they are in a single layer. Bake, turning once halfway through for about 30 minutes, or until fries are golden brown and crisp. Season with salt and pepper to taste.