turkey turkey turkey
Everyone is currently all a-fluster about thanksgiving. Granted, it is one of the last politically correct holidays in this season. Happy Thanksgiving is much less critical than Merry Christmas. Heaven forbid that one makes a Christmas Ham or Turkey, but everyone can stuff themselves to their delight when eating a Thanksgiving bird. And then watch Lion's football (or rather, watch the Lions lose at football.) Any way, I don't have recipes today, just a run down of the Thanksgiving menu over at the Jamesview house.
-Soup. not sure what kind yet.
-Turkey, lots of turkey. A 18-20 lb bird plus parts
-Two kinds of stuffing. Brian's no-celery stuffing and my apple stuffing. Brian's will be in the bird.
-Fightin' carrots
-mashed bourbon sweet potatoes.... so tasty.
-Heart-attack mashed potatoes. Altered slightly from the original recipe
-Peas.
-something else that I am forgetting
-rolls
Desserts
-Pumpkin pie
-Apple cherry pie
other proposed desserts
-ginger-vanilla bean creme brules
-chocolate pots de creme with white chocolate whipped cream
-toffee cheesecake with caramel sauce
-white chocolate and Turkish coffee parfaits
Next up: Too much turkey? Turkey leftovers, hold the bread.
Edit:
Soup - corn chowder
Apple Cherry pie turned into cobbler
cancelled white chocolate and Turkish coffee parfaits.
mmm, salad
Brian and I have been making a salad that we derived from a recipe card from Nordstroms. It is really good and you should try it.
Buy these:
Mixed greens (whatever you like)
CraisinsNuts (walnuts, pecans, pinenuts, or other tree nut)
blue cheese
Bartlett pears
Girard's Champagne Dressing
Throw your washed greens in a bowl. It doesn't matter exactly what type of greens that you have. Make sure you like them and are tasty to you. Sprinkle the Craisins over the top of the greens to cover the top. Do the same with the Blue cheese. The blue cheese that you choose will depend on your tastes as well. Get an expensive one if you like blue cheese. If you don't, just grab a crumbled blue cheese from your cooler near the butter at the store. Take the nuts and toast them. To toast, spread them over your tray and slide in a 400 degree oven until the nuts start to turn. Do not leave the nuts. They will turn on you real fast. Be sure to let them cool off and throw 'em in the bowl. The pears should be julieanne and put in lime or lemon juice so they don't turn brown. Throw those in the bowl. You don't have to to necessarily toss the salad because if you do, the nuts will just end up on the bottom of the bowl. Let each salad eater but their own dressing on; it will keep the leaves from getting soggy.
Brian says, after leaning over and reading my write up, that the mix of greens matter. He says that Arugula and Romaine are necessary in the mix. I maintain that mixed greens do not include iceberg lettuce because it isn't green. Therefore, use a mixed green.
quick and tasty
So, I am sitting in the living room planning out my menu for next week and I wanted to hit on a quick and tasty item available to you in the supermarket
White Chicken Chili.
In the aisle with all the packets of different seasoning ideas and dinner from a pouch, you will find a small flavoring pack for White Chicken Chili. The ingredients on the back call for the pouch of flavorings, a pound of chicken, can of white beans and some water and oil. Buy this. Buy the chicken and the white beans. I hope you have oil and water at home.
When you get home, put some rice on to cook. Follow the directions on the back of the pack. I have taken to deviating on the directions to sprinkle some of the favor pouch on the chicken after it starts going. I also like to add the can of corn that it suggests at the bottom of the pouch. (I like white shoe peg corn, but anything will do) Get it to boiling and cover and simmer. In about 10 minutes later, your meal is finished.
Layer accordingly in your bowl or receptacle of choice. Rice, chili, and I like to add cheese and sour cream. I bring the green Tabasco with me to eat. mmmm, weekday meal. Tasty.
Favorite dish right now...
Pan fried mini gnocchi with sauce.
I got this
idea from a website that I visit often called
101 Cookbooks. Instead of boiling the gnocchi, you pan fry it in a tablespoon of butter. I am careful to use a non-stick pan and to let the bottoms brown first and then toss the gnocchi in the pan until desired brownness. I have tried this with two different meats. The mini gnocchi has been wonderful and browns quickly.
Chicken (one pan):
Cut the chicken into medallions and brown in the non-stick pan with a little olive oil and butter. After the chicken is mostly cooked, throw in the gnocchi, moving the chicken to the edges of the pan. After the gnocchi is browned, toss everything around and add a tomato sauce. tasty...
I throw different seasoning in with the chicken before the gnocchi, but it is really what you want to taste. I did pepper, salt, basil and toasted onion powder. In the tomato sauce, I added a teaspoon of sugar to flavor.
Red meat (two pans)
I have done this dish with veal and a meatball mix from the
local butcher. Essentially, you brown the meat in one pan with some seasonings and when it is almost done, start the gnocchi in the other pan. mix the two and add tomato sauce. The ratio for the gnocchi and the meat is about 1:1
