Saturday, November 30, 2013

Turkey Tortas

Mmm leftover turkey.  Bon Appetit, November 2013, pg 32.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Turkey-Torta-51198840
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/turkey-torta

These were delicious.  Pickled the onions in lime like we do.  We put adobo sauce in the sour cream as well.  That was a very good idea.  Should have put more in even.  No lettuce.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving

'Twas a feast at our house this year.  Here is what we made, in no particular order.  In case those short urls stop working, here is the link to the full thing:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/11/12/dining/essential-thanksgiving.html?_r=0

Pumpkin cheesecake
You know it.  Start with desert first!  Next time, don't need as much topping (only used half of it).

Bitty's make ahead gravy
http://nyti.ms/1dqzKEn  Turned out pretty well.  Seemed like it was going to be lackluster until we added the turkey drippings.

Dry-brined Turkey
A mix of the NY Times (http://nyti.ms/1dqtU5U) and Bon Appetit (Nov 2013, pg 23) (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Citrus-and-Peppercorn-Dry-Brine-51198820).  Started with a 16 lb swanky turkey from whole foods.
  • We made the rub like in the bon appetit, but put it on the night before, and then put it in a turkey bag in the fridge.
  • The next morning we rinsed the brine off, dried it off and put it back in the fridge, uncovered for a couple hours.
  • We took it out about an hour before cooking to let it warm up.
Now we sort of followed the times recipe.
  • Heat oven to 450.
  • Add cider (delicious!), wine, onion, garlic and bay leaves to pan.
  • Put lemon and onion in turkey cavity.
  • Roast 30 minutes, then lower heat to 325, cover with foil, and roast for ~3 hours
This turned out quite well.  Was juicy and flavorful meat.

Cornbread stuffing
Ok, so Rach's mom actually made this one.  But it was good enough to go here in the "what we made" section.  Again, Bon appetit, november 2013, pg 135. (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/CORNBREAD-DRESSING-WITH-SAUSAGE-AND-FENNEL-52544291 This isn't the official one, but it seems like the same recipe).  I think she used half cornbread and half regular bread.  Yummy.

Brussels sprouts with pepitas
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/maple-roasted-brussels-sprouts-pumpkin-seeds

These were pretty tasty.

Spinach Salad with Bosc Pears, Cranberries, Red Onion, and Toasted Hazelnuts
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/spinach-salad-with-bosc-pears-cranberries-red-onion-and-toasted-hazelnuts-355430

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Tandoori Salmon with Kale


Glorious one pot, pg 56.  Made it with white rice this time. Doubled the recipe across the board.

Baked it for right around 45 minutes.  The salmon was frozen so we had to take it out and bake it separately at the end. Next time defrost it. 

Friday, November 22, 2013

Quesadillas with fancy guacamole and drunken pintos

The name pretty much says it all. Quesadillas with corn tortillas and the guacamole with cotija, pepitas and chipotle.  Yum.

Served with drunken pinto beans.  Mmm bacon.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Applesauce

The link for the recipe will be in here, but essentially we cored a bunch of apples, then used the slicer to slice them quickly. Then we through them in the big pot with a cinnamon stick and simmered for a half hour or so.  Immersion blend.  The texture would have been slightly better without the skins, but it was way easier to not peel then, and it was very tasty anyway.

We froze a couple containers of it.

http://amysfinerthings.com/easy-no-peel-applesauce

Spaghetti with butter-roasted tomato sauce

Bon Appetit, November 2013, pg 52.  Also epicurious:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Bucatini-with-Butter-Roasted-Tomato-Sauce-51198650

The recipe calls for 12 oz bucatini, but we used 16 oz spaghetti. So we adjusted the recipe to make more.  This turned out quite tasty. Garlic o rama though!  We got some sausages that we cooked in the side to serve with the pasta.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Turkey Chipotle Chili

See the post from 12/31/2012 for the link and the description. I think we made it pretty similarly to last time.  This is a tasty chili.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Spiced Black Lentils

Bon Appetit, November 2013, pg 50. Also Epicurious:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spiced-Black-Lentils-with-Yogurt-and-Mint-51198640

Made it exactly like they said. Was good, but was only one dinner.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Thai Beef with Basil

Bon Appetit, November 2013, pg 54.  Also:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Thai-Beef-with-Basil-51198660

This turned out pretty well.  Except that we didn't really get the crispy bits of beef.  Added cucumber to the slaw, and no oil.  Put a jalapeno and anaheim pepper in with the beef and none in the slaw, but in retrospect we could have put some in the slaw.  This could have barely been enough for a two-dinner event.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Pork Tacos

The usual crock pot pork tacos.  Used hatch chilies this time instead of poblanos.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Tom Haver's Chicken Chile Posole

This is what's for dinner tonight. We know it will be good because it always is. And it makes a "chit-load" (approx 3 gallons). Finally, the recipe for our blog. We followed it but this time used stock instead of PBR and didn't use the bullion, and used 6ish lb of chicken instead of 9. And we used a different green chile brand. But the recipe below is the official one.

1 6 lb. 6 oz can of Cochise Farms diced green chiles
1 6 lb. 6 oz can of hominy
9 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thigh and/or breast meat
5 12 oz. cans of cheap beer (PBR or equal)
4 large yellow onions
16 cloves fresh garlic
6 cups water
4 tbsp vegetable oil
3 Tbsp Knorr Chicken (or tomato-chicken) bullion crystals
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp thyme
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp chopped or dried parsley
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Two pouches of Creamy Mash (or 8-10oz of instant mashed potato flakes)

Open one can of beer and begin drinking. This important ritual adds Feng Shui to the chile.

Dice onion and mince garlic. Saute in 2 Tbsp of oil, until nicely caramelized/light brown.
Dump in a biiiiiiiig pot, along with the remaining 4 cans of beer, water, chicken bullion, herbs and spices, and the giant can of green chiles.
Heath the pot on medium as you continue the process below, stirring frequently.

Dice the chicken, and saute in small batches until lightly browned. Dump each batch in the pot, stir to mix in, then start the next.

Bring the pot to a boil with frequent stirring, then simmer half an hour, stirring occasionally. Go out and get more beer.

Drain the hominy, and rinse several times. Dump the drained homily into the pot and stir well. Return to a boil, then continue simmering for another half hour or longer.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and/or red pepper if you want to kick up the "zing."

At this point the stew will be watery. To get a good "mouth feel", stir in a bit of instant mashed potatoes, let simmer a minute, then add more and stir again, until you reach "just right" thickness of the broth.

Open more beer and EAT!

Friday, November 1, 2013

Fasty Tacos

You know, the usual.  Yum.