Shrimp Taco Dorado

Amor Y Tacos, pg 90.  Made it pretty much as they said.  Was pretty delicious.  The shrimp wasn't the greatest quality unfortunately though.  Extra tasty guac.

Turkey Barley Soup

Based loosely on:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/homemade-turkey-soup/4fdb9be4-b375-4d3e-960a-f83c46a160ce

We had a 16 lb turkey carcass and we made stock the day before (yielded 6 quarts).

Used 1 cup barley, simmered covered for a half hour.  Added 6 sliced carrots and 5 or so sliced celery stalks, along with whatever shredded turkey.  Simmered for another half hour or so until veggies were tender.  Turned out pretty well.

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.

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

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. 

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.

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