I've cooked whole turkeys when developing recipes for clients, but a Thanksgiving feast? I’m most thankful that I can spend the holiday at my parents house and let them take care of cooking the bird.
Some years I return home with leftover turkey, other years I buy a turkey at the store and ask the butcher to cut it into either halves or quarters so I am not overwhelmed with too much turkey for my household of two.
Here are some more great ways to enjoy turkey without buying a whole bird:
Dark meat
Legs and thighs are great for lovers of dark meat. They can be roasted or braised.
Light meat
Turkey breast is a good option for roasting, if you like light meat only. If you are only cooking the breast, it will be much easier to cook since the breast meat tends to cook faster and become dry more quickly than other cuts.
Dark & Light meat
This year I got a chance to try the
Diestel light and dark roast. They are fully cooked, from boneless breasts, legs, and thighs with skin and are hand-netted. Size wise they are around 2 1/2 to 3 pounds (more than enough for 4 people) and cost $34.99. Each slice has both dark and light meat. The instructions recommend coating the roast with paprika but I used an herb and spice mix. These roasts are available at
Whole Foods market.
Disclaimer: My thanks to Whole Foods for providing a Diestel roast for me to try.
The last few years I've created a cocktail for Thanksgiving. It's a fun way to start the long Thanksgiving day feast. It perks the appetite and gives everyone something to talk about. I recently attended a POM Wonderful lunch and was inspired by all the wonderful cocktails. So instead of using the more common cranberry juice, I thought it would be interesting to try using pomegranate juice.
This cocktail uses truly some of my most favorite things--limoncello,
Plymouth gin and
La Marca prosecco. I discovered La Marca prosecco when I was looking for the perfect prosecco to make the
Ruby Sparkler last year. It's from the Veneto, tart and fresh with plenty of bubbles. It's about $10 at Costco and makes a terrific mixer. Plymouth gin is my go to gin, I find it the easiest for mixing because the botanicals are so well balanced. Use whichever limoncello you like.
I am not a bartender and I find it tricky to come up with cocktails. Working out the proportions took some time but I'm very happy with the final result and hope you like it too! I haven't decided on a garnish yet, what do you think? Lemon peel? Pomegranate arils? Let me know in the comments.
Pomsgiving
3/4 ounce Plymouth gin
1/4 ounce limoncello
1 ounce POM Wonderful juice or freshly squeezed pomegranate jucie
Prosecco (La Marca recommended)
Combine the gin, limoncello and pomegranate juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a glass, top with prosecco.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: My thanks to both POM Wonderful and Plymouth gin for providing me with product to use in my cocktail experiments.
As a kid, I had a somewhat sophisticated taste when it came to sweets. I liked Haagen Dazs bars (my mom's fault), preferred dark chocolate to milk and even enjoyed Mounds candy bars. I mean, what kid likes Mounds?? The kid who loved Billy Joel and not New Kids On The Block, that's who (weirdo). And one of my favorite ice cream flavors was
Ben and Jerry's Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch. I didn't like coffee, but to me it tasted buttery and caramely, and I loved it.
The other day I bought a bag of broken up
Heath Bar bits, and decided to recreate the flavors in that ice cream in cookie form. These have that buttery toffee crunch, creamy milk chocolate chips reminiscent of the candy bar, and instant espresso + brewed coffee for that rich, morning flavor. These cookies are good! They remind me exactly of the ice cream. Very sophisticated, only suitable for Billy Joel lovers. Because we're sophisticated? I don't know.
Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch Cookies
(Makes 12 large cookies)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp (1 stick)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, plus 1 yolk
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp brewed coffee, cooled
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 heaping tsp instant espresso
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup toffee bits
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl fitted with a standing mixer, cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, a few minutes. Add egg and egg yolk, and mix. Add vanilla and brewed coffee and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Slowly add to wet, and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee. Using an ice cream scooper or a large spoon, place rounded balls on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.
For the last four months I’ve been using
Stoneline cookware in place of my regular pots and pans. I’m always interested to try out non-stick cookware because I hate scrubbing pots and pans. I put the cookware through the paces. I don’t just follow the instructions, I do some of the things you're not supposed to and see how it performs.
The problem with most non-stick pans is that the surface eventually peels, flakes, chips or stops being non-stick, also some of it like Teflon is made with harmful chemicals such as perfluorooctanoic acids aka PFOAs.
In four months of using the Stoneline cookware (which is PFOA free) there has been no degradation of the cooking surface. The surface of the pans is smooth but looks like stone, there is nothing to peel or flake. Unlike ceramic non-stick it’s very durable and even when stacked up the pans don’t scratch or chip. They also don’t stain.
- Stoneline describes the cookware surface as a “reinforced stone coating” made of microscopic particles of stone that are transformed into an ultra-hard non-stick coating that won’t scratch, is extremely durable and resistant to abrasion.
- Stoneline cookware works with all stove tops—gas, electric, induction and ceramic. It can be heated up to 350 degrees on the stove or oven.
- The pans are initially seasoned with a few drops of oil, something that can be repeated, but I have not found it necessary to re-season them.
- The cookware has a 12 year warranty and a money back guarantee within the first 30 days if you decide you don't like it.
The first thing I noticed about the cookware is how much hotter it seemed to get than other types of non-stick. I tried cooking eggs because they tend to stick. I learned quickly that I had to use much lower heat than I was used to, but even overcooking the eggs, they easily slipped out of the pan. The instructions say you don’t need to wash the pans, just wipe them with paper towels. That works fine for most things, but some liquids and sauces need to be rinsed off when reduced. That said, there is no need to use detergent or to scrub! But just to see how it would fare, I scrubbed and found the pans still did not scratch. I gave a few of the pieces of the set away and the feedback I got was consistent—that it heats well and evenly and browns food without sticking.
I will keep using these pans, so far I'm very impressed with their performance.
Disclaimer: My thanks to Stoneline for providing the cookware to review. I received a 13 piece set a wok and a roaster. I was not paid for this or any other post.
I love sweet and savory combinations, but I usually only think of them in terms of desserts. Well, a reader sent me this main dish that combines layers of salty meat and veggies with layers of sweet, fried plantains, and I was very excited to try it. Apparently it's very popular in Puerto Rico, and often referred to as their "lasagna." So last weekend, with my mom in town, we decided to make a traditional lasagna as well as Pinon.
The reader, as she will be known, sent me
this recipe, as well as some very helpful tips that I completely ignored because I was running short on time. BAD IDEA, SIRI. We (my mom, I love you mom) cut the plantains too thick, resulting in not enough for the multiple layers. The reader even suggested flattening them in between foil with something heavy, like a can of soup, which would have thinned them out nicely and assisted with the layers, but... we ran out of time! Our plantains were also pretty green and unripe, hence, not sweet enough? Does that make sense? I know nothing about plantains. (By the way, do you say plan-TAIN or plan-TIN? Major topic of debate in our household.) In general, I think I failed
the reader with this otherwise marvelous recipe. I will make it again with more time and better listening ears. Can you tell I have small children?
There are a surprising number of cookbooks covering a single fruit or vegetable and mostly I'm a bit skeptical about how useful they are. Not in this case. This book covers both Summer and Winter squash and has breakfast and brunch dishes, dips & soups, main courses, salads & sides, breads & desserts! I love how creative the recipes are. Speedy Pumpkin Waffles, Osso Buco with Butternut & Cannellini Mash, Savory Zucchini Popovers, Kabocha Deviled Eggs and Butternut Brownies are just a few of the intriguing recipes. There are 26 zucchini recipes alone. Let’s just say you will never complain about having too much zucchini ever again! If you know someone who grows squash this is a great book.
I am crazy about tamales. If they are on the menu at a Mexican restaurant I will almost always order them. Of course there is a world of difference between good ones and lousy ones. Good ones have almost creamy, rich and flavorful masa and delectable fillings. Lousy ones are dry and crumbly, hard and bland. While I already have one book on tamales, I was happy to see this one too. Quite a number of things set this book apart. There are diagrams to show how different wrapping styles, recipes for “nose-to-tail” tamales made from lamb head, beef cheeks, tongue, tripe and more. There are also recipes for salsas and sauces to serve with your tamales, and quite a few vegetarian fillings like artichokes, creamy mushrooms, even broccoli and cheese tamales and bunch of sweet dessert tamales as well. If you want to make tamales at home, this is your book.
When I was in Honolulu the last time around I arrived on a Sunday and my first stop from the airport to Koko Head Cafe, Lee Anne Wong’s brunch spot in Kaimuki. I had the amazing cornflake french toast but I had to come back for the dumplings because they were already sold out. On my next visit I got the perfectly fried fish dumplings. Wong clearly loves Asian style dumplings and makes both traditional ones as well as her own modern versions. There are steamed, boiled, deep fried and pan fried dumplings to satisfy your dumpling cravings. There are tutorials on how to make doughs and wrappers, how to fold and cook dumplings and more. The pantry section on Asian ingredients is reason enough to buy the book. Recipes I’ve bookmarked include Spicy Chicken Yuzu Gyoza, Sardine Ginger Wonton Soup and Pork and Chive Dumplings. One caveat, although the book cover is somewhat reminiscent of the Dummies books, this book can veer into being a bit "chaffy" from time to time with long ingredient lists and multiple preparations per recipes, that said the instructions are clear and the recipes so creative I still recommend it.
Disclaimer: These books were provided as review copies and this post includes affiliate links
...is Thanksgiving. And then it's Christmas and then it's spring and then our kids are grown and we're old and we die. Kidding! Here are some of my favorite dishes. What are yours? I'm in charge of vegetable sides, and I welcome your warm ideas...
Red cabbage frequently ends up in my CSA box this time of year Of course it features prominently in slaws and soups, and makes a good bed for nestling roasts or sausages, but what else? Lately I'm trying sautés. Red cabbage has a really earthy flavor that can go sweet or sour and cooks up easily in a sauté pan, if shredded.
Red cabbage is healthy, a member of the brassica family, it's cholesterol lowering and perhaps surprisingly the health benefits are greater in cooked cabbage than in raw. If you've ever wondered what makes red cabbage red, it's anthocyanins, a type of polyphenol which is a pigment and is also responsible for the red in cranberries. The amount of Vitamin C is 6 times greater in red cabbage than green cabbage. It's extremely high in Vitamin K too.
This recipe came about because I had about a half of a head of cabbage, a bit of fennel and some cranberries I wanted to use. The bright and bitter flavors of the dish with just an edge of sweetness complement something rich like pork, sausages, goose or duck. I like the cabbage to still have a bit of crunch, but if you want it softer, just cook it longer with the lid on.
Note: The amount of sugar you need in this recipe depends on the sweetness of the vegetables and how sweet the wine is. You might start with a tablespoon and add more only if you need it. If you'd rather not add sugar at all, I'd recommend using dried cranberries which are already sweetened.
Red Cabbage, Fennel & Cranberries
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon vegetable or rice bran oil
1 cup sliced onion (half moons)
1 cup sliced fennel bulb
4 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
1 cup cranberries
Pinch salt
2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup red wine
Instructions
Heat a large skillet and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion and fennel and sauté for 5 minutes or until translucent but not brown. Add the cabbage and sauté for another 3 minutes or until glossy and beginning to reduce in volume. Add the cranberries, salt, brown sugar, broth and wine. Cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the liquid evaporates. Taste for seasoning and serve.
Enjoy!
.png)
