Thanksgiving 11/22/18

Happy Thanksgiving! We have finally finished cleaning up and have had our first day of leftovers. Our daughter is taking the remnants of our meal to a Friendsgiving today so all we will have left is some turkey that I plan on making into a turkey and wild rice  casserole in the next few days.

John went piecemeal with the turkey this year buying a whole bone-in turkey breast and four thighs. He de-boned the thighs and stuffed them with cornbread stuffing. The thighs were then rolled, tied, and roasted. It came out great!

Roasted turkey breast and stuffed thighs

Next here are my Brussels sprouts cooking down in a little sugar, salt, butter, water, and dry sherry. Once the liquid is gone they will brown. The 120 B. Sprout halves took two big pans to lay out flat. This was cooked at the last minute.

Brussels sprouts cooking

Our daughter made oven-roasted creamed onions and our son made a Mexican style corn dish. No frozen onions here! She peeled all 60 onions herself. Frozen onions lack texture.

Roasted creamed onions and corn

Here are some mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. Our grandkids made the cranberry sauce and crescent rolls. Those are the only two things they eat at Thanksgiving. John also made a great turkey gravy to have with the meat, potatoes, and stuffing.

Cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes

In addition we also had hors d’ouevres, a broccoli dish, stimparata (Italian marinated olives), additional stuffing, gravy, red and white wine, three kinds of pie, and ice cream. We serve our dinner buffet style so the food stays hot and there is no passing around.

Daughter at the buffet table

And with this rendition of Thanksgiving I am passing my apron strings on to the next generation and will be a guest next year instead of the host. We shall see what happens!

 

 

Posted in American, Desserts, Kitchen tips, Poultry, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Chickpea stew with turkey sausage. 11/20/18

I finish up the chickpea stew that I made this morning with ditalini, a package of dark greens (no Romaine), and a little turkey sausage to make it hardier. It is actually fine without the meat but I am trying to use up extraneous bits in my refrigerator. It is pretty crowded at the moment what with all the Thanksgiving preparations. After ladling the stew into bowls, we finish the dish with parmesan cheese and some really good olive oil. I am so glad I made this in the morning because by the time it is dinner time I do not feel like making anything!

Chickpea stew with turkey sausage

Posted in Legumes, Pasta, Poultry, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two days before Thanksgiving. 11/20/18

 It is now T-2 and we are busy. I have made a list of everything that needs to be done. John is outside cleaning the gutters. That job is not on my list but since it is supposed to be raining tomorrow, he says it needs to be done.

I have started setting the table. As usual I have to wash all the frickin’ glasses since they have water spots.  I got these stemless glasses so I could fit them in the dishwasher but they come out spotted. Spots are okay for John and me but when we are having company, I need crystal clear glasses. Even my daughter put them on the to-do list. As I am writing this I am having a little sit-down having just finished washing and drying 16 glasses.

Thanksgiving table

Uh-oh, trouble! Daughter has finished the peeling of the onions and put them in a small roasting pan. They definitely do not look like enough onions for our party of ten.

Onions ready for roasting

Both she and John go to separate grocery stores to try to find more onions and more stuffing mix. On his way to Raleys I text John to pick up another 20 Brussels sprouts since I think the Brussels sprouts are looking meager too.

Brussels sprouts

I cannot cook the Brussels sprouts until the last minute before we eat. They were such a big hit last year that sadly there were none leftover. I have 60 sprouts now and they will be cut in half so it should be enough.

This morning I made up a pot of chickpea stew that I figure we can eat today and tomorrow. This hopefully puts an end to the reign of pretzels, cheese, and peanut butter we have been eating lately. I will finish this stew with some ditalini and dark greens.

Chickpea stew

Still left for today is getting the Brussels sprouts prepped and putting the stuffing together so John can stuff the thighs tomorrow. Then we need to vacuum, dust, wash the kitchen floor, and clean the bathroom. Thanksgiving is not all about cooking!

Posted in American | Leave a comment

Finally cooked something. 11/17/18

Let’s see, Tuesday pretzels, Wednesday egg, Thursday pizza, Friday leftover pizza, and Saturday, I finally make something. I am still needing comfort food and with John spurring me on, we make beef stew in the Instant Pot. John browns the meat and I cut up potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, and fresh tomatoes. We set the Instant Pot for 18 minutes and then thicken up the gravy with a little corn starch slurry. It is great!

Beef stew made in the Instant Pot

This morning our air is rated “unhealthy.” That is an improvement over “very unhealthy” and “apocalypse” and on Wednesday the air should improve due to RAIN!!!!! It hasn’t rained since May so this is an exciting event.

Happy Thanksgiving Week!! We are having the big do at our house. After this year I have told the younger family generation that it is up to them. They have to learn at some point.

Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Instant Pot, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

In a funk. 11/14/18

What is the matter with me?! Usually I am looking forward to making dinner but this week I am just not feeling it. I have been shut inside all week because the smoke in the air is terrible. And since I have asthma I cannot risk going outside. Plus my knee is hurting a lot and it is hard to walk. I am going to have to make a decision about getting it replaced which terrifies me. So I am stuck in my pity party and doing nothing.

On Tuesday I ate pretzel sticks and cheese and on Wednesday I had an egg on an English muffin. Hopefully today I can rouse myself enough to make something.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

So soothing, classic chicken Monday. 11/12/18

We are back from our jaunt in the desert to the smoky skies of Northern California. Because I have asthma I will have to stay indoors until the winds shift later this week. John and I make up a menu for the week and then he goes out to the store to pick up the groceries for the week.

It being Monday and especially a Monday after a rather vigorous dining week, the natural choice is for Classic Chicken. John and I share a chicken breast that he sous vides and I make some rutabagas in the Instant Pot and some broccoli on the stove top. It feels like we are in control of our dining destinies again!

Chicken breast, rutabagas, broccoli

Posted in American, Instant Pot, Poultry, sous vide, Vegetables | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Weekly menu 11/12-17, 2018

Since I have just been through a pretty intensive eating week, I am going with some tried and true selections for this week. My menu is being driven by what we have in the freezer since I need space for Thanksgiving. Also I am looking to see if I can use newly purchased ingredients in more than one way to use them up. For instance since I need some cilantro on Tuesday for the shrimp biryani, I am planning shrimp tacos on Friday to use up the rest of the cilantro. On Friday I need cabbage so I plan on coleslaw on Saturday to use it up.

Posted in Weekly menu | Leave a comment

Fried scallops, Brussels sprouts, and tots. 11/8/18

Can you tell our son has been visiting all week?! John and he conjured up an all fry meal! Since I cannot deny my son what he wants, I only put my foot down about the tater tots and said that they would have to be made in the oven. The fried Brussels sprouts is an experiment by John to see if we can just fry them up at the last second on Thanksgiving. They came out pretty well but not as good as my usual pan roasted ones.

Fried Brussels sprouts
Fried scallops and tots

We are going to be eating out the next few days on our trip home. No new cooking until Monday!

Posted in American, Shellfish, Vegetables | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Day off for mom. 11/7/18

Usually at our house I am the chief chopper-upper and vegetable maker. Tonight I lounge on the couch while my son and husband take over the dinner duties. John sous vides the steaks and then finishes them on the grill. Our son makes roasted potatoes and broccoflower in the oven and prepares a mustard sauce to go them. So nice to be queen for the day!

Sous vide and grilled ribeye steak with roasted potatoes and broccoflower with a mustard cream sauce

Posted in American, Beef, Grilling, sous vide, Vegetables | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Shrimp in a white wine and Pernod cream sauce. 11/5/18

Here is a quick and tasty dinner. There is quite a bit of delicate chopping but luckily my son is on hand to do most of it. This is a restaurant quality dish. The recipe follows the picture.

Shrimp in a white white and Pernod cream sauce with basmati rice

The Mixture

1 cup finely chopped tomatoes (if using canned add 1 tsp sugar)

¼ cup finely chopped celery

¼ cup finely chopped onion

¼ cup finely chopped fennel

¼ cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1 cup white wine

1 clove minced garlic

Pinch of thyme

Pinch of oregano

2 bay leaves

Healthy pinch of saffron

Salt and cayenne to taste.

The Rest

1 cup heavy (double) cream

2 tablespoons Pernod

24 shrimp (31-40 count)

Fennel fronds or cilantro for garnish

The Method

Cook “the mixture” until nearly dry. Add 2 T Pernod and cook briefly to get rid of the alcohol. Add the cream. Add shrimp and continue to cook for 2 minutes (until done.)

Serve with rice and garnish with fennel fronds or cilantro.

 

Posted in French, Recipes, rice, Shellfish, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments