Greeting Mom & Jaime (nobody else reads this, let's be honest),
Tonight I begin my official Thanksgiving prep. Including:
1. Cubing french bread for the sausage, apple & leek stuffing I am making.
2. Chopping leeks, celery, carrots & onions, which combined make a glorious smelling bowl of veggies. Also, they will be used in the stuffing and some will be cooked with the turkey. The word you're looking for is "Savory" or maybe "Delicious" or now maybe "Shut up Melissa".
3. Crushing graham crackers for therapy and cheesecake crust, because I'm making this: Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake. Except I'm leaving the pecans out of the mix, just in case there are any anti-nuts in the crowd. I made the same dessert last year and it was awesome.
I have 13 people confirmed for my place on Thursday, a couple of maybes and at least one person who will just show up because they saw it on Facebook. Game on folks. Game. On.
Peace & Poultry,
Mel
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
I've been so excited about Thanksgiving and all the massive amounts of food I will cook and consume, I forgot about the other parts of hosting Thanksgiving.
The Good: Food, food, friends, food.
The Bad: Grocery stores. Bitches be crazy.
The Ugly: My apartment. So much cleaning, so few closets in which to hide all my crap.
I still hate bird carcasses and will not be touching an uncooked one. I got a guy for that. However, this is the bird we'll be enjoying, Lemon Herb Turkey.
Thanksgiving grocery shopping is complete. Bread will be cubed tomorrow night. Cheesecake prepared on Wednesday night. Goodness created on Thursday. Woo to the Hoo.
Thanksgiving is so close, I can smell the stuffing.
The Good: Food, food, friends, food.
The Bad: Grocery stores. Bitches be crazy.
The Ugly: My apartment. So much cleaning, so few closets in which to hide all my crap.
I still hate bird carcasses and will not be touching an uncooked one. I got a guy for that. However, this is the bird we'll be enjoying, Lemon Herb Turkey.
Thanksgiving grocery shopping is complete. Bread will be cubed tomorrow night. Cheesecake prepared on Wednesday night. Goodness created on Thursday. Woo to the Hoo.
Thanksgiving is so close, I can smell the stuffing.
Friday, November 18, 2011
How to Carve a Turkey
Watch what this guy does and try to do the same...you'll feel like a champion of poultry.
Less than one week from ultimate face stuffing!
Peace, love & birds,
Melissa
Less than one week from ultimate face stuffing!
Peace, love & birds,
Melissa
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
So It Begins.....
The one week of planning, shopping, chopping, crying, drinking and cooking that will eventually become Thanksgiving is upon us.
My menu is complete. Groceries will be purchased in two phases: Phase I: Non-perishable; Phase II: Perishable. (Note to self: work on more creative titles for "phases")
Chopping and prepping will begin on Tuesday night.
I haven't time for food wit today, so I'll simply unveil my menu (knowing full well that nobody except perhaps my mom will care).
Thanksgiving 2011:
Lemon Herb Turkey (exact seasoning pending)
Sausage, Apple & Leek Stuffing (plus a small vegetarian friendly batch)
Scalloped Potatoes
Spinach Salad w/Pomegranate & Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Bread Which I Will Make My Friends Purchase
Pumpkin Bourbon Cheesecake
What are your Thanksgiving Day menus? Tell me and perhaps I will copy you. Please, also share your tips & ideas for prepping, cooking, and celebrating.
Until next time....
Mel
My menu is complete. Groceries will be purchased in two phases: Phase I: Non-perishable; Phase II: Perishable. (Note to self: work on more creative titles for "phases")
Chopping and prepping will begin on Tuesday night.
I haven't time for food wit today, so I'll simply unveil my menu (knowing full well that nobody except perhaps my mom will care).
Thanksgiving 2011:
Lemon Herb Turkey (exact seasoning pending)
Sausage, Apple & Leek Stuffing (plus a small vegetarian friendly batch)
Scalloped Potatoes
Spinach Salad w/Pomegranate & Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Bread Which I Will Make My Friends Purchase
Pumpkin Bourbon Cheesecake
What are your Thanksgiving Day menus? Tell me and perhaps I will copy you. Please, also share your tips & ideas for prepping, cooking, and celebrating.
Until next time....
Mel
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
It's Almost Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving! A holiday devoted to gathering people you love, feeding them until they fall asleep and leaving them with small pox...no...wait....that was just the Pilgrims. Scratch that last one.
Seriously though, I love Thanksgiving. A day of loved ones, laughter and food without guilt (did you hear me? NO DIETS!). For one Thursday, once a year, we are free to be gluttonous slobs and we give thanks for it. Amen!
I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner for some LA friends this year and I'm making scalloped potatoes as a side dish. The wonderful Saveur Magazine website has once again proven to be the golden cooking god at which I bow my mortal head. Too much? Sorry, I'm an actor, I'm dramatic sometimes. Anyway...this video has helped me with the recipe and the most efficient way to prepare said recipe. Maybe it will help you too.
Look forward to posts about bird carcasses, how gross I find bird carcasses, fall veggies and crying over the next week while I prepare for the annual day of turkeys.
Happy holiday prepping!
Mel
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Black Bean Bonanza
Hey y'all,
Busy times equals less time to cook and if I'm not cooking, I guarantee you I have nothing to offer you of any value. But this week, I made soup...lots of soup...black bean soup. It was an experiment and there were some scary moments, but in the end 5 out of 5 soup eaters agreed it was yummy....or at least edible.
I'll give you the recipe and you can tell me if you love it, if it sucks or if you're neutral. Though, frankly, I'd be shocked by a neutral soup eater.
Anywoooooo.....
Black Bean Soup
6 cans Reduced Sodium Black Beans
48 oz Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth
1 head Garlic (diced)
1 White Onion (diced)
2 Roma Tomatoes (diced)
2 Jalapenos (de-seeded and diced)
Juice of one lime
2 TSP Cilantro (finely chopped)
2 TSP Cumin
1 TSP Paprika
1/4 TSP Cinnamon
Sea Salt & Black Pepper (to taste)
Additional Limes (wedged for garnish)
Cotija Cheese (crumbled for garnish)
I split this recipe into two phases and I call Day 1:
Bean Broth Day (aka the f**k up that almost was)
I'm proud that I attempted a recipe armed with only my experience and spice cabinet, so I'm comfortable sharing that I almost ruined black bean soup forever. Here's how...
I decided to do some blending, but I added WAY TOO MUCH broth and hit the wrong button on my blender. The result....was bean broth. It looked gross. I was very scared for a while, but I powered through and I think we're all going to be okay. Let me start from the beginning.
Take two of the cans of black beans, drain & rinse. Combine in blender or food processor (my recipe was created in a blender) with one additional can of black beans (drained only) and chicken broth. Slowly & lowly blend beans and broth together. This makes bean broth. While that sits, saute your diced onion & garlic in a stock pot until onion is clear (careful not to brown either). When the onion & garlic are happily sauteed, please add the bean broth, your remaining three cans of black beans and spices. Cook on low heat until boiling then lower heat and let simmer for approximately 2 hours.
This completes phase I of Black Bean Soup. I covered phase one and let it chill overnight. This was a great idea (accidentally). The soup thickened into a much nicer consistency and the spice flavors really set in.
Finishing Touches (aka the Soup Also Rises)
Remove your safely covered soup from the fridge and let it sit while you prep the remaining ingredients. While it sits, dice two tomatoes, chop up your fresh cilantro, slice a lime and de-seed and dice two jalapenos. Add the juice of one lime, plus the brand new diced stuff to the pot and heat on low heat for 45 minutes to an hour. Add more salt, pepper, cumin, etc as you see fit. My advice, however, is use the salt sparingly. I've had really bad black bean soup in the past and the culprit was too much salt.
Spoon this dark, steamy goodness into bowls. Give a squeeze to a fresh lime wedge and add a little cheese to it. I used Cotija cheese, which is similar in texture & taste to feta (white, crumbly, slightly salty), you may want to use something more melty for your soup and I won't judge you. I believe in a human's right to choose their cheese.
The finished bowl looked like this:
I liked this recipe but I think it could be better. I should have used much less chicken broth - probably two 14 oz cans. It would have been thicker and less work and the spices would have popped more. This, I will try during round 2.
I would love to hear from any soup experts out there as I'm fairly new to the arena. I will say, this recipe was healthy and filling and I bought ALL ingredients for less than $20 and was able to freeze a batch for later stuffing. All in all, I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10.
Busy times equals less time to cook and if I'm not cooking, I guarantee you I have nothing to offer you of any value. But this week, I made soup...lots of soup...black bean soup. It was an experiment and there were some scary moments, but in the end 5 out of 5 soup eaters agreed it was yummy....or at least edible.
I'll give you the recipe and you can tell me if you love it, if it sucks or if you're neutral. Though, frankly, I'd be shocked by a neutral soup eater.
Anywoooooo.....
Black Bean Soup
6 cans Reduced Sodium Black Beans
48 oz Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth
1 head Garlic (diced)
1 White Onion (diced)
2 Roma Tomatoes (diced)
2 Jalapenos (de-seeded and diced)
Juice of one lime
2 TSP Cilantro (finely chopped)
2 TSP Cumin
1 TSP Paprika
1/4 TSP Cinnamon
Sea Salt & Black Pepper (to taste)
Additional Limes (wedged for garnish)
Cotija Cheese (crumbled for garnish)
I split this recipe into two phases and I call Day 1:
Bean Broth Day (aka the f**k up that almost was)
I'm proud that I attempted a recipe armed with only my experience and spice cabinet, so I'm comfortable sharing that I almost ruined black bean soup forever. Here's how...
I decided to do some blending, but I added WAY TOO MUCH broth and hit the wrong button on my blender. The result....was bean broth. It looked gross. I was very scared for a while, but I powered through and I think we're all going to be okay. Let me start from the beginning.
Take two of the cans of black beans, drain & rinse. Combine in blender or food processor (my recipe was created in a blender) with one additional can of black beans (drained only) and chicken broth. Slowly & lowly blend beans and broth together. This makes bean broth. While that sits, saute your diced onion & garlic in a stock pot until onion is clear (careful not to brown either). When the onion & garlic are happily sauteed, please add the bean broth, your remaining three cans of black beans and spices. Cook on low heat until boiling then lower heat and let simmer for approximately 2 hours.
This completes phase I of Black Bean Soup. I covered phase one and let it chill overnight. This was a great idea (accidentally). The soup thickened into a much nicer consistency and the spice flavors really set in.
Finishing Touches (aka the Soup Also Rises)
Remove your safely covered soup from the fridge and let it sit while you prep the remaining ingredients. While it sits, dice two tomatoes, chop up your fresh cilantro, slice a lime and de-seed and dice two jalapenos. Add the juice of one lime, plus the brand new diced stuff to the pot and heat on low heat for 45 minutes to an hour. Add more salt, pepper, cumin, etc as you see fit. My advice, however, is use the salt sparingly. I've had really bad black bean soup in the past and the culprit was too much salt.
Spoon this dark, steamy goodness into bowls. Give a squeeze to a fresh lime wedge and add a little cheese to it. I used Cotija cheese, which is similar in texture & taste to feta (white, crumbly, slightly salty), you may want to use something more melty for your soup and I won't judge you. I believe in a human's right to choose their cheese.
The finished bowl looked like this:
 |
I would love to hear from any soup experts out there as I'm fairly new to the arena. I will say, this recipe was healthy and filling and I bought ALL ingredients for less than $20 and was able to freeze a batch for later stuffing. All in all, I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10.
So, try it, make it better and tell me how you did it.
Peace and beans,
Mel
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