Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, that all American holiday. It's about family, togetherness and remembering the things and people in our life that we are thankful for. We all gather at grandma's house, mom's house or, as time goes by, someone in the younger generation who has picked up the traditions of our family and is keeping them alive.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, and while all that may be true, we all know that it's really about the food. Food that is traditional to the holiday itself and food that is family favorites that have been passed down through the years. Copious amounts of food that can be enjoyed on Thanksgiving itself and for days afterward as the coveted leftovers.

Ahh....the bird, the Thanksgiving turkey, which is eaten probably in 95 per cent of households on this day. There may be people who go the ham route or some other special cut of meat, but for the most part, turkey is to Thanksgiving what Santa Claus is to Christmas.

Now the sides are almost as important as the main dish. Mashed potatoes is a given as is gravy. Cranberry sauce is a common side to the meal. There can be homemade cranberry sauce with varying additions.

While this whole berry cranberry sauce was very good, I still have to admit that my favorite cranberry sauce will always be........

I can't help myself, it will always be my first love.

Another Thanksgiving favorite is sweet potatoes with little tiny marshmallows melted on top,

Some people have macaroni and cheese with their feast or salads, many different kind of veggies, rolls and dumplings. Then there is the favorite, traditional, much maligned, ever controversial and the dish that can go down in Thanksgiving lore........the green bean casserole.

With it's crunchy, fried onions out of the can, and cream of mushroom soup (although, I used cream of onion and cream of chicken soup) it's been the fodder of comedians for years. But I have to say, I like a good green bean casserole. I only have it on Thanksgiving and I make it like the recipe on the can of fried onions.

I'm sure the green bean casserole could be tweaked to make it healthier. It could be switched up any number of way. I've even seen some "remodeling" of the casserole on cooking shows. But, for me, it just wouldn't say Thanksgiving. I'll leave it the way it is.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, there are no  gifts to buy, no cards to send and no decorations to put up. It's all about being with those you love, whether it be family or friends or a combination of both. It's about reflecting on the past year and realizing how much everyone means to you and not taking anyone or anything for granted. It's about counting our blessings.
And it's about stuffing yourself like there is no tomorrow and still having room for pumpkin pie or maybe an apple pie for desert. Then as you sit back on your couch or recliner, in your turkey coma, it's all about the other tradition of Thanksgiving...

Watching football.

I hope your Thanksgiving was a wonderful as mine.


Kathy

Beer..Cheese..Bread

Each one individually is yummy, but put them all together in one food, and it doesn't get any better. I found a recipe four or fives years ago in Cooking Light magazine for some quick breads using beer. Well, like I said, that seemed a win/win situation.

You just sauté the onions, garlic and pepper in a tbl. of olive oil, til softened. Let it cool. Meanwhile whisk all the dry ingredients into a bowl and make a well in the center, add the onion mixture, beer and cheese, then mix together.

Mix this  together and put into a loaf pan that has been sprayed so it won't stick. It's a rather sticky dough. Melt a tablespoon of butter and pour on top before putting in the oven.

Halfway through the baking time take it out of the oven and pour another tbl. of melted butter over the top and finish baking.

This bread is especially good to eat with soups and stews. Well, really, it's good to eat with anything. What's good about this recipe is you can easily change it up. Use an Italian beer along with an Italian cheese and cut up salami for a different twist, or a Mexican beer with Mexican cheese and jalapenos for a spicy bread. I just used a domestic beer and Monterey Jack cheese.

Here is the complete recipe:

1 tbl of olive oil, for sautéing the onions and garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 tsp. of freshly ground pepper, although I just used regular pepper since that's what I had
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 cups of all purpose flour
3 tbl. of sugar
2 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp. of salt
1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or whatever cheese you want)
1 12oz bottle of beer (not lite beer)
cooking spray for a 9x5 inch loaf pan
2 tbl. of melted butter (or more if you like)
Bake at 375F for 35 minutes, take out of the oven and drizzle some more butter and bake for another 25 minutes until a deep golden brown and a wooden stick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
Let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from the pan
Enjoy!!


Kathy

Soup Soothes The Soul

Nothing makes you feel better than hot, homemade soup and  warm, homemade bread on a cold, frosty day. That's the one thing, and maybe only thing, that I like about winter, making soup, stews and casseroles.

This weekend I made some homemade vegetable, beef soup. It's not a recipe, it's just something that, over time, I have thrown together, tweaked and changed around  ever so many times. But even if I don't always fix it the exact same way every time, it always soothes the soul. That is the beauty of this soup, you can change it up to include or omit whatever flavors you like. You can leave out the meat (ahem, L.R.) for a totally vegetable soup using veggie stock instead of beef. Add whatever veggies you like or even sub chicken instead of the beef. It's totally versatile.

I usually start with browning some stew meat, of course, if you have a roast, you can always cook that and shred it to use in the soup.

Here is the setup to make the soup.

And then I found this in the freezer and decided use some of it also.

Even though this mix had onions in it, I still used the pearl onions. I like a lot of onions.....in almost everything.

I sautéed the mirepoix mixture along with the carrots until they were slightly softened, while scraping the bottom of the pan to pick up all the bits of meat and flavor.

Then it's just a matter of draining and rinsing the green beans and kidney beans and adding them to the pot along with the cut up cabbage (I used about half of the head of cabbage), corn, tomatoes, onions, meat and broth. I actually ended up using  1 1/2 cartons of beef broth. Add a little salt and pepper and I used the season salt when I browned the beef.

After it heats up, this is where you taste and adjust the flavors you want. I added some Italian seasoning and a little tomato paste.

I then let the soup simmer on medium low heat for 3 or 4 hours, until the meat practically falls apart and the soup is steaming hot.

This soup freezes well. I like to freeze it into individual servings, that makes it easy to take work or heat up at home for a quick meal.

Like I said, you can tweak this recipe anyway you like.

It's getting cold out, time to make soup.

Kathy

Sunday Chicken

My experience with just roasting a plain ole chicken has been, at times, frustrating. It sometimes comes out too dry, under done or just not as flavorful as I think  it should be. Now you would think that it would be fairly easy to do.

I've seen recipes that say to just put a little olive oil on the outside along with a little salt and pepper and bake at 350 til the internal temp. is about 182 (that's according to my meat thermometer). But I'm always afraid that it's not going to be cooked all the way that I leave it in longer than it probably needs to be.

Then there are the recipes that tell you to brine the bird, or to put butter under the skin and some say don't put anything on it, just pat dry and put in the oven. Then there's the whole question of that empty cavity. Do you put something in there to add flavor to the chicken or just leave it empty. Once I tried  recipe that called for putting an onion that's been cut in half, garlic cloves and a lemon that is cut in half inside the chicken. I then cooked it til it reached the proper temperature, but the juice from the cavity was still pink and not cooked all the way. Needless to say, I never tried that again.

Well, yesterday I took a different approach. After looking up several recipes, watching several cooking shows and using some common sense, I gave it another go. Apparently, leaving the chicken, uncovered in the refrigerator overnight helps to dry out the skin which makes for a crispier crust. So I did that. I then thawed out some of the chive butter that I made last summer and rubbed it liberally all over the outside of the chicken. Do not be afraid of using a lot of butter for this. I even put some of it inside the infamous cavity. I used some kosher salt for seasoning.

According to a lot of cooks you should first cook the chicken in a very hot oven, about 425F for about 30 minutes and then turn down the oven to 350F to finish. I had a pretty big bird so I cooked it for another 1 1/2 hours until the internal temp. reached 180. After taking out of the oven, cover loosely with foil and let it rest for 15 or 20 minutes. That way the juices re-absorb into the meat.

I have to say that this was the best chicken that I have ever roasted. It was juicy and perfectly done. Even my son said it was really moist and he's not a big fan of baked chicken.

I really think the difference was leaving it uncovered overnight to dry the skin, cooking it at a high temp. at the beginning and not being afraid to rub it with lots of butter.

I ate some moe of it tonight for dinner and it was still moist and delicious. Seems like just a few tweeks to what I had been doing made the biggest difference .........who knew!


Kathy

Reboot

It's been two weeks since I've been on here, I've just been really unsettled. First there was the break-in at my house. After that "violation" of my sanctuary, I felt disconnected from the whole experience. Yes, I was angry, feeling violated, upset etc. But I felt oddly disconnected.

I was coming to terms with the whole incident, then earlier this week my Mom was mugged and her purse stolen right on her own front porch. She had just returned from the grocery and was getting ready to unlock her front door when a woman ran into her fenced yard and pulled her purse away from her and knocking her down in the process. She hit her head on the concrete but it wasn't bad, just left her with a small knot on her head.

Luckily, they caught the girl just yesterday and she admitted to my Mom's mugging and two others. She would follow these elderly ladies home from the grocery and then steal their purses, One lady broke her shoulder when she was pulled down and the other was knocked down and kicked.

After my Mom's mugging, I started to feel like you couldn't be safe anywhere, in your home, your yard or just going to the store. Everyone walking down the street made me suspicious, I was constantly looking around to see if anyone was following me. I felt like I should carry all my valuables with me because they might not be safe at home, but then again, I could be mugged anywhere. I was starting not to feel safe no matter where I was. I was starting to really, really stress out and be on edge all the time.

So I've decided to give myself a (imaginary) slap in the face and say "SNAP OUT OF IT". I can't go around being afraid and distrustful all the time. Yes, I will be more aware of my surroundings, but I'm not going to let it make me on edge.

While the people who broke in my house may never be caught, the news that my Mom's mugger was caught gave me the little shove I needed to stop obsessing about it.

So Friday night I wallowed in it for a while and ate a big bowl of  homemade popcorn with lots and lots of real butter and a coke for dinner and watched some trashy TV.

This morning I decided what I needed was something joyful. So I decided to start decorating for Christmas. I don't usually do it til the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I am starting early this year, just because I can. Now, I probably won't put up the tree until after Thanksgiving, but today I took my dishes down to the basement and got out my Christmas dishes and coffee mugs. I love my Christmas dishes. Tomorrow I'm going to get out my little Christmas village and set it up and put my wreath on the door and who knows what else. It's already made me feel better. I can't wait to light my pine scented candles and get out my collection of Santas. It's just what I needed.

I'm including this picture of a tree that I can see from my office. I find it fascinating how the leaves that have turned for Autumn are in three different colors. And they stay that way, they don't gradually all turn one color. They stay 3  distinct colors until they fall off. I just think it's interesting.

Here's to better times ahead and lots of good cooking.


Kathy

Ahhh..Sunday Cookin'

This is the first Sunday in a while that I feel like I can do what I really want to do, cook something. Last weekend was...well, I think you remember what last weekend was all about..security. Although, I did cook Sunday before last, but it seems like is was a lot longer than that. I guess that it was stress does to a person.

Today I am making some Chipotle Chicken Chili, a recipe from the tastykitchen.com website. It's a wonderful resource for recipes. It's in association with thepioneerwoman.com blog. This chili really looks good and while I like my own chili recipe, which I will share on here soon, I wanted to switch it up a bit and this fit the bill.

Here are the players for this soup/chili.

This is the finished product and I must say, it has a little "zing" to it. Yummy, here is the recipe.


2 tbl of olive oil
1 whole onion diced
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 lbs of boneless chicken breasts
1 (12 oz) bottle of good beer
1 can of diced tomatoes (I had crushed tomatoes so I used those)
3 whole chipotle peppers in adobo sauce minced
1 can of kidney beans
1can of black beans
1can of pinto beans
(I just used the black and pinto beans, I found that two cans would be plenty)
1 tbl chili powder
1 tbl ground cumin
1tsp salt
1/4 cup of masa (corn flour, it can be found in the Hispanic section of the grocery)
1 lime

Heat olive oil in pot, add onions and sauté for several minutes, then add garlic and stir for a minute or two.

Meanwhile, dice the chicken into whatever size you want, I cut mine into medium size pieces. (L.R., this picture is for you.)

Then add chicken to onions and garlic and cook til just browned. Add 3/4 of the beer to the chicken mixture and let cook for about 10 minutes.

Chop up the peppers, drain and rinse the beans and then add the peppers, beans, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin and salt to the pot. Cover and let simmer for 1 hour.

Then you take the 1/4 cup of masa and stir in the remaining beer. Add this to the pot and stir, it will thicken it and give a very subtle corn taste. Also, squeeze the lime into the soup. Let it simmer for about 10 more minutes and serve. The recipe suggests serving with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped cilantro and lime wedges.

I grew up eating chili with peanut butter sandwich/crackers but I'm stepping  out of my box and using the shredded cheese and if I'm really adventurous, I'll use a little sour cream.

I really like chili, it is spicy and is quite different from any chili I have ever made before. Now I have to give some to my special taste tester and get her review of it.

Autumn is in the air.....


Kathy