Making Bread Without the Bread-Maker

Yesterday, I sat down to plan out our meals for the week, and realized that we have a lot going on! Because we have some things to do after work today, I decided to make something for dinner last night that we could enjoy again today, without too much effort. I opted for a Dijon Chicken Stew with Kale. It sounded hearty, and warming, and it seemed to make a large amount which meant we could enjoy it for two nights of deliciousness! But...what to serve with it? It sounds great, but you can't JUST have a heaping bowl of stew for dinner...I'm a fan of having different things on my plate. So, I turned to my binder full of recipe cut-outs and thumbed over to the Bread section. What kind of bread would be good for soaking up the remnants of a hearty stew like the one I decided to make? Aha - I got it! Rosemary focaccia!

I've never made focaccia before, and I'm more the bread-machine type of bread maker, but I decided to give it a go. If you have a few hours to kill, and the patience to be in and out of the kitchen for those few hours, then this recipe is for you! This is not the type of dough that can be made in a bread-machine, nor can it be cooked that way. This is a hands-on task...know that before you take it on!

I don't have pictures of all the steps because it was kind of slow-going, but the entire recipe can be found at the link above, so everyone should give it a go! I have a feeling I'm going to add it to my repertoire because this is some DELICIOUS focaccia. After making a boiling water, honey and rosemary concoction, and allowed it to cool to a warm 110 degrees, I added some yeast and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, I gathered the rest of the ingredients for the dough, and once they were all incorporated, I began a 10 minute stint of kneading...and boy are my arms tired. Ten minutes is a long time to be moving, kneading and pressing into dough, but eventually, it got to that smooth, elastic-y point where it was ready to rest, and rise!

Forty-five minutes later, I walked into the kitchen to find a giant ball of dough, which I punched down, and then spread out on a baking sheet with my fingers. The dough was really plyable and I just knew that I was doing things right! Ya know how you can tell when something really doesn't seem right? I didn't have any of those feelings, even though this was my first attempt! After another 20 minutes of rising on the baking sheet, we were finally ready to brush the surface with egg yolk, olive oil and and water. First, I had to make those infamous focaccia indentations with my pointer finger. After the surface was glossy with egg yolk mixture, I sprinkled some sea salt along with chopped rosemary all over the top and it was finally ready for the oven!

After 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven, we finally had focaccia to enjoy! As it was cooking, I started on my stew and while the focaccia cooled considerably while the stew was cooking, it tasted so fresh and delicious. The savory salt and rosemary flavors paired really well with the Dijon Chicken Stew, and provided the perfect "sopping" tool! What a delicious meal! I can't wait to eat it again tonight!

So Many Leftovers

Last night, I began to use the massive amounts of leftovers we have from our Thanksgiving Day feast. What I realized is that we have a lot of turkey to use in the next few days! Yikes! We're going to be turkey-ed out before you know it!

I don't really like just "making a plate" of leftovers, since it's like reliving the original meal, which has already been done. I like to be creative with the ingredients, and make something totally new, if possible! Last night, I went a bit mainstream and we had Gobblers for dinner! A Gobbler is a sandwich, made with all the leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner: cranberry sauce as a spread, stuffing as a filler, and turkey slices as the meat. I had made a loaf of Brioche bread on Thanksgiving Day in anticipation of this dish (but also to make the house smell yummy). Brioche is the perfect bread for this type of sandwich because it is dense, and can hold the moistness of the cranberry sauce, as well as the weight of the stuffing and turkey. I enlisted the help of my Breville Panini Grill, in order to heat everything up once the sandwiches were made.

For dinner tonight, I decided to go with a lighter use of the turkey, by making a Vietnamese dish, known as Pho. For all of you who are not familiar with Pho, it's one of the best things for a cold winter's day - a big, steaming bowl of noodles, with broth, veggies, and if you so choose, meat. I'm going to use the turkey in this version of Pho, along with some baby corn, snow peas, water chestnuts, thinly sliced onion  and zucchini. Since I keep most Asian cooking ingredients in the house all the time, I didn't need much at the grocery store, but it's good to keep hoisin sauce, fish sauce, and some ginger on hand for a recipe like this as well. Check out this heartwarming bowl of goodness!

I steeped some cloves, coriander seeds, peppercorns and a cinnamon stick in the chicken broth for a few minutes before adding all the veggies and allowing them to cook. I sliced the turkey into small pieces, and added that as well, allowing everything to heat up together. At the last minute, I added some rice noodles, since they would only take a minute or two to cook, and then I served. This dish is easy in the sense that stir-fry is easy, just add what you have, or what you want to eat, to some broth and let it all simmer together. You could put any veggies in there, and really any kind of meat as well. It was really hearty and warming, and a great use of leftover turkey!

How are you using your leftovers? Comment on this post to share your favorite leftover turkey recipes!

The Holidays are Upon Us!

Of all the email newsletters I subscribe to regarding food, I find it amazing that more than 75% of them are already sending posts about Thanksgiving Day leftovers, when the actual meal hasn't even been shopped for yet! I spent my weekend planning the menu for my own Thanksgiving dinner, without a thought yet to how I will use the leftovers. I'll let the emails do the thinking for me: I've seen suggestions for Turkey Pho (a Vietnamese noodle soup), turkey chili, and the inevitable Gobbler (put all the leftovers on bread and make it into a sandwich). Once Thanksgiving has actually taken place, I'll give the leftovers some thought, but for now, let's focus on the day at hand, shall we?

Not only are people talking about leftovers, but while running errands this weekend, my ears were forced to endure Christmas carols. Christmas carols! On November 20th! It gets earlier every year, and this year is no exception. I saw signs for 1am openings on Black Friday too! All of this is forced upon us so early, when really, we should be enjoying family and friends and being thankful for all that we have to celebrate this year. I'm not going to think about "the holidays," or even Black Friday this week. I'm going to concentrate on enjoying the company of my family, and on hosting Thanksgiving for the first time! I'm looking forward to my menu, because I think it will please all of my guests, and that's a hard feat to master.

from Flickr - by Betty Crocker Recipes

I've made my list, and I'm checking it twice (sorry, darn holiday references!) and plan to do my food shopping tomorrow night after work. I'm hoping its a bit less crowded than Sunday afternoons at the grocery store! Of course, the main idea behind Thanksgiving is eating, right? Well, there will be no shortage of food on my table - as you all know from past events that I've hosted! My goal, though, is to keep it simple, so that I can spend my time with family, not slaving over a hot stove. Thanksgiving is probably one of the most straightforward meals to prepare for, so there's no reason to be stressed!

For hors d'ouvres, I've planned on an antipasto platter of parmesan, and another kind of cheese to be determined when standing in front of the display at the store, as well as some italian meats, and of course, mixed olives. I'm also going to make a crostini with an artichoke, lemon and parmesan spread. I'll also include some staples such as guacamole and hummus, as well...which of course, I'll make from scratch. All of these things will look great on the table, but really don't consume a lot of time, which is exactly what I was looking for!

My parents are going to be bringing the stuffing and the sweet potatoes, so that takes a large burden off of me. Their stuffing is the best, and I could never think of having anything but that stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner! I took some notes from them on the turkey, but I'm going to throw some more aromatics into my version, and put some onions, marjoram, parsley, sage, thyme and rosemary in the cavity of the turkey before cooking it. I'm going to do two vegetable sides: Brussels Sprouts Two-ways, and Sauteed Green Beans. The brussels sprouts will be pan-roasted, and also made into a bright salad with red onion, lemon and Pecorino cheese. My dad loves his roasted brussels sprouts, so I couldn't leave those out, but I really wanted to try this new way as well, so two-ways it is! I chose these recipes because they can be done on the stove, which will save me the hassle of trying to get the veggies done at the last minute, once there's room in the oven after the turkey has been taken out. I've also got a simple cranberry sauce on deck that I'm thinking of making the night before to save some time.

from Flickr - by Cookthinker

You all know I'm not a baker, so my mom placed an order for some bakery-made pies for dessert. I'll get some ice cream, and make sure there's coffee in the house, and we'll be set for dessert. It's not really the most important part of the meal, to me anyway, so I'm totally fine with ending the meal this way! The pies we have each year are delicious, and in addition, this year, my mother-in-law will be bringing some homemade apple pie.

Of course, no Thanksgiving dinner would be complete without some mulled cider in front of the fireplace while the turkey is cooking. We'll sit back, watch the parade, sip mulled cider, and enjoy the day! So, forget about carols, and midnight sales. Forget about leftovers, and decorating the tree. Enjoy your Thanksgiving! Whether you spend it with family or friends, be thankful for good company, and good food!

from Flickr - by BarbaraCZ

(I'll let you know how the shopping trip goes tomorrow evening!)

When I say quick...I mean quick!

Well, I think I set a record for the quickest dinner of all time tonight. Within a half hour of walking in the door, dinner was on the table and we were eating. I had some things in the fridge that I needed to use before they went bad, so I strayed from the "Journey Around the World" menu, in lieu of something quick, easy, and economical.

I had some leftover Greek salad from last night's dinner, and even though I had it with my leftovers at lunchtime, there was still enough for both of us for dinner. I used that, with the EVOO and lemon juice dressing as a bed for ... chicken! Pounded out chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper and sauteed in just a touch of butter!

With little prep time, minimal cooking time, and the easiest plating possible, this meal is a fantastic go-to if you have no time to dilly-dally in the kitchen. I pounded the chicken out between two pieces of plastic wrap, seasoned them with the salt and pepper, and into the pan they went. Five or six minutes later, I turned them, and 3 minutes later - tah-dah!! DINNER!!!

Tomorrow night, we have reservations for another Restaurant Week dinner, but on Wednesday night, we'll be traveling back to Asia for a Japanese dinner, courtesy of one of my favorite chefs, Morimoto! See you then!

Leftovers for Breakfast?

It's that time again, the time when I spend a few days using up what's left in the fridge, putting use to the ingredients in the pantry, and cleaning things out for the next shopping trip and even more exciting, the NEW MENU! :) My task today is to see what things I can put together for the next few days of meals, and then plan my menu and make my grocery list. Over the next week, I'll start to gather the ingredients from that list so that the menu can begin.

Shopper iPhone App

This morning, I used some of the things in the fridge to make a great scrambled egg dish! Eggs are a great base for most vegetables and they make for a great way to use up those scraps from previous dinners. I chopped up a tomatillo, which I then sauteed for a few minutes, and some leftover chives. When I make scrambled eggs, I beat the eggs with the ingredients mixed in, so that it all cooks together. Once the eggs, tomatillo and chives were cooked through, I sprinkled a little goat cheese through out and seasoned it with salt and pepper. What a delicious breakfast!

Other great ways to use leftovers: pizzas, pastas, "garbage" salads (salads with LOTS of stuff thrown in)

We have plans tonight, so there won't be any more cooking today, but tomorrow, I'll roast those beets from the farmer's market last weekend, and I have a few leftover cuts of meat from the freezer to defrost. There may even be a parsnip puree in my future!

And now...on to the menu planning!