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!

Giving Thanks with a Feast

As promised, I'm here to report on my Thanksgiving Day meal! Everything went smoothly, and everything tasted delicious! Our families came together for a lovely day of good food and wonderful company, and it was a success!

I began the morning in the early hours, by prepping my cranberry sauce. Once it was cooked, and flavored the way I liked it, I left it to cool to room temperature, and allowed it to sit and steep until dinner time. The longer spices sit and marinate in a mixture, the more depth they give the dish, so when I stirred the sauce right before serving, the spices distributed and made for a really nice flavor profile. It's a really bright, tangy version, brought to us courtesy of Alex Guarnaschelli. A few changes I made: I doubled the recipe, but used a quarter of the sugar...so about 1 cup, for 2 lbs of cranberries. I also used tangerines, instead of regular oranges, for a more interesting, citrus-y taste.

Once the cranberry sauce was done, I started on the list of hors d'ouvres that needed to be made in time for our guests' arrivals! I made some guacamole, using some avocados, garlic, tomatoes, lime juice, salt, pepper, and my secret ingredient: shallots. I use shallots instead of onion, because I find that it makes for a smoother flavor throughout the dish, rather than a large bite of sharp, raw onion. Minced shallot, even raw, is a much sweeter form of onion, but still gives a nice bite of flavor!

On to the hummus, which I made from a recipe I found in Williams-Sonoma Entertaining: Cocktail Parties for a Fiery Hummus with Baked Pita Chips. I left out the cayenne pepper, making the dip appropriate for all of my guests. When entertaining, it's best to air on the side of caution when it comes to the spicy factor, since you can't anticipate each person's preferred palate. It was a bright and refreshing hummus with a heavy handed amount of lemon juice. Sprinkled with a little parsley, it makes for a very pretty plate too! I baked some pita chips very easily. Just cut up a bunch of pitas (I used wheat) and then bake them in the oven for 10 minutes, in single layers. They get crispy and crunchy, just like the storebought ones...but homemade is always better! 

It was time to make the antipasto platter at this point, since there was less than an hour before people showed up. I wanted to make sure the cheese was out long enough to take the chill off (never serve cheese straight out of the fridge, because when it's cold, you lose alot of the flavors that make each cheese unique). I started by rolling my proscuitto, soppressata and salami into attractive, cigar-type shapes, leaving room down the center of the plate for the three cheeses I had chosen. I placed the Parmigiano-Reggiano, St. Albay (a camembert/brie type cheese with a bit more punch) and Morbier (a semi-hard cheese with a stripe of blue down the center) on the platter and left it out with the other appetizers. I also plated a few bowls of assorted olives to pair with the platter.

Once my parents arrived, the turkey had been trussed, and the cavity had been stuffed with some onions, marjoram, sage, thyme and rosemary. It had been rubbed with safflower oil (because of the higher heat usability of this oil) and salt and pepper. It was ready to go in the oven! We started it at 400 degrees, and a half an hour later, we turned it down to 350 for the rest of cooking time. However, we did something a bit different. We cooked it breast-side down, so that all of the juices run into the breast during cooking, and make for a VERY juicy bird! 

With the turkey, I of course, served LOTS of side dishes. My mom made the sweet potatoes, which we serve with marshmallows on top, which harden and crust over the top of pan, and stay gooey and melt-y underneath the hard shell. This is a tradition that I've known since the day I was born, and that my mom had growing up as well, and I swear to continue it as long as I live, because really, it's the best way to eat sweet potatoes!

Another tradition in my family is my dad's homemade stuffing! I can't tell you what's in it, because that tends to change a little bit each year, but it's bread (of course) and chunks of veggies and ham, along with herbs, spices, and a lot of love! It's delicious, and I swear it gets better every year...and I honestly can't imagine Thanksgiving without it! I'm SO glad we have leftovers!

And now you're wondering what I made for the event, right!? Well, hold on tight, because here we go. Aside from the cranberry sauce, I made three vegetable side dishes. First of all, I opted to make Brussels Sprouts Two Ways. Chefs do that on TV all the time, so I decided to give it a go. I chose a raw presentation, as well as a cooked one. The raw brussels sprouts salad was more of a very light slaw, with finely shaved sprouts, along with some red onion, and a honey mustard dressing. It was supposed to have Pecorino-Romano in it as well, but I forgot to put it in at the last moment. However, I don't think it needed it. It was refreshing, and delicious! You can find the recipe here. The other way, of course, was cooked, and pan-roasted, at that. I didn't want to tie up the oven with anything that didn't have to go in there, so I decided to make all of my dishes on the stove. I prefer to cook that way anyway - I like to be hands on! I blanched my sprouts earlier in the day, to save time when cooking, so it was easy to throw the par-cooked veggies into a cast iron pan with some olive oil and a clove of garlic. I tried really hard not to stir too often, since I really wanted to get the browning down perfectly. Right before serving, I seasoned with some salt and pepper, and a nice squeeze of lemon juice. You can find that recipe here.

Finally, I made a green bean dish to round out the table. I used haricots vert (a thin, string bean) and sauteed them in some garlic oil and cider vinegar, allowing the vinegar to form a glaze. The dish was garnished with some mint leaves, and garlic chips that had been fried in the oil before the beans were added! I chose quick, and easy, side dishes that could be prepared as the turkey was being carved in order to ensure that everything was warm and fresh when we all sat down to eat!

As for dessert, there was a pecan pie from the bakery, as well as a strawberry pie, and an apple pie from my in-laws! I had purchased some ice cream from a local place, called Batch, and included flavors such as Salted Caramel, Chocolate and Cinnamon Bits, and Vanilla Bean. By the time dessert came around, I was so exhausted and full, I totally forgot to take pictures of the pies! I will tell you, though, they were delicious! All in all, I'd say that my first Thanksgiving as host was a huge success, and I'm looking forward to fine-tuning my skills in the future! 

Stay tuned over the next week for all sorts of ideas for using those leftovers! I know I have plenty of them!

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!)

A Stuffed Leg of Lamb

First, let me apologize for not writing last night! I made a delicious meal for some wonderful friends, but we were enjoying each other's company so much that I lost track of time...and before I knew it, it was bedtime! I took pictures as I cooked, and I'm ready to tell you all about it today!

For the last recipe on the current menu, and the last meal of my journey to Jamie's Italy, I made a leg of lamb, stuffed with olives, bread, pinenuts and herbs. I took my time with this since we were planning on eating a bit later in the evening, and I had an adorable little puppy curled around my ankles! :) I gathered some garlic, mixed fresh herbs (parsley, mint, thyme and oregano) pancetta, anchovy fillets, rustic bread, pinenuts, green olives, salt and pepper, a leg of lamb, rosemary, olive oil, potatoes (and some turnips I had in the fridge as well), a sprig of bay leaves and a bottle of pinot noir.



I put a couple of garlic cloves in a food processor to chop them up and then, as they were whirling around in there, I added my mixed greens. Once that was blended, I added pancetta slices and 3 anchovy fillets to the mix. Once that was all blended, I scraped all that into a bowl.



I added my cubes of rustic bread to the food processor next and chopped them until they were breadcrumbs, with some larger chunks mixed in there. I poured that into a bowl with the herb mixture, sliced green olives, and a handful of pinenuts.



And there we have it folks - the stuffing! Next, I went to preparing the lamb leg. The recipe calls for a cut of lamb that has the H-Bone and thigh bone tunnel-boned removed. I just went to the grocery store and got a boneless leg of lamb instead, and used some kitchen twine to tie the leg together once I stuffed it. I opened up the leg and then rolled it back around the stuffing. I tied it all together and tucked some rosemary sprigs underneath by the stuffing. I rubbed the outside of the lamb with olive oil, and some salt and pepper. I also tossed some quartered potatoes, and turnips with olive oil, salt, pepper, bay leaves and the rest of the garlic cloves. Once the potatoes and turnips were in the roasting pan, I pushed them to the sides to make room in the center for the lamb, and placed it in a 400 degree oven for an hour and a half.



According to Jamie, Italians do not eat their lamb rare or pink in the middle like we do, so this will be cooked through, but I promise it is delicious! About a half an hour into the cooking time, douse the dish with a good couple of glugs of red wine. You'll want to do that about every half hour or so, to baste the lamb and add more cooking liquid to the dish.



Once the timer went off, I pulled my roasting pan out of the oven and lifted the lamb to a cutting board to rest for 15 minutes. When it was time to plate, I cut off the twine, and then thinly sliced the lamb and stuffing. I spooned out some potatoes and turnips and then placed a couple of slices of the lamb on each plate!



Pour yourself a glass of the same Pinot you used to baste the lamb and you've got yourself a meal!