KitchenKatalog: Blog 222

Meredith and I were in India for Thanksgiving and missed it with the family. When we got back, we heard Christmas music on the radio and my first reaction was, "it's still too early!" Then I realized that it wasn't; we just got out of sync by missing the holiday. So we made our own!

We focused on appetizers and the meal while basically skipping dessert (we bought a thing of caramels but fell asleep before we could indulge)

Appetizer Tray

We made this first to eat and snack while cooking the rest. We had (bottom right, clockwise)

Turkey

We wanted real turkey but obviously, we weren't about to make a whole turkey for the two of us. So we basically followed The Kitchn Guide (local) with a dry-brine we got from Serious Eats. We simple used the following (halved)

Unfortunately, I went way too strong. It made for a good flavor but the edges were salty. It was fine since we really don't eat the skin anyway.

We combined it all and then used the mortar and pestle to mix. I coated the breast with butter, then seasonings.

We used the small convection oven and checked the temperature at 50 minutes, 70 minuted, and then pulled it around 75-80 minutes. The final temps were too high in places and about 155 in the middle part. I know they say 165 but I knew it would keep cooking.

After taking it out of the oven, I drained the liquid from under the roasting pan and basted it with it while it rested. I was able to do a pretty good job carving. Some meat was still on the bone but I just ate it off myself (oh darn).

I liked it a lot. I thought it was very strongly turkey flavored (as opposed to salt, water, and/or seasonings) but maybe a bit dry (though most turkey is a bit dry).

How To Cook Turkey Breast (from The Kitchn)
Local Copy (U: "guest", P: name of my dog, all lower case)

Hasselback Tater Tots

Again, we followed a Kitchn Recipe (local). We followed the recipe as inspiration but did it slightly differently.

We used fingerling potatoes and cut them with small wooden skewers as guides. We just made sure to press where we were cutting down so that the guides would work. Squeezing them did help open them.

Roasting half way, then tossing with olive oil again also worked really well. As you can see, they opened up really nicely. This is a cool trick to get the potatoes to open for you to toss.

We did our own thing with seasoning. I made some garlic oil (low heat garlic and oil for about 5 minutes) with some rosemary. We tossed it with the oil (too much oil) then added some salt and pepper. At the half way (20 minutes), we again tossed with some garlic oil (again too much probably) plus some chopped, fresh rosemary and some parmesan cheese.

At about 35 minutes (15 after tossing again), we upped the heat to 460 and ended up with about another 10-15 minutes. We then tossed them with some more parmesan cheese.

They came out really good! Crispy and flavorful. I couldn’t really taste the garlic and maybe more salt next time, but they were still one of our favorite things on the menu.

Hasselback Tater Tots (from The Kitchn)
Local Copy (U: "guest", P: name of my dog, all lower case)

Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash

We used the recipe from 101cookbooks (local) as the main guide. We basically followed their instructions except we added some cheese to the mixture too, used almond milk, and used smoked paprika instead of anise. Adding the cheese was actually, initially, by accident. I mistakenly told Meredith that everything else goes in but I was wrong. We were able to pull out most but actually decided to keep the rest in. Oh, and we used frozen corn (and extra) and regular (non-clarified) butter.

We baked it as per their instructions, but we did this first thing so we let it cool, then reheated it and broiled it with the extra cheese.

Maybe it was the cheese in there, or it would be this way anyway, but it tasted like quiche. You also barely tasted the corn, despite going heavy on it. I wouldn't say it was bad, but not really what we were going for. Oh well.

Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash (from 101CookBooks)
Local Copy (U: "guest", P: name of my dog, all lower case)

Cranberry Sauce

Meredith made the cranberry sauce with some inspiration from this Kitchn recipe (local), but it was really her own creation. One thing I really liked is that she used about half as much sugar as it called for making the cranberry flavor stand out more and be less cloyingly sweet.

Essentially, she just simmered it for a while, added the rum, and then let it simmer some more, just until it was the right thickness.

Very Basic Cranberry Sauce (from The Kitchn)
Local Copy (U: "guest", P: name of my dog, all lower case)

Brussels Sprout

Nothing too fancy here. We halved them, tossed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. We roasted them with the potatoes so about 425 for 20 minutes, tossed, then another 15 at 425 and then 5-10 at 460 (we took them out before the potatoes).

They were just barely not burned but I think that is about how you want them. They were good. Really, exactly as you'd expect.

For The Dog

Ok, we're not crazy enough to make Thanksgiving dog food, but we are crazy enough to buy close-to-Thanksgiving food. She was ambivalent.

[Lighter] Chicken Pot-Pie

This was nearly a complete repeat of the chicken pot pie (recipe) from last time. I think we even kept most of the changes. We also added a shallot since I thought I was going to have to use them instead of onions but we ran out and got more onions.

I think the only real change from last time was that we used less Franks Red Hot and we actually had lemon juice this time.

I have to say, this recipe is so easy and really good. I think this will become a winter-time staple. I also want to try doing it with Seitan some time (and then I guess Osem to make it vegetarian)

Tzatziki Chicken Salad

Meredith made this. She essentially made very bulky Tzatziki (lots of cucumbers) and then we added about 12oz of rotisserie chicken¹.

I liked the concept but I actually think it masked the flavor of the chicken. It ended up just being more bulk. I think larger chunks of chicken next time and/or maybe less intense Tzatziki flavors. (Though Meredith prefers the smaller pieces)

We found at Costco that you can buy pre-cut rotisserie chicken breast. It is a bit more expensive but (a) much easier and (b) healthier since there is no dark meat (or skin) ↩

Thrown Together Vegetable Egg-Drop Soup

This was a very thrown together meal. Meredith hadn't been feeling great so I threw together some soup. Our dog sitter left us a vegetable tray. I used the carrots and celery from that. I then used better than bouillon. I also added some garlic powder and soy sauce. The broth actually came out pretty good.

However, I then added some asian noodles (I forget which kind) and then, at the end, I did the egg-drop thing. I think it was all too much as it kind of turned ot mush. Oh well, it still tasted pretty good. Or at least acceptable.

Homegrown Tomato BLTs

Note, I am writing this post on 2015-12-05, well after we made this. Anyway, these were the very last of the non-green home-grown tomatoes. Meredith had pulled most of the green ones off before the first freeze but she cut a few farther from the vine and let them ripen inside.

The tomatoes were good but not quite as sweet and flavorful as those ripened the entire time on the vine. Also, they had some funny shapes.

Additional Photos

Orange Chicken

I am writing this way after the fact on 2015-12-05. I do not remember much of what we did but I think we made Orange Chicken again (2015-09-18). I think we went lighter on the corn starch. And we may have used rotisserie chicken.

Again, I do not recall much, but I think we didn't like it as much as before. And I think the "rice" was a mixture of cauliflower and cabbage

Buffalo Stuffed Peppers

Meredith and I made this together. We made buffalo chicken stuffed peppers like we did on 2015-04-13 using this recipe. We really just used the recipe as a guide and we did it with rotisserie chicken (~2/3 lbs).

We again made it with lots of filler including 1/2 head of cabbage and some zucchini. Not sure what else...

Taco Stew

Not much to say here. It was the standard taco stew. I used extra zucchini and just about 3/4 lbs of beef, but that was about it. Everything else was standard.