Fennel & Pepper Bacon Stuffing

Oh god this turned out so fucking delicious.  I just want to eat it forever.  Seriously.  I have a problem with stuffing. Om nom nom.  Is it wrong to make stuffing for every holiday?  Like maybe for the 4^th of July?

1 pound of whole wheat bread crumbs

1 tablespoon cracked black pepper

2 eggs, whisked

4 tablespoons melted butter, unsalted

½ cup Riesling

10 pieces of cooked pepper bacon, sliced into bite sizes

½ of a medium sweet onion, chopped

1 small fennel bulb, chopped

½ oz fresh parsley, chopped

2 teaspoons of fresh thyme

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon fresh fennel fronds, chopped

2 cups Turkey Stock—homemade will make ALL the difference

Combine all ingredients in a giant bowl.  Refrigerate covered for at least an hour, or preferably overnight. 

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Throw it all into a baking dish and cook, uncovered, for half an hour.  Cover with tin foil and bake for a further 30 minutes. 

Try not to eat the whole thing in a single setting.  

Mashed Cauliflower

Look, this isn't a ‘healthy’ recipe.  It’s just a good one.  Potatoes are no less a vegetable than cauliflower, and its only tradition that has us mashing them instead.  So give this a try.  The tea isn't mandatory, but the smoky notes in it add a subtle but lovely allure.

1 medium pot of brewed Lapsang Souchong

2 head off cauliflower, chopped

Cracked black pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup of heavy cream

Add tea to large stockpot, fill with water, and salt liberally.  Bring to boil.   Add cauliflower, pepper.  Boil until softened.  Mash together with butter and cream.  Enjoy the accolades.

Cranberry & Pear Sauce with Riesling

This is designed to be tart; a palate cleanser for all that rich holiday fare.  But you can always add a bit more brown sugar.  Yes, brown; it adds both flavor and sweetness. 

1 Anjou pear

½ cup dry Riesling—get the cheap kind, do yourself a favour

1 cup packed brown sugar

Zest of 1 small lemon

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 cayenne pepper
2 pounds of Cranberries

Puree the pear in a food processor, then add to a large sauté pan and turn to medium heat.  Dump in Riesling, brown sugar, zest, and spices, then stir.  Heat until just starting to bubble.  Add the cranberries and continue cooking until the berries have just burst, stirring continuously to avoid scorching the sides or burning your house down.  Remove from heat, transfer to a pretty bowl and put on table.  Or, chill it and serve in crepes.  Both ways are super yum.

Lemon Cupcakes with Salted Chocolate Ganache

The most randomly good thing, maybe ever?

The best, and my-everyone’s- personal favourite boss’ last day was today.  I told him I would make him cupcakes and he requested chocolate and lemon.

Cricketts.

But, it turns out, he’s not as crazy as I thought he was.  These damn things are actually delicious and in no way have I been eating the leftover frosting like it was . . . frosting.  Om nom nom. 

BONUS: spent the whole prep time making up a song to Lemon ScentedSticky Bats.  As you do.

Lemon Cupcakes

¾ cup sugar

2 small, very ripe lemons

1 cup plus 2 tsp unbleached flour

2 tsp cornstarch

1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 tsp unsalted butter, melted

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ cup milk, room temperature

Zest the lemons into the sugar, mixing until sugar becomes moist and starts to clump.  Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 12-cup muffin tin.

Whisk the flour with the cornstarch, baking powder and salt.  Mix the sugar with the eggs and vanilla extract at medium-high speed until smooth and thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the butter and oil, then beat until incorporated, scraping the bottom and side of the bowl if needed. Add the dry flour and milk in alternating batches, beating well between additions. Carefully pour the batter into the lined muffin tins, filling them about two-thirds.

Bake the cupcakes in the center of the oven for 25 minutes or until springy and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Chocolate Ganache

½ cup Heavy Cream

4 oz Bittersweet Chocolate

4 tbs unsalted butter

½ tbs Pink Sea Salt

Plus 2 tablespoons more salt to sprinkle as garnish

In heavy, heat proof saucepan on low heat, melt the butter and cream with the ½ tablespoon of salt, stirring as needed.  Crumble the dark chocolate into the hot cream and swirl until mixed. Remove from heat.  Allow to cool until slightly thickened.  Dunk cupcakes into ganache.   Allow to dry, 20-30 minutes.  Dunk again.  Sprinkle the sea salt over the tops.  Serve and accept accolades with grace. 

Make Ahead Enchilades

This is another staple recipe that I like to make in big batches, then freeze in smaller (individual or small group) containers to finish baking when needed.  Basically, I designed it so that while it might take an hour or two to put it all together on a Sunday, next Wednesday it should take all of 20 minutes to heat.  As always with basic recipes, variations are encouraged. For instance, sometimes I throw in a tablespoon of chopped cilantro to the chicken mixture.

Enchiladas:

3 ancho chiles shredded

1 medium onion, peeled & quartered

3 tbs minced garlic

2 tbs cumin

1 1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp oregano

2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil

2 1/2 cups canned tomato sauce (20 ounces)

3 tbp tomato paste

Salt and freshly ground pepper

3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced (3 cups)

4 cups shredded cooked chicken (I recommend the cheap supermarket varietyJ)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

3/4 pound cheddar cheese, shredded (3 cups)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

 Vegetable oil for frying

16 tortillas

(Chopped onion, hot sauce and/orsour cream optional for serving.)

SAUCE

Add Chile, quartered onion, garlic, 1 tbs of the cumin, coriander, oregano, tomato sauce and paste, and 2 tsp of the olive oil to a blender; season with salt and fresh pepper.  Puree until smooth.  Spoon about 3/4 cup of the sauce into the bottom of each of two shallow baking dishes.

ENCHILADAS

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a skillet, heat the remaining 1 tbs of olive oil. Add the diced onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until lightly browned, 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Stir in the chicken, remaining cumin, cilantro and half of the shredded cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Add the tortillas 1 at a time and fry over low heat just until pliable. Transfer to a paper towel–lined platet and pat dry. Spoon 1/4 cup of the chicken filling into each tortilla then roll up. Place the doobies in the baking dishes, seam side down. Spoon the remaining chili sauce on top, spreading it to cover the enchiladas. Dust with remaining cheese.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, until bubbling.  I typically remove the foil halfway through cooking to brown the cheese a bit. Let the enchiladas cool about 10 minutes. Can be served with chopped onion, hot sauce and/or sour cream, if you want to look all fancy.
　

This can be frozen prior to baking and thawed out as need.  Or popped into individual portions & put in the fridge for quick lunches. Just tack on a extra 10 minutes to the bake time if freezing.

Lasagna

Recently, a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, did the whole chemo and surgery thing, and was recovering at home.  I made a couple of dishes that are super easy, super basic a very re-heatable.  The types of things that can be portioned individually, frozen or put into the fridge, and whipped back out as needed.  They aren’t staggering, life changing versions of classic dishes, just good templates to start with, so feel free to play around.

Basic Lasagna:

1/2 pound ground beef chuck
1/2 pound ground sirloin4 teaspoons minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

32 oz crushed tomatoes

2 cups chicken stock

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 pounds fresh ricotta

1 tbs parsley

1 tbs basil

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound whole-milk mozzarella, shredded (3 cups)

1 large egg, beaten

12 No-boil (or fresh) lasagna noodles

In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat a TINY amount of olive oil until shimmering. Add the chuck and sirloin and cook over moderately high heat, breaking up meat, until no pink remains. Add the garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper then cook until fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes, add stock and season with salt and pepper then bring to a boil.  Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to approximately 8 cups (about an hour.)

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta with the parsley, basil and 1/4 cup of the parmesan.  Add two-thirds of the shredded mozzarella and season with salt and pepper.  Fold in the egg.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Spread 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Line the dish with 4 overlapping noodles. Spread one-half of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, and then top with one-half of the meat sauce. Repeat the layering with the remaining noodles, ricotta, and 1 ½ cup of the sauce. Top with 4 noodles and cover with remaining sauce. Toss the last cup of mozzarella with the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan and sprinkle over the lasagna.

Bake the lasagna for about 45 minutes, or until the top is golden and crisp around the edges and the filling is bubbling. Let the lasagna rest for 20 minutes before serving.

The lasagna can be refrigerated overnight (or frozen) before baking, or it can be baked ahead and then reheated in a 325° oven.

Veggie Spaghetti

This is my basic, quick and dirty on a week night, recipe.  I never tell people about the anchovies replacing salt, (and they never notice) but it deepens the flavor so very much.  I make mine vegetarian, but beef or sausage is a great addition as well.

Spaghetti:

1 pound spaghetti

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 small sweet onion, minced

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 fillets of anchovy

24oz crushed tomatoes

freshly ground pepper

1 tsp oregano

½ tsp rosemary

2 tbp capers

1/2 cup black olives, chopped

1 tbs fresh basil

Bring a pot of well salted water to boil, add 1tbs of olive oil to pot. Toss in the spaghetti and cook until al dente; drain, reserving 1/3 cup of the pasta water.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.  Add the onion, garlic and anchovies and cook over medium heat until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, pepper, oregano, rosemary, capers, and olives and heat until just shy of boiling.

Add the pasta to the skillet along with the reserved cooking water and toss. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a large bowl. Sprinkle with the basil and serve (Hopefully with garlic bread :)

Lime Cream Tart with Blackberries

Ah, fresh blackberries.  Nothing in the world is better.  But if you've decided that you can't just stuff them in your mouth until it turns deep plum anymore, this is a fantastic way to impress the crap out of people with surprisingly little labour.

Lime Cream:

1 cup sugar
Zest of 3 limes
4 eggs
¾ cup lime juice
2 sticks + 5 tablespoons unsalted butter


In a large saucepan, rub zest into sugar until sugar is moist and aromatic.  Whisk in eggs, then lime juice.

Over medium heat CONTINUE WHISKING.  Cook until lime curd reaches 180 degrees by candy thermometer.   Don’t pretend you’re cool and leave this alone; it will die—WHISK constantly as it thickens.  It can take as long as 10 min.  Remove from heat.

Strain mixture into blender (heat proof is a must on this one.)  Discard zest.  Let cream stand until it cools to 140 degrees.  Turn on high and add the butter 5 pieces at a time, scrapping as needed.  Once the butter is all in, keep going for about 3 minutes.   If your blender starts to stink like burning, go in intervals.

Put cream in container and cover with cling film flat to cream surface.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hrs or overnight.  When ready to use, whisk lightly and spoon into tart shell.



Tart Shell:

1 ½ cups flour
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp candied ginger
¼ salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon frozen butter in tiny pieces
1 egg yolk


Chuck flour, sugar, ginger, and salt into a food processor and pulse to stir.  Scatter butter over dry ingredients and pulse until butter in cut in—like looks a little like oatmeal with peas in.  Stir yolk to break apart and pour into machine, then pulse.  Pulse in 10 second intervals until dough starts to clump up (the machine will change noise, and as soon as it does, stop.)  Turn dough onto counter and knead gently.

PAM a 9 inch tart pan.  Press dough into pan, paying attention to edges.  It shrinks during baking, so I go up over the top a bit.  Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes prior to baking.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  PAM a piece of aluminum foil and fit it against the crust.  Put tart onto baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil.  If it puffed up, press it down gently and cool on rack.



Topping:

1 pound blackberries
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tsp ground ginger


I used frozen, put them in a dish with a bit of sugar and ginger and let them warm up on the counter.



To complete:

Spoon cream into shell.  Smooth cream.  Toss on blackberries.  Serve.

Pumpkin Curry

I love curry, and I love pumpkin.  This isn’t a riddle, it’s just, well, new math?  I dunno, it’s delicious is what it is.

1 pound chicken thighs (or breasts if you’re that person)

½ tablespoon olive oil

1 cup jasmine rice

1 ½ cup chicken stock (I use homemade turkey; if you’ve got it, flaunt it)

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup water

¼ of a medium white onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 small carrots, diced

3 large celery stalks, cut ¼ inch thick

½ cup canned pumpkin purée

½ cup coconut milk

2 tablespoons curry powder (I recommend hot to balance the sweet)

½ teaspoon smoked sea salt

Fresh cracked pepper to taste

Sauté chicken in the olive oil over medium heat until just done.  Set aside.  Meanwhile, bring the stock, wine and water to a boil in a large sauce pan.  Add rice and simmer until al dente.  In the pan used for the chicken, caramelize the onion, adding a little more oil if needed.  Add the garlic and the carrots and stir until carrots are just beginning to soften.  Add the pumpkin puree and the milk, stirring well until combined.  Now add the salt and pepper, and the curry powder.  I strongly suggest that you add the curry slowly, and taste as you go.  The heat of the curry counters the sweet of the pumpkin, but if you’re at all leery of over spicing the dish, taste it as you add.  Bring to a simmer and add celery, chicken, and rice.  Leave on heat for about 2 minutes and then serve.  Yum.  And great for leftovers! Okay, so I’m the only person I know who gets excited for leftovers.  But still, yum.

Crepe Batter

I have a handful of weird Turkey Day traditions.  One of which is that, since I live near the airport, I host a super early breakfast of crepes filled with Thanksgiving themed goodies.  The batter also makes a frabjous way to dispose of leftovers afterwards.  Turkey crepes, stuffing crepes, crepes filled with cranberry sauce or spiced sweet potatoes.  You get the idea. 

This is also the foundation of my holiday French connection.  During this season, all of my cooking starts to take on a bit of a French edge, and by French I mean full of unapologetic butter.  Yeah butter!  So I also add flax seed mill to almost all baking.  Trust me, it’s not healthy, it’s just good. 

2 cups skim milk

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

½ cup flax seed mill

3/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl, whisk the milk with the melted butter and eggs. Mix the flour and salt in another bowl. Whisk the milk mixture into the flour. I refrigerate the batter overnight, but you can cut it down to just an hour if you need to.

To cook, pour a scant ½ cup of the batter into a large skillet on medium heat and slowly tilt pan to coat the bottom with batter.  When crepe slides around easily in pan, flip.  Crispy or tender is a personal call, so how long you leave them over heat is a bit of a learning curve.  Then just fill and roll.  Sooo yummy

Turkey Noodle Soup

Oh the leftovers.  How do I love thee? You don’t?  Why?  It’s the best part.  Just don’t make sandwiches and you’ll be fine.  Try this instead. 
I love this soup with unholy love.  The broth alone tastes like warm mittens and grandma’s kitchen and hugs.  Plus it’s pretty much like a flu-shot, because it will kill a cold stone dead*.

The carcass of the beast: leftover giblets such as neck and heart, all bones, any discarded skin

2 cups dry white wine

      3 ½ quarts water

4 carrots—2 coarsely chopped, 2 sliced 1/4 inch thick

4 celery ribs—2 coarsely chopped, 2 sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 sweet potato, chopped

1 unpeeled onion, quartered

1 large garlic clove, smashed

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1 large fresh bay leaf

6 oregano sprigs (sticks? Pieces? The branch they come on, don’t work for it)

2 thyme sprigs

2 rosemary sprigs

1 lemon, halved

Kosher salt

½ pound  noodles (Splurge on the good stuff or make your own)

      ½ pound shredded turkey leftovers, mostly dark meat if possible

       ¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley


In a giant stockpot pour the wine over the carcass and heat on medium high until fragrant.  Add water, chopped carrots and celery, onion, garlic, peppercorns and herbs; bring to a boil. Cover partially and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes to an hour. Place a strainer over a large heat-proof bowl and spoon all large bits into it.
Add the sliced carrots, celery and sweet potatoes to the broth, cover and simmer until just tender, about 12 minutes. Pour any juices that have accumulated in the bowl back to the pot.  Add the noodles, turkey and parsley to the pot and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve hot.

*This claim has not been verified by the FDA, or any legitimate study, or anyone but me.  You know it’s still true.

Pumpkin Pie

I’ve tried exotic variations on this plan, and my honest advice is this: Don’t.  Just do basic so god damned well people fall over with shock at how much better yours is from what they expected (their mom’s-don’t lie.) 

The first and most important part of that plan is crust.  Crust is not hard if you have a food processor, even a fairly crap one.  Trust me, I had a crap one for years.  This one is designed to be shatteringly crisp and meltingly buttery

1 1/4 cups unbleached flour

Pinch of salt

1 stick FREEZING cold unsalted butter, cubed

1/4 cup ice cold bourbon whiskey, from the freezer cold

In a food processor, pulse the flour with the salt. Add the butter and pulse until the size of peas. Drizzle in the whiskey and pulse until the crumbs are moistened; turn out onto a work surface. Gather into a ball, flatten, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4 large eggs

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon ginger

½ chipotle chili

Pinch of salt

One 15-ounce can pumpkin puree (yes, canned, making your own SUCKS & isn’t any better)

½ cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Lightly flour a large, flat surface, then roll out the chilled pie dough to a 13-inch round about ¼ inch thick. Fit the dough into a 9-inch glass pie plate and trim the overhang to an inch. Fold the dough under itself and crimp decoratively-the dough will shrink during baking, so build it up over the edge more than you think it will need.  Refrigerate the pie shell for 10 minutes.  I like to cut the remaining dough into tiny pumpkins (cookie cutter) and put them onto the center of the pie the last few minutes of baking.  It’s super cute and impressive without adding that much more work

Line the pie shell with foil and fill with pie weights (I’ve also used marbles, lima beans and cookie cutters.  The first 2 work, the last, not a good idea.)  Bake in the center of the oven until just set, about 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake until the crust is pale golden, roughly 10 minutes. Let it cool down a bit.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar, cornstarch and spices. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, then the cream. Pour the filling into the crust. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the custard is set. Let the pie cool; enjoy the rave reviews. 

Note: I usually bake the custard WHILE we eat lunch.  It saves space, makes the house smell delicious, and nobody’s eating it until later anyway.  Trust me, they’ll be so full they’ll need a breather while it cools.

Crispy Skinned, Juicy Turkey

No, seriously, this thing was bad-assed.  I started the campaigning to scale back turkey cook times when I came home from college.  Less is really more, grandma!  The first time I was in charge of dinner, I spent A MONTH researching turkey recipes.  I’ve been perfecting this thing for four years, and this time was honestly the best.  Typically, I’ve been a dry-brine girl, but this time I mistakenly bought the wet kind and rolled with it.  Now I’ll never go back.  It’s time and space consuming, but dear sweet potatoes is it worth it.  Buy the brine.  The math on the cost control works in your favour, I promise. 

1 13-15 pound turkey

1 pkg of brine prepared as per instructions (with one key exception, I used pots of lapsang souchong (a smoky tea) instead of ½ the suggested regular water.)

2 sticks of unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons baking powder                              

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

1 tsp alderwood smoked sea salt

1 tsp fresh cracked pepper

4-6 strips of thick cut bacon

2 granny smith apples, quartered

1 large onion, quartered

Brine turkey for at least eight hours (I accidentally went in for 18, but that’s not necessary.)

Mix the baking powder (it’s what crisps the skin) with the butter, add in the herbs, salt and pepper.

Wash off the brine and pat turkey dry.  Carefully molest the turkey.  This part makes me feel super dirty, but it’s what makes everything taste better.  You insert your hand in between the meat of the bird and the skin, loosening it as you go.  Rub the butter mixture on and underneath the skin.  Be generous.  I like to air dry the turkey for about an hour at this point.  There’s always something else that the oven can be baking.  Or you can do what I did and join your area’s local Turkey Trot and run/walk a few miles to justify all the calories you’re about to be stuffing down your gullet. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Drape bacon slices over the turkey to add flavor and prevent over darkening.  Scatter the apple and onion pieces around the bottom of the roasting pan.  These are just aromatics.  Roast the turkey breast side down for 2 and a half hours.  Remove turkey and flip to breast side up.  Turn oven up to 475.  Roast an hour and a half longer, or until thickest part of the thigh registers 170 degrees.  Remove turkey from oven and flip breast side back down.  Allow turkey to rest for AT LEAST 30 minutes.  This is not a suggestion.  If you skip this part, all of the work you just did will still net you a dried out yucky turkey.  Leave it alone so the juices redistribute before carving and you’ll be rewarded with the best turkey in EVER.