More Holiday Happiness!--Links and Recipes, Oh My!

I cannot believe Thanksgiving is next week. I'm so not ready yet, having just finished all my business for graduation last week and trying to shovel my way out of the pile of grading that accumulated over the last week and half. However, as deep as my denial may be, in one week, the holiday is upon us. So I thought now might be a good time for some links to great recipes, ideas for host/hostess gifts, and some little noshes to have around.

Just say no.

• So, so over the jellied cranberry sauce that is too sweet and tastes like a cranberry that hid under a dirty bridge for the last two seasons? (And I must apologize to my sister, who quite likes canned cranberry sauce.) Try some Hibiscus Cranberry Sauce. While you're at it, this Cranberry Liqueur looks pretty good too. So you can be festive in your holiday booze-fest. 
  

• This is a rad idea and sure to bring a smile to the face of the folks cooking for you this year, if you're not doing it yourself. Vanilla is at the heart of many traditional desserts, so make some homemade vanilla extract and vanilla salt. When you make it, bring some by my place, please.

• While we're on topic of salt, here's an easy recipe for herbed salt. It's good on everything, easy to make, and you can put it in pretty containers to gift.

• Did you have an "oh s@#*" moment when your mom asked you do the stuffing? No problem. Check out this Apple-Herb Stuffing. 

•  I love this recipe from Tigress in a Jam for Pumpkin Marmalade. I think this would be amazing over a piece of cheesecake.

• If your family is like mine, we stand around grazing for ages while the cooking goes on. Here's a recipe for Rosemary and Salt Smoked Almonds that might just make you the darling of the day. Or at least make people less resentful when you polish off the last of the bottle of chardonnay.

My grandfather, husband, and two of the family dogs, tearing it up last year.

OhFeelYa's Easy...Dinners--Shephard's Pie

Away we go on another...wait for it...meat and potatoes meal for Ofy's Easy weeknight meals! I swear that when the seasons change, so will the menu items, but right now, my hubby loves these satisfying, traditional, starch-and-protein themed dinners. Up for this week is Shepard's Pie. Quite often, Shepard's Pie is just gross. Maybe it's the peas. But I love it because it's hearty and versatile. I'm using beef stew meat and pork cube steak (which, as far as I can tell, is just ground pork flattened out into a squarish-shape, but whatever) in this version, though lamb is traditionally used. If you think of it, throw your protein into a bowl with garlic, herbs (rosemary, thyme, a bay leaf--they can be dried or fresh), salt, pepper, and wine to marinate in the morning or the night before. This can also be a chicken or vegetarian dish if you like.

Before you get started on the filling, peel (or don't, as you wish) four large baking potatoes and put them in boiling water. For my Shepard's Pie, I used leek, rutabaga, carrot, and kale. You can use anything you like. Even the dreaded peas. For the kale, I shredded it off of the stems and discarded them. Then I heated just a bit of milk with a pinch each of salt and nutmeg to blanch the kale in so it wouldn't be bitter.

In a large cast-iron skillet (or other large oven-proof vessel also safe for the stovetop), heat 2 T of oil to pretty hot. Sear off the protein. Let it get good color on it. Remove the protein to a plate and lower heat. Use a 1/2 cup of beef broth to deglaze your pan. Pour in another 1 1/2 of beef broth. Add a splash of red wine, coffee, 1 t. Kitchen Bouquet, 2 t. Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper to the broth. Taste. Adjust as necessary. Combine 1 1/2 T corn starch with that much cool water, stir, and add to broth to make gravy. Let the broth boil for at least a minute and reduce to a simmer. Add in protein and veggies. Let it simmer until the rutabaga and carrots just begin to soften, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat.

When you can easily pierce the potatoes with a fork, take them off the heat, drain them, and return them to a low heat, shaking the pot, until they're dry (watery mashed potatoes don't even bear mentioning). Mash the potatoes with whatever you like. At my house, I use about 3T butter, 1/2 cup milk, a splash of cream, salt and pepper and I add milk at intervals until they reach the consistency I want. I like them really smooth, so I use a hand mixer. However, you can do anything you want. Leave the skins on. Leave them chunky. Add sour cream or yogurt in place of the cream. Add cheddar cheese and chives. Remember, the point of the Easy Dinners series is to give you tasty recipes you can make your own.

When your potatoes are mashed, spread them over the pan of meat and veggies, making a crust of sorts. I'm cooking at the lake this weekend, so I'm without all my stuff, but normally I would use my frosting bag to pipe a decorative pattern with the potatoes. As it is, I tried piping them out through a plastic baggie with the corner cut off. The result was rather akin to cow patty pie rather than shepard's pie. It was really unappetizing, and I apologize for not snapping a picture so you could giggle at my lame artistic attempt. I wound up just slapping it around with a spatula to eradicate the patties.

Put your potato-covered masterpiece in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minute or until it reaches your desired level of browned and crispy.

When you take it out of the oven, let it sit for 15 minutes-ish so the gravy can thicken and not just run everywhere when you cut into it.

Let's face it; it's exceedingly hard to make Shepard's Pie look pretty. But made right, it's tasty and filling and will last you for an entire work week for about $12-15. Plus you can play with the weird veggies like parsnip and rutabaga. Everybody wins.

I'm super excited to say that I finally got in at the right time to get a basket of food from Bountiful Baskets, a mostly local food co-op this Saturday, so I will report back this weekend. I can't wait!

Shepard's Pie Recipe after the jump!

Fairy Food for the Holidays: Pavlova

I know this will come as a shock, but I'm sort of addicted to food-related television. I grade papers with Julia Child's shows on in the background (I have them on DVD). I wait in eager anticipation every week for Top Chef like other folks look forward to The Walking Dead. Anyhoo, I was watching reruns of Masterchef: Australia on Youtube the other day, and they made pavlova. Named for the famous Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, this really does look like fairy food. Having never heard of pavlova before, I immediately started reading about it. Evidently, it's considered a summery dessert (though Aussies eat it year round), though it feels holiday-esque to me.

It's simple to construct, as long as you're careful. I used Alton Brown's recipe
His instructions were clear and simple (though 4 ounces of egg white is approximately the white of 4 large eggs, and 6 ounces of sugar is just in between 3/4 and 1 cup). If you forget to get your eggs out in advance, put them in a bowl of tepid water to bring them to room temp.

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Follow his instructions to get the glossy, white mix that you can then shape into a cake-ish circle. I just threw some parchment paper over the bottom of  a springform pan. It worked great.

Admittedly, I did s#$% the bed on this one a little bit in my impatience. When Brown says to let it cool in the oven by letting the door hang open, do it. I, however, really wanted to see it!

 

So I did. I put it on a cold granite counter. It's supposed to have a few cracks in it like this, but the too-rapid cooling made mine crater a little bit. Clearly, I have the impulse control of a toddler. I do think that next time I will make little single-serving circles because cutting into the big one caused it to break up a bit, which is evidently normal. However, it is sweet and airy and lovely. 

I made a red wine-saffron sauce to go with mine. I really like booze in my food. And while I'm cooking it. And while I'm eating it. This boozy concoction makes a deep reddish-purple, rich, spicy sauce. In a saucepan, combine 1 3/4 cups water, 1 1/2 cups red wine, 2 T balsamic vinegar, 3 T honey, and 1/3 cup sugar. Let that simmer for about 15 minutes or so until it slightly reduces. Taste it and make sure you like the level of sweetness. Remember though, that the pavlova is an extremely sweet dessert to begin with, so you may not want the other components super-sweet as well. To your reduction, add 2T corn starch (mix in a separate bowl with 2T water and then add), a tiny scrape of nutmeg, 2 cloves, and a pinch of saffron. Let this boil for about a minute and then turn off the heat. Remove cloves.

We're big fans of homemade whipped cream around here. I used an 8 oz. carton of heavy whipping cream, 1T powdered sugar, and 1/2 t. orange extract. Whip with a hand mixer until peaks form. Do not comment on how generally dirty this section sounds.

Pavlova with red-wine reduction, whipped cream, and strawberries! It's crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The tart strawberries were a good contrast to the sweetness. As much as I generally hate reality television, I have to say that I quite like watching food programs like Masterchef when it's set in other countries. On the down side, it's a huge contrast to the American version, which is much more focused on the theatrics, but on the upside, it's nice to see people being pleasant to one another, and even better, getting to learn about food I've never experienced, which makes me mad to try it. And even more fun, people who make this dessert routinely seem to be engaged in an unspoken contest to see who can pile the most topping on their fragile pavlova before the whole thing collapses. Check it out:

Kiwi, strawberry, and passion fruit are the most common toppings.

How is this not collapsed?

I'm so tempted to see how much I can load on with the next one.

Recipes after the jump!!

Handy Food Blogs and Some Holiday Meal Links

Well, kids, the holidays are nigh upon us. 

Personally, I love the holidays. They're a good time of year for a food whore. I mean, foodie. I'm hugely fond of cooking for days for the folks I love. I'm sorry to admit it, but I love seeing Christmas displays in October, listening to Christmas music while I'm planning the Thanksgiving menu, and I would totally put up the Christmas tree the day after Halloween if I could talk my husband into it. It's a sickness. I love the colorful, sparkly happiness of it all.

To that end, I thought I'd just do a list of links to fun recipes, blogs, gadgets, and anything else that may inspire you!

• As you know, I'm a big fan of Ben Starr. Here's a link to his extensive blog post on how to prepare a brined turkey. He even has a video to show you how! 
• Deb at Smitten Kitchen did a humorous post on how to do chicken stock in the crockpot! Freaking genius, I say, when we all know that good stock is the basis of rad stuffing and gravy and well played at a time when stove-top space is at a premium. 
• The ladies at Spoon Fork Bacon have a luscious-looking recipe for sweet potato and rosemary gratin for those of you tired of that crap with the marshmallows on top. (I'm deeply sorry if the marshmallow version is your favorite. Sort of.)
• This little gadget is the secret to turning the turkey drippings into something non-greasy and delicious. 

  

  The built-in strainer will strain out the big chunks, and if you wait a bit for the grease to separate and rise to the top, the spout will allow you to pour out the tasty juices sans grease. 

  
  

• Every year, I make Martha Stewart's Steamed Cranberry Pudding for my momma. Don't be turned off by "pudding" in the title; it's just a really moist, thick cake that is as good as licking the batter out of the bowl. For the pudding, you'll need one of these:

  

  You put your cranberry mix in the bottom, top it with the cake batter, and lower the whole thing into a pot of boiling water (up to just below the lip) for a gorgeous holiday cake.

  The best part is that if you get the mold, there are a variety of recipes appropriate for all times of the year at the Martha Stewart Living website. And it's so pretty!
  
   
• Jerry at Cooking Stoned posted this recipe for Cranberry Christmas Sangria. You can bet your turkey wishbone this will be happening at some point Thanksgiving weekend. 

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions/dishes? Some of our favorites include orange-rosemary turkey, butternut squash risotto, glazed bacon-wrapped green beans, my grandmother's cranberry salad, and maple-pecan pie. I'll post some of those recipes as the big day draws nearer!

OhFeelYa's Easy...Dinners--Smashed Potatoes with Bacon and Pickled Veg

This may be my laziest meal yet. But it's been a busy weekend, and my hubby is pretty easy to please. Like I've said before, he loves pork and potatoes like the proverbial fat kid loves cake (I'm the fat kid in this scenario; he's super thin). So I took eight medium-sized red potatoes and microwaved them at two-minute intervals until they were easy to slide a fork into. Lazy, I tell you. Can't even be bothered to bake the potatoes. Set aside.

I cooked a package of thick-cut bacon in the laziest way possible: under the broiler. See that cookie sheet pictured below? You can lay bacon out on it, put it under a 350 degree broiler, and it will cook evenly in twenty minutes or so without crapping up your stove top and popping you in the eye every time you lean over it (am I the only one that happens to?). When the bacon is done, transfer it to a plate with a paper towel to drain. Since bacon grease is like cash money around here, I got out my nearly empty mason jar, put a strainer over it, and tipped the run-off into my stash. Because God forbid we run out of bacon grease up in here. If you do hang on to the grease, and you ought to, make sure you let it cool to room temp before you put it back in the fridge to prevent bacteria growth. Chop the bacon into whatever size makes you happy.

On the still greasy cookie sheet, space your potatoes evenly apart. Using whatever smashing mechanism you fancy, just press the potatoes until they flatten a bit without totally disintegrating. I put a tiny bit of butter on each potato, layered them with bacon, and cracked a generous amount of black pepper over them. Put them back under the broiler to warm it all and crisp up the edges.

I totally get that this is not a heart-healthy meal. I don't personally eat like this because I battle weight and high blood pressure, but my very tall, very thin spouse eats this kind of thing consistently without any cholesterol or weight problems. We should all be so lucky. However, this recipe would work equally well with a shredded rotisserie chicken, some leftover brisket or roast, or pulled pork.

Now for the part that cuts through all the grease and makes this plate of food shine like one of my students before they get their first paper back. Quick-pickled vegetables are bright, cut through rich, fatty foods, and are super easy to make. In a desperate attempt to get some veg into my husband, I went with carrots, onion, and a little garlic. You can also use cucumber, fennel, radish, etc.... Cut three carrots, half an onion, and two cloves of garlic pretty thin. If you have a mandolin collecting dust somewhere, bust it out.

In a non-reactive saucepan (look at the bottom--if it's stainless steel, you're good to go), mix 1 1/2 cups filtered water, 1 cup mirin rice wine vinegar (you can get this on the Asian isle at the grocery store), and a splash of apple cider vinegar. For seasoning, I threw in three juniper berries, two whole star anise, a tablespoon of mustard seeds, 1/2 teaspoon red paper flakes, about five turns of the sea salt grinder, and a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper. Remember, if you are lucky enough to have a Central Market or Whole Foods nearby, you can buy a pinch of these seasonings for pennies (and without having to buy an entire bottle). Use more red pepper if you want it spicy. Bring your snazzy brine to a boil. 

Layer your soon-to-be pickles into a jar and pour the hot brine over them. Pickles come in glass jars for a reason--they don't react well with plastic or reactive metal.  

Again, let them cool completely before you refrigerate. If you want them super crunchy, let the brine cool before you pour it on the vegetables. I like mine mostly crunchy, and I pour the hot brine over them after it's not boiling any more. (If you do cucumbers, which are more fragile than carrots, then I would let the brine cool a bit to at least warm but not hot before adding for crunchy cucumbers.) If you want the veggies a cooked consistency, put them in the boiling brine and let them cook, but not all the way. It's up to you! Remember they'll continue to soften in the brine after they're refrigerated.The longer these sit, the better they taste, so make them first!

Holy crow, these are good. They take this very basic meal and make it a lot more special. Plus, making your own pickles will impress the crap out of your family! 

Yum. I had one forkful and then turned the plate over to my husband, who promptly doubled the amount of food on the plate. Yesterday, we had a Veteran's Day celebration at school. Our little cantina catered in sandwiches, brownies, etc...and I took the larger jar of pickled carrots to spice up the rather bland sandwiches. They were a big hit with the vets!