Mahogany Cornish Hens

I am calling this a mahogany Cornish hen.  Because I drizzled it with honey before baking, it came out a little darker than I would have liked.  But there is no denying the excellent flavor.

I did not roast a turkey this year.  We spent Thanksgiving at our friends' home and my only contribution was a butternut squash casserole.  We missed our family but it was interesting to view another familiy's rituals, which to be quite honest, were so much like our own.  Generations, from the revered older uncle to the youngest one year old tripping over doorway steps and trying to pull knives out of the open dishwasher, were all present and accounted for.  The turkey, mashed potatoes and dressing, not to mention the crockpot full of gravy were all just right.  On that one day in November we are all the same.  Thank you Stephanie and Bruce for a great day.

So on Friday, because I was not preoccupied with shopping, I decided I would make Cornish hens to feel a part of the Thanksgiving weekend.  Black Friday shopping is not for me, but we actually did venture out to a big box store to take advantage of the sale on appliances.  We ordered a new stainless steel gas stove and refrigerator.  They will be delivered on December 10th.  In the meantime, we have to get a propane tank and a gas line into the house. I love my gas stove in Lake Lure and look forward to replacing the electric stove here.

The Cornish hens were an experiment.  I received my package of O OLIVE OIL'S blood orange olive oil and porto vinegar and have been enjoying the flavors.  I will be posting my contest entry recipe on December 1st.  I am one of 8 contestants in the eRecipeCards cookoff.  We will be judged on our recipe, our writing style and our photography.  I would appreciate your vote on December 1st.

But back to the Cornish hens.  The recipe was simply a matter of drizzling spatchcocked Cornish hens with honey, olive oil and balsamic style vinegar.  They were seasoned with chopped rosemary and salt and pepper and baked in a 400 degree F. oven until done.  My only advice is to have a very sharp knife to remove the backbones and press down hard on the breasts to flatten the birds.

I will see you back here on Thursday.  I have given my entry recipe much thought and hope it is a winner.  It showcases the citrusy flavors of the olive oil and the smoky nuances of the port vinegar.  Now if I just had a new camera  . . . .  early Christmas present maybe?

Three Dressing Casseroles for Thanksgiving

I now have three dressing casseroles in my repertoire for Thanksgiving.  They are all my favorites because I love dressing so much that I would not be able to choose.  Take your pick.  This newest dressing is one that I saw in Bon Appetit last year.  It is Rosemary Bread Stuffing with Prosciutto, Fennel and Lemon.  One of my favorite breads is La Brea's rosemary olive oil bread and this recipe is built around that kind of bread.  How could you go wrong?  Fennel is used liberally in the recipe and I love the subtle flavor that it imparts.  Add prosciutto or speck to the mix and there is no doubt that it will be good.  I made this last week and even David, who is not a stuffing or dressing aficionado, loved it.

ROSEMARY BREAD STUFFING WITH PROSCIUTTO, FENNEL AND LEMON (Bon Appetit)

1 14 1/2-to 16-ounce purchased rosemary-olive oil bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
7 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
2 cups chopped fresh fennel bulb (from 1 large) plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh fennel fronds
1 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 ounced thinly sliced Speck or prosciutto, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
1 cup (or more) low-salt chicken broth
2 large eggs, beaten to blend

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Toss bread cubes, 3 tablespoons oil, and 2 tablespoons melted butter in large bowl.  Spread mixture on large rimmed baking sheet.  Bake until bread cubes are golden, stirring occasionally, 20 to 22 minutes.  Cool.

Mix wine and raisins in small saucepan; let soak 10 minutes.  Boil 2 minutes Cool.

Stir fennel seeds in small dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant and slightly darker, 2 to 3 minutes.  Transfer fennel seeds to plate to cool.  Finely grind seeds in mortar with pestle or in spice mill.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter with 3 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add fennel bulb, shallots, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; saute until fennel is tender and shallots are pale golden, about 7 minutes.  Stir in ground fennel seeds, prosciutto, lemon peel, and fennel fronds.  Stir raisins into fennel mixture; cool.

Do Ahead;  Bread cubes and fennel mixture can be made 1 day ahead.  Store bread airtight at room temperature.  Cover and refrigerate fennel mixture.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Coat 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish with 1 tablespoon oil.  Toss bread cubes and fennel mixture in large bowl.  Add 1 cup broth and eggs; toss until moistened, adding up to 1/4 cup more broth if dry.  Transfer stuffing to prepared baking dish.  Cover with foil coated lightly with oil. oiled side down.  Bake until stuffing is heated through, about 30 minutes.  Remove foil; bake uncovered until top is crisp and golden, about 30 minutes.

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CORNBREAD SAUSAGE STUFFING WITH APPLES.  This dressing has been a favorite for many years.  It is adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook.  Cornbread, whole wheat, and sourdough bread are combined with sausage and apples.  It is very flavorful.  Here is the link to the recipe.

MOM'S THANKSGIVING DRESSING.  This is the dressing that I grew up with.  It is very basic but it is the favorite of the whole family.  Every bite of it is loaded with memories.  My Mother knew what she was doing.  Here is the link to the recipe.

I wish all of you a very happy and memorable Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for all of you.

Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

We will be having a small Thanksgiving this year.  We plan to spend two weeks with the family over Christmas, so a trip north for a quick Thanksgiving dinner is not in the picture.  But a small Thanksgiving dinner for two doesn't have to be boring.  There was the year that hubby and I were by ourselves.  I bought a small turkey.  He wanted to do it on the grill.  I wanted it in the oven so I could make gravy.  So with Solomon like judgement we decided to split it in half; half on the grill and half in the oven.  Mine was best.  He disagrees.

I am not sure yet what we will do with our turkey this year, but I know that this is the way I will be preparing the green beans.  I ran across this recipe while on Pinterest.  It has lots of pins and repins.  The recipe came originally from Aubrey of Just Cook Already,  a blog that I had not visited before.  You might want to go on over and check out her original recipe.  I did make a few changes.

This recipe is great on several levels.  The flavor is wonderful.  Anything wrapped in bacon is good.  The sauce with butter, garlic, brown sugar and (my addition) O OLIVE OIL blood orange oil and port vinegar is scrumptious.  The dish can be prepared ahead of time up to the 15 to 20 minutes needed in the oven to crisp the bacon.  You can have it assembled and in the fridge the day before Thanksgiving.  I also loved that it is already portioned out.  If you are having twelve for Thanksgiving you can assemble twelve bundles.  If you are only two . . . well, you get the picture.

BACON WRAPPED GREEN BEANS

1 lb. green beans, tips removed
5 strips of bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon O OLIVE OIL blood orange oil (or zest of 1 orange and 1 tablespoon orange juice)
1 tablepoon O OLIVE OIL porto vinegar (or 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Cook green beans until tender.  Remove beans to an ice water filled bowl.  Place beans on paper towels to absorb excess water.

Heat butter in a small saucepan.  Add garlic and saute for a few minutes.  Add brown sugar and oil and vinegar.  Stir together and cook for a few minutes.  Remove from heat.

In a large saute pan, cook bacon partially to remove some of the grease.  Do not brown.  Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate.  It should be limp.

Assemble dish.  Cut bacon slices in half.  Line up approximately 8 to 10 green beans and wrap them with the half piece of bacon.  Secure with a toothpick.  Continue with rest of bundles and place in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  Drizzle sauce over beans.  (Can be assembled ahead of time to this point).

Place baking dish in preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until bacon is cooked through and beans are warmed through.

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Southern-Style Tuna Salad with Pickles and Eggs

I brought only one cookbook with me to Florida.  Admittedly I have a large collection both in Lake Lure and here, but only one book from Lake Lure spoke to me to be included in the trip South.  It was Sara Foster's Fresh Every Day.  I love her seasonal approach to cooking and the Southern leanings of the book.  But this book is more a reflection of the new South, with twists on old Southern favorites like biscuits and cornbread.  In Sara's hands they become sweet potato biscuits and cornbread panzanella.

Some things are truly Southern.  Tuna salad with hard boiled eggs and sweet pickles is one of them.  You can eat the tuna salad in a sandwich, but how about serving it on toasted crostini with a garnish of roasted red pepper.  Sara has elevated a simple classic.  Somehow it tastes a little better to me that way.

SOUTHERN -STYLE TUNA SALAD WITH PICKLES AND EGGS (adapted from Fresh Every Day)

2 6 ounce cans solid white tuna packed in water or oil (I like oil better), drained
2 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, diced
4 small sweet pickles or 10 whole cornichons, chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or parsley leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine the tuna in a medium bowl with the chopped hard-boiled eggs, celery, pickles, mayonnaise, mustard, dill, salt, and pepper and stir to mix.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

Printable recipe

Now onto some exciting news for me.  I entered a contest that is being offered by my blogging buddy Dave's new website eRecipeCards.  He has gone from blogging his own posts on My Year on the Grill to establishing a website where all us can submit our recipes to share with everyone.  I am loving eRecipeCards.com so much.  It has increased the traffic on my blog and introduced me to lots of other bloggers.  It is a community of cooks both old and new.  I know many of you submit your recipes to the website.  Dave has even started a new blog called Inspired by eRecipeCards.com where he recreates recipes from those of us who contribute to the website.  He is a very supportive guy.

His first contest is being sponsored by O OLIVE OIL.

O OLIVE OIL is offering a box of their cirtrus olive oils and barrel aged vinegars to the winner.  There will also be monetary prizes for best photography and best writing skills.  I submitted an idea for a recipe to O OLIVE OIL and they liked what I suggested.  I am one of 8 bloggers who will post a recipe using O OLIVE OIL oils and vinegars and a review of the products on December 1st.  I look forward to the challenge and to your support.





Tuna Salad Southern Style

Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut-Curry Sauce

Amongst all of the baggage I brought South with us from Lake Lure was the remainder of the frozen halibut David caught in Alaska.  It survived the trip to Florida still in it's frozen state, so my freezer here will provide several more meals for us. 

Halibut is by far one of my favorite fish.  It is a firm- fleshed fish with a mild taste and a low fat content.  Because it is so mild, it lends itself to preparations with lots of flavor.  This recipe from Ellie Krieger on the Food Network has been in my "to try" file for quite a while.  I love Thai restaurants and Thai flavors.  The red curry paste and the coconut milk in this dish compliment the halibut well.  The fish is poached in the sauce and couldn't be easier to prepare.  Served over wilted spinach and brown and wild rice it was a meal that was both good for us and elegantly simple at the same time.

THAI-STYLE HALIBUT WITH COCONUT CURRY SAUCE

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

4 shallots, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)

2 1/2 teaspoons red curry paste, or 2 teaspoons curry powder

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup light coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon more for seasoning

4 (6-ounce) pieces halibut fillet, skin removed

1/2-cup coursely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

2 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced

2 tabblespoons fresh lime juice

Freshly ground black pepper

In a large saute pan, heat the oil over moderate heat.  Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the chicken broth, coconut milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer until reduced to 2 cups, about 5 minutes.

Season the halibut with 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Arrange the fish in the pan and gently shake the pan so the fish is coated with the sauce.  Cover and cook until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 7 minutes.

Arrange cooked brown and wild rice in center of plate.  Top with steamed baby spinach.  Place halibut over both.  Add the cilantro, scallions, and lime juice to the sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Ladle the sauce over the fish. 

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Cracklin' Buttermilk Biscuits

I have avoided making biscuits.  It seemed like such a messy enterprise for the first thing in the morning.  Also my biscuits have turned out to be less than stellar .  But not anymore.  I have conquered the biscuit and can even have them prepped, up to the addition of the buttermilk (and bacon if you choose to use it), way in advance.

Biscuits seem to me to be a Southern thing, so I consulted The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook for their take on biscuits.  I expected a complicated method of cutting in the shortening, but was suprised to find that just a short burst in a food processor will incorporate the butter and shortening nicely.  The dough is handled briefly with three turns on a floured board, patted out and cut.  It is much easier than making pie crust.

The addition of crumbled cooked bacon is a nice touch.  The real Southern way would be to use pork cracklings but that is something I never have in my refrigerator.   These biscuits are just the right size for brunch with the addition of country ham as a filling.  Or you can get creative with spreads.  I will list a few ideas at the bottom of the recipe.  Enjoy.

CRACKLIN' BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour, plus more for work surface and hands

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons cold lard or vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup cold buttermilk

4 slices crisply cooked bacon, crumbled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly with a fork.  Transfer to a food processor fitted with the chopping blade.  Add the butter and lard and pulse the mixture in 2-second increments until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 5 pulses.  At this point you can put in a bowl and refrigerate until you are ready to proceed.

Transfer the mixture back to the bowl, pour the buttermilk over it, add the crumbled bacon, and mix with the fork for about 1 minute, until the dough just comes together.  Turn the dough out onto a floured board, knead with floured fingers once or twice, and pat it into a rectangle about 6 x 10 inches and 1 inch thick.

Fold the top third of the rectangle over the center third and fold the bottom third on top.  Turn the dough a quarter turn, pat it into a 6 x 10 inch rectangle, and fold it upon itself in thirds again.  Repeat one more time, then pat the dough into a 6 x 10 inch rectangle about 1 inch thick. ( Just a note here; it is more important that the dough be 1 inch thick, rather than 6 x 10.  My dough was 5 x 9.)

Using a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits from the dough and place them about 1 1/2 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet.  You may have to reroll the scrapes to get all of your biscuits.  I had about 13 biscuits.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the tops just begin to brown.

Serve the biscuits warm with any of the following flavored butters.

1.  Sorghum Butter - Combine 8 tablespoons softened unsalted butter with 1/2 cup sorghum molasses.  Cream together.  Transfer to 2 4-ounce ramekins and refrigerate until needed.

2.  Strawberry Butter - Combine 8 tablespoons softened unsalted butter with 2 tablespoons of strawberry jam and a few grinds of black pepper.  Cream together.  Transfer to ramekins and refrigerate until needed.

3.  Cinnamon Butter - Combine 8 tablespoons softened unsalted butter with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.  Cream together.  Transfer to ramekins and refrigerate until needed.

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We are heading to Florida on Tuesday.  My next post will be from there.  That's really not our feet.  Mine are prettier than that. LOL. 

Tortilla Meatball Soup

There are so many variations on tortilla soup.  In my opinion you can't  go wrong with any of them.  Tortilla soup is warming both in temperature and in taste.  Jalapeno peppers give it just the right heat and the garlic infused broth adds pleasure for the soul.  With the addition of flavorful meatballs to the soup, you will gild the lily of satisfaction.

Sometime I want to do a series of posts on what you can do with a pound of hamburger.  That is just what Cooking Light Magazine has done in it's latest issue.  One of the recipes featured was this tortilla meatball soup, which I have adapted.  A Summer and Fall of overindulgences have brought us to the realization that we need to temper our calorie intake.  This soup is full of flavor and I have discovered that, for us, flavor trumps richness every time.  Eating lighter fare does not have to be a sacrifice.

There are several steps involved in making this soup, but all of them add to the depth of flavor.  This is a good soup to make on a lazy weekend afternoon.

 
TORTILLA MEATBALL SOUP

2 jalapeno peppers
1 red bell pepper
2 cups of frozen corn, thawed
4 corn tortillas, cut into 1/4 inch strips
Cooking spray
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
6 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1/3 cup panko crumbs
1 pound ground round
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce, minced
1 tablespoon oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cups cubed red potatoes
2 carrots, sliced into rounds
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
3/4 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese
chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Preheat broiler.

Cut jalapenos and bell pepper in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes.  Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Broil 4 to 6 minutes or until blackened.  Place peppers in a paper bag; fold to seal.  Let stand 15 minutes; peel.  Mince jalapenos, and coarsely chop bell pepper.

Place tortlla strips in a single layer on a baking sheet; lightly coat with cooking spray.  Broil for 3 minutes or until golden brown.  Watch closely so the strips do not burn.  Set aside.

Combine 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 garlic clove, panko, ground round, egg and minced chipotle chile in a large bowl, and gently mix until just combines.  Shape the meat mixture into small meatballs.  I ended up with 28.

Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add meatballs to pan; saute for 8 minutes, turning to brown on all sides.  Remove from pan.  Add onion, potatoes, and carrot to pan; saute 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add remaining 5 garlic cloves; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add peppers, broth and 2 cups water; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are almost tender, stirring occasionally.  Return meatballs to pan.  Add remaining salt and the corn; return to a simmer.  Cook 10 minutes or until meatballs are done.  Ladle soup into each of 6 bowls; top each serving with cheese, cilantro and tortilla strips.  380 Calories.

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My new website is under construction.  I plan to launch it on the third anniversary of my blog in January.  Here is a sneak peak.

I am so excited.  It will be a collaborative effort of my talented Son and Daughter-In-Law.  Check out Kristen's business blog here.