Post Turkey Day Reflections 2009

November 27, 2009 by 27 Comments
I hope all of your tummy’s have recovered by now and you’re getting ready for a turkey cranberry cream cheese sandwich from all your leftovers, I know I am. I thought I’d share some highlights from our dinner yesterday.

This gorgeous appetizer came from my daughter via Whole Foods. What a way to start the party!

I decided to try and brine our turkey this year, dry brining appealed to me. I saw Martha do it on her show. 2/3 cup of kosher salt with a few crumbled bay leaves. Rub your turkey down from top to bottom and inside, place in an airtight bag 2 days prior to cooking. Rinse well before cooking.

The result was a super moist tender turkey, we all loved it. Dry brining is my new favorite thing!!

Outside we grilled an additional bone in turkey breast that was rubbed all over with a paste of olive oil, garlic, and fresh herbs. Great for that sandwich I’m about to make!

Ooops, I forgot my cranberries and rolls for the photo! I also made stuffing balls with different ingredient variations, great way to serve stuffing, nice portions, and they get crispy all over.

Giada’s lemon ricotta cookies.

This was brought over by a good friend of the family, a homemade Derby Pie, I woke up thinking about how good this pie tasted. Premium chocolate laced in a carmel pecan filling.

Truely decadent, and worth every bite!

In the midst of such a terrible recession with many people falling on hard times, it’s the simple things we’re all thankful for, family, friends, our health, and of course…. food!
Buon Appetito!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Signature
27 Comments Filed Under: Fall, Seasonal Tagged: , , ,

La Bomba, A Spicy Condimento

November 19, 2009 by 27 Comments

This condiment with a kick is great to have readily available in your frig at all times. Perfect when friends or family stop by and you need a quick appetizer or just something little to munch on. Other ways to use this spicy condiment is to toss it in with some pasta, slather it on your favorite sandwich, use it as a side, or a topping on pizza.

How can you go wrong with eggplant, fennel, roasted red peppers, onions, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and olives? The slight heat in the background is from a touch of cayenne and smoked paprika. The combination is so good together! The worse part of this recipe is that all your vegetables need to be finely diced, a little time consuming, but worth it. I would recommend making a large amount, why you might ask? Because this is another addicting little treat!
By the way, those pita chips I made go great with this!

This recipe comes from the book Earth to Table, I’m giving you the recipe from the book but I quadrupled mine and added more olive oil to the finished product, and a touch more heat.
Here’s the Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups eggplant, finely diced (1 medium-large)
1 ½ cups fennel root, finely diced (1 small or ½ large bulb)
¾ cup roasted red peppers, finely diced ( I roasted my own)
¾ cup white onion, finely diced (1 large)
½ cup green olives, drained, pitted and finely diced
½ cup artichoke hearts, finely diced (I used frozen, defrosted, and added more)
2)½ cup fresh cremini mushrooms, finely diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ cup fresh flat leaf/Italian parsley, chopped
In a large skillet saute in the olive oil all veggies until slightly softened, then add your cayenne and smoked paprika. Cool down all your veggies on a large baking sheet. When cooled, place in a bowl and add the vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, adjust your heat and toss in your parsley. I drizzled in more olive oil before I place it all in an airtight container and refrigerated it. This will last a good week.
Also wonderful with a nice chunk of crusty bread, and don’t forget to pour a glass of cold wine along side it!
Have a nice weekend and Buon Appetito!!

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Signature
27 Comments Filed Under: Appetizers Tagged: , ,

Rosemary & Olive Oil Pita Chips with Tuscan White Bean Dip

November 16, 2009 by 35 Comments

This is a fantastic appetizer that you might want to bring to one of your upcoming holiday parties. It feeds a crowd, it won’t break the bank, it’s easy to do, and it tastes amazing! Another nice bonus is that the chips can be made way in advance.

I’m warning you these chips are addictive, you won’t want to move very far away from them. This is my friend Jean’s recipe, the first time she made this she could hardly pry us all away to move on to the next course, in fact, we would have been very happy to continue munching on these.

The pita chips are nice and crunchy and flavored with extra virgin olive oil, a hint of rosemary and kosher salt.

The best way to store them is in a cookie tin between sheets of wax paper. They will stay crunchy and delicious for up to 3 weeks! I would recommend to make a bunch, you’ll be glad you did, as they would be great with lots of other dips or condiments you might be making. In fact I have an upcoming post for another use for these, so stay tuned!

Here’s the recipe: (Thanks Jean!)
First thing you do is soak some dried rosemary ( not fresh) in a bowl of extra virgin olive oil, you’ll be using this mixture for brushing on the pita’s. Let it soak for a good hour or so.
**1 15oz can of drained and rinsed cannellini beans.
**1/4 cup of fresh Italian parsley
**2T fresh lemon juice along with and the grated lemon peel of one lemon
**1 garlic clove
**salt and pepper
**1/3 cup of olive oil
Put everything in a food processor and stream in the olive oil until nice and creamy. So easy!
For the pita chips, buy a bag of fresh pita’s, take each pita and cut them into long strips, you should get six to 8 strips per pita. Now snip off the tips to square them off, and separate. After separation you should have around 16 individual chips then per pita. ( see why I say it makes a ton!) Brush each strip with the rosemary olive oil mixture on the rough side of the pita, the inner side, place on a baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt and bake in a 400F oven for about 7-8 minutes, or until golden brown. Let them cool on a rack, then place them in your cookie tin for storage.
NOTE: I would suggest not to put any rosemary in the dip at all, just the parsley, otherwise it would be too overpowering, the freshness of the zest, lemon juice, parsley and garlic is a great compliment. Feel free to double, triple, or whatever the recipe. I made 8 bags of pita with 6 cans of beans for my son and DIL’s baby shower!!!
Buon Appetito!!
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Signature
35 Comments Filed Under: Appetizers, Party Foods Tagged: , , ,