Thursday, 11/25/2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

For about a month, we have been tossing around the idea of using the Mexican-inspired, Thanksgiving menu from the November 2010 issue of Sunset Magazine.  Ben checked with his mom and brother to see if there were any traditional dishes that they needed to have included in the meal.  Spencer said he needed stuffing with sausage in it.  Since the Sunset menu included Chorizo Apple stuffing, we decided to go for it.  Although we didn't make the pumpkin tacos or the suggested desserts, we did not deviate from the printed menu for the main meal.  You will find each menu item below, including links to the Sunset recipes and my notes.

For the table setting, I started with a simple off-white table cloth and our regular plates.  I put a large clear glass vase filled with mandarin oranges in the middle of the table and flanked it with orange taper candles in cut glass holders.  For the place cards, I traced Katie's hand on paper eight times and then begged her to color on that paper with turkey colors.  She was never enthusiastic about coloring with orange and brown, but she did enough to help me out.  I cut out the hands, glued them to paper tents, and then added eyes, a beak, and a gobbler.  Okay, I am sure it is not called a gobbler, but it's the part that hangs down below the beak:)  They turned out really cute!

Chile and Spice Grilled Turkey: We brined our turkey in a boiling-water canner.  The recipe called for the turkey to be placed in the brine, breast down.  Ours went into the pot breast side up, oops.  Ben realized it with about two hours of brining to go and flipped it.  But, that may have been too late to do much good.  Thankfully, the turkey was moist, but it's hard to know if the flavor of the turkey would have been stronger if the breast had been down.  The turkey we grilled was just over 16 pounds, and it took 3 hours for it to reach 160 degrees.  Ben had a hard time regulating the cooking temperature for the first hour, particularly out in freezing, windy conditions.  But, after an hour of adjusting the gas over 10-15 minutes, it finally stabilized.  It was great to use the grill and leave the over free to cook the side dishes.  We would definitely grill again.

Mole Gravy: I am normally not a fan of gravy.  But, this gravy was a delicious sauce!  I think it was my favorite part of the meal.  Maybe it tied with the stuffing;)  The only thing that caught me by surprise with the gravy was how long it took to make.  I didn't read the recipe all the way through and missed that it would take 12 minutes after the turkey juices were added.

Chorizo Apple Stuffing: Laura and David pre-made the stuffing, and then baked it at our house.  It made our house smell fantastic!  The Chorizo and apples gave the stuffing the perfect balance of spice and sweet.  It was amazing with some of the gravy on top. 

Grilled Rosemary Sweet Potatoes: We decided to bake the sweet potatoes in a 325 degree oven last night, rather than grilling them.  I think they baked a little too long.  They were a bit close to becoming mashed potatoes.  Thankfully, they did set up a bit over night, and we were able to warm them up on the grill today.  The flavor was delicious, but I bet they would have been better if we had grilled them. 

Roasted Chile-Lime Brocollini: Nancy fixed this dish at our house this afternoon.  The ancho chile and lime flavors worked very well with the brocollini.   We all thought it was done enough and moved it into the warming drawer.  Unfortunately, we pulled it out of the oven too early.  And then, the other dishes weren't as close to being ready as I thought they were.  It would have been better to leave them in the oven to crisp up a bit more.  Katie enjoyed chewing on one of the stalks.

Roasted Chile Cornbread:  Spencer made the cornbread at our house last night.  The roasted chile's made the house smell good:)  The cornbread was wonderful.  It wasn't too sweet and was enjoyed by all. This is definitely a recipe that would work well with other Tex-Mex meals. 

Cranberry, Apple, Orange Relish:  Jennifer made the relish at home earlier this week.  The recipe said it could be made up to a week prior to the meal.  Well, I don't think any of us truly loved the relish.  It was pretty sour, and the recipe made way more than needed for each person.  The magazine did say that it would be good on a left-over turkey sandwich.  I'll have to try that. 

Fall Salad with Nuts and Pomegranates:  Nancy made this lovely salad for our meal.  Wow, what great flavors!  I really enjoyed the crunch of the walnuts and pomegranate seeds.  And, the fresh thyme was a delightful surprise each time I got a bite of it.

Orange Chocolate Cheesecake:  This recipe came from the Kraft Foods quarter magazine: Food & Family. I've had the recipe in my recipe box for several years now.  When it came time to decide on a dessert for this meal, I thought the citrus and chocolate would go nicely with the Tex-Mex theme.  I was right!  Everyone loved it!  Spencer made a delicious cordial to go with the dessert.  It was called a "Betsy Ross".  There may be more, but here's the list of ingredients I know the drink included:  tawny port, Grand Marnier, Fundador Brandy, and a special bitters, not sold in the state of Washington.  It was sweet and warming:)

All in all, it was a delicious meal that I am so thankful to have shared with my family and friends.

Wednesday, 10/20/2010

Tonight we enjoyed the simplicity of left overs. We all gladly finished off the corn bread/BBQ pulled pork dish I made yesterday. Katie called the corn bread "cake." Very cute:)

Our evenings this week are filled with prepping for my first album to be released.  Ben took amazing photos of me and has been designing beautiful CD case inserts.  His attention to details astounds me.  It's a good thing he is in charge of the design and not me.  I could never make it look as great as he does.  We hope to have the design all done by tomorrow night so that we can submit the CD order.  Yikes...I can't believe this is happening! How very, very cool:)

Tuesday, 10/19/2010

At our potluck on Saturday, our friend Shellie brought a Mexican casserole. I'm not sure exactly what went into it, but it did have beans, corn, and seasoned beef under some kind of cornbread crust. Not wanting to just have another pulled pork sandwich, I decided to experiment with tonight's meal. I used the Mexican casserole as my inspiration.

I took an 8x8-inch glass baking dish, sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray, and covered the bottom with about an inch of leftover BBQ pulled pork. Then I mixed up a batch of corn bread batter, using the recipe on the back of the Albers Yellow Corn Meal box, and poured it over the pork. I baked it in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes. Although the toothpick I stuck in the middle came out clean, it wasn't quite done cooking. Given another 5 minutes in the oven, we would have avoided the soggy middle. It tasted good even though it was a bit soggy. It was fun to experiment. I rarely cook or bake without a recipe to follow.

Here's the recipe to make the corn bread by itself. When I was growing up, it was the recipe my parents would make to go with dinner. I always slather my cornbread with butter and a coat of cinnamon/sugar:)

ALBERS CORN BREAD
Makes 9-12 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease 8-inch-square baking pan.
2. Combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Combine milk, oil, and egg in small bowl; mix well.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until blended.  Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Serve warm.
Note: Recipe may be doubled.  Used greased 13x9-inch baking pan; bake as above.

Tuesday, 5/25/2010

We stayed in Ft. Bragg, CA tonight. When we first got into town, we needed to stop at the grocery store for Katie's milk and ice. The first store we saw was like a PCC or Whole Foods. The store had a small section of clothing in it, including t-shirts for a local brewing company. When we checked into our hotel, we asked if the brewing company was a good place to eat. Turned out it was!

We had dinner at the North Coast Brewing Co. Ben and Spencer each had a plate of BBQ pulled pork with cornbread. Jennifer and I shared a cheeseburger with fries. That was one fabulous burger. The bun was toasted and the burger was super juicy without being undercooked. Ben said his pork was good, but that the bite he had of my burger made him want to switch what he ordered. Katie gnawed on tough crusted bread and while I fed her some of Ben's pork and cornbread. She also stole a few fries from her grandma's plate:)

If you ever plan on driving down the coast and find yourself needing a place to stay in Ft. Bragg, CA, I highly recommend the Shoreline Cottages. We stayed in cottages 8 and 9. Each had a small kitchenette, furnished with dishes, paper towels, dish soap and a sponge, a microwave, coffee maker, and fridge. They had TVs with DVD players, comfy beds, fast response heaters, and nice toiletries. The rooms were clean and the property manager was very knowledgeable about the area.