Left-over Turkey and Stuffing

This is a very old recipe that we have been using for left-over poultry for years. Start by diceing 2C of turkey or chicken, 1C celery and 1C water chestnuts. Place the mix in a baking dish and add 1- 14 oz. can cream of chicken soup. Stir together. Cover this mixture with left-over stuffing. Bake in a 350 F oven for 30 min. If you have the time, this dish is even better if you make your own white sauce to replace the creamed soup.

Thanksgiving Day

This year, in addition to the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. we decided to have the kids cook with us. Greg and Mina prepared the appetizers and Karen the vegetable. All are pictured here....Pear and Prosciutto Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette, Garlic and Eggs in olive oil and Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Thyme. (Top is the Pear and Prosciutto plate, Middle Pear and Prosciutto with the Garlic and Egg and Bottom the Brussel Sprouts.)

Pears and Prosciutto - Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together 1/4C champagne or white wine vinegar, 1T white wine or water, 2T minced shallot, 1t Dijon mustard, 1t sugar, 1/4t salt, 1/4C extra virgin olive oil, 2T walnut oil, freshly ground black pepper. Quarter and core 2 Bartlett pears and wrap them tightly in the prosciutto. Brush lightly with the vinaigrette and grill until the prosciutto is browned and crispy. Toss 8C of arugula leaves (we substituted water cress) with the vinaigrette. Place the leaves on four serving plates, add the pears and crumble goat cheese over the salad.

Garlic and Eggs - Gently poach 20-30 cloves of garlic in hot olive oil until they are cooked to your liking; they can be soft to crunchy but be careful not to burn them because garlic becomes bitter if burned. Drain the garlic and add 1 egg which has been scrambles gently to the hot oil. Serve the garlic, the egg and the oil on thin slices of french bread.

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Thyme - Clean and quarter 2lb. of brussel sprouts and set them aside. Brown about 5 rashers of diced bacon in a pan then remove it to a plate. Discard the fat. Add 4 finely chopped shallots and 2T finely chopped thyme leaves. Transfer the shallots and thyme to the dish with the bacon. Add 1/2C chicken stock to the pan to deglaze it. Pour this stock over the bacon. Add the brussel sprouts to the pan and gently cook for 3-4 min. Stir in 1/4C stock and continue cooking until the sprouts are tender. Add the bacon and stock mixture back and stir to incorporate and serve.

The rest of the Thanksgiving meal was the same as the one pictured here last year.

Pork Tenderloin with Spicy Black Bean Sauce and Roasted Potatoes

Prepare the bean sauce to use as a marinade for the meat. In a food processor, mix 1C cooked black beans, 1/4C chicken stock, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/4C diced tomatoes and hot pepper to taste. We used 2t Tabasco sauce. Blend until smooth. Use 1/2 for the sauce to marinate the pork. Keep the rest to serve with the meat. After 2-3 hrs. in the marinade remove the pork and brown in an oven proof pan. While the meat is browning, chunk 2 potatoes, skin on. Rub them with olive oil, minced garlic and rosemary. Place them in a baking dish (This is a variation of our friend Marsha's roasted redskins). Place the meat in its pan and the potatoes in theirs in a 400 F oven for about 30 min. Warm the sauce you reserved and serve over the meat. The green beans were simply steamed.

Barley Soup made with Veal Stock

We had some veal bones left over from dinner with Greg and Mina so we decided to make soup. In general, if you have a little time, the stock you can make is much more flavorful then the stuff you buy. Paint the bones, beef or veal, with tomato paste, about 3T. We had 3 veal shank bones. Place the bones on a baking try along with a rib of celery, a carrot and a small onion which has been peeled. Bake for about 1 hr at 350 F. Put the bones and veggies in a soup pot and add 2qts. of water, 1T thyme, 1 bay leaf and 1T freshly ground pepper. Mushrooms are a nice addition too; we saute them before adding them to the soup. Simmer the mixture for a couple hours. Remove the bones and vegetables, adjust the seasonings, add 1C sliced carrots, and the same amount of celery and onion. When the vegetables are almost done add 1/2C pearl barley and continue simmering until the barley is done. You can add pasta and beans if you wish. We finished the soup with some fresh green beans.

Balsamic Glazed Beef with Caramelized Butternut Squash and Potatoes - Adapted from Food TV

Start with a couple comments. First, the original recipe called for flank steak. We don't get flank, skirt, hanger steak; they are tough and expensive so we substituted top round steak. Second, we have been looking for a way to make squash.....acceptable, so we decided to caramelize it and serve it with the balsamic glaze made for the meat. It turned out very nice. The tartness of the balsamic glaze went well with the sweetness of the squash.

Start by dicing and browning 3 rashers of bacon. Remove it from the pan, drain the grease and adding 1/2C balsamic vinegar. Reduce this slightly over medium heat while you start the squash. Place about 1lb of butternut squash, chunked in a saute pan with 2T butter and 2T brown sugar. Saute gently until the squash develops a golden brown color and is tender. Rub the beef with lots of ground pepper and minced garlic, or garlic powder. Cook over high heat in a stovetop griddle pan to desired doneness. The potatoes were frozen packaged ones and were prepared according to the package directions. With the balsamic vinegar at a low boil, add 1/2C beef stock containing 2t corn starch to thicken the glaze. Add the bacon back to the glaze. Serve the glaze on the side for the meat and squash. The meal was literally prepared in the time it took to bake the potatoes. We served the meal with a big red wine like a Merlot.

Southern Roots Exposed.....Again

Dee was out. So, dinner consisted of some greens, blackeyed peas and tube steak. The peas cooked most of the day over low heat with a garlic clove, celery, onion, a bay leaf and 1T dried thyme. I browned the steaks in a large covered pan. When they were about done, add the chopped greens, in this case collard greens, which have been washed. Cover the pan and steam them until they are tender but not mushy. Buy plenty because they cook down. The picture represents 1lb of greens before cooking. Serve them with vinegar and Tabasco sauce; brown mustard for the dogs.

Fried Chicken with Shiso Leaves and Mushroom Risotto

Our daughter-in-law Mina gave use a Shiso plant and we found a recipe for chicken using the leaves. Cut a boneless, skinless chicken breast into bitesize strips. Dip the strips in an egg white wash and then into corn starch. Wrap the chicken pieces in the shiso leaves, held in place with toothpicks and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. The shiso imparts a wonderful flavor to the chicken. The risotto has been described here before but in the interest of time, here it is again. Start by sauteing the risotto in olive oil with some finely diced onion. Slowly add hot stock to the rice cooking slowly until all the liquid is absorbed. Finish it by adding sauted mushrooms and grated parmesan cheese. For a serving for 2 we use 1/2C risotto, 2C stock, 8oz. chopped mushrooms, and 3T grated cheese. The trick with risotto is to cook it very slowly. The vegetable in this case is steamed edamame.

Chinese Pork and Vegetable Dumplings

We were visiting a local Asian market and thought these dumplings looked good. The dumplings were steamed for 10 min. We found the sauce at a site called Food Down Under, http://fooddownunder.com/ , an interesting site. Mix 3T soy sauce, 2T water, 2T vinegar, 1t hot chili oil, 3T finely diced onion, 1 clove minced garlic and chopped cilantro. Serve with the dumplings on the side. A nice quick meal.

Vegetable Terrine with Pork Tenderloin

The terrine recipe covered 5 pages in the Silver Palate Cookbook (not the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook). Deanna spent all day creating this wonderful dish. It has a white bean layer, a tomato layer and a leek layer. The layers are all cooked individually and then assembled in baking pans. It is baked in a "ban marie" at 350F for 2 hours and served with a tomato-basil reduction. If you want the complete recipe let us know and we'll mail it.

The pork was a simple pork tenderloin with garlic and basil. Slits were made in the meat and sliced garlic and basil leaves were inserted. The tenderloin was browned on the stove in an ovenproof pan and then finished in a 450F oven for about 20 min. Time obviously depends on the size of the roast. Cook to an internal temperature of 140F and then let the meat rest for 15 min before slicing. We served the dish with crusty bread and our favorite chilled rose`. We think the terrine would make a great first course as well as the vegetable part of the main course.

Fried Fish with Black Bean Sauce

This started out as an oriental recipe from Food Network but we made it more Southwest. Drain and rinse a can of black beans. Place them in a food processor along with a roughly chopped medium onion, 1/2 can of diced canned tomatoes, 1T ground cumin, hot chili flakes to taste and a bunch of chopped cilantro. Process until lumpy, not smooth. Place this mixture in a sauce pan and add 1C chicken stock to which has been added 2T corn starch. Stir and heat until bubbly. Set aside, keeping the sauce warm. Dredge the fish (catfish or other white fish) in a mix of equal parts of flour and corn meal with salt and pepper to taste. Fry the fish in vegetable oil until golden. Top the fish with the sauce and some freshly chopped cilantro. We served the fish with brussel sprouts which had been sliced and sauted in butter. The oven roasted potatoes were frozen. A chilled rose` went nicely with the dinner.

Tortelline Soup

Start by browning 1/2 lb. of sweet Italian sausage, drain and set aside. In a large sauce pan, combine 2 - 14oz cans of beef stock, 3C water, 1/2 lb shredded cabbage, 1 medium zucchini, sliced, 1 small red onion chopped, 1 medium tomato diced, 1T fresh basil. Bring to a slow simmer and add 9 oz. tortellini; we like non-meat ones like cheese or mushroom. Simmer for 15 min. Serve topped with grated parmesan cheese.

Parmesan Crust Chicken with Tomatoes, Olives and Capers

This recipe goes together easily and has a nice "rustic" character. Start by dredging the chicken in flour, then an egg wash and finally with a mix of 1C bread crumbs and 1/4C grated parmesan cheese. This is enough for two large breasts either boned or bone in and skinless. Brown the chicken in 1/4C olive oil. Remove the chicken drain the oil and deglaze the pan with 1/2C chicken stock and 1/2C white wine, or 1C of either by itself. Add 3/4C diced tomatoes, 1/3C diced kalamata olives, 1 clove minced garlic, and 3T capers. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer, covered, for 20-30 min. While the chicken is simmering, cook some pasta according to package directions. Serve the chicken and pasta covered with the sauce and topped with some fresh basil. A dry white wine or a rose` would go nicely with the dish.