Thai Curry Shrimp

March 22, 2020

Shelby recently asked about an old recipe I used to cook when we I was trying to cook healthier (I’m still working on that…kinda.) It was a Thai curry dish that was super easy and delicious. It’s been a while so I kinda mixed it up a bit and maout with something even better!

I’ll quit talking so you can get to the recipe. Give it a shot, feedback is always welcome.

Before you start:

I like slicing my green onion in long, diagonal pieces just because they look pretty and when people see it they think you know what you’re doing.

As for the shrimp when I say prepared I mean however you like them. De-veined is always a good idea because even though shrimp are small, poop is poop. I ain’t going to kill you but the vein can mess with texture because it can be gritty. I’ve eaten plenty of shrimp with the vein in and it wasn’t a deal breaker.

I like coconut milk with the cream in it. That stuff is good and adds to the dish. Use it if you have it.

Buy a wok if you don’t have one, every household should have a wok.

Ingredients:

1 1/2-2 lbs Shrimp, prepared
3-4 Cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tsp Ginger, finely minced
1 Tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste
2 Tbsp Thai Green Curry Paste
4 Green Onion, chop/slice the whole stalk, separating the white and green parts
9 oz Coconut milk/cream (I’ll use the whole can sometimes - crazy life!)
2 Tsp Fish Sauce
1/4-1/2 Cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 Tsp Oil

Instructions:

Mash the ginger and garlic into a rough paste, doesn't have to be worked all the way through, just blended well.
In a bowl or bag, toss in the Red Curry, the Garlic & Ginger paste, and the Shrimp, mix well and set in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Prepare your Green Onion and Cilantro while waiting for the marinate to work. Go ahead and prep your the remaining ingredients too.
Heat the wok/pan on high with the oil. We want the to toss the Shrimp with all the marinate into the pan when it's really hot. You want to get a nice brown sear on the on outside of the shrimp WITHOUT cooking them all the way through. When the oil starts to smoke you're ready to go.
Add the Shrimp and white part of the onion. Remember, just get some color on the outside of the shrimp.
Add the Fish Sauce and Coconut Milk, let it bubble and thicken up a little bit (your preference and the shrimp will finish cooking at this time.)
Remove from heat, garnish with Cilantro and Green Onion and Done!

Serve with a nice fragrant Jasmine rice and you’re in business.

Pok Pok Wings at Home (Again!)

June 30, 2019

These were my second attempt at making the addictive Pok Pok Vietnamese style wings from the Pok Pok cookbook Marleigh gave me. You probably remember the first time I had the help of Geordie and my buddy John.

I’m addicted to these things! I’m getting the hang of frying out of my new wok (not exactly new, but I just started utilizing it!) I think the next time I have a go at it I’ll have the oil temperature perfect. I did tone down the heat a little too, even though the flavor was great last time the Thai chili paste I made with the peppers my Mom grew were killing!

Oh, here’s a shot the plate before shishitos and one of Shelby holding them after because she’s super cute!

Chicken Larb

April 8, 2019

It’s been a while since I’ve made this!

Avocado and Citrus Salad with Grilled Salmon

August 15, 2018

Shelby wanted a nice, bright salad for dinner. I grilled some salmon and avocado, supremed an orange, and made some avocado dressing. She seemed pretty happy with it!

Roasted Tomatoes

July 26, 2018

Roasted some tomatoes we got from our garden. Tossed in some basil we grow, chopped garlic, olive oil, and salt & pepper.

Thanksgiving 2017

November 27, 2017

Thanksgiving is my holiday. I get up early, turn on the parade in NYC that's guaranteed to have terrible music, start getting dinner put together, and nip at the extra bottle of cheap red wine I supposedly bought for cooking.

This year was different though.

We had to travel to New York City to be with our daughter Marleigh. Luckily her ailment was caught in time and after a week in at Mount Sinai Beth Israel she was released, looking good!

Pretense aside, this is actually a happy story - watch, you'll see. The hospital staff was really good with Marleigh and when she was moved down from the MICU into another room she had to share it with another patient. She'll stay anonymous but I will say it was an experience to say the least. Ask me in person and I'll tell you. IT was straight up movie material. Back to the story.

Before we drove up to the city Marleigh (and us!) were lucky that she has a ton of friends up there to look after her. One of her friends from Richmond, Rachel, was great about bringing her food and spending time with her. Thanks by the way to everyone who helped Marleigh out while she was there, even those cute, young doctors (you know our daughter is single atm right?)

We stayed at Marleigh's place while were in New York and I contemplated whether or not we would do a Thanksgiving dinner. Everything I bought for it - turkey, sides, pans, etc..., was all in Virginia. The night before Thanksgiving after we visited Marleigh we decided we'd walk to Union Square a few blocks from the hospital to check out Whole Foods. It was close and open by the time we left the hospital. You could guess it was packed! Everyone was trying to get their dinner stuff in order and here we are just mulling over the idea of maybe making one (I'm chuckling right now as I right this.)

You might assume we did roast a turkey because of the header photo for the post and you would be correct! But you know how much we paid for the turkey?

15¢

That's right, $0.15, that much. "How!?" might you ask, Whole Foods stuff costs hundreds of dollars! Well, that's actually not true because our go-to Tuesday night drinking wine, Don Simon Tempranillo, is only $4 and it's does the job.

Back to the turkey.

We shoulder our way through the throngs of people picking through what was left on the shelves and spy a display freezer with some organic turkeys in them. They were priced on average about $35 which isn't bad for being labelled free-ranged and organic. As we dug around we pulled one up from underneath the solid, frozen birds that had us both raise our eyebrows.

It was about a 15 lb turkey priced at 15¢. We did a double take and then expressed awe. The weight was listed wrong and whoever was printing out tags didn't notice? I mentioned that maybe I could ask a manager about buying it at the marked price but Shelby said just go to the register and buy it. Duh, I over-think things sometimes. So I tucked our prize under my arms as if to protect it from anyone who might have caught a whiff of what was going on and went to the front of the store. This was a sign we were supposed to make dinner while we were up there and by god I was going to do it.

Sooo many lines! But I'll have to say the store handle it likes pros and had people out of the store quickly. We would have been out quick too if I hadn't stood in a shopping lane that I thought was a check out line.

Womp, womp.

Union Square BSOD, I had to take a pic lol

We get in the right line and finally to a register. The woman behind the counter grabs the the turkey and passes it over the scanner. What?! That's the look on her face if you can imagine. She swipes the tag again and comes up with the same price. A penny a pound. She looks up at us, gives a little shrug and says what we wanted to hear, "I'm going to go ahead and give it to you for that price." She then smiles and says something about the holidays and it was her birthday soon anyway. I said, "Mine too! November 28th!" We bonded and Shelby and I walked out of the store with the most inexpensive turkey we have ever bought from a store.

We picked up the rest of what we needed elsewhere and took the train home. Try to imagine the two of us carrying bags of groceries from Union Square to the train station to get back to Brooklyn - and it was freezing that night too! I mean it really wasn't that bad I think because of the score we landed. When we got back to the apartment I did some prep work and planned on getting up early the next day like I always do on Thanksgiving. It was queit otherwise and the whole place smelled that way it should when I'm cooking. It felt like home.

The next morning I got up, used Shelby's laptop to watch the parade, and got to work. I was able to manage using what Marleigh and her roommates had in the kitchen to put together a decent meal. Roasted potatoes, stuffing, spaghetti squash, stock for gravy, and of course, the turkey. They have a gas stove and it was nice cooking on gas again, it's been years.

We picked up containers for take-away and got everything packed up when it was done. After we got ourselves ready we took the train downtown. We walked Marleigh down the family day room and setup dinner. Marleigh seemed to like having a homemade dinner and it was nice to be able to spend time with her relaxing during a stressful time.

After dinner we went back to the room and relaxed a bit and watched some TV. Marleigh wasn't released until the next day which she was ecstatic about. She was going a little stir-crazy being stuck in the hospital, she wasn't allowed to leave the building the whole time she was there because she had an IV hookup. Apparently people used to be able to step outside but some patients were caught injecting stuff into their lines outside so they nixed that priviledge to prevent that from happening.

Once we got back to Marleigh's apartment she got cleaned up and we went out for a little dinner then returned to her place. I took the leftover turkey and carved up the meat and portioned it out for her with some gravy in baggies to freeze. All she had to do afterwards is take out whatever portion she wanted to eat and heat it up! I took the rest of the carcass and made turkey soup. Her roommates (who had returned to NY at that point) said it smelled good, that was nice. I told them to help themselves.

We meant to leave Saturday but we ended up going to IKEA Brooklyn and you know how that goes - hours of time browsing. It was fun though and Shelby picked up some shelving for Marleigh to help her organized her stuff. Shelby is huge into organizing and building stuff. I like to cook :)

The next day we got our stuff to leave and Marleigh was going to head to brunch with one of her best friends, Balin. When I went to get the car I notice that a car that looked similar to ours had it's driver's side window shattered. I thought, "Wow that sucks!" Then turned around and walked back towards our group. I turned around again and headed back to our car to pack our stuff. I went to the same car, because it was ours, and realized that our car had been broken into.

@#$%! Com'on man!

So our fairly new car had been broken into and the thief (thieves?) got away with about $4 in change and my old, ratty cheap sunglasses. It only cost us a $500 deductable to fix it. Nice. So we cleaned up what we could and packed the car then found a hardware store to tape up the window. I'll tell you driving 6 hours in a car with plastic taped to your driver's window is no fun. No fun at all.

After my initial pootiness and large coffees we made our way south. Shelby drove about halfway to let me rest a bit which I greatly appreciated. We made good time and I actually went out real quick that night.

This was definitely a trip to remember and we're glad Marleigh is bouncing back and hopefully will have this thing knocked out ASAP.

Driving over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel towards Virginia Beach

Hashi Food Truck Savory Bread Pudding

November 19, 2016

Check out Hashi Food Truck's Ross Riddle put together one of his favorite sides. You can do it too, watch how it's done.

Go to Visit Virginia Beach's blog for the whole story. Love Ross and Hashi!

Spicy Tomato Sauce

September 21, 2016

The whole house smelled wonderful...

...I've had my spicy tomato sauce on the stove overnight.

Shelby said we need to go through the freezer and get rid of anything that's been hanging out in there too long. When it was around dinner time last night I thought I'd take a look and see what we had in there:

Bag of venison cut into stew meat.

Three clusters of snow crab legs.

Clam stock.

Two slices of pork loin (these will be marinating in some mojo this week.)

Bags of cheese rinds.

Frozen egg rolls that really need to be friend up soon.

Some prepared tomatoes from several months ago...

There is a bunch of other stuff in there but it would take up a couple of pages to list. There is even a bag of mystery meat labelled "Chayce". No worries, I can assure you our son Chayce is alive and well in Hawaii. He's even married now! Here's proof from a Facetime we did last month, he wanted instructions on how to cook steak and potatoes.

Ok, for dinner I didn't have time to thaw out much so the crabs legs are pretty much cooked already and will be easy to prep. I had a head of broccoli I wanted to try a recipe on so there's the green. Easy!

I figured while I was making dinner I might as well take out the frozen tomatoes get those simmering. Tomato sauce is easy to make and this bag of tomatoes, about 3 lbs. worth, have been neglected for so long.

Since I wasn't using the sauce last night I planned on letting it stew overnight. While I was awake I had it set on a low simmer, stirring occasionally and scraping the sides. Shelby was out and when she walked in she said, "Mmm...what's that?" Told her what the deal was and unfortunately there would be no tomato sauce eating on this night. At bedtime I add some extra water and set it on low, barely a bubble here and there, covered the pot (to halt reduction), and then went to sleep.

Woke up and like the title of the post says, the whole house smelled wonderful. Checked on the sauce, stirred it, uncovered it, and turned it back up to a very low simmer. I'll check on it later at lunchtime when I'm on break. Reason I'm cooking it for so long is to let the tomato flesh breakdown on its own. I'm stirring it to keep it from sticking to the pot and to help break up the tomatoes that way too. If I'm here to tend to the sauce I'll keep it uncovered to concentrate and thicken. I'll probably store it in the fridge and have it Thursday night, we're going to my mother's house for dinner tonight.

Here's my recipe so you can make this spicy sauce at home. You'll notice I put onion down as optional, but I always add onion to everything! Love them. I had to adjust the recipe a tad bit since I didn't use the 4 lbs. of tomatoes I usually use.

Spicy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

4 pounds tomatoes, prepared
¼ cup olive oil
6 cloves Garlic, smashed
1 small Onion, diced (optional)
2 teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
½ cup of White Wine, Dry
1 tablespoon of Fennel Seed
2 tablespoons Dried Basil
1 tablespoon Dried Thyme
1 tablespoon Dried Dill
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 tablespoon Paprika
1 tablespoon Red Pepper Flake
2 teaspoons Cumin
2 tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
2 medium Bay Leaves

Before you Start:

Some people use whole tomatoes, pulp, skin, and all. I blanch and squeeze mine before I freeze them. The tomatoes used in this recipe were prepared this way.
I used an 8 qt. pot to keep spatter from making a mess and keep the heat even.
If you don't want to wait hours for sauce, just cook it all thoroughly then use a immersion blender to smooth it out.

Directions:

Add heat oil to a large sauce pan at low-med heat.
Add garlic, onions, salt, pepper. Cooke till translucent.
Add the wine and scrape any bits from the pan, cook for 3 minutes.
Now add the rest of the ingredients and turn stove down to a low simmer.
Let simmer for 4-6 hours, stir occasionally to prevent sticking and to help break up the tomatoes.
Mangia!

Baba Ganoush

August 7, 2016

Everyone has their garden game going on! I'm sure a lot of you that have tons of stuff you planted thinking, "Heck yeah! That'll be cool to have!", then end up with buckets of said item. Cucumbers is one, they grow like crazy and even if you love them you'll have to admit you can't use them all. How about eggplants? I mean you can only eat so much Eggplant Parm right?

I got another another idea - Baba Ganoush!

If you don't know what Baba Ganoush is, it's basically hummus made with eggplant instead of chickpeas. Yeah, yeah, I know that's super simplifying it but you get the idea. Speaking of simple, I'm going to tell you how to make it quickly and use up all those eggplants you have stacked up in the corner.

Here's what you'll need.

Ingredients:

3 Medium Eggplants
3-4 Cloves Garlic
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lemon
3 Tablespoons of Tahini
1/4 Cup of Parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste

There is a little bit a prep you'll have to do before you end up with the finished product. The eggplant needs to be roasted or grilled. I roasted mine the last time I did it for convenience. I do prefer grilling them though, adds a slight smoky flavor to the dish.

You'll notice in the photo above I'm sweating out the eggplant with salt. Adding salt will draw out bitterness and moisture from the eggplant, it takes about an hour. Is it totally necessary?

No.

So if you're in a pinch for time you don't have to sweat it (haha, get it?) Eggplants these days aren't that bitter so you can skip this step.

Before You Start:

If you want to sweat the eggplant thickly slice and then heavily salt both sides. Do not cut the eggplant too thin. If the the slices are too thin they'll be hard to work with and they will dry out quickly Place on a tray or rack and let sit for about 30-45 minutes. You'll see moisture bead up on the surface of the eggplant. When done, rinse the eggplant under cold water and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. Place them loosely in a roasting pan.

When using the food processor, pulse for as long as needed to get the baba ganoush to the desired consistency. The shorter in the processor, the more chunky. The longer, the smoother it will be.

Directions:

Move an oven rack up to the top notch and then pre-heat the oven to broil.
Place eggplant on top rack and roast about 15 minutes then flip and roast another 15 minutes. When the eggplant feels soft, they're done.
While the eggplant is in the oven, put all the other ingredients except the parsley in a food processor.
When the eggplant is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool down.
Add the eggplant to the food processor and run it through until it hits the desired smoothness.
Add the parsley and pulse until it is chopped and distributed evenly.
Scoop into a bowl, garnish with some olive oil and a little more parsley.
Eat.

Jumbo Jimmies from Jubilee

July 9, 2016

That title was a tongue twister!

For a couple years now we've primarily buying our crabs from Jubilee Seafood Company out of Knotts Island, NC. They have a booth setup at the Old Beach Farmers Market in Virginia Beach on Saturdays and I'm always at the market on the weekend because Jasper would kill me if we didn't go. That's his social time and he even makes me go to Back Bay Brewing and buy him a beer sometimes. He never drinks it, he doesn't even like beer, so I end up having to drink it for him.

Jasper thinks it makes him look cool when he has a beer.

Anyways, back to the crabs. Jubilee has a beautiful crabs, they're usually selling jimmies, but they can do females sometimes too. The prices aren't bad either, on average you can get a bushel of #1s for $130. That's a great deal.

In addition to crabs they sell oysters, shrimp and clams...here let me just cut and paste they weekly letter with the prices:

Hard crab **Please pre-order by Thursday

Jumbo size - $40 dozen or a bushel for $180
# 1 size hard crabs for $25 a dozen or a bushel for $130
# 2 size hard crabs are $20 dozen or a bushel for$70
# 3 female hard crabs $15 dozen or bushel for $65

Littleneck clams - from the Eastern Shore
**Please pre-order by Thursday - we recycle clam/oyster bags.

$35 for a bag of 100 clams
$18 for bag of 50 clams
$10 for bag of 25 clams

Seaside Oysters - from the Eastern Shore **Pre-order by Thursday- we recycle clam/oyster bags

$50 for a bag of 100 oysters
$30 for bag of 50 oysters
$18 for bag of 25 oysters

Live Soft shell crabs** size & costs will vary- haven't seen many in the last few weeks

East Coast Shrimp $14.00 lb

The prices are comparable to what you'd find at the grocery or cheaper but you're also buying from fine folks that locally put the work into bringing a fresh product to the table. Jubilee has their own boats and have been doing this work for over 30 years.

I like to cook them shell down, keeps the juices in, I like to sip it out when I pick. — I like to cook them shell down, keeps the juices in, I like to sip it out when I pick.

Next time you're in the area and want some crabs (while in season of course) check out Jubilee Seafood Company. You'll be happy you did. Here are more photos from our recent Blue Crab dinner with delicious Jubilee jimmies.

Feisty action shot! I've been pinched a few times by these things when catch them. It feels how you imagine it might - not good lol. This kinda reminds me of the Barrel of Monkeys game.

Shelby likes butter when she picks crabs, I love the mud and stuff in the head :)

Tom Kha

January 20, 2016

Tom Kha is something I've been around my whole life - that's not the same thing as saying I've been eating it my whole life mind you. If you keep up with me and have read stuff I've written in the past, I wasn't into Thai food much when I was a kid. I do remember how the house would smell when my mother, who is Thai, was using the mortar and pestle to crush Thai Chilis, garlic, and lemongrass.

Delicious!

Those peppers though...the heat could kill you! Seriously. My mom would grow them by the acre and you better believe she was using them too. My first experience eating her beautiful food made me gun shy for years. Then before you know it, Shelby and I were married and off on our own. Boxes of Potato Au Gratin, cheap cuts and that nice Army E-4 pay had us on a affordable diet for years. I'm not knocking it, seriously. I go to Ollie's and pass the rows of boxed spuds, pasta, and Hamburger Helper and think about the good ole lean years. I wouldn't trade a minute of them.

I was talking about soup right?

Anyway...Tom Kha is good. You'll like it and I'm going to show you how to do it. The photo up top has seafood in it obviously. You can do that if you like, the seafood version of this dish is called Tom Kha Talay. Tom Kha is usually made with chicken though, that version (below) is called Tom Kha Gai.

The recipe I put together isn't so much different than most you'll find out there. It's primary components consist of this: Galangal, Kaffir Lime Leaves, Lemongrass and Coconut Milk.

Galangalangawhat?

Galangal has nothing to do with that M.I.A. song, it is a root known as the Thai ginger. You might see it sold in the stores as "Baby Thai Ginger" but please don't confuse it with ginger. Galangal and ginger taste totally different and if you make this soup without galangal it's not really Tom Kha (which translates into "galangal soup" basically.) That being said, you can make it with the ginger we're familiar with if you're in pinch, it just won't taste exactly as it should. It'll be still be good, but different. Galangal can be bought fresh or frozen in your local Asian market. Ask the someone behind the counter to help you out if you're having a hard time finding it.

Let's make some soup! Here's what you need to make Tom Kha at home.

Ingredients:

1 Can of Coconut Milk
3 large Kaffir lime leaves
1 Lemongrass, large stalk, trimmed
2 Thai Chilis
1 Tsp Sugar
1/4 Yellow Onion, minced
1 Package of mushrooms shiitake/oyster preferred, approx 8 oz., chopped
2 Tbsp Galangal, slivered
1 Lime, large
3 Tbsp Fish Sauce
3 Cups of Chicken Stock
Cilantro to Garnish
Optional: Thai Chili Powder

Before You Start:

Important! Do not boil the coconut milk. If you boil the coconut milk at a high temperature, it will not remain emulsified and the fat will separate from the liquid. Just like what happens to butter when it is heated at high temperatures.
You can use chicken or seafood (shrimp, mussels, squid, etc...) with this recipe. Eat what you like!
Chop up everything you need to put in the soup. I like to cut my galangal up in small, thin slivers. I do this so it can stay in the soup and not be strained out. Most recipes will have you remove or strain the galangal after the first phase of their recipes, I like to keep it in the soup. Getting a little bite of the root, almost crunchy, almost nutty, is great. If you prefer not to have it in, just slice it in larger pieces then strain before you add your chicken or seafood.
Trim the lemongrass taking off any rough or brown bits. It a lot of recipes you would only use the white, fleshy part of the lemongrass. The reason is because it it easier to eat, we're not eating the lemongrass it's being steeped in the broth essentially. I'll admit to finely cutting up some lemon grass and leaving it in the soup when the mood hits me.
Crush the lemongrass, Kaffir lime leaves, and Thai chilis. Use your pestle, a muddler or back of a heavy spoon to open up them up to release flavor. Remove chili seeds if you don't want it too hot.
I do not remove all of the aromatics from the stock pot before I add the meat, but I do before I add the coconut milk.
Chili powder can be added for more flavor, this is optional.

Directions:

Add the chicken stock, sugar, onion, Kaffir lime leaves, Thai chilis, lemongrass and galangal to a medium sized stock pot. Bring to a rolling boil for about 10 minutes.
Add mushrooms, continue to boil for about 8-10 minutes to cook mushrooms.
At this time if you wish to remove large pieces of aromatics (Kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, chili, galangal) do so after the mushrooms are done.
Add your chicken or seafood now, cook for about 10 minutes in the boiling broth. Remove any foam that might float to the top of the broth.
After the meat is cooked through, pour in the coconut milk, fish sauce and lime juice, lower heat to a light simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve with cilantro and lime wedges and maybe have a little more fish sauce on hand.

This is pretty easy to make and after a couple of tries it'll be a breeze. We use leftover chicken sometimes, if we do it doesn't need boiling as long. Just lower the heat to a simmer, cook for the same amount of time as you would the raw. Continue to follow the directions.

Enjoy!

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

November 25, 2015

I never ate Brussels sprouts until I started dating Shelby. Her mother would make them when we had dinner at her house and I grew to like them and then love them. They've become a staple in our special dinners. My daughter asked me the other day if I had my recipe available for the Brussels sprouts I make at home and I discovered I didn't. I'm writing it down now.

Note: Don't throw out the bacon grease or clean the skillet you fried it in, you'll need it for this recipe. Get a pot of boiling water ready too, we'll be blanching the Brussels sprouts. We don't want to blanch or leave the sprouts in the pan too long. If they're mushy, they're ruined.

Enjoy!

Preparations

1 pot of boiling water
ice bath for blanched Brussels sprouts
Saved grease from cooked bacon

Ingredients

1 package or approx. or 1 1/2 lbs of Brussels Sprouts (cleaned and trimmed)
1/2 lb of Bacon
2 tbsp of Bacon Grease
3-4 cloves of Garlic, minced
1/2 Red Onion, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Start a pot of boiling water, enough to handle the Brussels sprouts.
Fry the bacon. We like ours a little chewy, but cook it your preferred doneness.
Remove bacon from the pan but leave the bits and pieces.
Put the Brussels sprouts into the boiling water, blanch for approximately 5 minutes.
Scoop sprouts out of boiling water and place in ice bath. Take them out when cooled and place in a strainer to dry.
Once cooled, cut Brussels sprouts in half, lengthwise.
Heat up skillet to about medium heat.
Add bacon grease.
Toss in the garlic and onions, cook for 1 minute.
Add Brussels sprouts, salt and pepper.
Cook to desired doneness and browned on the outside.
Remove from heat, toss in bowl with chopped bacon then serve.

Thanksgiving Day Turkey resting before carving!

How to Roast a Turkey

November 23, 2015

How do you roast a turkey? Easy! Follow the instructions on the bag! Seriously though, it is pretty simple. Here are a few things to consider:

First, you'll have to get a turkey. These days there are so many options - but you have to think ahead. If you're looking for a locally sourced turkey you might be out of luck waiting a few days beforehand. Most places want you to order them so they can make sure they have the stock and can prepare it for you in time. I would definitely check with your local farmers and butchers first before giving up on the Buy Fresh, Buy Local route if you feel like you're late though.

Of course, turkeys are pretty big and most of them will be frozen. We usually cook birds over 20 lbs. and turkeys that size could take about 5 days to thaw! Take into account thaw time. Oh! Save the neck and giblets for the stuffing and/or gravy!

Clean off excess brine from the turkey after removing it from the bag

Second, if you're going to brine the turkey make sure you have everything you need ahead of time! If you're looking for a good brine recipe, use mine! I've been brining my turkey for a few years now and love how it turns out. There are some out there that think it is totally unnecessary or takes away from the natural flavor of the turkey. You'll have to determine that for yourself and do what you like.

Third, determine the the roasting time for the bird which is dependent on the size of the turkey, whether or not you've brined the bird and if you stuff the cavity. Check out Epicurious' page on roasting times here for some pointers.

Fourth, cook the turkey breast-side down for the first two-third of the way then flip it over to brown the breast. Approximately an hour breast-side up. This will allow the breast to baste in its own juices and you'll have crispy skin all around!

Let's get started!

I always stuff my turkey with dressing, but I do it lightly. The cavity is usually stuffed with aromatics too - citrus and herbs. I also don't tie (truss) the legs together. I know it looks pretty and some people swear by it, but I've found that my turkey roasts fine without it. I want as much of the skin exposed as possible and I believe the turkey will cook more even in those spots not concealed by the trussed legs.

Of course we use the drippings for gravy. I add vegetables, a little white wine, stock and butter to the pan before I place the turkey in it. I also use a rack to keep the turkey from sitting directly in the drippings while it's roasting. After the turkey is done I save the braised vegetables from the roasting pan for the gravy too. There is a good amount of butter in the pan for basting, I love how the butter cooks into the skin. Here's what you need for the pan before you put the turkey in it:

Ingredients (Roasting Pan)

4 cloves of Garlic
2 medium Carrots
2 medium Yellow Onions
2 stalks of Celery
Approx. 6 stalks/sprigs of Parsley
Approx. 2 sprigs of Thyme
Approx. 2 sprigs of Rosemary
2 large Bay Leaves
1/2 stick of Butter
1/2 cup Dry White Wine
1/2 Poultry Stock
Optional: 1 Orange and some Parsley for cavity

Directions

Preheat oven.
Wash turkey (whether it it's straight from it's packaging or from the brine bag) and pat dry and set aside.
Roughly chop the carrots, onions, celery, garlic and butter and spread them evenly within the roasting pan.
Toss in your parsley, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves, these will be picked out of the pan after the turkey is finished. Try not to break them up too much at the start. You can add more or less of these herbs according to your preference.
Pour in the wine and stock then place the rack on top of the vegetables and herbs.
Salt and pepper the turkey to taste. I like to add a quartered orange and parsley to cavity and before I stuff it - do so now if you like.
Note: If you brined your turkey it will already have absorbed salt from the brining solution. Lightly salt if this is the case.
Place turkey in middle of the oven so it will evenly cook.
Feel free to baste the turkey every 40 minutes or so.
When the turkey is done roasting (165°F internal thickest part of the bird) pull it from the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Coming up next is gravy!

Do not pour out the drippings from the pan or remove the braised vegetables in the pan. These will be used to make a delicious turkey gravy and a lot of it too! No need to list ingredients here because we have everything we need. If you saved giblets for the gravy or stuffing make sure they're available.

Note: In our house, I'll have the neck and giblets simmering on the stove the whole time the turkey is roasting. In the simmering pot I'll add the same mix of vegetables and herbs put in the roasting pan. Brown the giblets and vegetables before you pour in the liquids to simmers. This will make a flavorful broth, reduce it by half. When it's done, strain out the giblets and neck, keep these. Pick the neck for as much meat as you can get. Add this to the gravy later.

This takes anywhere for 15 to 30 minutes to complete. You can speed it up by adding a little bit of flour or a nice, dark roux.

Make a broth with the giblets and turkey neck

Directions

After the turkey is taken out of the pan, start removing the turkey fat from the drippings. I usually tilt the pan so the grease collects in one spot, making it easier to collect. Skim using whatever technique you like: skimming spoon, baster (with the rubber bulb), or whatever fancy device you get to use once a year. If you don't remove the fat you'll end up with a really greasy plate and miss out the concentrated flavors of the turkey seasoned turkey juices left in the pan.
After the fat has been removed from the pan, remove the herbs (thyme, rosemary, parsley). You can leave them in but the rosemary might be a little overpowering if someone gets a good chunk of that.
Transfer all the contents of the roasting pan into a medium sized stockpot. If you made a broth stove top, add that to the stockpot too if you're not freezing it.
Bring contents to a low boil, about medium.
Take an immersion blender (one of the handheld wands) and puree the vegetables in the stockpot. This will thicken the gravy and give it a ton of flavor.
Let gravy sit and roll till it's as thick as you like it. Taste test and add whatever seasoning you like.

Blanching Tomatoes

August 15, 2014

We planted our garden boxes later than we should each year and then we cross our fingers and hope for a huge bounty. We plan on canning and jarring enough homegrown goodness to last us a lifetime!

This hasn't happened yet, but we're working on it. <promise!>

This year we have been picking some decent Roma tomatoes and small cucumbers from the garden. We figured we could clean and blanch the tomatoes and put them in the freezer to make sauce later. The cucumbers were made into refrigerator pickles. Shelby made some last season and they turned out great. She used a different recipe this time and they should be about ready.

I was checking out the tomatoes from our own garden when my mother called and said she had some a customer brought into her barber shop. She'll trade produce, seafood, venison, etc... all kinds of stuff if someone wants a haircut. She dropped off a box of of huge, ripe tomatoes with some other vegetables! I picked out a few that were too "ripe" and washed them off. The rest I put aside till we decided what we were going to do with them.

After a day or two we decided to go ahead and blanch, then freeze the tomatoes. Shelby likes to make her own tomato sauce at home, she'll put them in a pot all to stew and it makes the whole house smell great. We had a bunch of tomatoes so I blanched them in a couple of batches. Here's all you'll need:

1 Large Pot
Salt
1 Large Bowl with ice water

That's it--of course water and tomatoes but I really don't need to say that right?

Fill the pot enough to cover the tomatoes with about 2 inches of water and for every cup of water put about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Put the tomatoes in the boiling water for about 30 seconds then removed them from the pot and immediately places them in the ice bath. This will stop the cooking process and keep the tomatoes firm.

After they sit in the ice bath for approximately 45 seconds remove them from the ice bath and remove the skins. You'll notice that the skin has started to peel by itself, it will easily separate from the flesh. Pick off stem or other parts you don't want to save from the outside.

What I do afterwards is cut the tomato in half and then gently squeeze it to remove the seeds from the inside chambers. That's it. I ended up with about 4 1/2 pounds of prepared tomatoes that were put in the freezer for later use. Easy!

Stock and Broth

November 26, 2013

With Thanksgiving coming up I've been telling myself to get stuff ready before the big day arrives.

Gravy, stuffing…all kinds of things need stock and I'd usually bust out a box of store bought chicken stock. This year is going to be different though—I'm making my own stock!

Plenty of people out there have their own way of making a stock and broth. Technically what I'm going to spell out here is a broth. Stocks are made primarily from bones and some scrap—that's it! Broths will have more meat and seasoning in the pot. For my Thanksgiving stock (I'm just going to call it stock for the sake of simplicity) I won't add a lot of salt; a little goes a long way. I make a lot of soup stocks too. This is about the same, save for some seasonings I've omitted.

A couple of things to note before you begin:

Turkey necks are pretty cheap but are very meaty. The Herbes de Provence is something Shelby put together from herbs I clipped from our garden and dried in the kitchen. I used just a pinch to flavor. Careful with the salt and pepper; when I say add a little bit, I just mean a shake or two.

We're cooking here. We need a pot. Go grab a large stock pot, a 6-quart should do.

Ingredients:

2 packages of turkey necks
2 tbs olive oil
2 medium onions
2 ribs of celery
2 medium carrots
salt and pepper to taste
3 medium Bay leaves
Approx. 6 parsley stems, leaves on if you like
5 quarts of water, heated (stovetop, microwave, even hot from the tap)
Optional: Herbes de Provence

Preparation:

1. Chop up the turkey necks into chunks, about 2 inches.

2. Heat the oil a little over medium, we're going to brown the vegetables and turkey.

3. Brown the vegetables first, in batches if you have to. Add a little salt and pepper. I like cooking the vegetables first because any residual browned bits in the pot will mix with the turkey when it goes in. When the onions look a little translucent, you're good. Place the browned vegetables to the side.

4. Add the turkey pieces, brown in batches. Salt and pepper a little bit with each batch. They don't have to be browned all the way, I just heated up and a little done on the outside.

5. When the last batch is done, add the bay leaves, parsley and any other seasonings you're tossing in there. Put the vegetables back in the pot.

6. Add the water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to about medium-low. Skim the foam off the top of the stock.

7. Simmer for approximately 5 hours, stir occasionally. Scrape the sides of the pot when you do this. Get the dried bits inside the pot into the stock.

8. You’ll know it's done when the liquid has reduced to about half of the original volume. I ended up with a little more than 2 1/2 quarts.

9. Strain out the turkey and vegetables. Keep this stuff, put it to the side.

10. Refrigerate the stock.

What I like to do after it has been in the fridge overnight is skim the fat off the top. It’ll be easy to scrape the hardened fat off and toss it away. I don’t use the fat for anything, but some people say if you want to keep your stock in the refrigerator the hard fat on the top will help extend its life.

You can see the fat has hardened on top of the stock

Scrape away at it till you get most of the fat off

The neck bones, meat and vegetables can be used to flavor dishes or as a thickening agent. You could just throw them away but that seems like a waste. Enjoy and good luck. Leave a note here with any questions or comments.

Alton Brown Interview - The Edible Inevitable and Beyond

November 7, 2013

Alton Brown was scheduled to call me at 2:15 PM. Beforehand, I made sure I put my notes together with a list of questions to ask during the interview. I’ve never done an interview as formal as this or with someone as widely known as Brown. I start to get a little nervous.

The phone rings at 2:15 PM on the dot.

On the other end of the line I hear, “Is this George?”

I say hello and ask if he minds that I put him on speaker. As I’m adjusting the sound on the recording kit I mention I’m a little bit nervous.

He says, “That’s OK! Don’t be nervous. I don’t want you to be nervous; whenever I talk to journalists I get nervous because I always say crap I’m not supposed to say.”

Beef Bourguignon Walk-Through

March 11, 2013

Something I love to make is Beef Bourguignon, it’s one of those comfort dishes that makes the whole house smell terrific and everyone loves to eat. I put the walk-through together when I was looking for recipes and tried some out for the first time. It was a little tricky for a first timer but not too bad. I based my recipe off of Laura Calder’s you can find here. Take a look at the recipe and the prep comments then jump in!

Prep:

Gather up all the ingredients, since this is a walk-through I’ll describe what I do at each step. I would probably be good to give the process a quick read before actually turning the oven on. This will allow you to get an idea what what to expect when you move along the with the recipe.
Basically cutting up anything you that needs cutting, do it first. You won’t really have the time, I guess this would all fall under mise en place (something I’m terrible at.)
It takes about 3 hours to cook this in the Dutch Oven.
You’ll see I said venison can be used, you should try it. The venison looses it’s gaminess and becomes very tender. Great way to cook lean meat.

Ingredients:

3-4 pounds Beef or Venison
3 Medium Carrots, roughly chopped
2 Large Onions, quartered
4-6 Cloves Garlic, just crushed
1/4 Cup Flour
1 Bottle Red Wine (buy an extra bottle for you to drink while you’re cooking)
1 Box of Beef Stock (4 cups)
1 Bouquet Garni (Thyme, Parsley, and Bay Leaf)
Bacon Fat or Olive Oil for cooking
Salt and Pepper

Garnish:

1 Package of Bacon, thick cut (cook this first if you need bacon fat)
2 12 oz Bags Pearled Onions (I use frozen)
16 oz mushrooms (I add about 20 oz

Let's Go!

The meat was trimmed of excess fat and I let it sit until it was at room temperature. Next step, browning the meat. Go ahead and warm up the oven. I set mine to 350 and I will be using a Dutch oven for the Bourguignon.

Bacon fat. Everyone has some sitting around the house right? You should if you don't. This is what I use to brown the meat.

I use the Dutch oven to brown the beef. All the bits and juices stay in the pot when it goes into the oven. Don't cook the meat all the way through, sear the outside to keep the juices in. Browning adds a ton of flavor to anything you braise. Salt and pepper to taste you go.

Ta-da! Browning is done, onto the braising vegetables.

After the beef has been removed, there is still enough bacon fat to brown the vegetables (add more or use olive oil.) I add about two onions, 2-3 medium sized carrots here, and 4-5 cloves of crushed garlic cloves. Cook a couple of minutes then add one bottle of red wine (I used the cheapest bottle of red I could find, $3) and a box of beef broth.

After I've stirred and scraped the bottom of the pot, I add the bouquet garni (garnished bouquet.) This is made up of thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. I had curly leaf on hand so that's what I used. I bind mine in cooking twine and toss it in. If you don’t have twine, wrap it in cheesecloth or just place it all in the pot loosely.

While prepping the vegetables the beef has rested, providing a delicious juice that should be added to the Dutch oven. Put the beef back into the Dutch oven, on top of the bouquet garni. Cover and place in the oven; set the timer for 3 hours.

I bought these potatoes at the local Asian market. $.99 a pound, great deal. They're going to be served with the Bourguignon. Slice them however you like. Since they're so pretty I'll leave the skin on.
I cut a little rosemary from the garden to season the potatoes. Pull off the leaf and chop.

I use a baking dish and mist with olive oil. Sprinkle a little salt in the dish and add the potatoes. Mist the tops of the potatoes with oil, salt and pepper, then add the chopped rosemary. Place in the oven with the Bourguignon.

Making the Bourguignon garnish. Heat up a skillet and let's get started.

Cut-up the whole package in 1-inch pieces and cook. Of course, save the bacon fat for browning the rest of the garnish.

I'm going to use about 20 ounces of mushrooms for the dish. We love mushrooms and I like to keep the pieces large and meaty. Brown in small batches, if you put too many in the pan they will sweat and steam instead of brown.

Once they're browned remove and we'll move on to the pearl onion.

Pearl onions can be pricey but I buy bags of frozen, store brand pearl onions. $1.00 a bag. I used 2 bags for this. I'll admit, I like fresh but these were on hand and much cheaper.

It's been about an hour, while the onions were browning I turned the potatoes. Mist the other side with oil, a little more salt a pepper. Back in the oven.

Back at the garnish station…I added about a cup of wine to deglaze the pan. You want all the bits and pieces from the pan as they add more flavor to what we're cooking. This is poured in with the bacon and onions previously cooked.

The finished garnish. We'll be adding to the Bourguignon towards the end of the process.

After about 3 hours the Beef Bourguignon is done with the oven. Remove the beef from the braising broth. I put the beef in with the garnish made earlier.

The beef should pull apart easily now.

Strain everything out of the broth.

I'll squeeze the vegetables out to get as much of the broth as possible. Add the broth back into the Dutch oven and bring to a boil on a burner. I'll add a little roux to thicken it up quickly.

The potatoes are done.

If needed, place the broth on the stove to about medium to medium-high heat to thicken. Make sure to stir so it doesn’t burn and thickens evenly. Once the broth has thickened, add the beef and garnish back into the pot. Let simmer for a several minutes, then remove from heat.