A Gluten Free Dessert

I do not usually make gluten-free desserts as I have no dietary need to do so.  I do not remember why I bought a bag of almond meal, but it must have been for a recipe that also used flour.  Anyway, I stashed the remainder in the freezer with the idea that I would use it one day.

Well, yesterday was that day.  I wanted to get rid of some of my pantry items.  Some of that flour, some caster sugar (super-fine sugar), one egg yolk, a lemon, lemon curd, and salted butter.  That meant trying to find a recipe online that I could doctor up and use.

So this is what I came up with:

It is an almond lemon cake and it is moist and delicious.  This is how I made mine, but I have a feeling that the recipe is forgiving.  So, if you use regular sugar, okay.  As would be unsalted butter, and whole egg in place of the egg yolk.  But, you really need the almond meal or almond flour to get the goodness of the almond taste.

Here is the recipe for an Almond Lemon Cake:

Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Spray a 9-inch cake pan with baking spray and line with parchment if available.

1 1/2 cups of Blue Diamond Almond Flour, packed in the cup.
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt (could probably eliminate if using salted butter)
Zest of one large lemon
2 tsp lemon juice
1 stick (8 Tbsp) salted butter at room temperature
4 oz less fat cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
4 large eggs plus one egg yolk
1 tsp Baker's imitation vanilla (or use the extract if you have it)

In a bowl, whisk the almond flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, cream cheese and sugar until creamy.  Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk and vanilla and mix well.  Alternately add the eggs one at a time with the almond flour, mixing well after each addition.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for 15 minutes, remove from pan and then cool completely.

Okay, I confess, I did not let it cool completely.  I ate it warm, lol.

So this morning I made a quick topping with whipped cream and lemon curd and spread it on top.  Breakfast.  Hey, it has eggs and cheese in it.  Like an omelet.  Don't judge.

Food for the Family

There was nothing traditional about this family Christmas feast.  But I did enjoy it.  I started with a cold app platter for the grandkids to munch on.  And munch they did.

Then we had hot appetizers.  I purchased small crab balls and made my own aioli, but the real hit was from Pillsbury.  Here is a link to their recipe for a pull-apart tree made with crescent rolls and Boursin cheese.  Not sure why I did not take a picture of mine.  It was really good.

The standing rib turned out very good.  I purchased it at Aldi and this was the first time I had ever shopped there.  I will certainly buy meat there in the future.  No pics of this either.

There was one goof with dinner.  Seems that if you put one of those frozen vegetable bags in the microwave upside down, they do not heat up.  Did not realize that was the likely problem until this morning.   We ended up making them on the stovetop.

And I made Yorkshire puddings for the very first time.  They tasted great with the horseradish mushroom sauce for the roast.

The purchased lemon cake was not appealing to me at all, but we still had cookies.  Here is the recipe for what turned out to be a near obsession with Mackenzie.  These are my Dried Cherry and White Chocolate Oatmeal cookies, pictured on the bottom.

Oatmeal, Dried Cherry, & White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

2/3 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour  (you make also use 1 cup flour with 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour)

1  tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

6 ounces dried cherries

2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until well-combined.

2.  Add eggs and thoroughly mix.

3.  Add flour, oats, salt and baking soda and mix well but do not beat.

4.  Fold in cherries and chips.

5.  Refrigerate dough for one hour.

If baking immediately, preheat oven to 375 F.  Cookies can also be scooped and frozen for baking at a later date.

Scoop cookies using a tablespoon sized scoop or make balls about 1 1/2 inch diameter in size.  Place on parchment lined cookie sheets, two-inches apart.  Bake for 8-12 minutes.  All ovens vary so check after eight minutes.  You do not want to burn the bottoms.  They should be just barely firm to the touch when done.  Let cool on cookie sheets.

I hope you had an enjoyable day if you too were celebrating friends and family.

Double Chocolate Muffins

Charlie is always wanting to bake something.  If I am in the kitchen, he is dragging one of the stools over to help.  Well, I am sure that urge will disappear over the next ten years or so, lol.  Anyway, he wanted to make something and I had to come up with a recipe that did not involve a mixer and that I could use what I had on hand.  I always have chocolate so I came up with this muffin recipe which turned out pretty good.

Double Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 Tbsp milk
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large mixing bowl, add melted butter and both sugars.  Whisk until combined.  And eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition.  Add vanilla, salt, and baking powder.  Whisk till well-combined.

Place cocoa powder and flour in sifter.  Mix yogurt and milk in small bowl. 

Add 1/3 of flour/cocoa mixture to bowl and slowly stir in with spatula.  Add 1/2 of yogurt and mix in.  Add another 1/3 of flour and slow mix.  DO NOT BEAT mixture.   Add remaining yogurt.  Mix.  Add remaining flour and mix until well-combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  (I used semi-sweet)

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and spray liners with baking spray.

(TIP: If you have a dishwasher, set the pan in the dishwasher and spray it.  That way you do not have spray all over the kitchen.)

Using a scoop, fill each cup about 2/3 full.  All muffin tins are not created equal, so I ended up making only 11  muffins.

Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Muffins are done when tops spring back lightly when touched.  Cool in pan 10 minutes.  Enjoy.

How can it be Thanksgiving Already????

I have been asking that question all week.  I just celebrated my birthday.  But, when the month starts on a Thursday as November did this year, then Thanksgiving is November 22.  Ugh!!!

I have changed the menu so many times I am afraid I will forget to make something.  Of course, I always have a list, but there have been times when even that didn't help.

I have the grocery shopping done.  If I forgot something, too bad.  I'll improvise.  I need to get all the serving and cooking dishes out today and set the table.  Then I can focus on prepping all the food.  Oh, if I only had a sous chef.  Here is my menu, the last and final one:

Cranberry Sparklers

Assorted brie cheeses 

Candied bacon

Roast turkey  & gravy

Sausage, Chestnut & Fennel Dressing

Mashed potatoes

Honey-orange roasted carrots

Roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta and shallots

Cranberry sauce

Rolls

Brownie Pumpkin Mousse

A Fourth Birthday Party

There was lots of food and I showed off my 'artistry', LOL.

There were photo ops - here with Uncle Jason

There was more food.  Pizza! 

There was  a delicious cake from a local bakery.

And now we are planning a first birthday party.  Stay tuned.

Planning an Easter Dinner

It's that time of year.  Daylight saving time starts.  I hate it, but that is an old story I've told before.

It is also time to start thinking about my Easter dinner menu.  Someone asked me recently if I still celebrated all the Christian holidays, even though I am not a religious person.  I said yes.  After all, these special times of year were celebrated long before Christianity came along.  The lovely arrival of spring.  I hope.

My menu is pretty well established except for dessert.  I cannot make up my mind.  Coconut?  Lemon?  Chocolate?  Cheesecake?  Trifle?  Layer cake?  Aarrgghh!

Here is the menu:

Pita Bread & Hummus

Spanakopita Puffs

Greek Salad w

Feta, Tomato & Cucumber

Grilled Leg of Lamb w Tabil Spice

Chicken Souvlaki w Tzatziki

Rice Pilaf

Greek-style Green Beans

So, if you were dining with us, what dessert would you like?  What is your favorite indulgence?

P.S.  No, I am not Greek.  But having worked in the Greektown area of Detroit for ten years, I learned to love the food.  And one of my Greek co-workers shared many of her recipes with me.

My take on Pizza

Detroit is a pizza town.  When I was very young, pizza was purchased at an Italian bakery or a local bowling alley.  And then Little Caesar's appeared.  You got Pizza-Pizza, two for one.  Later it was Domino's and then Hungry Howie's.  The owner of Hungry Howie's belonged to my parish (when I was still a church-goer) and one of my sons worked there while in college.  All are local companies.

I remember the opening of a Pizza Hut and Pizzeria Uno in the township - both long gone.  Dine in and carry-out, my boys will tell you that we ate a lot of pizza.

But I do enjoy making my own pizza for guests.  If I am making my barbecued chicken pizza, I make my own dough or buy it.  But when I make my white pizza, I purchase naan flatbread from a west Michigan bakery.

Pizza is relatively easy to make.  Pick your base, your sauce and your toppings.  I prefer red pepper, mushrooms, caramelized onions, and cheese - ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, asiago, or whatever might be in the fridge.

The pizza pictured above was actually one from my Blue Apron meals.  And here is another from BA, a calzone:

When I make my own at home, I prefer no red sauce and no meat.  Here is my recipe for roasted garlic bechamel...

1 head of garlic, just a small one of 2 inches or so
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tbsp flour - preferably cake flour if you have it
1 tbsp butter
1 ounce fine diced onions
Clarified butter, about 4 tbsp

Cut off the head of the garlic.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a little olive oil.  Wrap in foil and roast at 375F for about one hour.  Cool and squeeze garlic paste into small bowl.
Clarify the butter by warming and pouring off solids.  It does not need to be perfect.  Pour it over the onions and cook on the stove until onions soften.  Drain and set aside.
Make the roux by melting the tablespoon of butter and then whisking in the flour.  Cook for about one minute.  Scald the milk and then add to the roux while whisking, bring to a boil while whisking until smooth.  Lower the heat.  Add the onions and the garlic.  Simmer for 30 minutes.

Adjust to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Strain out the solids.  Use on dough for pizza.

Recipe can be easily doubled, or even quadrupled. 

Any questions?

A Thanksgiving Feast in Production

I started planning my Thanksgiving dinner several weeks ago.   It is still a work in progress.  Every year I try to do things just a little simpler - no stuffing the turkey breast with fruits or sausage or whatever, mashed potatoes from a package.  I look for recipes that I can prepare ahead and then throw in the oven to cook - sweet potato casserole.  I try to add something new - the roasted beet salad.  And everyone wants to know what is for dessert.  I have never made a plain pumpkin pie.  

Yesterday I made the cranberry chutney.  It has so much bourbon in it it will keep for weeks, lol.  I would love to do fancy appetizers, but I think I will assemble a dozen for the platter and then let everyone else assemble their own.  I would gladly throw the turkey in the slow cooker, but my boys like the skin so I'll do it in the oven the same way we had it last month.  I am only making a half recipe of dressing since I always have too much left over - and then I proceed to eat it all.  The Brussels sprouts are a favorite, but I am not doing the carrots everyone likes, maybe for Christmas (yes, I have a draft of that menu too). 

I have a layer of chocolate chiffon cake in the freezer and I am going to try a simpler pumpkin mousse made with Cool Whip.  Call me lazy, but the dessert will be so rich and everyone will be so stuffed (no pun intended) that I doubt they will notice.  Especially if I top the dessert with my Chantilly cream.  The pecan pie brownies will be a new item and I hope they work out.  Here is the menu:

Smoked salmon, cheese, and cucumber bites (I'm thinking a cucumber slice instead of the bread.  And I am not making my own pickled salmon, I'm buying it)

Roast turkey breast and gravy
Chestnut dressing
Sweet potato casserole with pecan topping
Mashed potatoes
Roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta and scallions
Roasted beet and goat cheese salad
Brandied cranberry chutney

Pumpkin mousse and chocolate chiffon trifle
Pecan pie brownies

Oh, I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

I - Ice Cream

Ice cream is almost never my first choice for dessert, usually opting for pie or carrot cake.  But, I just love good ice cream whenever it is available.  Pie ala mode, yes.  Ice cream on waffles, yes.  Ice cream cones, yes.  Yes, yes, yes.   And so I took advantage of what was offered.

In Germany we had sundaes.  (I can't tell you the city or I will give away one of the letters)

In Belgium, it was waffles with ice cream

I loved the Brussels waffles so much I made them as dessert for our Christmas dinner.  I used King Arthur Flour's waffle mix and substituted sparkling water for the regular water.  And I would have taken a picture but my guests were too busy gobbling them up.  Me too.

Are you an ice cream lover?  Or is gelato or sherbet a favorite?  Do you over-indulge in sweet treats on vacation?

Bonus:  Daylily 'Iron Gate Glacier'

Easter Dinner in the Planning Stages

Easter is coming soon and I will be cooking for my family.  As has been my custom, here is the menu.  I have provided links to the recipes where possible.

Crab Salad

Smoked Salmon

Deviled Eggs

Three Pepper Salad

Pork Loin with Fig Sauce

 Farro with Fennel

 Roasted Green Beans w

Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts

Italian Cheese Tart

Coconut Macaroons

While I have made my own pickled salmon in the past, I am opting to buy smoked salmon this year.  Much easier.  And my recipe for the crab salad is one I received a gazillion years ago from The Pier Restaurant in Harbor Springs, Michigan, so I may post it in the future.

Are you busy planning an Easter or Passover dinner?  

Cookie Monster in My House

My grandson is a chocolate chip cookie monster and that means that Grandma needs to bake cookies. Here is my recipe for chocolate chip cookies, adapted from King Arthur flour.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 5 dozen 2 1/2 inch cookies

Ingredients:

2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable shortening, butter flavored

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1/2 cup almond flour

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1.       In a large bowl, combine the sugars, butter, shortening, salt, vanilla and almond extracts, vinegar, baking soda and baking powder, beating until smooth and creamy.

2.       Beat in the egg, again beating till smooth. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is thoroughly combined.

3.      Mix in the flour, then the chips.

4.      Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow to sit overnight in refrigerator.

5.      Next day:  Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.   Remove dough from refrigerator and prepare cookies while oven preheats.

6.      Use a spoon (or a tablespoon cookie scoop) to scoop 1 1/4" balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2" between them on all sides; they'll spread.

7.      Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, till their edges are chestnut brown and their tops are light golden brown, almost blonde. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan till they've set enough to move without breaking. Repeat with the remaining dough. 

Note:  I have doubled the recipe, scooped the dough and frozen it.  Works great.

National Homemade Soup Day

Winter is now officially half-over, but if there is one good thing about winter, it is eating homemade soup.  I love soup and crusty bread anytime, but it is especially satisfying when the temperatures drop below freezing.  It is 15 degrees F right now.  So, I decided I would dedicate this post to National Homemade Soup Day.

My mother made lots of soup when I was growing up.  I remember Campbell's tomato soup from the can and some packages of chicken noodle soup (whose brand I do not remember), but my favorite was her 'risi e bisi', an Italian rice and pea soup that was a very liquid risotto.

I too make lots of soups.  They are great for freezing and I still have some onion soup and chili in the freezer.  While I have never frozen the recipe I am posting today, I couldn't resist showing off, LOL.  I submitted this recipe to the local newspaper way back in 1984 (a homage to the book which is now a best seller).  It is for my Chunky Cheese Soup.  Here is the recipe:

Chunky Cheese Soup

Serves 8-10

3 cups large dice Yukon Gold potato

1 cup diced carrot

1 cup diced celery

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

4 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp olive oil

4 cups chicken stock

3 cups half and half

1/2 cup flour

1 pound cheddar cheese, shredded

1 Tbsp snipped fresh parsley

In 5-qt Dutch oven, heat butter and olive oil over medium high heat.  Add vegetables and cook until tender, but not browned.  Add chicken stock.  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Whisk together half and half and flour.  Add to soup and cook until heated through. 

Remove from heat and add cheese.  Stir to mix well until cheese is completely melted. 

Sprinkle with parsley to serve.

Here is part of the newspaper article.  I am not sure where I stashed the original and this photo just happened to be on the computer.  Scott is Charlie's Dad.  I am serving the soup in mugs that I made in ceramic class.  Why did I ever get rid of them???

BTW, that plant hanging in the background is my hoya plant that I have posted pictures of before. Fortunately, that flowered wallpaper is long gone, though I loved it when it was there.

It's National Carrot Cake Day

When I was double-checking the calendar for Chocolate Cake Day in January, I looked at the February calendar and saw a day I could not ignore.  Today is National Carrot Cake Day.  I have never met a carrot cake I did not enjoy, even the ones without nuts.  I usually use the recipe from America's Test Kitchen, but here are two that I have in my files.

First is my mother's recipe, written in her own cursive handwriting.  You old-timers know what that is, right?  They do not teach it anymore.  What a shame.  I think our culture is truly regressing.

I am guessing the oven should be preheated to 350 degrees.  And I always drain my carrots on some paper towels.

Remember when they said oleo was healthier than butter?  I always use butter now.

Here is another recipe from one of my former staff members.  It is baked in 9 inch cake pans.

Yup.  It does not say how much sugar in the frosting, but I would start with two cups sifted and then add more, probably 1/2 cup.

My staff and I did a lot of eating and bringing in food to share.  We had a cookbook of our recipes and one book for our photos.  We did have a good time.

Here is a photo of carrot cake from J. Alexander's Restaurant.  It has coconut in it and is very moist.  Plus they serve it warm.  Yum.

It's National Chocolate Cake Day

On several occasions I have thought it would be fun to blog everyday about whatever food is being celebrated.  There is an entire calendar for these events and I have mentioned a few in the past, like National Cheesecake Day which falls on July 30 this year.

Today is National Chocolate Cake Day.  There was a time when chocolate was my very favorite flavor.  While I still love it, I often opt for something else, often lemon.  But put a piece of dark chocolate anything in front of me and I can't resist.

I would love to make a cake today, but as my kids are off on vacation, I would have to eat it all by myself.  Not that I couldn't accomplish the task.  I do have some recipes for chocolate cake in a mug - for one- so that may be my dessert this evening.

I looked at all of my Pinterest pins and there are several cakes I want to make, especially a couple of flourless varieties.  If you are looking for recipes, you can check some out at these links:

Single-layer Chocolate cakes: https://www.pinterest.com/msdeniseh553/chocolate-cakes/
Chocolate layer cakes: https://www.pinterest.com/msdeniseh553/chocolate-layer-cake/
Chocolate pound and bundt cakes:  https://www.pinterest.com/msdeniseh553/chocolate-pound-and-bundt-cakes/

One of my favorite chocolate desserts is a chocolate cake and pumpkin mousse.  Alas, I've never put the recipe on my computer.  It is made with chocolate chiffon cake.  The pumpkin mousse is great all on its own, and the cake is a great treat at Thanksgiving.

Are you a chocolate fan?  Dark or milk?  What is your favorite flavor?

Time on My Hands

This is something that does not happen very often - I actually I have nothing I need to do for the rest of the day.  Christmas-wise anyway, cause I could always clean out a closet.

I suppose if I were a person who kept a weekly schedule of chores, I would have something that I always did on Mondays - like dust or laundry.  But I do not believe in that kind of regimentation.  I have a  friend who told me that the only women who ever kept those kind of schedules are women who never worked outside the home.  But I didn't have one even when I was a stay-at-home mom for ten years.

But, back to today.  I had three phone calls to make this morning - one to schedule furnace maintenance, one to schedule my car for maintenance, and one to my broker to ask what a letter I received meant - and he had no idea - wonderful.  And that didn't take long.

Then I made up a large tray of cookies for the staff at the spa where I do my yoga.  I meant to take a picture of it - and forgot.  When I got back home after dropping it off, I realized that I forgot to put the chocolate covered apricots on the tray.  Guess I'll have to eat them myself.  While at the hospital I planned to check out the gift store, but it was closed - for maintenance - after a pipe froze on the floor above it and apparently caused quite the mess.  I am still wondering how a pipe freezes in a large hospital?  (it is 13 degrees F here, but still)

Obviously, I do not have Charlie this week - or next.  But I am used to doing my chores on the week-end, so today does not feel like Monday without him.  I did a fair amount of running around this weekend.  My gifts are all wrapped except for one that is being delivered today.  I have the train under the tree, but still have the village to set up.  Charlie will be here Thursday afternoon, so I will put it up after he leaves.

I have one more run to the grocer's to pick up the fixins for the salad.  I surely have forgotten something really important.  Or maybe this is how it works when you start all your Christmas stuff right after Thanksgiving - a first for me.

Christmas cookies 2014 - nope, I did not make this many varieties this year.  As a matter of fact, I only made the molasses cookies from that pic.  Later this week I'll make the lemon drops in the lower left corner.  If I make 20 dozen cookies, I want to eat 20 dozen cookies.

My Christmas Menu

In keeping with tradition, I am posting my Christmas menu.  I had my menu all planned until I read a blog post.
My thanks to Jo at Jo on Food, Life and a Scent of Chocolate for posting a recipe for beef Bourguignon.  For many years now I have used the Barefoot Contessa recipe and love it.  Plus, it can be made ahead of time and reheated, when it always tastes even better.  Which means that on Christmas Day I am only reheating and preparing the mushrooms to go into the beef.

One of my sons asked if I was making noodles or mashed potatoes and I decided to make neither. Instead I am making Ina's potato fennel gratin, which can also be made ahead - YAY!!!

Keeping with the make-ahead theme, I am going with the poached shrimp which I have made many times and everyone loves.  And even though I always make my own salad dressings, I sprung for a ready made bottle of a creamy mustard vinaigrette.

I did make an alteration to the menu just yesterday.  I received a new recipe to test from America's Test Kitchen.  I made the caramelized onions and froze what I will need for Christmas.  The second part of the test is using them for the Brussels sprouts.  I sure hope this recipe works, though in all my years of testing there has been only one complete fail IMO.

In prior years when I have travelled, I have tried to include something from the country I visited. This year is no exception.  I will be making Brussels-style Belgian waffles for dessert with various toppings - ice cream, powdered sugar, maple syrup, jam, caramel sauce...  And since the batter has to sit overnight, we just have to pour it into the waffle iron after dinner.  My only debate is whether I make the batter from scratch, or use the mix I purchased from King Arthur flour.  I never liked waffles until I had them in Brussels.  Definitely not like Eggo, lol.

Here is the menu:

Poached Shrimp

Butter Lettuce w Pears, Walnuts,& Goat Cheese 

Boeuf Bourguignon

Potato Fennel Gratin

Pan-roasted Brussels Sprouts w

Caramelized Onions and Bacon

Rolls w Orange Butter

Brussels-style Belgian Waffle Sundaes

The Great Turkey Roast

There was a letter to the editor yesterday in the local paper from some guy ranting about the treatment of turkeys and why we should not eat them.  He said he was having a tofurky and that is what we all should be eating.  Well, bully and la-di-dah for him.    Don't come to my house looking for special foods.

Anyway, years ago I made a buttermilk-brined turkey.  I had often soaked my chicken in buttermilk before roasting and I thought the turkey idea sounded great.  And it was.  The recipe was from Williams-Sonoma and that was how I first made it, using their store brine.  Over the years I have dry-brined and wet-brined with various recipes, but my family still likes this buttermilk brine the best.  So, this year I used the basic recipe with my own tweaks and we enjoyed a great turkey dinner, if rather exhausting for the cook, lol.  I added the cheesecloth vest for the breast and it turned out really well.  Here is a pic of the bird and the recipe (not great, but there was so much steam and I had to shoot the pic before the carver got his hands on the bird) .

Turkey Brine (ingredients stolen from Martha Stewart.  No, do not steal the ingredients, just steal the recipe.  If you are not like me and do not have a pantry full of these seeds, just buy the brine mix at Williams-Sonoma and use 1 1/2 cups of it.  Or just used coarse salt and forget the seasonings.)

1 1/2 cups coarse salt

6 bay leaves

2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds

1 tablespoon dried juniper berries

2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds

Dissolve above in 2 quarts cold water, heat to a simmer and then cool.  When cool, mix with one gallon buttermilk.

Turkey prep:  The brine is enough for up to a 15 pound turkey.  You pretty much want the turkey submerged in the brine.  You will also need a brining bad or an extra-large Ziploc bag to hold the brine and the turkey.  You also need room in the refrigerator, or, if you have a large cooler you can keep below 40 degrees for 24-36 hours, you can use that.  
Buy a fresh 12-15 pound turkey (I prefer fresh Amish which are readily available around here) or a frozen turkey - not Kosher or already treated - and have it rinsed and ready to brine.  You can use the neck and giblets for gravy making or you can toss them out.  Just remember to remove them from the bird.  My Dad's sister never lived down her first turkey attempt when she left everything in the bird.  We heard about it every year.

Now, I highly suggest a helper to get this together, but since I do not have one, I am fortunate that I can lift a 15 pound bird and 12 pounds of liquid at the same time.  You need to put the bird in the brining bag, pour in the buttermilk brine, squeeze the air out of the bag, and seal it up tight.  Place it in a large container in the fridge (I set mine in the bottom meat drawer) or in your cooler.  Leave it for 24-36 hours.

At the end of your brining time, remove the bird and throw out the brine.  Rinse the bird thoroughly and dry with paper towels - the turkey shower.  Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan and let sit on the counter for one hour.  You want the turkey skin to dry out.  As for food safety, my bird only reached 44 degrees in temp before going in the oven.

Place your oven rack near the bottom of the oven.  If you have a pizza stone, I highly recommend that you put it on the rack.  It will transfer heat to the bottom of your pan very efficiently.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Add roughly chopped carrots, onion, celery, parsley to the open cavities of the bird.  Be sure the legs are trussed.  

Soak a piece of cheesecloth, four layers, roughly a 12" x 8" piece, in six tablespoons of melted butter.  Lay it over the breast meat.

Place the turkey in the oven and roast for 30 minutes.  Decrease the oven temperature to 325 degrees and continue roasting for 3 - 3 1/2 hours until the turkey has a temperature of  170 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh.  My oven has a probe feature, but you can also purchase remote probes that work outside the oven.  Just be sure to insert the probe into the thickest part of the thigh away from bone before you put the bird in the oven.  If you have neither, start checking the temperature of the bird after 2 1/2 hours of total cooking.  DO NOT rely on the pop-up timer that came with the bird unless you enjoy dry turkey. Remember, every time you open that oven door, heat escapes, which is probably why some bloggers complain that it took forever for their turkey to cook. 

When your turkey is done, remove it from the oven, remove the cheesecloth, cover with aluminum foil and let rest for at least 30 minutes before carving.  

And this pic is for the guy who complained about eating turkey:

Some of them just get to roam free.

Any questions?

Cranberry Chutney

I am reposting a recipe from awhile back.  It is for my brandied cranberry chutney.  It sure beats that stuff they sell in a can.  And with the brandy, it will keep for weeks.  You can make it now and even have it for Christmas - if it lasts that long without being gobbled up.

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped fine

1 cup dark brown sugar OR 1 cup light brown sugar plus one Tbsp molasses

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup Brandy

Combine above in a sauce pan, bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.  While simmering, prepare the following:

3 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and small diced

1 tsp lemon zest

Add to above mixture in pan and simmer until cranberries are slightly broken, about ten more minutes. 

Squeeze juice from lemon.  You should have about 1/4 cup.

Finely chop 1/4 cup crystallized ginger.

When cranberries are slightly broken, stir in lemon juice and ginger.  Add a dash of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes.  Cool and refrigerate until ready for use.  (Or eat it out of the pan.)

I serve this at room temperature with some toasted walnuts on top.  You may substitute water for all or part of the brandy and add more brown sugar if you want a sweeter taste.  If you like it hot, double the amount of red pepper flakes.

I've also given this as a gift in a nice glass jar so that folks can enjoy it with their own dinner later.

All Things Cheesecake

Ask me to name my favorite dessert and I would not hesitate to name 'cheesecake'.  Now, that has not always been the case.  When I was growing up, my grandfather worked at the Dodge Main plant in Hamtramck, Michigan and he would bring home cheesecakes from the Polish bakeries.  They did not make their cakes with Philly cream cheese.  It was probably farmer's cheese and tasted dry.  I never cared for it.

I am not sure when I first tasted cheesecake with 'the real stuff', but I loved it.  And still do.  Of course, it is, perhaps, not the most nutritious dessert, being mostly fat, but for special occasions, it works for me.  

I decided to create something different for Thanksgiving and thought about a light cheesecake on top of a brownie.  Not sure if I will do that as Charlie really liked the pumpkin mousse last year, but yesterday we tried out this cheesecake recipe I developed.  

My kids were here to celebrate my 70th birthday so we talked about the taste.  Everyone liked it, including Charlie.  I thought it could use a little more cinnamon, no one else agreed, but after all we ate (white pizza, fettucine with chicken meatballs, pesto and ricotta, and Greek salad) along with the lemon cake they brought, who knows.  I thought it tasted good with my coffee for breakfast, lol.

This picture is of only a 7-inch cake.  You can cut the recipe in half for smaller groups.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 cups gingersnap crumbs (or graham cracker if you prefer)

6 Tbsp melted butter

4 tsp sugar

Filling:

2 lb cream cheese - at room temperature.  Cream cheese must be SOFT.

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp kosher salt

5 Tbsp sour cream

8 large eggs - you need twelve ounces so place in a measuring cup, then you can adjust for the size of your eggs

2 tsp vanilla

11 ounces heavy cream

2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 cup solid pack pumpkin

1 tsp cinnamon - or 2 tsp if you want more spice

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare crust:

1.  In a food processor, process ginger snaps until crumbs form.  Make sure you have 2 cups of crumbs.  Place in a bowl and add melted butter and sugar.  Stir until evenly moist.

2.  Place crumbs in the bottom of an 9-inch springform pan and press into bottom and up sides about 1/2 inch.

3.  Bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.  Before filling pan, double-wrap the bottom with heavy-duty aluminum foil to prevent leaks.

Prepare filling:

1.  In a stand mixer, place cream cheese in the bowl with paddle attachment and mix on low speed.  Scrape down the bowl, the paddle, and the bottom of the bowl often.  The cheese must be completely lump free.

2.  Add the sugar and salt and continue to mix, on low speed, until smooth.  DO NOT INCORPORATE AIR INTO THE MIXTURE.

3.  Add the sour cream, mix on low, scraping as necessary, until smooth.

4.  Add the eggs, two at a time, with the vanilla, scraping the bowl and paddle, and mixing until smooth with each addition.

5.  Slowly add the heavy cream, scrapping and mixing until incorporated.

6.  Add the lemon juice and solid pack pumpkin and mix until incorporated and mixture is smooth, scraping and cleaning paddle.

7.  At this point, if the mixture still has lumps of cream cheese (and yes it does happen) you must push it through a fine sieve. 

8.  To the lump free mixture, add the cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice and stir on low until completely dispersed.  Note:  If you have to put the mixture through a sieve and add these before doing so, most of the spice will end up trapped in the sieve itself.  Trust me on this.

9.  Pour mixture into springform pan wrapped with foil.  Place in a large roasting pan and fill larger pan with water about half-way up sides on springform pan.  This water-bath will prevent your top from cracking.

10.  Bake in oven for about 1 hour 20 minutes or until center is set and the cake is firm across the top.
11.  Allow to cool completely on a rack before removing pan.  Refrigerate.  Remove from fridge about 30 minutes before serving.