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Winter has Arrived
Last night, it still looked like fall. The green of the grass was fading and leaves swirled about in the wind. Today however, we got a foot or so of snow. Wandering across town to pick up My Sister in law from work, I snapped a couple of pictures about half way through the downfall. No doubt, it’s winter now!
Turducken Test Run
Turducken is one of those things You hear about in an almost mythical fashion. A bird, stuffed into another type of bird, then shoved inside yet another kind of bird, with sausage and dressing packed between the layers. Sounds rediculous! Yet amazing! How ever does one end up creating such a thing? Thanks to those people that did…
Over the years, I have looked at recipes and methods online, even found some web sites that will sell You a ready to cook turducken. Considering what to cook for the upcoming holiday feast, this legendary dish kept coming to mind. So, for My first rendezvous with it, I oredered up a small, pre-made turducken. Having browsed many sites, I settled on Herbert’s Specialty Meats, which appears to be a cajun grocer of some variety. After browsing their dozen or so stuffing options, I opted to go with the “traditional” pork sausage and cornbread dressing. A wise choice.
Keeping with the theme, it arrived in a box, which had a foam box inside of it, containing a bag with a bit of dry ice and, another box. Happily, this last of the boxes contained a 10 or 12 pound turducken, residing inside a vacuum sealed bag. It appeared to be heavily seasoned on the outside, this however, was not the case. Once cooked, I sliced it in half and carved up one side of the meaty mass. It was quite delicious, but very bland in it’s seasoning. This did allow us to taste each different type of meat as We devoured the thick chunks I had sliced off of it. I will be serving this on xmas for sure! I think the flavors will have to be added to though. Maybe a sherry and cajun spice injection will boost the experience up another notch. My brother suggested a garlic and butter injection, perhaps both are in order… Two small turduckens should make a fine holiday treat. What a spectacle of food, this, turducken!
Family Radio
All through My childhood, My grandpa would sit in the chair, featured in the previous post, drinking His whiskey. Across the room, this radio would be emitting the sounds talk radio, or whatever baseball game was on at the time. My grandfather has been gone about 10 years now, but His radio is now perched prominently at My Aunt and Uncle’s house.
A Tale of Two Feasts
Thanksgiving, the gathering of foods and families that many of us look forward to year after year. Followed by Turkey Day, which is the Saturday following the traditional American holiday, as observed by My family and a few friends. While others are still picking over their left-overs, We proceed to make another whole Thanksgiving style meal. This works for us, since Thanksgiving is often done at other relatives houses and many have 2 or 3 gatherings to attend on the ‘Thursday of Fattening.’ Fortunately, just about every one in our extended family is a cook. There are a few chefs as well, so no matter who’s home You go to for the holidays, the food is always amazing!
On Thursday, I woke up, plucked My second of the five lemons from My little tree and the one next to it dropped down into the pot below. So I brought two lemons with, as My contribution to the feast to be enjoyed. As such, We rounded up the immediate family and headed across town to My Aunt and Uncle’s, where We consumed a delicious meal. Anchored by a fresh turkey, as juicy and tender as can be, wonderfully done. Happily, They already had a bit of a citrus theme going. My Uncle rapidly applied one of the freshly picked lemons to the asparagus He had going, then placed nice, thin slices into water goblets, to be filled with sparkling water, using the last bits to garnish the asparagus. It went well with the sweet potato and pear casserole type thing and it’s very citrus laden flavor.
Among the rest of the meal, was a ginger, orange chutney sauce. A nice suprise, as I loathe the canned cranberry sauce so many of us encounter on such a day. This may have looked like something similar, I assume it had cranberry as well, but was so much more. Thanks, given.
My Mom did all of the cooking for Turkey Day this year. Brining and then smoking the turkey, as has become the method for Us. Proper mashed potatoes, boiled, buttered and hand beaten to a chunky, but mashed state, skin on. Homemade gravy, thick and delicious, to tie everything together. The traditional green bean casserole, with crunchy fried onions atop of it. Along with one of Her best recipes, STUFFING, or dressing as some call it. Piles of intentionally stale, dry’ish wheat bread and cornbread, a mound of chopped mushrooms, onions and celery, many bowls worth of stock(or broth?) and several handfuls of herbs, mixed up and baked.. Then, two pies emerged, can’t leave with out a slice of that in My belly, right? Pumpkin, or apple? Both? Yeah, yummy stuff!
Turkey Day: Part II
I take a lot of pictures, but when someone points a camera at Me, I can’t help but to. .. …
Thanks for snapping these Burd!
Almond Chicken Curry
I’ve seen many recipes similar to this. It’s very close to more Thai styled peanut-based curries, found in many restaraunts here in America. Since I usually make that asian style curry with potatoes and spinach, the aging bak choy in My fridge turned out to be the perfect candidate to accompany this simple almond curry, which is seasoned with more of an Indian style. I ended up making a first attempt on a 4am cooking excursion. Frying up some bacon, to grease the pan and to have something to nibble on as I cooked, I rounded off the meal with a pack of strained ramen noodles. Don’t ask Me why I used two habanero peppers, it was some pretty fiery stuff, but it was quite delicious! I’ll be having future goes at this one for sure.. Prep and cooking took Me 45 minutes, including frying the bacon and greens separately, the curry it’s self should take an average home cook half an hour or so. When paired with veggies and rice, noodles, or bread, this recipe serves about 4 people.
Supplies Needed:
A Wok, or high sided Fry Pan, Blender, or something(magic bullet, mincer, large hammer?) to turn the nuts to sand sized particles or smaller, Knife and Cuttung Board.
Ingredients:
1.5 pounds of thinly sliced Chicken Thighs
1 Onion, chopped up as You like
30 Almonds, mashed, minced, or otherwise turned as close to a paste-like texture as possible
3 large Garlic Cloves, minced
Fresh Ginger, a piece about the diameter of a quarter, 2 to 3 inches long, minced
1-2 tbsp of Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Mild Chili Powder
1 tsp or so, Garam Masala spice blend
1 Bay Leaf
a pinch of Dried Terragon bits
half, to 1 cup of Water
a bit of Cooking Oil
To Cook:
Over medium heat, saute the bay leaf and garlic in a bit of cooking oil. Once the leaf starts to brown, add the ginger and chili powder. Stir for a few seconds and pour in the water. Adjust the burner to medium high, to high heat. Once this begins to boil, add the meat, onion, soy sauce, almond mash and half the masala blend, stirring frequently. When the meat is almost cooked through, add the remaining masala and the terragon. Cook until the liquids have become a nice thick sauce, discard the bay leaf, remove from heat and enjoy.
Notes:
If You cut the chicken into pieces more than a quarter inch thick, You will want to cook the meat half way before starting the above process. Slicing semi-frozen, boneless thighs makes it pretty easy to get nice thin slices.
If You do not have access to some Garam Masala, try adding 4 or so cloves and a 1-2 inch chunk of a cinnamon stick at the same time as the bay leaf. Removing them as the sauce starts to thicken.
If You so desred, You can soak the almonds in warm water for half an hour or more and peel the skin off of them. I just leave it on and toss the nuts into the food processor.. Also, if You are using chunks of almonds, You may want to soak them for a while before cooking, or at least put them in at the same time as the water, to soften them up a little.
A carrot or two adds a lot to this dish! Spinach, greens and broccoli match up quite nicely as well. Turmeric is also a great addition. Try a teaspoon of fresh lemon zest, or some minced lemongrass in place of the ginger. I find that a nice spicy chili, such as Thai Dragon, or Habanero, rounds this out very nicely. When adding such heat though, I admit to adding about a teaspoon of sugar, or 2 teaspoons of honey as well.
I Picked My First Lemon!
I know that having such fruit trees around is normal for many people, but this is Minnesota! One must grow citrus in pots and haul them indoors for the winter. Thus, I am that odd guy who has ‘the glow’ of an artificial sun beaming out of My attic windows for a large part of the year.
Three years in and I am still learning how to keep all these little trees happy, with mixed success. My ‘Improved Meyer Lemon’ tree is not looking the greatest, yet it has 5 little lemons that are ripening, in this, it’s first year of fruiting. Well, there are only 4 now…
Buddha’s Hand Citron
Now, I have read about this variety of tree. I have seen pictures and sort of considered adding this variety to My little orchard in the attic. However, I had never actually seen or tasted the fruits of this tree, until now! What a pleasant lemonesque aroma and flavor. The only food I can think of that’s more interesting to look at would be romanesco brocolli.. Now I have to conjure up some dinner, to be seasoned with this cool looking fruit.
Hangin’ Out with My Brother
My Brother has taken up the challenge to make a monthly music video, to be released on Vimeo, YouTube and the like. Starting with some very basic ‘put a camera on a tripod and go’ type of approach. So, for His second installment, I did exactly that! I have never shot video with a dslr before, this was set it and forget it, all the way. We shall see where this video series leads. Hopefully, I’ll get to shoot several of them and gain some videography skills.For those interested, simply google ‘Felix 16:16’. His goal is to make a song, from beginning to end, drums to vocals, video and edit, all in one day. Meanwhile, I broke out the old XSi with the $100 Canon 50mm f1.8 lens and captured these, less the one taken with the T4i.. I do love taking pictures in low light without using a flash. This was really stretching the limits of the camera’s light intake capabilities.
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