Seven Year Stuffing

Nick researched GF stuffing via the internets, and found Gluten Free Girl's recipe just in time for Thanksgiving. Before this Thanksgiving, the last time I ate stuffing was 7 years ago. (I went GF about two weeks before Thanksgiving 7 years ago.) Nick used Glutino corn bread to make his deliciousness. The GF was even more amazing than I remember stuffing being. Kudos, Gluten Free Girl!

Someone was cooking in the therapy kitchen* today. And it smelled like stuffing. Bam! The craving began. Honestly, it's all I could think about all day. My thoughts would wander to hints of sage and the warmth of the bread melting in my mouth. When I came home from work, like magic, Nick had made homemade chicken noodle soup and *gasp* stuffing! I was thrilled.

* The therapy kitchen at work has cool adaptable cooking equipment, counters that raise and lower, a mirror so the cook can see the stove top while sitting, etc.

So where have I been lately? I got food poisoning from a turkey burger the week before Thanksgiving (which did not deter the turkey eating). That was followed up by a sinus infection, my car windshield and hood being ruined by a flying piece of re-tread flying across 285, wedding planning, and last week's bought of food poisoning (this time by Whole Foods hot bar). I think I'll be back on track. I do miss writing. In the mean time, check out the stuffing recipe.

Thanksgiving!

I worked again this year on Thanksgiving, and the day after. Normally our work meal is quite impressive. This year it consisted of Honey Baked Ham's ham and turkey breast, pre-made mac & cheese, pre-made potato salad, my homemade cranberry, and cafeteria food. It was not the picturesque day, but it was a nice day as far as the actual work was concerned.

Family Thanksgiving occurred yesterday. Nick and I rubbed our 16 pound bird, stashed it in the smoker, and commenced the cooking. I made a pumpkin pie and corn bread. Nick worked on prepping the green beans, arugula salad, potatoes, and stuffing. While he finished the later, I finished the former. Mom brought the cranberry, and Melissa brought wine and herself. (She's studying for finals!)

While the first Thanksgiving might have been riddled with unpleasantries augmented to smooth the rough edges of British settlement, I believe the present day celebration is different. With the passage of time, Americans have turned Thanksgiving into their own day. I believe the focus on family time is a central theme. No matter what you serve, or who is there, the together-time fills the special day with grace.

We had quite the spread. I have to say, and I really looking forward to eating the leftovers for lunch the next week. I think the pumpkin pie recipe I made was pretty fabulous, so here it is.

Olivia's Easy Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients:
pre-made pie crust
1 can pumpkin
1 can evaporated milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons brandy
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon (1 pinch) clove
1/3 cup tightly packed and a little bit mounded over brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, whisk until the ingredients are well combined. Pour into your pie shell and bake for about an hour, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Engaged!

Nick and I went up to a cabin in Blue Ridge Georgia with two other couples. When our home-cooked Saturday night dinner was winding down, Nick got up to get something. He came back with a little surprise- a bottle of Don Perignon. Nick explained that we all have a lot to celebrate. Then he produced a second surprise and got down on one knee. Just as he was finishing asking "Olivia Taveras-Koranda, will you be Mrs. Mazzolini" I cut him off with a resounding "YES!" After the screaming and hugging died down, everyone went out to the bonfire to celebrate the great news with s'mores and champagne.

The best part? The proposal was a total surprise to everyone. Only my parents knew it would happen, since Nick asked each of them for my hand in marriage.

Halloween Feast, Part Two

My cousin, Ryan, and his wife, Marijka, came back to Atlanta for a weekend trip. Once upon a time, they lived in Atlanta. I really enjoyed having a little more family here in town, even though we did see each other all the time. Ryan got a great job back at home in Wisconsin, so now we only see each other every so often. This weekend, I was thrilled to see my cousins and to celebrate Ryan's birthday.

Requisite of a Koranda family gathering, we gathered at Aunt Lee's for our epic event. We began at 1:30pm sharp, with bubbly, a spread of goat and cow cheese, pickles, and olives. Around dinner time we moved onto wine and German food. The menu involved sauerbraten, brawurst, pumpkin, and brussel sprouts. When we'd enjoyed dinner to capacity, we took a break. Next, we moved into tea, coffee, and dessert (GF chocolate cake, cheesecake, cranberry mousse). After making a dent in dessert, we moved the party into the living room to relax and chat. Of course, all of the fun we were having made us hungry, so we made small plates of leftovers. I think we left around midnight, full and happy. Poor Marijka had to get up early to catch a plane for a business meeting the next morning.

I've never really eaten a lot of German food, despite being 25% German (via my paternal grandmother). Generally I think of brats, beer, and vinegar. I despise vinegar. There are a few exceptions. I enjoy ketchup in moderation. It has it's place on burgers, with fries, on hot dogs. I do enjoy pickles, but not any type reminiscent of the bright green kind where you can taste only vinegar. That is generally my limitation of vinegar enjoyment. On Aunt Lee's menu was sauerbraten. Sauerbraten is a meat prepared for 2-3 days prior by marinating it in vinegar. In the spirit of GFness, Aunt Lee used rice vinegar. I have to say, I did enjoy this dish. I tried the two mustards used to accompany the brats, but did not care for them. bratwurst is delicious in it's own right. There is no need to add a vinegar-ous topping. Despite my hatred for vinegar, I may indeed delve a bit deeper into my German food heritage in the coming cold months and see what wonderful things I can find.

Halloween Feast, Part One

Ah, Halloween. It's my favorite part of fall. Anything involving costumes and chocolate makes me very happy. All day on Saturday, I played in the kitchen. Early in the afternoon I made meringue cupcakes to take to a friend's Halloween/birthday party. (You can see how cute they were in the picture of me rocking some Lucille Ball at right.) I was hoping they would be tall enough to turn into ghosts, but they didn't quite grow enough in the oven. Next time I might fill them with twice as much meringue and see if they would be tall enough to turn into sweet ghosties with a bit of icing.

Before leaving for said party, Nick and I prepared a dinner for another couple and ourselves. The menu included a rack of lamb, baked squash, and buttery salad. Since we were cooking indoors, I used the main oven for the lamb and the mini counter oven for the squash. I made a mint-basil pesto for the lamb (courtesy of a FoodNetwork.com recipe), which was complemented by the light garlic flavor of the squash. The salad was a bag of buttery lettuces tossed with pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries. I have to say, enjoying this meal with friends over good conversation, a bottle of red, and candlelight was better than going out to eat!

Bon appetitie!

Baked Acorn Squash 1 small acorn squash, halved, seeded, and sliced 0.25" thick
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1.5 tablespoons EVOO
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss the acorn squash with the garlic, salt, pepper, and EVOO. Roast until the squash is tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.

If you are cooking this with the lamb, set the dish aside. Put the squash in the oven just after sticking the lamb in the oven.

Rack of Lamb with Mint-Basil Pesto
Found on the Food Network website

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups lightly packed fresh mint leaves
• 3/4 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 (1 1/2-pounds each) racks of lamb, trimmed and frenched

Directions

Blend the mint, basil, nuts, cheese, lemon juice, garlic, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper in a food processor until the herbs are finely chopped. With the machine running, gradually blend in 1/3 cup of oil until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

enerously sprinkle the lamb racks with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a grill pan or heavy large skillet over high heat. Place 1 lamb rack in the skillet and cook just until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the lamb rack meat side up on a heavy large baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining 2 lamb racks.

Roast the lamb in the oven until cooked to desired doneness, about 20 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer the lamb racks to a work surface. Set aside for 10 minutes. Cut the lamb between the bones into single chops. Spread the pesto over 1 cut side of each chop. Arrange the chops, pesto side up, on plates or a platter, and serve.

Do-Ahead Tip: The pesto and lamb racks may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead. Cover the pesto and lamb separately and refrigerate. Allow extra time for the chilled lamb to roast.

Alternately, the racks of lamb can be sliced then broiled before serving. To broil the lamb: Use 18 to 24 meaty single lamb rib chops (about 2 1/2 ounces each, from 3 racks of lamb). Preheat the broiler. Arrange the lamb chops in a single layer over 2 heavy baking sheets. Lightly brush the lamb chops with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Watching closely, broil the lamb chops 3 inches from the heat source until cooked to desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Spread the pesto over the chops. Arrange the chops pesto side up on plates or a platter, and serve.

Smoked Turkey

I almost always work Thanksgiving. This year is no exception. Instead of celebrating on Thursday, Nick and I host GF Thanksgiving on the next available day. Since we have this wonderful smoker, we thought we would start practicing our turkey cooking skills. For tonight's dinner, we had turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce.

We did not marinate the turkey overnight, as we decided this morning to fix a bird. We used the same rub as GF Thanksgiving 2008. Then we placed the turkey in the smoker and cooked it on medium-high for about 3 hours. I think we overcooked it just a bit. Next time we will cook it a bit differently. I am thinking about cooking it at a lower temperature with hourly basting, and making sure the meat thermometer is in it. (We forgot the thermometer this round.) We also did not stuff it with extra herbs or fruit. This may have helped the turkey to have more moisture in it's environment and for the drippings to be less fatty.

Making gravy GF is still a bit of a mystery. The gravy seems to turn out thicker. The rue just is not the same. I'll have to do some more research. I'd really appreciate anyone's comments. We saved some of the drippings to mess around with later on.

In the spirit of fall, I also made pumpkin bread. I guess what I really made was a loaf of pumpkin bread and 6 pumpkin break muffins. The recipe seemed a little odd to me, because of the seeds, but it is just great. My favorite part is the "crust." I needed 2 cups of flour, but only had about 1.75 of the Arrowhead Mills All-purpose baking flour. I topped off the last bit with GF Bisquick. The Bisquick might have helped the loaf to come out a bit smoother. I find that the Arrowhead Mills leaves a trace of grit or aftertaste or something. I also used 1/5 cans of Libby's pumpkin. The rest of the pumpkin will be re purposed for breakfast parfait. You should try out this easy recipe, complementary (again) of FootNetwork.com/Alton Brown. If Alton Brown happens to ever read this, I would like him to know I have a little crush on him. He's charismatic, smart, and cooks amazingly well. (Too bad it couldn't work out between us.) Oh, and for the record, this bread goes great with a cup of spiced mate tea. Mmmmm!

Pumpkin Bread
by Alton Brown

Cook Time: 1hr 15min Level: Easy Yield: 1 loaf or 1 1/2 dozen small muffins
Times: Prep: 20min Inactive Prep: --

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups shredded fresh pumpkin
• 1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.

In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla. Combine both mixtures and fold in the shredded pumpkin and pumpkin seeds. Once the ingredients are all incorporated pour into a non- stick 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan. If your pan is not non- stick coat it with butter and flour.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. At this point a knife inserted into the middle of the loaf should come out clean. Cool for 15 minutes and turn out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely. For muffins temperature should also be 325 degrees F., but bake for 30 minutes.

The DR in Atlanta

My friend Amanda is back for two weeks from the Dominican Republic, where she is living and working for the Peace Corps. She brought her project partner, Gabi, for a cultural exchange. This is Gabi's first time leaving her country. In celebration of their visit, Amanda's mother thew an autumn party so that Amanda's friends and family could spend time with her and Gabi.

We had a great time. Amanda's sister, Sarah, is my best friend from high school and former roommate. Now that we are living in different places in the city, I have not been able to see her and her wonderful partner very often. Amanda and Sarah's mother just moved out of the city, so we were able to enjoy her beautiful new home. Nick was able to meet a few friends from high school, and Amanda and Sarah's grandmother and godmother. Oh! And the food. We'll get to that.

In keeping with the autumn theme, Amanda, Gabi, Sarah, and Carol all carved pumpkins. Naturally, this was Gabi's first time carving pumpkins. Sarah and Gabi did a little Googleing for inspiration. Gabi went with my favorite classic pumpkin (lots of geometrics). Carol has an awesome toothy grin with winged eyes. Sarah went with a face that looks like it is straight out of one of her sketches (second from the left). Amanda went with the Peace Corps dove and stars. Once lighted, these pumpkins were so inspirational, I think I might go carve on today.

Mama Meng made sure I was taken care of by getting some Glutino GF pretzels. Nick had no idea they were GF at first. She made a number of great dips, my favorite being the white bean dip. Gabi wanted to fix something delicious for the party, so Amanda encouraged her to make plantains. My life was complete. Plantains (no matter how they are prepared), are one of my favorite things to eat. So, for those of you out there who enjoy a good plantain, or would like to try one, I have provided Alton Brown's recipe below.

Fried Plantains Alton Brown

Cook Time: 10 minutes Level: Intermediate Yield: 4 servings as a side dish

Times:
Prep: 10 minutes Inactive prep: -- Cook: 10 minutes Total: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable or canola oil
• 2 green plantains

Directions

Combine water, garlic and salt in medium size glass bowl and set aside.

In a large (12-inch) saute pan, heat oil to 325 degrees F. Peel plantains and slice crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Carefully add plantains to oil and fry until golden yellow in color, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side. (The oil should come halfway up the side of the plantain). With a spider or slotted spoon, remove the plantains from the pan and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, standing them on their ends. With the back of a wide, wooden spatula, press each piece of plantain down to half its original size. Then place the plantains in the water and let soak for 1 minute. Remove and pat dry with a tea towel to remove excess water.

Bring oil back up to 325 degrees F and return plantains to pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 4 minutes per side. Remove to a dish lined with paper towels, and sprinkle with salt, if desired. Serve immediately.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/fried-plantains-recipe/index.html