Turkey says: I will survive.

From a reader:

Cooking the blog: Salty Crispy, Warm Spaghetti-Squash

Image via Wikipedia

Made a few things this weekend from la blog. My latest feature, for all you who don't want to read all my blah blah blah is a letter grade.

A=Knock your socks off keeper (to quote PassUBy), A+ if my kids love it, too.
B=Tweak and perhaps it will be a KYSO
C=Not bad. Seen better.

First. Oh. Fabulous. The ah, Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats? (Scroll down. Link is lower in the post.) These are seriously good. Very seriously, very being included in my very short list of favorite recipes, and yes, perhaps even in the next BEACH COOKBOOK!

(Oh, not familiar with my original beach cookbook? Take a gander and weep baby. Then plan a vacation.)

dinner

fabulously beat up ...

By vicki rentel (aka...

Book Preview

The only changes I'd make, and I wouldn't make them every time, are that
1. I'd melt semi-sweet chocolate on the top and dust it with sea salt, and / or
2. I'd mix in salted peanuts. But then I'd leave the salt out of the brown butter & cereal.

Letter grade: A+

I also made warm spaghetti squash salad from Food & Wine. (It's the last recipe in the link.) I pretty much stuck to the program but not quite. I roasted the squash in the microwave. Why haven't I tried this before? Pricked it all over with a knife, then put it on 6 minutes @ 100%; flipped it over, then cooked another 8 minutes. Let it cool for five, then sliced in right in half and scooped out the seeds, then the fabulous strands of calorie-free strangely pasta-like squash.

So that's difference #1. I didn't roast the squash in the oven, and might not ever again. This was far, far too easy and fast. I used Kalamata, not green olives, and it's not as pretty with the hunks of diced brown olive. It's a pretty olive-y recipe, in fact, but not bad. I'd probably try the Moroccan squash next time, only I like the addition of almonds. I only had smoked around. They worked. I had it cold for lunch today and it was quite okay. I wouldn't KILL myself to make the recipe again, but all-in-all, a good day out for the new microwave skill.

Letter grade: C

I did chickpeas yesterday, too, from a recent recipe in Food & Wine.

Spicy Chickpea Salad

I didn't use tomato. Blech. I could because I have a few I plucked before the frost, but I don't use raw tomatoes as a rule. I cooked my own garbanzo beans in the slow cooker for oh, I don't know, two or three hours. Used a whole jalepeno, but only because I have about 50 outside on the plant, hanging on despite the coldish weather, and they're so sweet and vegetal. Hardly spicy. Except for not having mango powder and skipping the tomato, I otherwise stuck with the rules. Initially I thought, "Eh." But today it's quite nice. Better summer salad. Could add fresh corn. Little garlic. I reseasoned today and I think I'll pulverize the leftovers and use it as a dip. I wouldn't rush out for the ingredients. Let's say C+.

Alton Brown Does Bacon in a Waffle Iron!

Behold by clicking. Genius.

Jacques Pepin

When I was young I had a teddie bear named "Jacques" after Jacques Pepin. Love him. Love his cookbooks. Love his autobiography. Love his scrappy attitude. Try to emulate the cheery workman-like execution of his craft. Came upon this in the Washington Post with delight today:

For Pepin, Impromtu Comes Easy

I vow to try every single recipe, only I might use butternut squash rather than acorn because those ridges on the acorn squash scare me.

Flanken-Style Shortribs with Mushrooms
Baked apples
Sweet and Sour Glazed Squash
Slaw with Mustard Garlic Dressing
Sauteed Cabbage and Kielbasa
Crisp Pear Tart
Crispy Chicken Thighs with Mushroom Sauce

POM Wonderful Chicken Salad

I have it on good authority--two good food authorities, who just happen to be married--that this salad isn't just POM wonderful, it's plain wonderful. The recipe came to me via a request from Dr. Aveda Soccer Mom, who saw one of the two original food authorities eating it. This will be on my short list.

PS If you click on the recipe, it should open up in a larger window.

Question from reader. What do brining and enchiladas have in common?

I had a question today from a reader. A good question.

"If you brine a turkey, won't the drippings be too salty for your gravy?"

Yes, they will be, sadly, especially if you wet brine the bird, which, by the way, is to die for with Williams Sonoma turkey brine spice blend. Failing that, don't go to the trouble. Dry salt it in your fridge for a few days ahead of time.

But back to the gravy. Here's the solution. This weekend, pick up a big roaster or two small fryers at the grocery story. Roast them with a little sage, garlic, onion, and lemon. Save the drippings, deglaze the pan, and if you are so inclined, make your gravy now and freeze it. Otherwise throw the drippings, including deglazed loveliness, into the freezer.

Use the leftover chicken for anything, but consider using it for this from Pioneer Woman:

White chicken enchiladas (you just don't have to go to the trouble of poaching the chicken)

THEN, when you're all done with the chicken meat and have only those carcasses (which takes me back to the end of anatomy class) left, throw them into a slow cooker, cover with water, salt generously, add onion, celery, carrot, parsley stems or whatever else you have around, and let it cook for a few hours. Strain that and you have homemade stock, drippings for gravy, chicken enchiladas for at least two meals, chicken salad, and anything else you want to do with chicken, and you don't need to steamed your hairdo away over a hot pan of gravy on Thanksgiving.

Martha Stewart's White Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake

This is so good--I have pretty high standards--that you're going to want to start starving yourself now if you're going to make it for Thanksgiving. It is life-altering. I saved the recipe for a long time, then about two years ago convinced my aunt, a very accomplished baker, to make it. Then I hid the leftovers so she couldn't take it with her. You want to knock the socks of your guests? Make this. If you are having guests who prefer Kroger's pumpkin pie, that's fine. It's a perfectly fine pumpkin pie. Don't let them near this. They are entitled to what they love but you are entitled to this incredible cake.

How bad can it be? After all, sweet potatoes are a super food.

Marth Stewart's White Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake post and picture via marthastewart.com

Moroccan-spiced spaghetti squash. Or maybe....

I like spaghetti squash. I have tended to be a purist about it, roasting with olive oil, then serving with butter, salt, and pepper. Little parmesan. My husband thinks it is boring and tastes like nothing, but I'm not so quick to dismiss, particularly since there's butter involved.

I came across this recently in Smitten Kitchen. Might give it a try with that squash that's been sitting on my counter now for about a month.

Moroccan-spiced spaghetti squash

But hmmm....I cut this out of Food & Wine last month. Maybe I should try this one instead:

Spaghetti Squash Salad with Pine Nuts and Tarragon

Except that while I was searching for the recipe I came upon this, also from Food & Wine. It has feta and almond. Those two things alone make me like it:

Warm spaghetti squash salad

What am I to do?

Pork Meatballs with Yogurt Sauce

Really, any meatballs with any sauce, and these have not one but two sauces.

I'm a sucker for a meatball. Somebody took the time to lovingly mix and form tiny little balls with their hands for little old me? Yes, please, with seconds.

Akhtar Nawab's Pork Meatballs with Yogurt Dressing via The Wednesday Chef

Drats. I have six slices of leftover bacon. What to do?

I know! Combine it with butternut squash and pasta. Not sure how I stumbled on this recipe, as it's buried fairly deep in a post about something totally unrelated to food, but whatever. Can't wait to try it.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta picture and post via the Daily Struggles of the Domestic Un-Goddess

Let them eat Pumpkin Cake

My aunt made the best, best cake a couple of years ago for Thanksgiving. It was approximately 50,000 calories a bite, but worth every single one. While I'm searching for the recipe, how about this?

Pumpkin cake=perfect alternative to pumpkin pie picture and post via Yum Sugar

Together at last: Brussel Sprouts and Bacon

Just in time for Thanksgiving, via Yum Sugar:

Hash it out with brussel sprouts and bacon

Oh, parmesan black pepper biscotti, whereforart thou?

At browneyedbaker.com, apparently. Feast thine eyes, then stroll into thine kitchen.

Parmesan Black Pepper Biscotti

Not breakfast for MY kids

I'm always on the make for something new for the breakfast rotation here at Casa Latte, and came across this recipe and picture while surfing Food52.com.

Blueberry Almond Breakfast Polenta

Wow! Maybe someday if my kids are ever at somebody else's house for the night Monsieur and I will wake up in a most leisurely fashion. (6:45am, golly, would be sleeping late!) Whilst he lingers over the newspaper (whilst there are still newspapers) I will whip this up. Then we will go out for coffee. We will take bets how long it takes us to start talked about the kids again. I think once we made it a whole half hour.

Ode to my stomach with chickpeas

Stomach, leave me the f$*# alone! I want to eat these:

Smokey Fried Chickpeas

As it is, I can hardly bear to behold them. Woe.

Picture and recipe via Food52

Leftover Paella, Green Bean Casserole, Yakitori, and a Barn

Leftover paella is tasty. I would know because I just nibbled some, standing at the counter, reading the NYTimes food section, which I picked up at work today while I was sucking on a mint and some Sprite but didn't read at the time because I felt like death warmed over and didn't want to eat much or read about food because, in fact, I spent the first several hours on the job puking between patients. And no, I am not pregnant. A Sprite, said mints, an egg, and some toast later, I felt up to nibbling leftover delicious paella. But just a little. Me and my tummy aren't sure if we are friends yet.

Whilst nibbling paella, I was reading a recipe for homemade green bean casserole. I am not generally a green bean fan, but for this I might make an exception:

Green Bean Casserole @ the New York Times

What sounds better right now, though, is this:

Butterscotch 's Whiskey Cookie Bars

And hello, at the end of the recipe, note the picture of Jello pudding! And a little teaser:

I should add that JELL-O pudding mix is NOT in the recipe but the first picture is just a picture of my groceries. Cookie dough pictures aren’t very interesting anyways…the pudding is for another recipe though: Rum Cupcakes! I shall await with scotched-laced breath.

Did I mention that my Brudda, the Pork Master, got a slow cooker? And guess what? I found a slow cooker brined pork recipe with Alton Brown's fingerprints all over it. Possibly worth a try:

Slow cooker pork chops, apples, and sweet potatoes via Cheap Healthy Good

Two from Simply Recipes recently:

Cauliflower pasta with anchovies (I'll probably be eating this alone but oh, how I love anchovies and cauliflower, united at last in this recipe)
Scambled eggs with tomatillos (Green Eggs & Ham!)

THESE are going to be here at this house this weekend. I am going to need them:

Salted brown butter crispy treats from Smitten Kitchen

(Note the cute baby picture above the recipe and know that my friend Dr. Fabuloso's new baby is 20 times cuter and I have the pictures to prove it.)

Have a bit of beef hanging around and the urge to eat Vietnamese? Try this:

Vietnamese-styled sauteed beef

Thinking ahead to that turkey you're going to have left over? Grind it and try:

Turkey Yakitori Burgers

(Shout out to Columbus Foodie for the tips.)

Roger. Over and out.