She's back: Caramel corn, Spice Cake

Boy, did I ever get tired of Thanksgiving recipes. Every single blog for weeks screamed, "The most comprehensive Thanksgiving recipe list you'll ever need," or "The best turkey," or "Turkey leftovers I have known." Too much. I stopped checking any blogs in my Google Reader that had the work "turkey" in it.

Which isn't to say that I haven't been amassing a bunch of new recipes. Haven't kicked many tires or taken much out for a spin given that I'm lucky to find time to shower these days, however, a girl can dream. Get a load of:

Caramel corn (picture via Orangette)

If it is good enough for Orangette I'm pretty sure it is going to be good enough for me and then some.

Joy the Baker has had, as usual, some dreamy stuff of late. Every time I look at this recipe I want to run into the kitchen and start measuring:

Lemon glazed spice cake with whipped cream (picture from Joy the Baker)

Sigh.

Coffee Toffee anyone? It is cruel of me to me to post this because, gentle reader, I am out of coffee. I can't sleep because I only have 8 billion things to do before 8am, and I have no coffee. And it's raining out. And I've been up since 5:30am. The headache I am going to have in about 4-3-2-1 seconds is going to be a bitch. Still, though, if I had some of this toffee right now it might not be ALL bad:

Coffee Toffee, link and picture from Smitten Kitchen

Speaking of coffee, and damn, it's early, I have to think about breakfast this morning for the small people here in the house. While pancakes will probably be what they request, these sound better to me:

Camino's egg baked in cream

Of course, even though they sound better, offering my kids eggs with onions in them would cause them to have a rage stroke.

Now, the madness must end. I must find a pillow or caffeine. Later----Iced

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.