Thanksgiving Turkey

Ok, I decided to try to make my own turkey (a little one) for once. I remember I tried that about 5 years ago when we were living in Germany still, and it was a disaster. nothing worked out. that was of course, before I got into the whole cooking thing. I swore myself then to never make a turkey again, but it looks like I was wrong.

So, I stuffed my turkey with some lemon, garlic, onion, rosmary and thyme. I trussed it (with the help of a video of Alton Brown) and put some sage butter in between the skin and the meat. put some more butter on top and springled on some salt and pepper.
In the oven at 325 F for 3 hours and it was done. Very juicy too.





With it, I made some mashed potato and the famous squash caserole from nancy corson senior:

Cook 2-3 pounds of yellow squash or zucchini in a small amount of water with
diced onion until just tender. Drain. Stir to mash squash leaving some large
pieces. Add 1 egg, 1/2 cup real mayonnaise, 1 cup cheddar cheese, 1 heaping
tablespoon sugar, salt & pepper to taste. Pour into a greased casserole dish
and cover with 1 sleeve crushed Ritz crackers. Drizzle 1/2 cup melted butter
over the top. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until lightly
browned and bubbly.






And I served this with brown sugar glazed carrotts and some mashed potatoes.




It was so good. Mike was really proud as well and asked to make it a lot more often. not so sure about that though - too much work. but it was worth it. And I have a husband cleaning the kitchen as I type now...aaah yeah, life can be good :)

Only bad thing, Lydia couldn't come by to eat with us cause of work ;) Sorry girl... I'll fix you a plate. don't you worry about monday's lunch ;)

comfort food - chicken noodle soup

I made this 2 weeks ago and it was soooo much food. little had i known that that was a good thing this time, as mike got sick and the chicken noodle soup was just perfect for my kleines, krankes Hühnchen ;)











I just threw in a few carrots, celery, herb de provence, chicken stock and cut up chicken. I think I also had a few little red potatoes left that I also threw in. why not? and add some basil/cheese tortellinies. was really good. very comforty.



With it, I made some grilled cheese sandwich but a bit different. put some pesto on sourdough bread and some mozarella slices and grilled it up. so yummy too.

Cornish Hens

I've been wanting to make Cornish hens but have never took on the challenge to cook a whole bird. Well, there's a first time for everything. I watched Tyler make some this weekend with cornbread stuffing. I'm not a big fan of cornbread and I wanted to make something healthier so I made my own.


ingredients:

- 2 cornish hens:


- 2 lemon
- 1 head of garlic



- Rosmary and Thyme


- Salt and Pepper
- olive oil


- stuff the hens with some garlic, lemon wedges, rosmary springs and thyme.
- season the skin with salt and pepper and springle the rest of the herbs on top.
- drizzle over some olive oil
- bake at 400 F for about an hour (until temperature reaches at least 165 F)




- serve with roasted veggies... or anything else you want. I promise it'll all be good.

Fall is here

Today is such a beautiful day. It's cold, but sunny. These are my favorites. So I wanted to make something comforty and typical fall. So what better than Jambalaya and pumpkin pie ! and it was a hit!



JAMBALYA

In a big dutch oven put in the following ingredients

- 1 cup long-grain rice
- 3 tablespoons dried minced onion
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper

- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1/2 pound fully cooked smoked sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
- 1/2 to 3/4 pound medium, fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined

Bring everything to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, or until shrimp are pink.



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Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

* 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
* 1 cup half-and-half
* 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
* 1 piece pre-made pie dough

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.



For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.



Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the center is set.

Roasted Salmon with herb butter crust a la Tyler

I know I haven't posted for a while, but that was because I was sick and didn't feel like cooking or even eating. but those times are over now and I'm all fit again to take on the world !!!! or the stove ;o)
Anyway, here's another one of Tyler Florence' awesome dishes. It was so good I could not stop eating...

Ingredients

* Extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 smallish Italian eggplants
* salt and pepper
* 1 large zucchini, cut crosswise into 1-inch sections
* 3 anchovy fillets
* 1 onion, finely sliced
* 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 1 bulb fennel, thinly shaved vertically,
* handful of cherry tomatoes
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* Pinch red pepper flakes
* bread crumbs
* 1 whole side of salmon (about 4 pounds), boned tail piece, skin on
* 1 bunch fresh basil
* 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
* salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Begin by preparing the vegetable base for the fish. Heat 1/3 cup of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the eggplant, season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes until just tender. Set aside on a platter. Add the zucchini to the pan and cook in the same way until just tender and remove to the platter with the eggplant. Add to the pan, smashed anchovies, onion, garlic and fennel. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes until caramelized then add tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for a further 5 minutes until wilted. Season with salt and pepper and add the red pepper flakes. Combine all the vegetables together in a large roasting pan or casserole dish.






Now prepare the fish. Begin by vertically scoring the fish in 4 places, skin side up so the cuts pierce the skin and reveal the flesh. Prepare the basil compound butter by chopping half of the basil and mixing it with the room temperature butter until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.

Season the piece of fish with salt and pepper and smear the top of the fish with basil butter then take the whole fish and transfer to the roasting tray and place on top of the bed of vegetables.



Sprinkle the buttered fish with the bread crumb mixture.

Place in hot oven and roast for 12 to 15 minutes for medium rare, then finish under the broiler for 2 minutes to crisp the skin. Do not over cook, otherwise the fish will be dry.

To serve, portion the fish along the score marks, serve with a scoop of the vegetables.

crab cakes

We're trying to eat a bit more healthy and so I thought fish would be good. I made the salmon I made before (in foil) but in addition to that I also made some crab cakes. I just love crab cakes.




All you combine in a bowl is :

- about 1/2 pound of crab meat
- 1 cup of mayonnese
- red pepper sauce
- 2 scallions
- 1/2 cup of bread crums
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper

Then put them in some flour and pan fry them a few minutes per side

Morrocan Chili with Couscous

After having a bit of a bumped day, I made a nice comfort food for dinner today, but with a little twist- Chili Morrocan style. Love it... Chili itself is good, but it's even better to make it a bit different. and going Morrocan can never be a bad thing :)



Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound of ground beef
Salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 (14-ounce) can tomato sauce

Couscous:

2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
A handful golden raisins
1 1/2 cups couscous
A handful fresh parsley leaves, chopped
A handful fresh mint leaves, chopped

8 pita breads, cut into wedges for scooping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat skillet with extra-virgin olive oil, add meat and brown. Season the meat with salt and pepper, to taste, chili powder, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and paprika. Add the onions, bell pepper and garlic to the pan. Cook until onions are soft, 8 minutes. Add lemon juice and zest, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce. Stir and reduce heat to simmer.



Bring butter and stock to a boil in a pot with tight fitting lid. Add dried fruit and couscous, stir then turn off heat and set lid in place. Let stand 5 minutes. Add herbs and toss with fork.

Toast pita wedges in hot oven or under broiler. Pile chili in bowls, top with couscous and serve with pita wedges for scooping.

Jaegerschnitzel

Yeah, I know, I haven't updated my blog in a while, but I've been busy. My parents were just here in Raleigh for a visit and I've been driving them around everywhere. It was fun. My mom actually made one of Mike's favorite meals - Jaegerschnitzel. It's Schnitzel with mushrooms. I refuse to make it. Actually, I refuse to cook anything with mushrooms in it. I just don't like them. yuck.

Anyway, so my mom made him a good dinner and he just loved it.

it's sauteeing some mushrooms and letting the water evaporate. then add some cream of mushroom soup and some water and it is ready.



The Schnitzel were put in egg, then flour, then bread crums and then fried. they were so moist...so good. I accidently deleted the pics of the golden brown Schnitzel in the pan, so I only have one of the 2 that were left. So, sorry if it doesn't look as good.





Look at Josie and Alex begging for some of the food ;o)
Aren't they cute?

Lahmacun (Turkish pizza)

If you like middle eastern food, I know you'll like this one. It's so fast and easy it's not even funny.
Here's the recipe I used for the filling. I didn't make the dough, instead I used pita bread or flat bread. This is the recipe from the foodnetwork hopempage:

DOUGH:
3/4 teaspoon dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Olive oil for bowl & brushing dough

FILLING:
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces ground lamb or chuck
1 tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon kirmizi biber, or combination sweet paprika and cayenne pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon

Combine the yeast and sugar with a little of the warm water, and set aside until mixture is frothy. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, and make a well in the center. Add the yeast mixture, along with the remaining warm water. Using your hands, work the mixture into a dough, adding more water if necessary. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until pliable and springy, about 5 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, turning to coat, cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down risen dough and knead on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a log and cut into 2 to 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, place on floured surface and let rest 30 minutes under a towel.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F, and preheat baking sheets, tiles, or a baking stone.

Prepare the filling: Melt the butter in a skillet, add the onion and saute until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute another minute. Transfer onion mixture to a large bowl, add remaining ingredients, and mix thoroughly with your fingertips. If mixture seems too dry, add a teaspoon of water.

Place a ball of dough on a floured surface and roll into a round, flat circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Place the round on the oiled, preheated baking sheets or tiles. Brush the top with olive oil and spread with a thin, even layer of the meat filling, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. The dough should still be soft enough to roll up.

Squeeze a little lemon juice over each of the hot lahmacuns, and serve immediately either flat or rolled up into cones.

home made bread

I've been wanting to make my own bread from scratch for quite some time now and earlier this week, I finally made. I can't find the recipe right now but here's the picture of my bread. turned out great :))

Salmon in foil

In an attempt to eat a little bit more healthy - keyword is "attempt ;) I made salmon in foil this week. It is so simple to make too.

Ingredients:
1 salmon
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 lemon, very thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil







Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Rinse salmon fillet under cold running water and pat dry. Cut a piece of foil long and wide enough to encase the salmon when folded over the center and folded up on the ends. Position the foil on a large baking sheet and place the salmon in the center of the foil, skin side down. Sprinkle the salmon with the salt, pepper, and rosemary. Place the lemon slices over the fish fillet along with the sliced onion and garlic slivers. Drizzle the fillet evenly with the olive oil and fold the edges of the foil up over the salmon and crimp to seal. Fold the edges together on both ends to create an airtight package.

and after 15 min...VOILA :