Kids Dish

Last night I picked up the turkey, did the grocery shopping and spent a good three and half hours in the kitchen accomplishing… Well, I don’t even know what I accomplished. It doesn’t seem like a whole lot.

I cleaned out the refrigerator and discarded all of the expired condiments. We somehow had a fridge full of salad dressings I’d never buy since I make all of my own. I guess my mother-in-law must have brought them here for some meal or another and forgotten them. I also discarded an ancient jar of mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is one of those things I won’t touch unless I’ve made it myself (well, I’ll eat some restaurant aioli, but only sometimes.)

So the refrigerator is cleaned out, the shelves are clean (except for the two drawers that I just didn’t have the energy to deal with) and some of the prep work is done. I still need to figure out how to make the green beans and I haven’t decided if I want to make multigrain dinner rolls or buttermilk biscuits. I bought the stuff for both. I was pleased to see that the turkey (unlike the chickens I’ve bought from the farm) was pretty well cleaned. The giblets and neck were actually detached and stuffed inside the cavity and I didn’t have to scrape out any nasty, gooey innards. Nothing like fresh from the farm animal goo.

The menu:
roasted butternut squash and garlic bisque
turkey
extra stuffing (aunt bea)
mashed potatoes (aunt bea)
cranberry sauce (aunt bea)
roasted potatoes (I have close to five pounds. Will people eat two kinds of white potatoes?)
candied sweet potatoes
green beans
balsamic glazed carrots
rolls or biscuits
cheesecake (mom)
apple pie
chocolate chip oatmeal pecan cookies

Completed prep:
Butternut squash and veggies roasted and pureed
Stock made for soup and stuffing
Onions and celery chopped for stuffing and gravy
Turkey ready to be brined
Giblets removed and liver discarded
Green beans trimmed
Sweet potatoes scrubbed
Refrigerator cleaned
Cookies baked

Today
1. Prepare brine
2. start bread dough? Biscuit dough?
3. make pie dough
4. make sweet potatoes
5. blanch green beans
6. cut herbs from the garden: thyme, chives, rosemary
7. clean up
8. bake bread
9. make herb butter for turkey

Thursday:
1. rinse and dry turkey
2. make stuffing
3. stuff turkey, and start roasting
4. start gravy
5. assemble pie
6. make carrots
7. reheat sweet potatoes and bread
8. finish green beans

I know I’m missing plenty from the lists. I have to set the table at some point and get all of my serving dishes labeled and ready to go. I don’t know if I’ll do that today or tomorrow though.

Epicurious.com is the best place for me to find new recipes. (Allrecipes is great too, but the recipes on Epicurious are just a bit more gourmet, and when I’m hosting ten for dinner, I’d rather err on the side of classy.) Aside from the fantastic search function, where you can search by course, by ingredient, and even by kid-friendliness, you can sort by user reviews. I only ever bother with recipes that have been reviewed multiple times and have high ratings. In many reviews the reviewers post modifications they’ve made and some of the modifications become the standard- in some cases almost all of the reviewers follow the advice of one person and rave about the recipe.

Today’s search was for sweet potatoes. I make sweet potatoes pretty regularly and have cooked them a variety of ways but never for Thanksgiving. The last two years my mother-in-law has made and brought them to my house, but this year I’ve got a good 6lbs of sweet potatoes left from my CSA and I’ve got to use them. Rather than reinvent the wheel (new, interesting recipes got me nowhere last year) I’m going for tradition. I know I don’t want anything with marshmallows on top (yuck!) and I know I don’t want pureed or mashed because my aunt’s bringing mashed potatoes. (I wish I was making the mashed- I have a ton of potatoes from the CSA and I make phenomenal roasted garlic mashed potatoes. Another time.) After browsing by rating for a while I came across two contenders.

Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping and Candied Sweet Potatoes. After reading the reviews, Candied Sweet Potatoes was the clear winner. I’ll make them a day in advance and reheat them while the turkey rests.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Simmer brown sugar, butter, water, and salt, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and syrup is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bourbon to taste. Drizzle syrup over potatoes and bake in middle of oven, basting occasionally, until syrup is thickened, about 1 1/4 hours.

The CSA is winding down for the season. There are only two weeks left after today. It’s the end of October but you wouldn’t know it from the variety of peppers still available on the order form. The order for next week is the first order in months that doesn’t have some sort of tomato on it. Here’s what was in this week’s box.

1 lb of green snap beans
2 large sweet potatoes
1 bunch Lacinato (dinosaur) kale
5 mixed sweet peppers
2 heads of broccoli
1 bunch Fuyo Shumi (baby Pac Choi)
1 bunch Swiss chard
2 8 oz bags salad greens mix

This week was a fruit share week and the bag had 8 or 9 each of apples and pears and a quart of apple cider.

I still have more potatoes from the last few weeks than I know what to do with and at least 8 large sweet potatoes. I still have a bunch of chard from last week, five or six beets, some turnips I may as well just compost, and half a bag of mixed salad greens. I’m probably forgetting something, but at least with the garden I don’t have to feel too badly if some veggies go to waste.

Last night I roasted a head of cauliflower. Tonight I’m going to use the two bunches of chard in a gratin with gouda and panko breadcrumbs. I’m also going to cook some potatoes, at least a pound of them, but I haven’t quite decided whether to roast them along with a chicken I’m brining or if I should mash them with buttermilk I’ve got leftover from Bob’s birthday cake.

My dad came over for dinner tonight and eager to please i decided to make him one of his favorite meals, chicken, broccoli and penne. Only I didn’t have any penne so I had to use some weird vegetable spirals I picked up at Trader Joe’s when they were out of the whole wheat spirals I usually get, and I wanted to add a bunch of swiss chard that’s been sitting in the crisper waiting to be cooked and eaten and some tomato, since I still have pounds of tomatoes from my garden and the CSA. I browsed online for a while looking for recipes but couldn’t really find any I liked. So I decided to wing it. I mean it’s pasta. How hard could it be?

I grated about two cups of Parmesan while I waited for the pasta water to boil. Since I’m way too cheap to buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts I boned and skinned the whole breast I’d defrosted and cut it into one- inch cubes. Then I heated two tablespoons of olive oil in a dutch oven, seasoned the chicken and cooked it through, turning it to brown on all sides. While the chicken cooked, I thinly sliced half an onion and minced two cloves of garlic. I removed the cooked chicken to a plate and added the onion to the dutch oven, cooking it until soft, about five minutes. I added the garlic and stirred it for a few seconds then added about two cups of milk, 1.5 cups of Parmesan, and a cup of shredded Mozzarella.

Here’s where things started to go wrong. My dad showed up. I’d completely forgotten about the broccoli and had to cut it into bite-sized pieces and steam it for a few minutes. I got that under control, finished cooking the pasta, and stirred the sauce until it thickened. I added the cooked pasta, chicken, a handful of basil from my garden, and broccoli to the dutch oven with the sauce, sprayed a 9×13 baking pan with olive oil and poured the pasta and sauce into the pan. I topped the pasta with the rest of the grated Parmesan and a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs for crunch and baked the whole thing for about 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven.

It was only after the whole thing was in the oven that I realized I’d totally forgotten about the Swiss Chard, tomatoes, and any type of seasoning whatsoever. I thought it was totally bland. Bob admitted it needed more seasoning. My dad said it was very good, but he did leave a sizeable portion behind. Sam, however, loved it. He ate two bowls full along with some whole-wheat sourdough bread spread with pesto. Bland as it was, I’m sure it was better than squash macaroni and cheese.

Next time I make something like that I’ll add plenty of freshly ground black pepper, a bit of salt, and nutmeg to the sauce.

In order of what needs to be used first I have:

a bag full of bell peppers (red, purple and green) that I have to use before they go bad (from the CSA)
a quart of red potatoes that are starting to sprout (from the farmer’s market)
a quart of tomatoes (some from my garden, some from the CSA)
a bunch of parsley I forgot to use for Rosh Hashanah dinner
2 hot peppers (from my garden)
yellow onions (from the CSA)
kale (from the CSA)
tomatillos (from the CSA)
carrots (from the farmer’s market)
garlic(from the CSA)
beets(from the CSA)
Yukon gold potatoes (from the CSA)

I think I may make ribollita (a tuscan vegetable stew) to use some onions, tomatoes, carrots kale and garlic but that doesn’t solve the problem of the peppers and potatoes.

I haven’t gone through the garage freezer lately, but I know I have some chicken, some lamb and a couple of pounds of ground beef from my last pastured meat order. To use the peppers I could make chicken enchiladas with green salsa. I could stuff the peppers too. Sam won’t eat the pepper part of the stuffed peppers, but he’ll eat the stuffing if I reserve some of the rice mixture before combining it with beef. I could just roast the peppers and freeze them so I don’t have to worry about them.

Maybe just something simple with the potatoes? I can roast them with garlic paste and rosemary and serve them with chicken or lamb.

menu planning, too much food, what to cook first, eat local, csa, pastured meat

I’ll be spending all day in the kitchen, preparing for tomorrow night’s Rosh Hashanah dinner. On Rosh Hashanah we traditionally eat sweet foods for a sweet new year. I’ve got about a dozen people coming for dinner. Here’s what’s probably on the menu

Braised Beef Brisket I have about 9 lbs of brisket divided into four hunks and already cooked one using an America’s Test Kitchen recipe I’ve not used before. I didn’t love it, though I also didn’t add the vinegar the recipe called for since you’re traditionally supposed to stay away from vinegar on Rosh Hashanah. Maybe it would have helped but I’m going back to my old standby recipe for the rest of the brisket. I’ll post the recipe at the end.

Honey Mustard Chicken for the the non-beef eaters. This is incredibly easy to make and has been a hit every time I’ve made it. I use this recipe but remove the skin from the chicken and cut the butter by half. It’s way too greasy as is.

Corn, Tomato and Basil salad. I’ve got a ton of tomatoes from my brother-in-law’s garden to use, corn from the farmer’s market and no shortage of basil from my own garden. This recipe might be okay but based on the reviews I’ll definitely have to modify it a bit.

Green beans. I don’t know how I’ll make them. Roasted maybe, just so I can serve them cold? Or just steam them right before dinner?

Red bean and tomato salad. I soaked the beans thinking I’d use them last night but never got around to it. Another salad with fresh tomatoes might be a nice side

Roasted cauliflower with honey. I don’t have any cauliflower but I’ve been itching to roast some. This recipe from the Expatriate’s Kitchen looks easy and appealing, though I do like the idea of using high heat, like this recipe from the Grub Report calls for.

Apples with honey. Traditional, for a sweet year.

Challah

My aunt’s bringing dessert, but I’m thinking I should buy an apple cake just in case. My mother said she’d bring fruit, but that’s another just in case.

Braised Beef Brisket

5-6 pound brisket
4 onions
4 potatoes (optional)
1/2 pound of baby carrots (optional)
large can beef broth
2 cups of red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 325. While heating a large pan on the stove, salt and pepper both sides of the brisket. When the pan is hot, add the oil. After the oil is heated, sear the brisket for a few minutes on each side. While the brisket sears, chop the onions and potatoes and place them with the carrots around the edges of a dutch oven large enough for the brisket, or a deep roasting pan. Leave a few pieces of onion in the middle and rest the brisket on the onions in the middle. Mix the liquid ingredients together and pour over the brisket. Cover tightly and roast for 4 to 5 hours, adding more liquid if necessary.

Remove the brisket when the edges fall away easily when prodded with a fork. Wrap the meat in foil and let it cool completely. Set aside the onions, potatoes and carrots. Leave the gravy in the pan, or if letting the brisket cool overnight, refrigerate. When the brisket has cooled, slice on an angle against the grain. Add three cups of water to the gravy and heat until hot. Pour over the sliced brisket and vegetables in an oven-proof pan and cook for 30 minutes.

recipes, menu planning, brisket, braised beef brisket, Rosh Hashanah dinner, holiday meals, Jewish holidays, sweet new year

The produce box arrived today and I’d completely forgotten what I’d ordered.

One head of summer crisp lettuce
Red Kale
Red tropea onions
zucchini
garlic scapes

I’m excited to make Zucchini Patties with Feta. Though Sam has refused feta several times in the past, he’s never had it in fried, patty form and he seems to enjoy most fried, non-meat foods. I’m also interested in the red onions. I’d never even heard of red tropea onions until I saw them listed on the CSA home page. It’s sad that there are so many different varieties of produce that just aren’t available in supermarkets.

Speaking of fried, non-meat foods, he loved spinach and ginger fried rice and even ate some of the roasted ginger carrots I served with it. (I did not offer the roasted ginger beets, as I had no interest in removing beet stains from my floors.)

Spinach and Ginger Fried Rice

One 10 oz bag of of spinach leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 cloves minced fresh garlic
about 3 cups cooked long grain rice (1 cup uncooked)

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet. Add half of the spinach, and cook, turning often until just wilted (3 to 4 minutes.) Remove the spinach to a colander to drain. Add the rest of the spinach to the skillet, cook until wilted and remove to drain. In the same pan, heat the sesame oil. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the cooked rice to the skillet and toss to coat. Add the spinach and fish sauce to the rice mixture and cook until heated(about 5 minutes), stirring often.

eat local, CSA, spinach and ginger fried rice, recipe

First, the sites to check out.

Tastespotting, though not child specific is a great site for inspiration. Beautiful photos of food are uploaded to the site several times throughout the day. Each photo links to the blog post/recipe at the original site. Scrolling down the page makes my mouth water.

The Great Big Vegetable Challenge is just what it sounds like- parents of a picky eater trying to get their kid to like veggies. Currently on H, for herbs, they’re running through the alphabet with recipes and child ratings. Horseradish was not a success. Herby beef burgers scored 10 out of 10. Of course my problem’s not the veggies. My problem’s getting Sam to eat the fattening stuff.

Now for the menu planning. I have the following vegetables on hand:

3 large beets with greens
1 lb of spinach
1 bunch swiss chard
5 medium carrots
1 sweet onion
1 red onion
3 scallions
1 lb green beans
1 bunch asparagus
1 yam
2 medium zucchini
3 red peppers
garlic scapes
1/2 lb fava beans

I’m pretty sure I’m going to make

Stuffed peppers with spinach, feta and tofu
Swiss chard with bacon and red onion
Roasted beets with ginger
Asparagus risotto
Fava bean crostini
Spinach and ginger fried rice

I’m not sure about the rest yet. Recipes and more menu planning to follow. Suggestions are welcome.