So Bad, But So Good

We celebrated Ashley's birthday Saturday. Because she loves pumpkiny stuff, I made her a Pumpkin Cheesecake with Marshmallow-Sour Cream Topping and Gingersnap Crust from a recipe at Epicurious. It was faaaantastic.

I'm not a big cheesecake fan and had never tried to make one before, but this recipe seems almost fool-proof.

The only quibbles I have: if you follow the recipe exactly use a larger springform pan (the recipe calls for a 9", but makes enough filling for at least a 10"); because I followed the recipe and had an enormous amount of filling in the 9" pan, it increased the cooking time by about 45 minutes; if you decide to make this without the topping (and really why would you? sour cream? and marshmallow? come on!) cut the spices unless you really really loooove spicy pumpkin.

Pile O' Pressies...Stack O' Stuff Edition

The caption contest is over. Last week was intense--a flurry of writing, rewriting, rejecting and anxiously checking vote totals. Congratulations to Shanna for the fierce final round. Special thanks to CDY and Jacob for the sponsorship. And a bigger especial thanks to those who voted during the whole smackdown.

A quick moment just for Brian who said: "So you are the Jeffrey, not the Santino of Project: Caption."

~*~

The other day my mom wanted to talk about politics--usually not something she does. I'm obviously not always sympathetic to the GOP, and finally neither is my mother. She's a classic old-school conservative: minmal government invasion, low taxes, fiscal responsibility, yadda yadda. She has to vote in the GOP Primary here and is wondering how. But come the general she's definitely voting Democrat. Anyways--we're talking and she says "I'm really drawn to Joe Biden. I don't know why, but I am." Now I don't know if this means she likes his policy positions...or there's some other thing going on. Frankly, I don't want to think of my mom having the hots for him.

~*~

Some time last week I'd started a post going on about how I hadn't gone all crazy for Christmas this year just because I hadn't gone hog wild decorating and turning into the more feminine, less felonious Martha Stewart (that's for you Tommy.)

When I broke it down I realize that yes, yes indeed I had gone a little nuts, again, for Christmas (with my mother's help, we broke up the duties and each tackled specific things.) A quick breakdown of the final goody production:

19 dozen cookies baked
6 lbs of candy
2 quarts of spiced mixed nuts

And 5 stockings made from scratch. We decided to do a Secret Santa this year, but each gift was supposed to be hand-made. I drew Eric, but since I was overcome with holidizzy, I made one for Tommy and Ashley and a couple of others as well (just in case I needed a last minute pressy for someone.)

Eric's Stocking


Ashley's Stocking


Tommy's Stocking

When Recycling Goes Too Far

Courtesy of Slate.

Things NOT to do with Thanksgiving leftovers

Turkey fried rice. Turkey-mushroom casserole. Turkey dinner muffins. Turkey samosas. Turkey hash. Strawberry-turkey spinach salad. Turkey and veggie lasagna. Turkey chowder with wild rice, crimini, and pancetta. Turkey quesadilla suiza,. Additionally, curried turkey salad on greens, turkey and leek risotto, turkey bundles,turkey tetrazzini, turkey pho,
moo shu turkey
Actually, I'm sort of fond of turkey hash. Especially if you use non-candied roast sweet taters instead of regular russets. The turkey abuses I remember from childhood include: turkey salad sandwiches, creamed turkey (both alone and with egg noodles,) turkey casserole (mix the turkey with cream of mushroom soup and top with old stuffing), turkey noodle soup, turkey a la king. And let me just say...my dear sweet mama did not do ALL these...but these are ones I remember.

What did/do you do with your thanksgiving leftovers?

A Passage to Indian

I had my first Thanksgiving dinner of the week last night and it was remarkably tasty. Shlee found an Indian-inspired/flavored Thanksgiving menu in a recent Food & Wine magazine; so she and Eric and Tommy and I decided to take recipes, prepare them, then get together and have at it. We made almost the entire suggested menu, excepting a Rosewater and Mango cocktail and Indian popcorn. If you enjoy Indian food at all, you should try this. (The pumpkin and yellow split pea soup that Eric brought is delish. The roasted curried butternut squash and chick peas is going to become a staple...I let my mom sample some...she's not the most adventurous eater, but she loved it. Tommy's chai caramel fondu was just decadent...and it's perfect with bananas.) It was one of the best at home, sit-down meals I've had in years. We ate until we were near-immobile. It was beautiful. The yogurt-and-spice marinaded turkey breast (Shlee's first turkey ever) was perfect: moist on the inside with a lovely crisped skin. I'm convinced that the marinade must enhance the properties of tryptophan because we all just zombied out for a bit, marshalling our stregnth until we could tackle the dessert course. Seriously...hit the hyperlink and check it. They also have two other full menus...so who knows what you might find.

From the James "Beard" Files

This recipe from Congress Cooks! is not something I would ever prepare...but given the congressional c(r)ook and his choice of ingredients, it's just too good not to pass on....dare I say, toe tappin' good?

The Honorable Larry E. Craig

United States Senator, Idaho

Specialty Recipe

Super Tuber

Super Tuber is a great snack that uses one of my favorite vegetables: The Idaho Potato. Of course, I suppose any type of potato could be used, but I cannot guarantee that a Super Tuber made with anything but a true Idaho potato would taste as good. Sincerely, Larry E. Craig, United States Senator

Ingredients

1 hot dog, cook's choice

1 Idaho baking potato, 7 to 10 ounces

Mustard for dipping, any style

Other condiments as desired such as cheese sauce, sour cream, chili, chives, bacon pieces or black olives.

Wash and dry potato. Rub with shortening or butter. With an apple corer or small knife, core out the potato center (end to end). Push hot dog through the center. Bake until potato is cooked through.

To Microwave: Place on microwave safe plate; cover loosely (to avoid splatters). Microwave on high about 4 minutes per potato until fork tender.

To Bake in Conventional Oven: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake for approximately one hour or until potato is fork tender.

To Barbecue: Wrap in aluminum foil and place above medium hot coals, turning at least once during cooking. Cook until potato is fork tender.

Serving Suggestions: Allow potato to cool slightly. Eat as a finger food, dipping in your favorite hot dog condiments (mustard is my favorite).

Suzanne Craig

Caesurae

I've been fixated on pause and breath and rest and space, not just in terms of poetry but real life. It's getting to be that time--almost autumn, when it seems everything is space and rest. The gardens are giving up their last, though some determined plants are hanging on--there are a few zinnias in the beds that are as strong now as they were in early August. I need to work out a plan for dead-heading and collecting seeds from certain annuals for next year.

~*~

Harvested the last few salvageable tomatoes from my home beds last night. By this point I'm sick of canning and cold-packing. So I decided I'd make some tomato soup. I opted to make it with vegetable broth instead of purely cream (this also helped me get rid of some produce from the fridge that I needed to deal with (parsley, shrooms, bits of onion, celery and carrots.)) It turned out better than I'd hoped. Today is grey and drizzly--so it made a perfect lunch.

Kitchen Bit

A few months ago I was obsessed with finding the perfect fried chicken recipe--I tried several, combined several, but am still in search. I found a recipe that claimed it had replicated KFC's proprietary blend of 11 herbs and spices. It made for an okay coating, but wasn't great--it was very aromatic but the flavors didn't carry through. I decided to adapt it as a brine to use before roasting or grilling. I experiemented and made a few tweaks but I've found the blend that suits me. So, I'm putting it up here. We still have a few weeks of grilling season left and are heading into fall and winter when roasting a chicken doesn't also entail roasting yourself.

Brine for Chicken

2.5 quarts of water
1/3 cup salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 bay leaves
1 T paprika
1 t black pepper (ground)
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder
1 t basil
1 t oregano
1 t allspice (ground)
1 t sage
¾ t chili powder
¾ t celery seed (ground)
½ t thyme
½ t savory
½ t dry mustard
1 carrot, washed and chopped

Note: I process all my spices and herbs (excepting the bay leaves) through a spice grinder before adding to the mix. Maybe it’s some culinary version of the placebo effect, but it seems to intensify the flavor.

Combine 1.5 quarts of water and all ingredients in a large pot. Stir well to incorporate and bring to a low boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes. Remove from heat. Allow to cool. Add remaining quart of cold water.

If brining a whole chicken brine from 4-6 hrs. If brining bone-in chicken pieces brine only 2-3 hours. For boneless, an hour to an hour and a half should be sufficient. Over-brining can make chicken rubbery or too salty.

Cookie Cookie Cookie Starts with "C"

Brian has a habit of calling me Donna Reed when I'm on a cooking binge. (Either that or my penchant for house dresses, aprons and pearl necklaces.) He's coming for a visit next weekend and since I couldn't make it to Baltimore for his birthday I've gone into baking mode. Today I made Macadamia Nut Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies (I've come to realize that I also have a habit of making things with multiple chocolates.) Anyway--here's the recipe--it's a riff on the one my mom used when I was a kid.

Macadamia Nut Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Wet Ingredients

5 T. Butter
5 T. Shortening
1/2 C. light brown sugar, tightly packed
1/2 C. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsps. Vanilla extract
2 T. milk (I prefer buttermilk)

Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 C All-purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
optional add-in: 2/3 cup cocoa powder

Chocolate and Nuts

1 4 oz. bar Semi-Sweet chocolate (I prefer Ghiradelli's)
1 4 oz. bar White Chocolate
1 4 oz bar Bittersweet Chocolate (I prefer the 60% cacao bars)
4 oz macadamia nuts

preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Chop nuts and chocolate bars into chunks and set aside.

Cream together butter, shortening and sugars until fluffy and increased in volume. Add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time; beat until well combined. Add milk.

Sift in dry ingredients a little a time, mixing slowly.

Fold in chocolate chunks and nuts with a spatula as gently as possible.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. It might help to spray your spoon with Pam or occasionally wet it--it's very sticky. Wet or Pam your fingers and gently press down dough to flatten slightly. Batter should be dropped about 3" apart--it can spread like crazy if its too warm.

Bake for 10-12 minutes--cookies should look slightly underdone. Let them sit on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to finish cooling.

A Few Notes:

I usually split the dough before folding in the chocolate chunks and nuts and sift in 1/3 cup of cocoa to make a half batch of these in a chocolate variety.

You can use either all butter or all shortening--I've just found that a split between the two gives a better finished cookie. All butter tends to spread out more when baking and all shortening seems a little too crumbly to me.

Use the chocolate of your choice--around here the best I've found in grocery stores is the Ghiradelli's--it chops easily into nice chunks. Other baking chocolates I've found make curls and shred. The cookies are still tasty--but there's just something about seeing huge chunks of chocolate and nuts.

Since the recipe calls for baking soda as a leavener I prefer buttermilk--it reacts with the soda and gives a lighter texture than sweet milk does. It also negates a little bit of the alkaline taste.

If you don't want to deal with such a wet dough (or you want a chewier cookie consistency) refrigerate the dough for about 20-30 minutes before baking.

Parchment paper is a gift from god. Due to the amount of chocolate in the cookies the paper makes a much easier cleanup than using a bare pan does. It also helps minimize spreading.

Makes about 40 cookies.