Empanadas

I've been out of town, but while I was away I did a little experimental cooking. It's always nice to have a willing guinea pig! One of the things I'd wanted to try for a long time was empanadas, but there are so many different recipes out there. Then I came across this recipe, which seemed to match everything I was looking for, especially a flaky crust that doesn't use crisco or lard. We all loved it! The only thing I did differently was to use ground turkey thighs instead of beef or veal, but the flavors are so rich you can't tell. The almonds, olives, raisins, and tomatoes in the filling blend perfectly with the meat and warming spices like cinnamon, cumin and cloves. The dough uses cream cheese, and it was tender and flaky. I ended up with twice as much filling as needed, though, so now it's in the freezer all ready to go for another day.

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Thanksgiving Catch-Up

I've now recovered sufficiently from Thanksgiving to say a little about the non-dessert foods we had. The thing with Thanksgiving foods, though, is that the menu is fairly predictable--which is both good and bad. I always have a long list of things to try, but I don't want to (or can't) take out one of the regulars, and there's already a lot of food. I'm not sure how people do different themes every year, though I appreciate the creativity. The turkey was about 14 lbs--more than enough for our group of 11, which included vegetarians. It's resting on a bed of cilantro, well, because why not? Plus, three of us each bought big bunches of it. Everything else is vegetarian-friendly, save for the gravy.




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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had 10 people at our table for Thanksgiving this year--and, of course, enough food for many, many more. I'm only just recovering from the food coma that was Thursday, though a long walk around the zoo today helped. We cover the traditionals at our holiday meal--there are no theme Thanksgivings around here--and it was all very, very good. We had turkey with gravy, apple-pecan stuffing, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, asparagus, cranberry-0range sauce, and more. Not surprisingly, dessert was my focus, and with four (yes, 4) options, I think we covered all the bases. The above picture is of a caramel-apple cheesecake tart, a great recipe I found at Annie's Eats, that essentially combined pecan pie, apple pie, and a cheesecake all in one. The sides: mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy The big three: turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing Broad beans, olives, asparagus with a lemon vinaigrette, cranberry sauce, gravy Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and pecans Homemade toasted coconut-macaroon ice cream with dark chocolate chunks, made with the effort and inspiration of SwimmerGirl The final round-up: (from the top) carrot cake, caramel-apple cheesecake tart, and pumpkin chiffon pie

Crepes Monsieur

Dinner tonight was based on a recipe for Man Crepes that was published in today's Washington Post. Man crepes, meaning that the author successfully served them to the menfolk in her family. She used turkey and cheese as a filling, but I took this a couple steps further and added a little ham and slices of honey crisp apple. The result was smokey and cheesy and sweet and crunchy, all wrapped up in a super thin pancake.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, if somewhat belatedly! Sometimes it takes a while getting back from the festivities--it's a long drive home, you know. My mom and I cooked up a storm. And with family visiting from the north, there were plenty of people to help eat it all. Once again I made maybe too many desserts--four for eight people--but they were all so good. And long gone, alas. Life is short, eat dessert first Carrot cake, with cream cheese icing and pecans Apple crostata Pumpkin chiffon pie Chocolate-mint semifreddo, studded with teeny tiny peppermint patties that taste like mini thin mint cookies. SwimmerGirl and I made this one, which was cool and creamy and refreshing. The main event A mountain of mashed potatoes; Mom's famous stuffing with cranberries, apples, pecans, and other good stuff; and cranberry-orange sauce Homemade applesauce, gravy, and a Cabernet sauvignon cranberry sauce Mashed buttercup squash with butter and brown sugar And of course, the roast beast, a very tasty 15 lb. turkey Many hours before the main feast Breakfast included an apple coffeecake drizzled with a maple glaze a strata made with three cheese, challah, and shallots and lots of fresh fruit