Saturday, November 28, 2009

Thanksgiving Dinner.Middle-Eastern Style..Gobble,Gobble

Making a Feast for my Family with my girls Hanna and Amani...of course!

We started with an 18 pounder Amish Turkey (any Amish poultry is my fav) We washed it with cold water then squeezed 3 fresh lemons all over it (this gets that poultry stench
right out!) We heavily seasoned the bird with extra v olive oil, spicy curry, mild curry, fresh ground cumin, cardamom, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, melted whole butter, crushed red peppers, and ACCENT! Then, we peel and cut up potatoes in quarter lengths, cut some tomatoes and mushrooms in quartered lengths, peeled pearl onions, 5-6 whole garlic cloves,large chopped celery and carrots...mixed with all the same ingredients as the turkey.. mix the veggies in the tray and add the bird right on top, place the trusty popper in the breast....covered with foil and into the oven at 325 degrees for 5 hours ( or until the popper pops, this is what I go by..the POPPER that is) The last half hour cook the bird uncovered so the bird will brown. Right when that popper pops put the broiler on hi and watch the browning carefully basting during this process...it takes all of 2-5 mins this makes the skin nice and crispy. Carve the Bird and top with the roasted veggies. so Yummy and Tender it literally fell right of the bone and melted in our mouths...MMmmmmmm!

SIDES:

Homemade Mashed Potatoes....Boil then peel the potatoes....Mash them up add heavy cream, butter, salt and white pepper...done.

GRAVY:
drain the Turkey juices into a small sauce pan (after the bird is cooked) next, brown some dry flour up in a separate pan/pot. Once flour is browned add to the turkey juices whisking like there's no tomorrow..once it thickens, Voila you have a GRAVY!...done

 




Sweet Potatoes with a Cinnamon Ginger Sauce....peel and medium dice or (large dice if you'd like) melt some butter, crush some walnuts, cinnamon, pinch of salt and black pepper. Toss and mix it all up with the potatoes.
FOR THE SAUCE: 1 bottle of dessert wine add cinnamon sticks, vanilla beans(or vanilla flavoring if u don't have the beans) peel and mince some fresh ginger add all these to the dessert wine and let it reduce by half....as this reduces make a simple syrup in a separate sauce pot..which is 2 cups of sugar to 2 cups of water, bring to a boil then simmer until it thickens. Once it thickens Pour the simple syrup into the dessert wine (Moscato Wine) reduction, let simmer until it thickens....once it thickens let it cool this will really thicken it just right. After that pour the sauce over the sweet potatoes and in a baking pan cover with foil and throw it into the oven for about an hour mixing once or twice while baking.After an hour stick a fork in a potato or two for tenderness...done.

Basmati Rice with peas and Ground Lamb topped with Toasted Pine nuts Brown 1/2 lb of Lamb or (Beef if you prefer)and season with cumin, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and ACCENT! Drain the fat. Then,in a separate pot you take 2 cup of Basmati rice and add 3 cups of water to a pot, add chicken base, salt and Extra V olive oil bring to a boil (uncovered) until the water has reduced by half.Cover and simmer on low for 15 mins or taste for tenderness. Next, boil some peas in pot once they are done combine all ingredients into a large pot fluff/ mix lightly with a fork (so it doesn't clump) Last, add a generous amount of Extra V olive oil to a sautée pan and brown a generous amount of pine nuts, stirring frequently (so u don't burn the nuts) FINALLY, serve the rice in a pretty bowl and pour the pine nuts right over it with a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley!....done.

Stuffing:
Small dice onions, celery and mushrooms then sautée with Extra V olive oil until tender. Then, add chicken broth and chicken base to the veggies simmer a minute
or 2 then add a "good ole box of Stove Top stuffing" to the mix...Mix all this together for a minute and Done.



CORN: Good ole canned corn add some butter, salt and white pepper...DONE.

Don't forget the cranberry sauce....my fav is straight out of the can....YUMMY!


All of this was a Tradition Thanksgiving Dinner with a Twist of the Middle-East!

If you'd like the detailed recipes feel free to ask me and my GIRLS we'd love to share them with you!!

Enjoy.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Chili Bean Soup with Frito's

IIt was so much fun making the first batch of my chili with Hanna and Amani on this cold and windy fall day....Cooking with my girls...Hanna and Amani.Their favorite part about eating chili is the FRITO'S chips on top! YUMMY!







Ingredients needed:

1 lb. ground lamb
1 large can of diced tomatoes
4 cups water
1 cup kidney beans
1 cup pinto beans
2 TBSP beef or chicken base
3 crushed cloves of garlic
4 TBSP chili powder
2 TBSP cumin
2 TBSP paprika
2 TBSP black pepper
2 TBSP white pepper
3 salt (don't be shy with the salt)
2 TBSP crushed red peppers
1/4 CUP olive oil
2 Bay leaves
1 tsp Accent
1/4 cup small diced onion
1/4 cup small diced celery

First, heat a pot on MED-HIGH with E.V.O.O. Add the celery, onions and garlic and sauté until tender. Then, add and brown 1 lb of ground lamb , and of course you can use your choice of beef or chicken. Then, add chili powder, cumin, black pepper, white pepper, salt (don't be shy with the salt) crushed red peppers, paprika, olive oil, and of course my secret ingredient for EVERYTHING Accent! Combine all together. Then, drain the fat/grease from the meat. Next, add the large can of diced tomatoes, kidney beans, navy beans, bay leaves, 4 cups of water and the beef base.

Next, Bring to a boil and then let it simmer for 45-60 mins (the longer it simmers the thicker and heartier it will get.) Make sure you skim the grease/ impurities of the top as it's cooking.

Pour into a Bowl add little of sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, small diced onions and Frito's chips atop and of course a sprinkle of chopped parsley! ENJOY!

Hope you Enjoy making it and chowing down as much as we did!!

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