All the Flavor of Thanksgiving…Not the Way You’d Expect

Before I write my next post in the Local Luxury Dinner Party series, I wanted to share my fun dinner!

I have been working hard to plan meals for the week and get a lot of cooking done on Sundays. This takes away the stress of thinking of something to make every night and frees up more time for homework (well, maybe twitter and some TV watching too). Today when I pulled out my notebook to plan, I decided that I wouldn’t consult any cookbooks. I wanted to be creative and come up with my own ideas for the week.

When we get lazy about planning around here, we end up eating a lot of red meat. I love to cook brisket, burgers, you name it. But for the sake of the hubby’s cholesterol, we’ve decided to have a non-red meat at home month. So that leaves us to decide on some alternative proteins. Since Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, I’ve been craving roasted turkey. When I checked out turkey breasts at Whole Foods last week I almost passed out from sticker shock. $55 for a turkey breast?!? That’s nuts! So we opted for chicken and tofu for our proteins last week.

I still had a hankering for turkey when I started planning today. I went through the ingredients in the fridge first for inspiration and remembered that I had a container of cranberries ready to be turned into sauce. With cranberry sauce in mind, I started daydreaming about Thanksgiving dinner. To me that means lots of my grandmother’s dressing (aka stuffing) with a little turkey and fixings. I figured that turkey breast would still be pricey, so I arrived on the idea of turkey + stuffing meatballs served with cranberry sauce. I picked up some pre-made stuffing mix (sacrilegious in my family), a pound of ground white meat turkey, and fresh celery. Those three ingredients set me back about $12. Added in with the ingredients I had at home, this meal didn’t break the bank. For the two of us, this will be two meals.

I used a cranberry sauce recipe from the last issue of Gourmet Magazine. The sauce, a mix of cranberries and apples, was a hit at our holiday celebration last year. I have to confess, I made mashed potatoes from a box to serve on the side. I had the box leftover from when I made a King Arthur recipe calling for instant mashed potatoes. I shouldn’t feel bad about boxed potatoes, but I usually write about local, fresh, and homemade!

The verdict on the meal? Delicious! I will definitely be making this again. Next time I’ll use a little more stuffing and add in extra poultry seasoning for a little more flavor. I think it would be fun to make the meat mixture into patty shapes and serve them on fresh kaiser rolls with cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. Or maybe potato rolls…. So many possibilities!

I had to laugh, as I sat down to eat I pulled out the latest Saveur to peruse. In reference to my dinner, I had to make an edit to the cover:

Thanksgiving Meatballs served with fresh cranberry sauce with apple (and instant mashed potatoes)
Makes 12 2” meatballs

1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup stuffing mix + a little extra (I used Whole Foods chicken flavor)
1/3 cup finely diced celery
1 lb. ground white meat turkey breast

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil (I used cooking spray on the foil to prevent sticking)
Mix egg and milk together in a large bowl
Add in celery and 1 cup stuffing and mix, making sure to moisten the stuffing
Add in turkey and mix using your hands, be careful not to over mix (you’ll end up with dense meatballs)
If the mixture is too wet, add in a little more stuffing
Form into 2 inch balls and place on the greased baking sheet
Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning over halfway through the cooking time

Cranberry Sauce with Apple
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, November 2009

16 oz. fresh cranberries, washed
1-2 apples (I used Fortune apples), peeled, cored, and diced into 1/2 in cubes
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Combine water, sugar, cranberries, and diced apples in a medium saucepan
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat
Cook over medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring constantly
The cranberries will burst and the mixture will begin to thicken (like cranberry sauce!)
You can serve immediately with the meatballs, or to make a nice presentation, line a loaf pan with plastic wrap and spray the plastic wrap with cooking spray
Spoon the sauce into the loaf pan, cover with the plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours
Invert the loaf pan onto the plate and slice for serving

Instant Mashed Potatoes
Follow the directions, and if you really want to be gourmet, follow the microwave directions. I did use delicious Kerry Gold butter from Ireland to add flavor.

Serve and enjoy! I’m looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.

Summary:
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes total (20 minutes meatballs, 15 minutes cranberry sauce, 2 minutes mashed potatoes)
Mixing bowls, spatulas, baking sheet, measuring cups, medium saucepan, microwave safe bowl, serving utensils and plates

Thanksgiving, Part Two

We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner in November, but my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and new nephew couldn't make it in for the holiday. Fast forward a few months and they packed up the baby and headed east for a visit.

I decided to make them a Thanksgiving dinner to make up for their missed meal. With a smaller crowd, it was a little easier to get everything cooked and ready in just a few hours. I scaled back the menu (only 4 components instead of 8+).

To start, I whipped up a quick and easy mustard-dill white bean dip served with veggies and pita crackers. The menu for dinner was my grandmother's southern style dressing (stuffing), roasted ginger-maple root vegetables, cranberry sauce, and roasted turkey breast. To the dismay of my guests, I didn't have time to make the pumpkin and pecan pies from Thanksgiving. Instead, I made a tasty apple crisp with a recipe from my friend Megan over at Delicious Dishings.

When I make turkey breast, I usually like to flavor it with orange juice and fresh orange slices. For this version, I decided to use the blood orange marmalade I picked up at the winter farmer's market. I also used the marmalade to make a quick gravy.

This was a manageable meal to make on the weekend. The turkey and stuffing cook at the same temperature. The vegetables can be cooked first, and then reheated just before serving. Here are the recipes for you to try:

Mustard-Dill White Bean Dip
2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic, peeled (more if you like it strong!)
2 tablespoons prepared mustard-dill sauce (or, Dijon mustard + dill)
1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Place garlic, beans, and mustard-dill sauce into a food processor
Pulse and stream in olive oil until desired consistency
You can serve immediately, or let chill for at least an hour to let the flavors develop

Roasted Turkey Breast with Blood Orange Gravy

Printable Recipes

2 turkey breasts, skin on
1/4 cup blood orange marmalade
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (or sage & thyme)
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Rinse and pat the turkey breasts dry
Cut 1" slits across the top of the breast into the skin with a small paring knife
Using your hands, rub marmalade into all the slits
Using your hands, rub olive oil all over the turkey breasts, making sure to coat well
Sprinkle salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning over the turkey breasts
Place the breasts into a foil-lined roasting pan
Cook uncovered at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees (use a meat thermometer)
Remove from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes before slicing

Quick Blood Orange Gravy
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2-3 tablespoons blood orange marmalade
Pan drippings from roasting pan

Pour all ingredients into a small sauce pan over medium-high heat
Bring to a boil and cook for about 5-8 minutes until marmalade has dissolved
Serve hot

Marilyn's Southern Style Dressing
Makes 1 9"x13" pan (enough for 2, 4, or 6 depending on the crowd)

1 loaf sandwich bread (I used whole-wheat potato, challah is the best)
1 stick of butter, melted
2-3 medium yellow onions, diced
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrot, chopped
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1.5 tablespoons poultry seasoning
Black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave on high for 3 minutes
Add celery and carrots to the bowl and mix, microwave on high for 10 minutes
Add seasoning and mix well
Cube bread into a large bowl (you can cut or tear by hand)
Add vegetables, eggs, and chicken broth to the bread and mix gently
Pour into 9"x13" pan and spread evenly
Dot the top with pats of butter
Bake uncovered for 1.5 hours, basting with chicken stock for the last half hour
Serve hot

Roasted Maple-Ginger Root Vegetables
Adapted from Food and Wine Magazine

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
4 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 cup pecans
Salt and Pepper
(I also threw in a few sprigs of rosemary)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 2-3 minutes (be careful not to burn them)
Remove from the oven and set aside
Toss the vegetables with the olive oil, nutmeg, and salt and pepper
Spread in a single on a large baking sheet (or 2)
Roast for 30 minutes until just starting to brown
Sprinkle with ginger, maple syrup, and pecans
Continue to roast for about 20 minutes
Serve immediately, or reheat for a few minutes before serving

Apple Crisp
For the full recipe, click over to Delicious Dishings. Megan made cute mini-crisps in a number of small baking dishes. I used one large casserole dish for easy cleaning. I followed her recipe (but forgot the vanilla and orange juice by mistake). It was scrumptious and a perfect ending to a great dinner!

A little overdue...Latkes!

Now that you've passed Chanukah and the rest of the holiday season, you might be able to think about eating latkes again. Or, if you are like my regular reader Tim, you've been waiting for this write-up since 12/21 when it was mentioned it in the previous post. Here you go Tim!

This year I was swamped with homework and a busy schedule around the holidays. Usually I like to try out new latke recipes, but this year I was luck to find time to grate the potatoes. I picked up some sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, onions, scallions, and pulled out the mandolin. Grating potatoes is a labor of love and the results are always delicious. Don't forget to squeeze out the excess moisture before mixing! Thanks to a tip from my brother, I used just a little olive oil in the pan instead of a few inches of vegetable oil. The result was a crunchy and somewhat healthier latke.

An important note is that if you grate your white potatoes too early, they will turn gray and your latkes won't be very pretty. I don't know all the food science, but this can be slowed by grating your onions into the bowl first and then tossing the shredded potatoes with the onion juice.

We enjoyed these with the pot roast for dinner. As a special treat, we also had them for Chanukah breakfast with poached eggs on top. A 'kosher eggs benedict'! I haven't mastered a Hollandaise sauce yet (or even tried), but that would definitely finish this off nicely. Of course we had leftover cheddar scallion biscuits on the side too because you can never have too many carbs.

Happy latke eating! Perfect for Chanukah or anytime of the year! I'll do my best to write up my recipe - I did these from memory - so tweak as you see fit! The cooking instructions are the same for both

Potato Latkes

Traditional Latkes
1 russet potato, peeled
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 - 1/2 of a yellow onion
1 scallion, chopped into small pieces (add to taste)
1 tablespoon-ish flour
Salt and Pepper

Sweet Potato Latkes
1 sweet potato, peeled
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 scallion, chopped into small pieces (add to taste)
1 tablespoon-ish flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and Pepper

Olive oil for frying

For each respective potato, follow these instructions
Using a mandolin or box grater, grate the potato into a large bowl
Using a colander, cheese cloth, or just your hands, squeeze out the excess moisture and return the potato to the bowl
Add the onion, and any seasonings and toss
Add a small amount of egg (about half the beaten egg) and about a tablespoon of flour, mix until the flour and egg are evenly distributed
If the mixture seems really wet, add a little more flour

Cooking for both
Place a wire baking rack over a baking sheet in your oven and heat to 200 degrees
Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat
When a small piece of shredded potato sizzles in the oil, its ready!
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, add the latkes into the pan in batches
Cook for 2-3 minutes per side (until golden brown)
If they are browning too quickly, reduce the heat slightly
Place the cooked latkes in the heated oven while you finish frying all the latkes
Serve warm

For leftover latkes, let them cook completely
If you plan to eat them the next day, wrap them tightly in foil and refrigerate
If you plan to keep them longer than a day or two, place them on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer
When they are frozen, wrap them in plastic wrap and then foil (to prevent freezer burn)
Either way, reheat in a 350 degree oven before serving

Serve with chunky applesauce, sour cream, or horseradish!

Happy Chanukah!

We celebrated Chanukah toward the end of the holiday this year, and even extended our celebration by an extra day. I didn't have time during the week to cook up any traditional holiday fare. With an impending snow storm this weekend there was plenty of time to cook up some Chanukah treats! I'll start with dessert and work backwards to dinner.

There are a few readers out there who are interested in reading about my experiment with making a modified Chanukah food. Instead of traditional fried sufganiyot (jelly donuts) - I found a recipe for sugar donut muffins that I turned into jelly donut muffins!

I used a basic buttermilk muffin recipe from my well-worn copy of Joy of Cooking along with some techniques from a recipe on Baking Bites . The idea to inject jelly in the center was all mine. One of my pet peeves is that all the commercial jelly donuts are filled with raspberry jelly, my second least favorite fruit (peaches are #1). I wanted these to be just the way I like them! To get strawberry preserves into the middle, I used a pastry decorating bag with a long narrow tube on the end.

Tomorrow at work is our holiday potluck happy hour, so I doubled the recipe to make enough to share. I averted a small disaster, after mixing all the ingredients in the first batch and pouring in to the muffin tin, I saw the sugar still sitting on the counter. Oops! So all the batter came out of the pan, the sugar was mixed in, and then the muffin tins were filled again. I made a mix of mini-muffins and regular muffins. A warning, these are buttery, sugary, delicious and not at all healthy. But if you figure they are a once or twice a year indulgence, who cares! Enjoy!

The sequence is: 1) Bake the muffins, 2) Coat in butter and sugar, 3) Fill with fruit preserves, 4) Try to refrain from eating them all yourself.

Jelly Donut Muffins
Adapted from Joy of Cooking's Basic Muffins Recipe
This will yield 12 regular muffins or 24 mini-muffins

Dry Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Wet Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 cup of low-fat buttermilk
2/3 cup sugar (don't forget!)
6 tablespoons warm, melted unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Set up a wire cooling rack for the muffins when they are done
Grease either standard 12-muffin tin or 24-mini-muffin tin
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, set aside
Whisk together the wet ingredients in a bowl
Add the wet ingredients into the large mixing bowl (dry ingredients) and mix until just moistened (be careful not to over mix - the batter won't be smooth)
Using a greased tablespoon, scoop the batter evenly into the greased muffin tin
Bake until a toothpick stuck in the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 12-15 minutes

For the sugar donut part:
1 stick of warm melted, unsalted butter in a shallow bowl
1/2 - 1 cup of sugar in a shallow bowl

When the donuts are done baking, remove from the muffin tins and set on the wire rack
Brush the top of the muffins with the melted butter
Roll the muffins in the sugar and then place on the cooling rack
Repeat until all the muffins are coated in sugar

For the Jelly Filling
1/2 - 1 cup of strawberry preserves

Fill the pastry bag with the strawberry preserves and push it down to the tube
Stick the tube in the top of the muffin and squeeze for about 2 seconds, pulling the tube out as you squeeze
Be careful not to overfill the muffins (they will break apart)

Enjoy warm or at room temperature. And be sure to have a large glass of milk to wash them down! This will be on my holiday recipe list every year now.

Thanksgiving Preview

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I scheduled, organized, and planned out my cooking and now have a few hours to spare before the guests come over. Here's a preview of some of our dishes! The menu is an assortment of family favorites, new recipes, and my favorites! A full post will come later - after the food coma has passed. For now, here are some pictures to get you in the mood for Thanksgiving.

First up, appetizers. Spinach balls (with fresh spinach) and Beet-pickled deviled eggs:

Next up - sides! My grandmother's famous dressing, roasted maple-ginger veggies, brown sugar baked sweet potatoes and acorn squash, and jellied cranberry sauce with fuji apple.

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And last, but not least, dessert! Homemade pecan pie and a pumpkin pie (made with red kuri squash).

Apple Kugel Muffins - Happy New Year!

As promised, here are photos of the apple kugel muffins. I picked up some local apples at the farmers' market today and promptly used them up!

I was rushing through the recipe and accidentally confused tablespoons with teaspoons. That meant that I added in a little too much cinnamon (can't be too bad). I would have added too much almond extract, but there wasn't enough left in the bottle.

Make sure to heavily grease your muffin tin (or use muffin tin liners) - these have a tendency to stick a little.

Here's a nice view of the inside. The apples get soft and spread out into every bite. I give these 2 days before we eat them all!

Almost time for the Holidays! Apple Kugel Muffins

I don't have any photos for this recipe, but it is a fall favorite at my house. This recipe is from a cookbook I got as a wedding gift - Kosher by Design by Susie Fishbein. It's easy, delicious, and great for using up a lot of fall apples. You can make it as muffins or in a springform pan. Either way it won't last long! I typically use a mix of apples and leave out the nuts (you can use walnuts or pecans on top if you'd like).

Apple Kugel Muffins (or Cake)
Adapted from Kosher by Design

3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus extra for sprinkling on the top
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2-3 apples, peeled, cored, and diced into small pieces (I have used golden delicious, McIntosh, granny smith, and other local baking apples)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Grease 12 muffin regular muffin tins or springform pan
In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients except the apples
Using a mixer (or hand mixer), beat at medium speed until just smooth (don't over mix it)
Place a small amount of apples in each muffin tin (or cover the bottom of the springform with the apples)
Spoon the batter evenly into each tin to cover the apples (pour batter evenly over the springform)
Sprinkle with extra cinnamon
Bake 20-30 minutes for muffins (30-40 for the springform)
At the low end of the time, check for doneness

Enjoy!

Fourth of July Eats

We decided to let our friends at Vintage78 take over the cooking duties for the fourth of July festivities. With a great roof deck, they have the perfect spot for a nice summer evening. We dined on the usual meat, meat, and more meat with a few side dishes. The meal was accompanied by a delicious white sangria made with champagne, cointreau, peaches, green grapes, apples, and maybe some mangoes. Three of us polished of a pitcher pretty quickly....

The meal was great and perfect for the holiday celebration! Unfortunately we couldn't see the fireworks from the roof (though we did try). Here's a rundown of the menu and some photos.

Turkey Tenderloin, petit filets, mesquite chicken breast, teriyaki chicken and pineapple skewers.

The delicious sangria. For the veggies - a salad with romaine, cucumbers, toasted almonds, and tomatoes. Homemade ice wine vinaigrette (from Niagra Ice wine) and a dijon vinaigrette.

Passover Eats - Part 7: Fresh Horseradish

Passover Eats part 7 comes to you from St. Louis. My mom sent over the recipe she tried for fresh horseradish for this year's seder. I hear it got rave reviews and I'm sorry I missed out! The recipe is below. In the photo above are a new recipe for charoset with cranberries and delicious matzoh ball soup. Enjoy!

This recipe was in the Post Dispatch Food Section on 4-10-09 submitted by Leslie Caplan -"This Soprano Cooks Catering"

Chrain Beets and Horseradish
2-3 pounds fresh red or golden beets with tops still on
6-8 ounces fresh horseradish root
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 cup white wine vinegar or to taste
1/4 cup granulated sugar or taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the tops off the beets, leaving about 1-1/2 inches of stem. Wrap the beets in foil with the stems showing
Bake red beats for 1-1/4 hours or Golden beets for 1 hour

While beets are cooling, peel horseradish root*
Slice horseradish into thin disks and put into the food processor
Add 1 cup water; process until horseradish is finely chopped (Stand back from the processor to protect your eyes)
Spoon the horseradish into a strainer, pressing out as much water as possible

Peel the cooled beats and cut into chunks
Place the beets in the food processor and process until fairly fine

Put the beets, horseradish, salt, vinegar and sugar into a large bowl and mix
Let sit for an hour or so, then adjust sugar, vinegar & salt to taste
Refrigerate for a day or longer
Readjust seasonings if necessary
Serve with gefilte fish

*Note: Before making this recipe, cut a small piece out of the root and taste it to make sure it is not bitter. Bitter horseradish root ruins the chrain. If you don't want to use raw horseradish, substitute 4 tablespoons of bottled white horseradish or to taste.

Faye's note: When I made this recipe, I cooled the beets overnight in the refrigerator and put it all together the next day. After processing the beets and horseradish separately and combining the rest of the ingredients, I processed everything together one last time to have a "finer" consistency.

Per 2- tablespoon serving: 13 calories; no fat; no protein; 3g carbohydrate; 2.5 sugar; 0.5 fiber; 67 mg sodium; no calcium; 60 mg potassium.

Passover Eats - Part 5: Dinner!

The last few nights of Passover got busy with meetings and other things that kept me from the blog. Here are a few more posts about our Passover meals. In honor of the BU Hockey Team going to the national championship game, we had a festive meal on Saturday night. It was colorful and delicious! On the menu: brisket, turkey breast, golden beets and asparagus, and a medley of colorful roasted potatoes. Perfect for leftovers! The brisket and beets were covered in the earlier Passover Posts. The turkey is a pretty easy recipe - just make sure to cook it long enough! I don't have exact measurements - it all depends on the size of the turkey.

Lara's Roasted Turkey Breast
Fresh turkey breast
1 orange, zested and sliced
2-3 tbsp. of butter
Salt
Pepper
A few dashes of poultry seasoning
A splash or two of orange juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Sprinkle some olive oil on the bottom of a roasting pan
Arrange orange slices on the bottom of the pan
Rinse and pat the turkey breast dry
Place the turkey, skin side up on top of the oranges
Make a few slits in the turkey skin
Pour orange juice over the top
Rub butter and orange zest all over the top of the turkey, making sure to get it into the slits under the skin
Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning
Bake for approximately 2 hours (until internal temperature is 170 degrees or indicator pops up)
If the turkey looks like its getting too brown, put a piece of foil over the top

Let rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.

Summary:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: Approximately 2 hours
Roasting pan, cutting board, knife, zester, measuring cups

Passover Eats - Part 4: Roasted Beets and Asparagus

Passover also rules out one of our stand-by veggies, green beans. So the natural green choice is asparagus. Instead of just a boring steamed asparagus, I found a Mario Batali recipe online for roasted beets and asparagus. His recipe called for a frisee salad - I left that out (too fussy) To make it more colorful (and less messy), I bought some golden beets instead of the traditional red. This was an easy recipe and just requires some time in the oven.

Roasted Beets and Asparagus
5 golden beets
14 spears of asparagus
2 tbsp. olive oil + 4 tbsp. of olive oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt
Ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Spread kosher salt on a baking sheet (covering the sheet)
Place unpeeled beets on the baking sheet
Put in the oven for 45 minutes
While the beets are cooking, cut the woody ends off of the asparagus
When the 45 minutes are up, open the oven and place the asparagus around the beets (on top of the salt)
Return to the oven and cook for an additional 15 minutes
Remove from the oven and place the asparagus on a platter
Drizzle 2 tbsp. of olive oil over the asparagus + a pinch of the salt from the baking sheet
Cut asparagus into 2 inch pieces
Let the beets cool for about 5 minutes and then peel
I cut them into halves, and then half moon shapes
Place in bowl and toss with the balsamic vinegar and 4 tbsp. olive oil
Season with pepper

Arrange asparagus and beets on a serving platter and enjoy! I served this dish at room temperature. It was delicious!

Summary:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour (non-active)
Baking sheet, platter, bowl, measuring cups, tongs, serving utensils

Passover Eats - Part 2:

A little dessert before dinner never hurt anyone. Thanks to my 'old' NFTY friend Amy for posting a very easy and delicious matzo toffee crunch recipe. I tweaked it a little (no toffee on hand) Below is my version! It got rave reviews at work. If only they knew what matzo really does to you.....

Check out Amy's blog for the recipe (http://adouble.blogspot.com/2009/04/chocolate-toffee-matzos.html). I used dark brown sugar, salted butter, and semi-sweet mini chocolate chips. For the toppings I tried a few different things. I topped a few sheets with chopped pecans, left a few plain, and topped the rest with a delicious cinnamon sprinkle mix from pampered chef. Yum!!!

Passover Eats - Part 1: Brisket

The next few posts will cover the various foods we've had this week for Passover. If they are not new recipes, I'll list what we substituted or omitted to make the recipe Passover friendly. My non-Passover keeping friends always say that this should be a great week for weight-loss (no carbs!), but they have no idea how deadly all the Passover treats can be (K for P Dr. Brown's cream soda, macaroons, chocolate caramel matzoh, crumb cake......). Hope you enjoy this collection of food! First up - brisket!

The last brisket recipe I made had beer - a definite no for Passover. So I substituted in Manischewitz Concord Grape wine, a Passover favorite. I stuck to the basic recipe proportions and techniques in Joy of Cooking to make this delicious meal.

Passover Brisket
5 lb. brisket
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large onions, sliced into 1/4 rings
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup concord grape wine (Manischewitz or Mogen David)
1/2 cup organic (K for P) smoky barbecue sauce (or k for p chili sauce)
Salt and Pepper
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Trim excess fat from the brisket
Rub the minced garlic, salt and pepper all over the brisket (use your hands for the garlic)
Cut the onions and measure out everything you need for the recipe
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy pot (with a lid) over medium heat
Put in brisket and sear for 4 minutes on one side
Flip over brisket and add onions to the pot, sear for 4 more minutes
Remove brisket from the pot and put it aside on a plate
Continue to cook the onions until they are browned, about 5 minutes
Add beef broth to the pot and scrape the browned bits off the bottom
Add brisket back to pot and add BBQ sauce and wine
Put the lid on the pot and place in the 350 degree oven
Cook for 2.5 hours
Cool in the pot and refrigerate overnight

When you are ready to serve, slice and return to the pot with the sauce
Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Summary:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: Active - 15 minutes; Total 2-3 hours
Large heavy pot with lid, cutting board and knives, measuring cups, slicing knife and serving utensils

Coming tomorrow - Passover Photos

Coming tomorrow - Passover Seder pictures. Stay tuned for brisket, mashed potatoes, gefilte fish, charosets, and chocolate carmel matzoh. Delicious!