It's a Wrap!

Yes.  

The menu is set.  

Now begins the hours of cooking.  I went to the grocery store today.  My husband would have been horrified by the gobs of people there.  

I, on the other hand was completely  delighted!  I love to peek into people's baskets and get a glimpse of what they will be preparing for their Thanksgiving feast.  I love to catch "snippets" of their conversations about this and that in their daily lives.  

There is such a holiday feeling in the air.  It's wonderful!  

Well...to me.

Because this huge southern metropolis is sooooo amazingly multi-cultural, I have to chuckle at the complete turnover of the grocery store center display areas and how this must befuddle 

our multicultural population.  Foreigners to our traditional Thanksgiving feast must be bewildered by the food items that proudly pronounce themselves right in the middle of so many of the aisles.

What must these crazy Americans be eating??  Evaporated milk towers stand proudly in the center, marshmallows in snowman shapes, cans of pumpkin puree, bags of dried up bits of bread...  

Really!  

Think about it.  

If you weren't familiar with the traditional dishes, what would one come up with based on these diverse ingredients now dominating the aisles and display areas. 

I remember when we lived in Japan this would happen there. All of a sudden, certain items would appear ready for excited customers (who obviously knew what the ingredients were for, unlike our bewildered selves).  We marveled at the ingredients, trying to conjure up some Japanese type of dish from our limited Asian food library.  

I did buy a couple of Japanese cookbooks that gave us some insight.  One was called something like The Expats Food Survival Guide or something like that.  It was most helpful.

Anyway, I can't help but look at the 

befuddled array of miscellaneous ingredients and wonder what the multitudes of Asians, Indians, and Middle Easterners of this Sugarland suburb think lands on our Thanksgiving tables.

So, what will the Kenney family be having for their very quiet Thanksiving dinner?

Well......:

Roasted Pork Loin stuffed with Plums and Apricots

Apricot/Plum creamy port sauce on the side

Roasted Brussel Sprouts in olive oil and sea salt

Bacon and Thyme Potatoes Au Gratin

Panettone Stuffing (if my sanity permits after fixing the other dishes...)

Apple Crumb Pie with peppermint ice cream

All I can say,is it will take the length of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to burn off this meal!

P.S.  

We should be grateful not for the actual Thanksgiving meal in the 1700's but for the distortion of Thanksgiving from the actual historical accounting of this now beloved holiday.  

This afternoon, Riley and I began yet another documentary on U.S. History (The Story of Us...wonderful pick on Netflix!) 

and well, ya know, we weren't really nice with our Indian friends and all that. 

Survival of the fittest was at its peak.  

The actual history lesson isn't to have been thankful for their neighborly help surviving the brutal winter in Plymouth all of those years ago. The actual thanks is our never ending ability to recreate history to benefit our modern day tummys.  

Ha!  

Dark humor...

Coconut-Lime Shrimp and Rice

  

    
The moon shown brightly this morning, as full as it was intense.  I had seen it the night before, high in the night’s sky, but now, setting in the western sky, it lit the pre-dawn morning so brilliantly that it cast shadows of light onto my feet.  I was up before the sun had yet to rise, and now was witnessing a different kind of brightness, that lit up the entire room, turning night nearly into day.  It was a drenching brightness, the kind of light that bathes something or someone.  And in that way, it reminded me of two weeks previously, of a moonlight dappling a shoulder, lighting a neck, providing enough light to provide a vision with a memory.  The light reminded me also of the sounds of that evening past, the crashing waves on a beach, the rhythmic throwing of the ocean onto the shore.  It also reminded me of the tastes of that island paradise, tropical fruits mixed with exotic Indian spices.  I don’t know if those feelings led me to choose this meal, or my menu choice was an attempt to rekindle those feelings, but the scents of coconut, lime, cumin and shrimp now filled my nose as it had filled me before.  Cooking can do that for you too.  Rekindling a memory, feelings associated with tastes and smells.  On any given night you can take yourself on a journey, to a place or a memory.  Coconut-lime did it for me, maybe it will for you too.  Thank you to Bobby Flay’s Boy Gets Grill for the shrimp journey and Darien Schmidt for a new favorite rice recipe.  Serves 2.

    

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken stock

½ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp saffron

1 clove garlic, minced

1 ½  tsp fish sauce

1 ½ tsp lemon juice

½ tsp ground cumin

Pinch dried crushed chili

1 ¾ cup coconut milk

1 cup basmati rice

zest of 1 lime

juice of 1 lime

1” piece of ginger, minced

4 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp cilantro, chopped

2 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped

½ lb shrimp, shelled

    

Directions:

In a medium pot over high heat, mix the stock, turmeric, saffron, garlic, fish sauce, lemon juice, cumin and chili.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Add ¾ cup of coconut milk and the rice and return to a boil.  Stir, cover and lower the heat to a simmer.  Cook for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, mix the remaining coconut milk, lime zest and juice, ginger, 2 tbsp oil, cilantro and chilis.  Add the shrimp and allow to marinate.  When the rice is done cooking, fluff the rice with a fork, turn the heat to warm and allow to steam. 

Heat a grill pan to medium-high heat and add 2 tbsp of oil.  Remove the shrimp and shake off the excess marinade.  When the oil is hot, add the shrimp, taking care not to crowd.  Cook a couple of minutes until browned on one side and then turn, browning the other side.  Cook in two batches if necessary, draining and wiping the pan in between to remove the excess liquid (which will steam the shrimp instead of browning and grilling).  Remove the shrimp to a plate and pour the remaining cooking oil over the shrimp.  Serve with the rice.

   

Great Christmas Gift Ideas for Cooks 2010: Chopping Boards

Chopping boards are often a much under-rated piece of equipment for all of those who love to cook. Consider for a minute just how many things require to be chopped when preparing a meal. It could be a piece of meat, vegetables, or fruits. Often, many of them require chopping at virtually the same time and chopping boards and small kitchens can become cluttered.

Chopping boards may for this reason be a very welcome Christmas gift for cooks, whether to complement or replace their existing utensil. Below are just some of the chopping boards you may wish to consider making a gift of this Christmas.

Recipes for St Andrew's Day: A Celebratory Feast of International Cuisine

Tuesday next (30th November) is St Andrew's Day. I think it is fair to say that a great many people who think of St Andrew - at least in terms of his being a Patron Saint - will think of him as being the Patron Saint of Scotland. While he is indeed the Patron Saint of Scotland, St Andrew is also, however, the Patron Saint of Russia, the Ukraine, Greece and several other territories. I have decided therefore to create an unusual post for this blog, in that it will feature not only a main course dinner suggestion for St Andrew's Night but three dishes for three courses, each one hailing from a different country of which St Andrew is the Patron Saint.

I am starting off with my version of Russian Borscht, a beetroot based soup. I will then move on to the Greek main course dish, Moussaka, and conclude with the famous Scottish pudding/dessert, Cranachan, made from among other things, fine Scottish single malt whisky.

Please note that all of today's recipes are quoted in quantities which will provide for four servings.

Starter/Appetizer - Russian Borscht

Borscht, like so many other similar soups, was originally a peasant dish. Its principal ingredient is beetroot but virtually any root vegetable can also be added, from potatoes, to turnips, to carrots. Beef is a common ingredient in Borscht and although I have incorporated beef, it would often be the case that the peasants who made the soup could not afford it. Omitting the beef of course will not only make the Borscht less expensive to prepare, it will make it suitable for vegetarians. I will forever remember my own first taste of Borscht, as that was in itself a truly international experience. Bear in mind that I am British, when I tell you that I first sampled this Russian dish, in Germany, where it was expertly cooked for me by an American friend!

Ingredients

3/4lb piece of inexpensive boiling beef (bone in)
4 small vaccuum packed cooked beets
1 medium potato
3 pints of fresh beef stock
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and black pepper
Basil for garnish (optional)

Method

The beef will require long, slow boiling. It should be placed in to a pot and the stock and thyme added. The potato should be peeled, moderately finely diced and also added at this stage. This will allow it to partially break down and thicken the stock. The stock should be brought to a simmer and allowed to simmer gently for two hours. After this time, the beef should be lifted out with a slotted spoon, placed on a plate and covered for around fifteen minutes, until it becomes cool enough to handle.

When the beef has been removed, the beetroots should be coarsely grated in to the soup. The soup can then be allowed to continue simmering while the beef cools.

The beef should be shredded, either by hand or with two forks. It should then be re-added to the soup and simply allowed to heat through for about five minutes. At this stage the Borscht should be tasted, seasoned appropriately with salt and pepper and is ready to serve.

Borscht is commonly served with soured cream and fresh herbs, though it can equally be eaten as is.

Main Course - Greek Moussaka

Moussaka is a recipe which I have found can often incorporate a pretty lengthy list of ingredients. I have therefore tried to keep this as basic and simple as possible, without in any way compromising on taste.

Ingredients

1lb minced/ground lamb
1 14oz can of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
2 aubergines (eggplants)
1 red onion
1 large garlic clove
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

2oz butter
2oz plain (all purpose) flour
12 fl oz milk

3oz grated cheddar cheese

Method

The aubergines (eggplants) should be washed, topped and tailed and sliced across the way in to 1/4" thick discs. They should then be layered in a colander, suspended over a bowl, each layer slightly salted. This will serve to remove any of the bitterness in the aubergines, though in many instances this has been bred out in modern times.

The garlic clove should be finely chopped and the onion halved then finely sliced. One tablespoon of olive oil should be heated in a large pot before the garlic and onion are added and stirred around for about five minutes, until the onion begins to turn transluscent. The lamb should then be added to brown and this may take up to a further five minutes. The tomatoes should then be added along with the nutmeg and allspice and the mixture brought to a simmer. It should be simmered for twenty minutes before being seasoned to taste and left to cool slightly while the aubergine preparation is completed.

After they have been draining for half an hour, the aubergines should be dried with kitchen paper before being fried for two minutes each side in a little olive oil then drained on more kitchen paper. This should be done in batches.

The bulk of the Moussaka is very simply assembled. Firstly, a layer of one third of the lamb mixture is placed on the bottom of an ovenproof dish, followed by a layer of aubergine. This should be repeated twice to produce three layers of both lamb and aubergine.

The bechamel sauce is easy and fairly quick to prepare. Firstly, 12 fl oz of milk should be heated in a pot before being transferred to a jug to keep warm. The butter should then be melted in the same pot before the flour is stirred in to form a roux. The roux should be cooked gently for a few minutes before the milk is re-added in stages to form a lush sauce. Note that the sauce should be fairly thick. It can then be spooned over the top layer of aubergine and the grated cheese scattered on top.

The Moussaka should be placed in an oven pre-heated to 350F/180C/Gas Mark 4 for forty-five minutes to an hour, until the cheese is bubbling and golden. It can then be removed from the oven and served with the accompaniment of choice. As the Moussaka is fairly substantial in itself, I have elected on this occasion merely to serve it with some sliced tomato and basil for garnish.

Pudding/Dessert - Scottish Cranachan

Cranachan recipes can be found of a great many varieties. I have tried to keep this as authentic, straightforward and delicious as possible but you may wish to eliminate the single malt whisky from any children's portions being prepared!

Ingredients

1/2lb fresh raspberries
2 tbsp medium oatmeal
4 tbsp quality Scottish single malt whisky (I'm using 10 year old Bowmore)
1/4 pint double (heavy) cream
A little liquid honey (optional)

Method

The raspberries should be washed and separated in to four individual serving bowls. A tablespoon of whisky should be spooned over each serving and at least half an hour allowed for the raspberries to soak up some of the single malt.

The oatmeal should be added to a dry frying pan and lightly toasted over a fairly high heat. This should only take a couple of minutes.

The cream should be beated to form soft peaks and spooned evenly over the raspberries. The oatmeal should be scattered on top and a little honey drizzled over last of all, if desired.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this slight detraction from what can normally be found on this blog and that it has given you some ideas for celebrating St Andrew's Night in culinary style.

The highlight of this fall was having the opportunity to go to northern Maine with a close friend, and spend a week hunting moose and grouse. On opening morning, I shot this trophy bull. We were lucky enough to see 8 moose during the first legal hour of the season, and I chose the largest male. It was a truly iconic "Maine" experience and an epic hunt that I'll never forget. On the hoof, this moose weighed about a thousand pounds and had an antler spread of over 50 inches. We now have over 400 pounds of meat in the freezer, which is a really good feeling. For a long time now, I've been a proponent of boycotting the beef industry. The success of this hunt allows me to continue doing so, while eating good quality free-range, organic red meat. We will continue to show this animal a lot of reverence for quite some time. Thank you Mr. Moose.