They Say It's Your Birthday...

I'm still around :), we've had a lot going on. I assure you, I'm still cooking up a storm!

It was Quinn's second birthday on Wednesday, so we're having our family get together tomorrow. I'm trying to get as much done now as I can, so I can focus on those inevitable last minute details (or early guests) tomorrow.

What's on the menu? Thanks to some incredible contributions from my friends, and some incredible foodies on LSG and the Desert Garden Farms group, I can't wait to dig into the layout this year!

- Meatballs in the crockpot with Diana Sauce (a sweet BBQ sauce to those who don't know what that is)
- Veggie Pizza (crescent roll crust, cream cheeese and veg soup mix, finely chopped veggies on top)
- Buffalo Chicken Dip (I'm DYING to try this)
- Tzatziki, Roasted Red Pepper dip, Hummus, possibly some Tapenade
- Assorted olives (that my Father picks up at an incredible deli)
- Possibly some cheese
- Assortment of crackers, toasted pita wedges, pretzels
- Carrots, celery, peppers, radishes
- Chips, onion dip, dill pickle dip

And for dessert, a chocolate cake, carrot cake, and lemon raspberry bars

Hopefully something for everyone.

I am a firm believer in finishing as much ahead of time as I can. I poached a chicken breast along with the chicken we ate last night for the Buffalo Chicken Dip, as well as completing the lemon raspberry bars (the trick now is NOT eating them all before the party).

Today, I've mixed the cream cheese and soup mix for the veggie pizza, chopped the veggies for said pizza, and am currently baking the carrot cake. Later tonight I'll bake the chocolate cake and the crust for the veggie pizza.

That will leave chopping veggies for crudites, assembling the veggie pizza, making the Buffalo Chicken Dip, throw the meatballs and bottled sauce in the crockpot, and lay everything out. I'll probably try to get a little balloon bouquet (it's a superhero theme) and put up the birthday decorations...oh and decorate Quinn's cake.

And if there is one thing that I would consider a lifesaver when you're hosting a party is to run the dishwasher before everyone arrives, and make sure it's empty for the party. That way you have all your dishes available, and as stuff gets dirty, you can tuck it away, saving you clean up time in the end.

That's the part I hate most :)

Apple Cider Chicken

I've talked about how easy it is to make things up on the fly if you know what tastes good together, and this is an example of an "off the cuff" meal.

I'd planned to have chicken parm with spaghetti, but I just wasn't feeling like cooking that. We have a bit of stress in our lives at the moment, and it's very easy to fall down the, "I just don't feel like cooking, let's get fast food instead" slope. That isn't good for anyone.

I love the "chicken marsala" I make, but I didn't have any marsala wine or mushrooms. What I did have were some shallots, and some apple cider that needed to be used up. I threw some potatoes on to boil, and set to work on the chicken. This served 2 and Quinn.

Apple Cider Chicken



2 boneless chicken breasts
A bit of flour
Salt and pepper
Oil
4 shallots, sliced
About 2 cups apple cider
About 1 cup chicken stock
Sprig of rosemary
1 tblsp cold butter

Put frying pan on to heat to about medium. Rinse, pat dry and pound chicken breasts to about 1/2" thick.

Put about 2 tblsp of oil into the pan and toss in sliced shallots to soften. Meanwhile, season a few tablespoons of flour with salt and pepper and lightly dredge chicken breasts and place in pan. Cook a few minutes until done on one side, and flip.

Once chicken is cooked through, add cider and chicken stock and boost heat to high.

At this point, after tasting the sauce, I thought it might need a little something more. Apples and rosemary go well together, so I went out and grabbed a sprig of rosemary and tossed it in to infuse the sauce with its flavour.



After about 5 minutes of boiling, I removed the sprig, and put the chicken breasts on a plate, allowing the sauce to reduce further. Make sure to taste and adjust for seasons. After about 3 minutes, remove from heat and put 1 tblsp butter in pan, swirling until butter is melted (this will make the sauce richer).

I served this with riced potatoes and corn kernels.

This was a great experiment. I will DEFINITELY make this one again! This would be great with pork too!

It's Fall! What to Do With the Herbs?

My basil, thyme and rosemary grew awesomely this summer, but what to do now that it's getting cold?

The thyme is actually pretty hardy, so I will leave that out all winter and cut it back once it warms up again. The rosemary may or may not survive the winter, and I know the basil won't...so I started freezing what was out there.

I do have a few stalks of dried basil, but it's just not the same...those dry, shrivelled, brown leaves in my food? No thanks.

I stripped a bunch of basil leaves, chopped them in the food processor coarsely, and popped about a tablespoon in each compartment of an ice cube tray. I filled them up half way with water (until the leaves were just barely covered) and put them in the freezer.



Once those were set, I put a little more water on top to completely cover, and finished the freezing process. Otherwise, the leaves float to the top and a bunch of them will be exposed and discolour. See what I did there?

I popped the cubes into a couple of freezer bags, labelled, of course (because, no matter how well you think you're going to remember, you won't), and when I need a tablespoon of fresh basil, I throw a cube into the pot and I'm good to go!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I have a little bit of time, and a lot of catching up to do! Here's the first of them.

It's the Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend...well, officially, the holiday is Monday but most people I know do dinner on the Sunday and spend Monday recovering.

Don has been away a lot in the past couple of weeks, so I wanted to have a bit of a celebratory dinner to welcome him back, on Friday.

I made turkey breast, stuffing, and brussels sprouts...and for dessert, a pumpkin pie.

The turkey and stuff are adapted from Rachel Ray's Thanksgiving in 60.



Turkey Breast

I prefer to have a boneless turkey breast (because it is so much easier to cut). If you can't find a boneless turkey breast, see if the butcher will debone it for you, or just take it home and do it yourself...it's not that hard, and if you don't know what you're doing, check the internet. I'm sure there are plenty of sites that can help you out. Also, this is the one time I won't put foil on the bottom of the roasting pan because you'll need the bits at the bottom to make a gravy.

1 small onion, chopped
1 lemon (for zesting)
12 fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt
Olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
2 boneless turkey breast halves (skin on)
Freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450. Oil roasting pan and put aside.

Using a food processer, chop onion and lemon zest (avoid the pith, but I'm sure I don't need to tell you that) until fine. Add sage, parsley, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pulse until a course paste.

Melt butter in a small saucepan on the stove. The original recipe also recommends adding 2 fresh bay leaves to this butter and letting the oil infuse, which is very tasty...but I could find neither fresh bay at the market nor my dried ones at home, so I left them out this time. Once melted, pull off heat.

Place turkey breasts on a work surface and carefully run fingers between flesh and skin to create a pocket. Don't yank it completely off...you're going to stuff the paste you made in the food processor under the skin so you don't want it to fall out. Once you've loosened the skin, get to stuffing (using half on each breast, obviously).

Pop the turkey breasts into the roasting pan, giving them a little room to breathe, and brush the turkey skin with half the butter you melted. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place in the oven. Close the door and decrease the temp to 400 degrees.

Wash your hands. Not that I need to tell you that. You just handled poultry.

After 20 minutes, baste the turkey breasts with the remaining butter and pop back into the oven for about 25 minutes until cooked through. The thermometer should read 170 (but I prefer 180 tbh...it wasn't quite done, but the skin was starting to get dark so I covered the pan with foil so the meat could cook through - our oven is a jerk).

Once cooked, remove the turkey breast and let it rest for 10 minutes. This gives you time to make the gravy. At this point, timing wise, you should put the stuffing in the oven to brown (see below).

Put the roasting pan on the oven and turn the element on to heat the pan. Sprinkle flour over the pan and cook while stirring for a few minutes. Add the chicken stock and whisk until smooth, then slowly add the apple cider, continuing to whisk to avoid lumps. Continue heating gravy, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Taste, and season with salt and pepper.

Slice turkey breast and serve with gravy.

Apple Stuffing

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 Royal Gala apples (or whatever you have on hand), peeled, cored, and chopped
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves chopped
8 cups cubed stuffing mix (I used the Paxo, which is more crumby than cubed and that worked fine, but I love the cubey stuff better, for texture)
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup apple cider

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat...I used my cast iron, because I popped it in the oven to crisp the top. If you don't have a large skillet you can put in the oven, just use a frying pan for the first bit, and finish it off in a baking pan or casserole. The original recipe made muffins. I was too lazy to get out my muffin tin.

Add olive oil and butter to heated skillet. Add chopped onion and celery and cook until softened. Add apples, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning, and cook another few minutes. Add parsley and stuffing cubes, and toss together to combine. Moisten stuffing with chicken stock and apple cider (you might need to adjust the measures so it's soft but not soggy)

Pop the lot into the oven while the turkey is resting (and you're making gravy) until the top is crispy and browned.

Serve with gravy on top.

Pumpkin Pie



I followed the directions on the can of pumpkin puree, adjusting it to be not as sweet, and cooked it. I mixed together the topping I use for my apple crisp (oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little salt, mixed with melted butter) and sprinkled it on top.

While we ate our dinner, I popped the pie in the oven to toast the topping and warm the pie.

Frozen Butter Biscuits

My friend Stacy asked what I put my apple butter on, and I went through a list of things, but totally failed to mention my favourite thing to top with apple butter...



The trick to these fluffy, tender (but with a crispy outside) biscuits is using frozen butter, and not overworking the dough.

The science behind this, as explained by Chef Michael Smith, is that frozen butter gets into the layers of the dough and as it heats up in the 400 degree oven, the little bits of butter release steam, which creates flaky layers. Grating the butter in, is not only fast and easy, but it allows for less working of the butter (let's face it, cutting butter into pastry sucks, and the food processor may heat it up a bit), and the small pieces mean more poofy little flaky parts.

This hint would work with any flaky pastry, like pie crust. You can thank me by sending me baked goods. Thanks.

I took Chef Smith's recipe for Frozen Butter Buscuits and halved it. I didn't modify it at all (not that there was much to modify)...truth is, it's perfect the way it is! (I didn't add salt and pepper to the top because it was for breakfast, but if I make these at dinner, I do)

One of the most awesome things about this recipe, besides how easy and delicious they are, is that it takes about 20 minutes from start to finsh (as long as you planned ahead and put the butter in the freezer).

Frozen Butter Biscuits

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick frozen butter
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Grate in frozen butter (I cut the stick in half and grate one at a time, leaving the other in the freezer). Toss gently until butter is evenly distributed amongst the dry mixture.

Using the handle of a wooden spoon (it's gentler), mix while pouring milk into the bowl, until dough ball begins to form. Add another tablespoon or two of milk to gather up the dry bits if there are some, and fold to make sure everything is combined.

Make a flat disk on a lightly floured counter and cut into wedges (or whatever) and place on baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes, until golden brown, and serve warm.


(No photo would show how tender, flaky and delcious this biscuit was)

Apple Butter

We have lots of apples :)

My aunt and uncle have an orchard in Windsor, so I'm no stranger to apple recipes. You may see a few more while I whittle down the stash we picked up at Wagner Orchards.

This is a Michael Smith recipe...

Apple Butter

10 apples, cored and cut in quarters (I left the skins on)
1/2 to 1 cup brown sugar (to your taste)
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Pop it on the stove, cover, and cook on medium high heat until apples break down and the pulp is thick and dark brown.

Puree with an immersion blender (or a traditional blender), put in a jar, and refrigerate.

I cooked it for about 3 hours on the stovetop. It could have been cooked down a little longer to make it thicker. I usually make it in the crock pot, but mine was in the dishwasher :)

Harvest Pork and Apple Bake

Campbell's (you know, the soup company?) has a ton of great recipes. How easy is throwing some rice, veggies, meat and soup into a casserole and baking it?

I found a recipe in a magazine for Harvest Pork and Apple Bake and made it up last night. As usual, I fiddled with it a smidge.

Recently, I talked about how blending flavours is easy if you know what tastes good together. Thanks to the Brady Bunch, we all know pork chops and applesauce work good together, so apples and pork tenderloin will be great, with the apple flavour strengthened through apple cider.

Harvest Pork and Apple Bake



2 cups whole wheat yolkless broad egg noodles
1 carrot, peeled, quartered, and chopped
2 tablespoons oil
1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2" medallions
2 cups crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 can cream of celery soup (cream of mushroom or chicken would also work...and I bet cream of cheddar would be good too!)
1 cup apple cider
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper
1 red apple, unpeeled, cored and cut into wedges

Cook noodles and carrots in boiling, salted water until noodles are al dente.

Meanwhile, brown tenderloin medallions in a frying pan with a little oil (about 4 mins each side). I talked about browning meat before putting in the crock pot yesterday...same goes here. Brown the pork and give it a little caramelized flavour and it will make your dish extra delicious. Once cooked, put pork on a plate and put aside.

In the bottom of that frying pan is a delicious bunch of gunk created by caramelized sugars and proteins from the pork and it's going to help flavour the rest of your dish. Toss in the onions and mushrooms and cook on medium high heat until they are soft.

Turn up the heat, add apple cider to mushrooms and onions and deglaze anything left on the bottom of the pan that the mushrooms didn't pick up. Reduce cider, stirring frequently, for a few minutes (this will concentrate the flavours and thicken things up a bit).

Preheat oven to 350.

Turn heat down to medium and add soup, thyme sprigs (just throw them in whole...remember how many go in so you know how many twigs need to come out!) and cinnamon.

Toss drained noodles and carrots into sauce and stir to combine. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Toss noodles, sauce and vegetable mixture into a 1 1/2 quart casserole (I used my oval shaped one over the round one so there's more room for the pork and apples on top, but use what you have!)

Arrange pork and apples on top (see photo above) and bake for 30 minutes, uncovered.