Don't worry, I won't be telling you a story about the Pilgrims. But this is a First Thanksgiving tale of sorts, in that I made Thanksgiving for the first time on Sunday. (Yes, I'm aware Thanksgiving hasn't happened yet. The BF and I are going our separate ways for Turkey Day, but wanted to celebrate together, so there you go).
When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of an endless array of food laid out for my eating pleasure. Juicy turkeys and delicious pies, and enough food to feed an army. Literally. I can't remember a single Thanksgiving where my mother cooked the meal, but I can remember several meals spent in the army mess hall, where my father was required to be as an Army officer. And let me tell you, those soldiers can cook. While these holiday meals left me with many a pleasant memory, they didn't leave me with any recipes. I've often lamented the fact that I don't have very many traditional recipes in my family, especially in the way of Thanksgiving. However, with my constant desire to cook new recipes, this is kind of a good thing, since I'm not limited to the traditional in any way.
But given that I was cooking for only two people, and lacking traditional family recipes, I wanted to go the more modern route. Rather than cook an entire turkey, I went for a roulade with cranberry and nut stuffing. Instead of mashed squash or sweet potatoes, I made a roasted butternut squash soup. Rounded out with mashed potatoes and some from-scratch crescent rolls (take that Pilsbury!), it was a simple, elegant, and not too-heavy meal. I have a real southern-fried Thanksgiving to look forward to, and eating two greasy, buttery meals in two weeks was not an option! Sure, it was hard work, and I was completely exhausted when I finished, but it was SO GOOD. Delicious in fact. Maybe even worthy of tradition.
Butternut Squash Soup (from Epicurious.com, with changes)
2 heavy Butternut Squash
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 1/2 tsp chopped fresh sage
2 large cloves garlic, minced
4 cups low sodium chicken stock
1 cup water
2 TBSP Olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Cut each squash in half, length wise, and place on large baking sheet
- bake for 35-45 minutes, until starting to soften
- let cool, and then scoop out seeds and remove rind, and dice squash into 1-inch pieces
- meanwhile, heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat, and add onions and sage
- saute until soft and golden, about 10-12 minutes, being careful not to char or burn the onions
- Add garlic, and cook for 3 more minutes
- Add in squash cubes, and saute with onions, garlic, and sage for two minutes
- Add chicken stock and water to the pot, and bring to a boil
- simmer for 25 minutes, then remove from heat
- Let the mixture cool slightly, then pulse through a blender until pureed.
- Return to pot, and serve warm
More on the turkey later...it was so good, it deserves its very own post.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
American Chop Suey (as in, what is that?)
Sundays are usually reserved for my special cooking ambitions. Those feats of culinary excellence that cannot be accomplished in under an hour. It's my last hurrah for the weekend before getting back to the daily grind and weeknight dinners I can finish before I starve to death. However, this past Sunday, I was feeling lazy, therefore feeling the need for something quick and easy, and broke, therefore looking for a recipe that I could get some mileage out of. Having most of the ingredients on hand, I settled on American Chop Suey.
What is American Chop Suey, you ask? Well, depending on who you ask, you'll get a different response. It is typically made with ground beef, some kind of noodle,green peppers, and tomatoes, but from there, you can pretty much do what you want. I've seen egg noodles and macaroni, soy sauce (although I use Worcestershire Sauce), tomatoes, no tomatoes, and even brown sugar.
Where did it get it's name? Well, according to Wikipedia, American Chop Suey is a regional (ie, New England) name for Macaroni and Beef. It's called chop suey because it's a mix of beef and vegetables (although in my opinion, counting onions and peppers as vegetables is pushing it, but more on that later). It's one of those recipes with a million different variations, but I prefer to stick with simplicity and taste.
American Chop Suey
Ingredients:
1 TBSP olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1b lean ground beef (turkey would also be great here)
1 can whole peeled tomatoes*
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
*You won't use all of the canned tomatoes in this recipe. You can save them in an airtight container for another use. For example, they make an excellent topping on pizza instead of sauce.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil
- Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
- Saute the onions, green pepper, and celery until they begin to soften, about 4 minutes.
- Add in garlic, and continue to saute for 1 minute more.
- Add ground beef to vegetables, breaking up into pieces. Cook until meat is brown and vegetables are soft.
- drain juice from canned tomatoes into beef mixture. Break up 5 or 6 tomatoes into mixture using your fingers.
- Stir in Worcestershire Sauce, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer on the stovetop.
- Add macaroni to the pot of boiling water and cook until almost done. It will continue to cook in the oven.
- Drain pasta and combine with beef sauce mixture.
- Spread evenly into a large baking dish and top with Mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted.
- Let sit for 5 minutes, then serve.
This is great with a salad, especially since you'd be lucky to get a single serving of vegetables out of this dish. It also keeps very well and makes an excellent lunch for those of us trying to save a little money!
What is American Chop Suey, you ask? Well, depending on who you ask, you'll get a different response. It is typically made with ground beef, some kind of noodle,green peppers, and tomatoes, but from there, you can pretty much do what you want. I've seen egg noodles and macaroni, soy sauce (although I use Worcestershire Sauce), tomatoes, no tomatoes, and even brown sugar.
Where did it get it's name? Well, according to Wikipedia, American Chop Suey is a regional (ie, New England) name for Macaroni and Beef. It's called chop suey because it's a mix of beef and vegetables (although in my opinion, counting onions and peppers as vegetables is pushing it, but more on that later). It's one of those recipes with a million different variations, but I prefer to stick with simplicity and taste.
American Chop Suey
Ingredients:
1 TBSP olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1b lean ground beef (turkey would also be great here)
1 can whole peeled tomatoes*
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
*You won't use all of the canned tomatoes in this recipe. You can save them in an airtight container for another use. For example, they make an excellent topping on pizza instead of sauce.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil
- Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
- Saute the onions, green pepper, and celery until they begin to soften, about 4 minutes.
- Add in garlic, and continue to saute for 1 minute more.
- Add ground beef to vegetables, breaking up into pieces. Cook until meat is brown and vegetables are soft.
- drain juice from canned tomatoes into beef mixture. Break up 5 or 6 tomatoes into mixture using your fingers.
- Stir in Worcestershire Sauce, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer on the stovetop.
- Add macaroni to the pot of boiling water and cook until almost done. It will continue to cook in the oven.
- Drain pasta and combine with beef sauce mixture.
- Spread evenly into a large baking dish and top with Mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted.
- Let sit for 5 minutes, then serve.
This is great with a salad, especially since you'd be lucky to get a single serving of vegetables out of this dish. It also keeps very well and makes an excellent lunch for those of us trying to save a little money!
Here I am...lets eat!
When I graduated from college in May, things looked pretty bleak. Graduating in a job market that looked like a bottomless pit, and stressing over what to do with my life left me depressed and anxious. All of the time. Not wanting to turn into a panicked waste of space, I turned to what I love best: cooking. I cooked and baked and baked and baked, and you know what? It calmed me down. And I started to think, I should share this. It's no fun cooking wonderful things and not sharing them, so here I am! Adding my take on interesting recipes and food ideas to the blogosphere. While I am no longer unemployed, my job is, shall we say, unchallenging, and I still have time on my hands to find recipes to experiment with. So I will cook, and I will post. And hopefully everyone will find it pretty tasty.
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