Thanksgiving Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

So Friday night a group of friends and I gathered for a Thanksgiving dinner to start off a long weekend of Thanksgiving dinners with our families.  Good friends + good food = a very good time. At the end of the night upon hearing that the turkey carcass was going to be thrown out and not made into a soup,  I rescued it, knowing it would be of better use  in a nice hearty soup than it would have in the waste bin. The Turkey was already delicious and well seasoned, which was a bonus for the soup.

• 4 liters of water
• 1 turkey carcass 
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed and unpeeled
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp wild rice
• 2-3 carrots chopped
• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp celery seeds
• chopped parsley to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

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To start off, place the turkey remains in a large pot with the water (you might have to break the carcass into 2 pieces to fit in the pot, I did). Add the garlic cloves and bay leaves to the pot, Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove the turkey bones from the pot and allow to cool enough to handle. Remove all the meat from the bones and shred or tear into small pieces. Discard the bones.

Using a slotted spoon, skim the garlic and bay leaves and any small bones that may have dislodged from the carcass, alternatively you can pass the soup through a sieve.

Rinse the wild rice in cold water and place in the pot along with the shredded turkey and the remaining ingredients. Simmer for 30-45 minutes, until the rice has softened but still has a bit of a bite to it.

Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Bread Pudding with Evaporated Milk Crème Anglaise

I have been wanting to make this bread pudding for a few days now, and because I woke up unnaturally early for a Saturday today, I decided today was the day.  Originally I had wanted to make this with croissants, however, after browsing around the bakery and picking up a dozen croissants I came across this fresh pumpkin seed and cranberry loaf, it was dense and soft and I just changed my mind about the croissants. I used dark baking chocolate because I just really love dark chocolate,  but not everyone is a fan, you could most definitely substitute the dark chocolate for milk chocolate or white chocolate which would be really nice with the raspberries. 

 Ingredients  serves 4-8
1- 450g pumpkin and cranberry loaf, or substitute with a french loaf
4 large eggs
6 oz dark baking chocolate, chopped
6 oz  raspberries
2/3 cup whole milk
1 cup 35% cream / whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Pre heat the oven to 350*f.  Grease and line a 9inch square cake pan with parchment paper.

Slice the loaf into 1 cm thick slices and layer into the cake pan. Scatter the raspberries and the chocolate over top and between the bread slices.

In a medium size bowl mix the milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour over the sliced bread, chocolate and raspberries, pressing the bread down to ensure the crusts get well saturated with the milk and cream mixture. Bake for 45 minutes.

For the the Crème Anglaise

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Heat the evaporated milk over a medium heat until scalding.  Whisk the egg yolk and sugar together in a medium bowl, slowly drizzle in the hot milk whisking constantly. Return the milk and egg yolk mixture to the small pot over a low/medium heat and cook stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until thickened.

Serve the crème Anglaise with each slice of bread pudding, or pour over top the whole pan of bread pudding.

Herbbed Potato Chips

I love the idea of herbed potato chips. These “stained glass” herb potato chips will add a little “fancy gourmet” feel to any dish, and are versatile, and extremely easy to make. Today I used parsley but you can really use any herb you like, or even a variety of herbs, you can leave the potatoes unpeeled to add a little extra colour even, the possibilities are endless.

You need a pretty sharp food slicer or mandolin to slice the potatoes as thinly as possible.  Lay the parsley leaves between two thin potato slices.

To cook the chips, you can bake them in the oven however I fried these ones. To bake the chips, lay the potato slices on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in a single layer, and bake at 375*f until golden.

I would not recommend deep frying the chips because they are a bit delicate and might separate in the rolling, hot oil. Insead I heated a small amount of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, and fried the potato slices for about 2 minutes on each side until golden, and sprinkled with sea salt.

Massa de Malagueta / Portuguese Pepper Sauce

Massa de Malagueta is a fermented pepper paste used by the Portuguese as a condiment/marinade. This pepper paste can be found at large grocery stores, especially in neighborhoods abundantly populated with Portuguese folks. This paste, while  purchased conveniently at the grocery store, can also be made easily at home, and there really is a difference between store bought and homemade.  My parents used to make it when I was a kid and they stopped for whatever reason unknown to me, so  this year for the first time I’ve attempted to make it…..  and was successful 

There isn’t really a “recipe” for the malagueta, it’s just crushed or ground sweet red shepherd peppers that is salted with sea salt or kosher salt, covered, stirred twice a day and allowed to ferment. The massa de malagueta should taste quite salty. The fermentation process lasts about 7 days. During the fermentation, the ground pepper will separate and the ground pepper will sit on the top with the “water” just underneath it, and it will be sort of fizzy when stirred. Normally you will allow it to ferment in a cold room, if you don’t and your house is very warm the fermentation process will be never ending. Basically you know when the pepper paste is done when you go to stir it and it is no longer separated, doesn’t fizz, and it even smells different. At this point the malagueta is ready to be put into jars. The mason jars and lids should be sterilized, ( boiled in a large pot for about 10 minutes) and allowed to dried on a wire rack lid down. When filled the massa de malagueta can be topped off with a drizzle of olive oil.  AND THATS IT! totally easy and the homemade taste is definitely worth the little effort put in. Oh and the massa de malagueta should be refrigerated after being put in the jars.

I used the massa de malagueta for this very typical Azorean dish, Bifanas… Essentially pork cutlets marinated in massa de malagueta and garlic, and sometimes white wine, today I had no wine so I used only garlic and the malagueta and a touch of black pepper, again you don’t even need a recipe for this dish, you put as much sliced garlic as your heart desires and as much pepper paste as your taste buds can handle. I used pork tenderloin to make the “cutlets” just because I love how tender the pork tenderloin is. They are then fried in butter and that’s it. Simple and delicious, even better when you serve them in a paposeco or pao mafra spread with copious amounts of butter…..

Cream of Parsnip Soup

It has been a while since I had been wanting to make this creamy parsnip soup.

Parsnips are not a vegetable that I regularly make at home but every once in a while I will get a sort of craving for them. I absolutely love the smell of peeled parsnips, it is reminiscent of root beer in my opinion and very sweet smelling. This soup gets its creaminess from not only the pureed root vegetable but also thick cream. For added colour you can add a small carrot to the soup.

• 3 Shallots, peeled and sliced
• 1 leek,sliced (the bottom white part of the onion only)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 lbs parsnips, peeled and diced
• 1 celery stalk, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 1/2 l chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 small can of thick cream
• salt and pepper
• chopped parsley for presentation (optional)

In a large pot, melt the butter over a medium-low heat, add the shallots and leeks to the pot and cook for about 5-7 minutes until softened but not browned.

Add the parsnips, garlic and garlic cloves to the pot and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring.

Add the chicken stock to the pot, increase the heat and bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer partially covered for 20-25 minutes until the parsnips are tender.

Add the thick cream to the soup and puree  using a hand held blender or in a food processor, until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Sourdough Flapjacks Recipe out of The Texas Cowboy Kitchen Cook Book by Grady Spears with June Naylor

I love, love, LOVE western novels, particularly  the ones written by Larry McMurtry. I guess you can say I am in love with the American frontier, or the Old West, and so when I saw this cook book, The Texas Cowboy Kitchen Cookbook, there was no way I was leaving the book store without it.. There are so many great recipes in here; Lone Star Beer and Molasses Baked Beans, Green Chile – Cheese Grits, Buttermilk Ice Cream, and Cheddar and Black Pepper Biscuits just to name a few. Not only are there yummy recipes in this book, but the book comes with beautiful archival Old West photos.

One of the recipes that I was dying to try was the Sourdough Flapjacks with Cowboy Blueberry Butter.  I made half of the sourdough starter recipe to use for the flapjacks, and still have extra sourdough starter that I can keep in my fridge and “feed”  and also use for future flapjacks, or Chicken Fried Steak.

Unfortunately I am without blueberries today, frozen or fresh, I do have frozen raspberries but thought that the blueberry butter sounded better than “raspberry butter” so I simply made a raspberry sauce by simmering down, 1 1/2 cups of frozen raspberries with 1/4 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar for 15 minutes. The folks behind the Texas Cowboy Cookbook, test kitchen, sure know what they were doing. I am really looking forward to trying more recipes from this book, and of course will post pictures and commentary. I think the Lone Star and Molasses Baked Beans will be next.

Super Bock BBQ Sauce

It is no secret that I enjoy a beer on most days that end in -day, my go to beer is Rickard’s White with a slice of orange, although I will change it up and have a Stella Artois or  Guinness depending on my mood. There is, however another beer that I will pick over any other if it is available, and sadly for me it isn’t always available at the bar, Super Bock. Super Bock is a Portuguese Beer, and a very good one, Super Bock is the only beer to have won 26 consecutive gold medals in the “Monde Selection de la Qualite”.

I picked up some Super Bock at the LCBO the other and thought I would try making a Super Bock BBQ sauce for some chicken wings that I had defrosting on the kitchen counter.  When the sauce was finished and I tested it for salt there was something, not off, but missing. Turns out what was missing from the sauce was some acidity, a splash of red wine vinegar really rounded the flavors off and combined everything, it was perfect.

For the Sauce

• 1 bottle of Super Bock Beer
• 1/4 c +1 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp malagueta
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 shallot, peeled and sliced
• 1 tbsp fancy molasses
• 1/4 c brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 allspice berries
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
• sea sat to taste
• 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar

This is a very easy sauce to make, simply place all the ingredients MINUS the  salt and red wine vinegar in a small sauce pot and simmer over a medium heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened.  Pour the sauce through a sieve and into a small bowl, discard the bits that are left behind. Stir in the red wine vinegar and season to taste with the sea salt.

For the Wings

• 3 lbs chicken wings
• 1 c vegetable oil
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp garlic granules ( not garlic salt or garlic powder)
• black pepper to taste

Pre heat the oven to 400*f, Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

Place the chicken wings in a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Using your hands, rub the oil and seasoning into the wings until coated evenly. (If you wanted to and had the time you can let the wings marinade in this seasoning oil in the fridge overnight).

Place the wings on the baking sheet in an even single layer along with any remaining oil/seasoning. Bake the wings for 20 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, turn the wings and bake another 15 minutes minutes until crisp.

Place the cooked chicken wings in a large bowl and toss in the BBQ sauce, ensuring the wings are evenly coated.

3 Ginger Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I Originally made this recipe as a cake a few days ago, but unfortunately,  the cake didn’t last long enough for photos after coming out of the oven,  Mother and I ate about  a third of it, and half of what was remaining went to my sister the next day.
This cake recipe calls for 3 types of ginger, rather, ginger in three different states; powdered, crystallized and fresh. The cake is only mildly spicy, considering the copious amounts of ginger is put into it, and the baked product is dense, moist and buttery, I would not recommend making this cake with margarine.
Like a Christmas fruit cake, these cupcakes ( or the cake itself if your making it in a cake pan) will become more moist and dense a few hours later.

Ingredients  Makes 14 large cupcakes

250g butter at room temperature
250g confectioners’ sugar
zest of one lemon
100g molasses
3 eggs, separated
250g all purpose flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
3 tsp fresh, grated ginger
1/2 tbsp crystallized ginger, minced + more for presentation

Pre-heat the oven to 350*f.

Cream the butter and sugar for 1 minute on medium speed, using the paddle attachment of a stand up mixer. Add the lemon zest, molasses, and the 3 egg yolks, mix until combined scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, dry ginger, and grated ginger, Mix for another 30 seconds until combined. ( the beauty of this cake is that you cannot over mix it)

In another small bowl, whip the egg whites until they form a soft peak, mix the whipped egg whites into the cake batter followed by the crystallized ginger.

Divide the batter between 14 cupcake pans with grease sprayed cupcake liners and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcakes comes out dry. (if you are baking this in a cake pan, bake for 45 minutes in a buttered and floured ring cake pan) Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

130g cream cheese at room temperature
2 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
Confectioners’ sugar, ( I just eyeballed it, add as much as is necessary to achieve the sweetness, and or texture that you like, using a small quantity of milk to thin it down if it is too thick)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Cream the cheese and butter in a large bowl using the paddle attachment of a stand up mixer. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, whip until smooth.

 

Masala Chai

I have always disliked Chai Tea, or rather hated the store bought, prepackaged stuff that came from the grocery store after being on the shelf for God knows how long.  I feel like maybe I didn’t give Chai a fair chance, and I will try anything at least twice, one time just to try it, and a second time just because I might like it the second time around. Instead of going out and buying a different pre packaged Chai Tea or Syrup based Chai Latté, I thought I would pull out the big guns out and make it from scratch.  This Chai is absolutely, soothingly spiced and aromatic. I used fresh ginger and added lemon peel, although I don’t think lemon peel is a traditional ingredient, and topped it off with freshly ground cinnamon.

Ingredients 1 serving
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1/8 tsp cardamom seeds
8 whole allspice berries
1/4 tsp peppercorns, Crushed using the back of a large knife
1/2 – 1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 strip of lemon peel
grated nutmeg to taste
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup water
contents of 1 black tea bag
brown sugar to taste

Combine all the aromatic spices in a small pot with the water and milk over a low- medium heat and scald the milk for about 7-10 minutes. Add the tea leaves to the liquid and let the infuse for another 5 minutes or up to 10 minutes depending on how strong you like your Chai.

Strain the tea into a mug, add sugar to your liking and top off with freshly ground cinnamon.

Jam Thumbprints

I have made these tender and crumbly Jam Thumb Prints in the past and they are just these real simple and real delicious little cookies. For this recipe I used raspberry jam and plum butter and they both worked great with this type of cookie, although I really still prefer the raspberry ones :)  Unlike Martha, I place the jam in  the indentations made in the dough prior to baking, opposed  to afterward.

Ingredients ( Jam Thumb Prints from Martha Stewart Magazine, Special Issue; Holiday Cookies. 2001)

1/4 pound (1 stick ) of butter
1/2 cup + 2tbsp  granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 +1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole blanched almonds finely ground
1 large egg white lightly beaten
1/2 cup jam or preserve

Preheat oven to 325*f.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the 1/2 cup of sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix to combine. And flour and mix on low speed just until the dough comes together.

Combine the ground almonds with the remaining sugar. Form the dough into small 1  inch balls, dip in the egg white followed by the ground almond mixture, place on baking sheet.  Make small indentations in to the dough balls using your finger or the bottom of a thick wooden spoon. Fill the indentations with the jam or preserve. Bake for 10- 15 minutes until lightly golden around the sides.Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Tangerines and Custard Apples

My Mother was super excited to find these a few days ago, at the Portuguese fish market of all places, they are Tangerines and Custard Apples ( coracoes negros – black hearts  in Portuguese) These were imported from Terceira, one of the small Azorean Islands that my family is originally from and where my parents immigrated from. Needless to say these brought back a lot of happy feelings and “saudades” ( home sickness ) for Mother. The Tangerines are soo fragrant and the custard apples are said to be sweet / sour although I cant say for sure since I’ve yet to try one! they are still ripening and will probably be a few days before we get to crack one open.

Gingerbread Squares

Gingerbread has got to be one of my type of favorite cookies, with a side of creamy 3% milk. When making this Martha Stewart recipe, I slightly adjusted the amount of spice that I added. I halved the recipe but doubled the ginger just because I especially like a spicy gingerbread cookie.

Ingredients ( Gingerbread Cookies from Martha Stewart Magazine, Special Issue; Holiday Cookies. 2001)

3 cups flour
.5 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 pound (1 stick of butter)  at room temperature
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
1 large egg
1/2 cup molasses

In a large bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add the spices, egg, and molasses, mix to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda mix until combined. Divide the dough in half and chill for 1 hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 350*f.  Line several baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Remove the cookie dough fro the fridge and let stand for a few minutes. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick.  place the rolled out dough on a piece of parchment paper and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes to chill and become firm.

Cut the dough using whatever shaped cookie cutter your heart desires or use a fluted pastry wheel  to cut the dough into squares as I did. Bake on the lined baking sheets for 8 minutes, and not a minute more! or they will burn, as did my first batch
Let the cookies cool on a wire rack before transferring to an airtight container.

Ginger Snaps and Cream Pudding

This is probably the easiest dessert that you will ever make in your life. This is a variation of a dessert that my sisters Godmother makes. The first time I had said dessert was at a family party and I liked it so much that a few days later I had a dream that I was eating a treasure chest full of it. Long story short, the lady was kind enough to give me her recipe which is made with bolacha Maria ( Maria Cookies). Here Ive made it with Ginger Snaps just to add a touch of Christmas feel to it and the result was dream worthy <3

Ingredients for 4 – 6 servings
250ml whipping cream
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
15 ginger snaps, crushed

Whip the cream using the whip attachment of an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Add the sweetened condensed milk and continue to whip on high speed until firm peaks form.

Layer the whipped cream mixture alternating with the ground ginger snaps ensuring that the last layer is the ground ginger snaps.  At this point the dessert can be eaten if it is a last minute dessert, otherwise place in the fridge so that the cream mixture firms up.

Note: You can also make this dessert in individual glasses or bowls.

Sopa da Titia

 

 So a few weeks ago I made this simple red pepper and potato based vegetable soup, I had my Mom send some over to my sisters house and My Niece  the cutie loved the soup. She is probably the soups biggest adorer. The original I made took Israeli couscous, unfortunately I have none in my pantry at the moment and used alphabet pasta instead. In addition to this soup being yummy, it is also a healthy soup, loaded with veggies…

Ingredients serves 4-6

1 red pepper, diced
4 stalks of celery, sliced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced + 1 medium potato peeled and diced, saved for later
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2.5 L chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups broccoli florets,
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1/3 cup +2 tbsp small pasta
1/3 cup milk
1 heaping tbsp all purpose flour

Place the pepper, celery, 2 medium potatoes, garlic, and stock in a large pot and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Remove the pot from the heat.

Puree the soup in a blender or in the pot using a hand held blender until smooth. Add the remaining diced potato, broccoli, grated carrot, and pasta to the soup and continue to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally  until the vegetables and pasta are tender.

At the last minute, combine the milk and flour in a small bowl, pour into the soup and simmer the soup for 2 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper and a sprinkle of dry basil.

Beef and Barley Risotto with Asparagus

 

 This dish can certainly be made using risotto rice, but I like the texture of the barley in place of the rice, you’llbget a whole lot more flavor with the barley as well. The beef I used, had had other plans prior to me deciding I would use it in a risotto and so it had alreadybeen marinated for 2 days in red wine, garlic , and malagueta. You dont have to marinate the beef before using, but you will add that much more flavour if you do.

Ingredients, serves 3-4

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

150 g beef cutlet, marinated

½ cup pearl barley

½ cup small pasta, like orzo

1 medium onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

225g white button mushrooms, washed and sliced

1 Litre of beef stock + more if needed

1 bundle of asparagus, trimmed and cut into large pieces diagonally

Chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat, brown the beef cutlet about 2-3 minutes a side, set on a plate to cool, slice into bite size pieces.

Add the barley, and pasta to the pot, stirring for 2 minutes, browning the pasta and barley. Add the onion, garlic and mushrooms to the barley and pasta stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes.  Slowly add the beef stock, scraping the bottom of the pot to get all the browned bits off.   

Simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the chopped asparagus pieces, parsley, and the cooked beef. Simmer for another 15 minutes or until the asparagus is cooked the way you like it.  At any point during simmering you may or may not have to add a little extra beef stock if the stock simmers off before the barley is cooked, I like to add just a ½ cup at a time.