Still Cooking, just not Posting

Ok, we really have been eating these last couple of months. Not a lot terribly new or exciting but still cooking.

However, I finally did try out a fun new recipe last night and it was considered a huge hit across the board (the kids and my husband). Here's what we had:

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Meatball Kebabs
(from www.heathersdish.com)

1 pound ground chicken
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs or regular plain breadcrumbs
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce plus more for dipping
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 red onion, shredded
1 clove garlic, minced
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
1 pineapple, cored and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 red onion, cut into 1-inch cubes
other optional veggies: peppers, zucchini, squash (we used yellow and red peppers)

Mix together the ground chicken, bread crumbs, teriyaki sauce, carrot, onion, garlic, egg, and salt and pepper. Make mini meatballs by forming 1 Tbsp scoops into balls and place on a baking sheet. Refrigerate while you turn on the grill to medium heat and assemble the remaining items for the skewers. As a side note, you don't have to make skewers, but it is definitely more festive. Thread each skewer with a chunk of pineapple, a chunk of red onion, other option veggies and one meatball, then repeat. Spray the grill carefully with nonstick spray or brush with olive oil. Gently place each skewer on the grill. Grill for about 5 minutes on each side until the center of the meatballs are done and the grill marks are beautifully charred. Remove from heat and serve with rice and extra dipping sauce.

Along with the kebabs, I made the following Coconut-Ginger Rice which was super tasty:

Coconut-Ginger Rice
(from www.recipegirl.com)
Yields 8 servings

1/4 cup butter
2 T sushi grade ginger, drained and chopped (we didn't have this so I just added a little powdered ginger)
2 T garlic, minced
1/2 cup sweet onions, finely diced
2 cups white Jasmine rice (I used brown rice which worked great, just needed a lot more cooking time, more like 45 minutes)
1/2 cup coconut milk
4 cups water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper (didn't add)
1 T pesto (didn't add)

Directions
1. Melt butter in medium-sized pot over medium heat.
2. Add ginger, garlic and onions, stir frequently until onions are transparent. Add rice, turning frequently until well coated. Add coconut milk, water, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for approximately 20 minutes (until liquid is absorbed).
3. Remove from heat and let stand 5-6 minutes. Turn rice into serving bowl, add basil pesto and toss with fork to fluff and distribute flavor.

I added some fresh steamed snap peas and we had a complete meal.

After our feast, the boys asked for a treat and decided on ice cream. I saw we had some bananas on the counter so I suggested banana-split sundaes. That was their first banana split sundae and after their reaction it definitely won't be their last!!

I'll definitely make this meal again.

Christmas

Yes, I'm doing catch up posts here! Christmas lunch was also successful. Our total was a slightly smaller 9 people (including our immediate family of 4). I decided to rack of lamb and roasted potatoes.

Our official menu was rack of lamb, Honey baked ham, roasted potatoes, green beans, carrot souffle and apple/cranberry crumble pies (from a local bakery - Big Sugar).

For the Rack of Lamb, I didn't find one recipe that really worked for me so I took bits and pieces from a bunch and sort of created my own. I made a homemade breadcrumb mixture in the Cuisinart by processing some wheat bread, some fresh garlic, some fresh rosemary, some salt and then added some olive oil to give it a good texture for staying on the lamb chops.

I put the racks of lamb on a large roasting pan, sprinkled them with salt and pepper, smeared on a small layer of Dijon mustard and then put a good thick coating of the bread crumb mixture. Preheated the over to 450. Roasted for a good 10 minutes and then reduced the heat to 400. The lamb chops took much longer than I expected, probably close to a good 30 minutes. They turned out pretty good (and my nephew who is rather picky ate at least 8-10 lamb chops himself!)

For the roasted potatoes, I just took small fingerling-type potatoes, cut then into small slices, added some olive oil, fresh chopped rosemary, and salt. Put in a large casserole dish and roasted at 375 for a good 2 hours (stirring now and then and also checking to make sure not overly cooked earlier).

For the carrot souffle, I found this on-line and always wanted to try it. I'm really glad I did - I just need to plan better next time. I decided to make this only after I was only about an hour or so out from needing to serve everything. I had to go with the individual ramekins so they'd have the shorter cooking time.

Here's the link and recipe for the carrot souffle:

http://www.stephmodo.com/2007/12/carrot-souffle.html

Carrot Souffle

1 3/4 lbs. carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla
2 tB. all purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup butter
confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large pot of boiling water, cook the carrots until very tender. Drain, and transfer to a large mixing bowl. While the carrots are warm, use an electric mixer to beat with sugar, baking powder and vanilla extract until smooth (I think my steamed carrots were not quick soft enough when I started mixing everything so I transferred the mixture to my Cuisinart and pureed with that - made things super smooth and definitely easy). Mix in the flour, eggs, and butter. Transfer to a 2 quart baking dish. Bake one hour in the preheated oven, or until top is golden brown. Dust lightly with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Note: If you want to use individual ramekins instead of one dish, adjust the cooking time to about 30-35 minutes depending on your oven. Keep an eye on them to avoid over-cooking them. I read online that one person liked to puree the carrots with the butter, sugar and vanilla and then add in the baking powder with the eggs and flour. Apparently the souffle rises better. I think I'll try that next time.

Thanksgiving

Almost hard to remember back as far as Thanksgiving since I've taken so long to post. We had a wonderful lunch for 14 people. We were worried about the prospects of rain so we even set up for indoor seating for everyone. Tables looked great!

Our menu consisted of

• A dry-brined natural (non-frozen) organic turkey (dry brine was lemon zest, salt and rosemary)
• Honey-baked ham (MIL brought)
• Great cheese platter with various cheeses and fruits and nuts and crackers
• Stuffing with ciabata bread, dried apricots and sausage
• Green beans
• Cranberry sauce (recipe to follow as this is my go-to recipe for cranberry sauce and I can't imagine any other turning out this tasty)
• Mashed potatoes
• My mom's yam casserole
• My mom's famous gravy
• Homemade pumpkin dinner rolls
• Julienne apple pies
• Costco pumpkin pie

Here's the cranberry sauce recipe from recipegirl.com (http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/11/12/maple-tangerine-cranberry-sauce/)

MAPLE- TANGERINE CRANBERRY SAUCE
www.RecipeGirl.com

Servings: 12

2 cups strained fresh tangerine juice (from about 12 tangerines)
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (12 ounce bag)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup, preferably Grade B
1 whole cinnamon stick
1 tsp finely grated tangerine zest
pinch of kosher salt

1. In a 10-inch skillet, combine all of the ingredients. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and then reduce to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has thickened somewhat and looks slightly syrupy, about 30 minutes.

2. Remove the cinnamon stick and let the cranberry sauce cool in the pan- it will thicken a bit more as it cools. Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.

Cooking Tips
*12 tangerines is an estimate (depends on the size of your tangerines and how juicy they are). You can also buy fresh squeezed tangerine juice and strain out the pulp. I used half tangerine juice and half orange juice and it turned out wonderful. You do need the zest from a tangerine, so be sure to use at least one fresh one.
*Be sure to remove the cinnamon stick when the sauce is done simmering. The cinnamon flavor will be plenty noticeable, but you don’t want it to overpower.
*This sauce may be made up to a week ahead. Cover and chill.