T-Day Extravaganza!

Good evening everyone! This week, obviously, features the Thanksgiving holiday. Which, for a cooking blog is a bit like culinary Christmas. (Which makes Christmas like culinary new year? I'm not sure how that works...) Over the past four years, we've featured recipes around the holiday feast - from side dishes to ideas for leftovers - we've done it all but the turkey.

Until today.

That's right. We're doing a turkey this year! After years of putting off committing to the main event (it wasn't really practical for a family of two) we're finally taking on the feature dish on many menus. The results, if I do say so myself, were nothing short of outstanding. Simply put, unless you're 100% in love with your current turkey cooking method - you'll want to give this recipe a try.

The Recipe: Good Eats Roast Turkey
Original Recipe From: 'Good Eats' - Via Alton Brown

What You'll Need:

1 Turkey (...I hope that's implied) weight varies by amount you need to feed

For the Brine:
1 Gallon Vegetable Broth
1 Gallon Water (Heavily iced)
1 Cup Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons All Spice Berries
1 Teaspoon Whole Black Pepper Corns

For the Turkey:
1 Apple (Sliced roughly)
1 Onion (Sliced roughly)
2-3 Fresh Sprigs Rosemary
1-2 Fresh Sprigs Sage
Canola Oil


2-3 Days before T-day, you'll want to fully thaw your bird. Stir it in the refrigerator once thawed.

8 to 16 hours before the main event - begin preparing your brine.

In a large (clean and food safe) 5 gallon bucket, combine the broth, water, brown sugar, salt, all spice berries and pepper corns. Submerge the turkey (breast side down) in the brine and store it and cool place. Monitor the turkey from time to make sure the ice is still intact (replace if necessary).

3 hours before dinner time, remove the turkey from the brine and rinse it well.  Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Pat the turkey (inside and out) dry with a paper towel. Meanwhile, add the apple and onion slices to a microwave safe dish with a cup of water and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Once that's complete, transfer the steeped veggies into the turkey's...cavity...along with the sage and rosemary. Cover the outside of the turkey with a liberal helping of canola oil. Transfer the bird to your favorite roasting rack and set aside.

Do you have an instant read thermometer? (You really should) Good! Now's the time to place the probe into the deepest part of the breast. Set the temperature alarm for 161 degrees and pop the bird into the oven for 30 minutes. (30 minutes at 500 degrees will create that great golden color that looks so good on the serving tray)

After 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and let the bird roast until the probe starts beeping (I.E. until it reaches 161 degrees internally). Now, it's VERY IMPORTANT (you can tell, because I wrote it in all caps) that you allow the turkey to rest (covered by aluminum foil) for 15 minutes before carving. Get impatient and cut it up before then and you'll have wasted all of that effort you put into brining - your patience will be rewarded.

Finally, after the 15 minutes are up, simply carve up and enjoy.

The Results:

Best. Turkey. Ever.

Let me reiterate... BEST TURKEY EVER! This is one juicy and flavorful bird that I would be willing to put up against every other turkey I've ever eaten (or you've ever eaten) EVER. Yes, ever.

We paired out thanksgiving feast with some favorite side dishes:

Escalloped Corn
Green Bean Casserole 
Mashed Sweet Potatoes 
Pumpkin Pie 


With the holiday, we're not going to be posting any more this week. We hope you all have a happy and healthy turkey day with your friends and family. Until next week,

~Cheers

Can a Sandwich Influence a Stew?

Good evening everyone!  It's becoming apparent to me that I have a problem...a soup/stew problem.  Every recipe I find, I tend to gravitate towards the warm, brothy-ness of a soup.  In fact, I have three (including today's) recipes lined up that are some variation of a soup or stew.  When the temperatures are only the 20's-30's, can you blame me?  Tonight, I'm creating a very unique stew, that has influences from a very famous sandwich from Philadelphia.

The Recipe:  Philly Cheesesteak Stew
Adapted from a Recipe Found On:  www.pinterest.com

What You'll Need:
1 1/2 Pounds Beef Sirloin, very thinly sliced
1/4 Teaspoon Onion Powder
4 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour, divided
2 Onions, quartered and thinly sliced
10 Ounces White Mushrooms, sliced
1/2 Teaspoon dried Thyme
2 Cloves Garlic, pressed through a garlic press
4 Cups Beef Stock
2-4 Slices Provolone Cheese

Before you begin anything, pour the beef broth in a large pot and set over medium-low heat, so that it's hot when you are ready to use it.  Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, add the beef sirloin, onion powder, and a couple of pinches of salt and black pepper and toss to coat evenly.  Sprinkle two tablespoons of flour over the meat and toss to coat again.  Set this mixture aside.

Next, place a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add three to four tablespoons of olive oil in.  Once heated, add half of the sirloin in and cook for a minute or two and flip the pieces over to cook on the other side, continuing to cook for a minute or two.  Remove the pieces of meat to a clean plate and add the repeat with the remaining sirloin. 

After the beef has cooked and been removed from the skillet, add a tablespoon of oil into the pan and add the sliced onions, along with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Cook for six minutes, until the onions have started to caramelize, but not burn.  Once the onions have cooked and started to soften, add the mushrooms and allow them to saute with the onions, cooking for six minutes, stirring frequently.

Next, add the dried thyme and garlic into the skillet and stir to incorporate.  Once the garlic becomes fragrant, sprinkle the remaining two tablespoons of flour over the onion/mushroom mixture and stir to combine and blend well.  Once thoroughly mixed, slowly add the hot beef stock to the skillet and stir as to not have any flour clumps forming.

Turn the heat down on the skillet to medium-low, add the cooked sirloin pieces, and let the stew simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered, so all the flavors can infused and it can begin to tighten up.  Season with salt and pepper.  

Preheat an oven to broil on high.  Prepare a small baking sheet with aluminum foil and place some crocks on top.  Ladle the stew evenly in the crocks and top with a slice of provolone cheese.  Place the baking sheet under the broiler and cook for a minute or two, just so the cheese has just began to melt.  Serve and enjoy!

The End Result:

The incorporation of the onions, mushrooms, and beef in the recipe almost reminds me of a french onion soup, but obviously with a little more meat.  It's full of flavor and letting the stew the simmer with all the ingredients makes that happen.  The original recipe had the soup in sourdough bowls and letting the cheese melt on top of that.  While that is a very delicious idea, I had been itching for months to use the crocks Tyler got me for my birthday, and they were a great vessel to use the soup in.  If you want to try a new hearty stew, this is the recipe for you!

Root Vegetable Pot Pie

Good evening everyone! As fall changes to winter, there's lots of things not to love. It's dark by 5pm (thanks, daylight savings time). It's a whole lot colder and then there's...snow. There is one positive from the switching seasons; root vegetables have moved into their prime season! From potatoes to turnips, if it's a root veggie, now is the time you want to get in the kitchen. While the globalization of the food industry means you can have root vegetables all year round, you'll likely never find them any better than they will be over the next few months.

If you decide to cook up some root vegetables, the next decision you'll need to make is which veggie to choose? Potatoes are a solid staple, as are carrots. You can change things up a bit by using rutabagas, turnips or parsnips as well - but we say, why limit yourself to one? The great perk about root vegetables is that they all compliment each other beautifully in any dish - so why keep them separate?

Enter tonight's recipe. Inspired by the standard chicken pot pie, this dish switches chicken for root vegetables and the result is one tasty late fall treat.

The Recipe: Root Vegetable Pot Pie

What You'll Need:

4 Large Russet Potatoes (Peeled, diced)
3 Large Carrots  (Peeled, diced)
4 Large Parsnips (Peeled, diced)
4 Cups Vegetable Broth
1/3 Cup Heavy Cream
1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Sheet Puff Pastry

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Grease a 13 x 9 baking dish with cooking spray and add the vegetables. Drizzle with olive oil and toss until well combined. Place the baking dish into the center of the oven and allow the vegetables to roast for 40 minutes.

While the veggies roast, you can prepare the sauce. In a large stock pot, add the vegetable broth and set over medium high heat. Bring the broth to  a light simmer before slowly whisking the heavy cream into the mixture. Once well blended, bring the mixture to a simmer once more before whisking in the flour. Stir until well blended and bring the mixture to a simmer one final time before removing from heat and setting the pot aside.

Shortly before your veggies are done with the initial roast, place your puff pasty on a lightly floured countertop and work it flat until it is approximately the same size as your baking dish.

After 40 minutes, remove the vegetables from the oven and slowly pour the sauce mixture over the vegetables. Carefully top the dish with the puff pastry and press around the edges to create a seal. Return the dish to the oven and let it bake for an additional 30 to 35 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let the dish rest for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

The Results:

There's few things that can compete with slow roasted root vegetables. Topped with the savory sauce (which simulates traditional pot pie sauce quite nicely) and the flaky crust, you'll hardly notice this isn't a standard chicken pot pie. It's a bit time intensive, but the end result makes for one great weekend meal the whole family is sure to enjoy!

Corn Soufflé? Corn Soufflé!

Good evening everyone! Some combinations just sound great – burgers & fries, ice cream sandwich, chicken noodle soup. These are things that, paired together, generally bring positive thoughts to the mind and palette. 

Corn soufflé is…well…not one of those things. In fact, I’m not sure what first came to my mind when I read “corn soufflé” (I know what comes to mind NOW, but that’s clouded by the results of this recipe) all I remember is that the concept was intriguing and I wanted to give it a try. Corn and soufflé are things you very rarely read together, and yet the concept of tonight’s dish was interesting enough to make me wonder if that notion should change.

After you try this dish for yourself, I think you’ll agree with me.

The Recipe: Corn soufflé

Original Recipe Found In: Hy-Vee Seasons Magazine (October 2014 Issue)

What You’ll Need: 

6 Cups Frozen Corn (Thawed)*

2 Cups Half and Half

6 Large Eggs (Yolks and whites separated)

6 Tablespoons Butter (Softened, divided)

2 Tablespoons Honey

½ Teaspoon Salt

½ Teaspoon Pepper

2 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese

3 Green Onions (Diced)

* The preferred method would obviously be fresh corn kernels here, but it’s October and the best Iowa sweet corn has long been consumed. If you saved some (via freezing) from this summer, this would be a great place to use a bit of it – for the rest of us, frozen is the only option.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and coat the inside of a 3 quart baking or casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large food processor (and we do mean large…a lot is going to go into this baby) add 4 cups of the corn and the half and half. Pulse until the mixture is perfectly smooth and well blended. Next, add the egg yolks, honey, butter (divided into tablespoon sized chunks for easier processing) as well as the salt and pepper and pulse again until the mixture is smooth and all of the ingredients have worked in.

Transfer this mixture to a large bowl and stir in the remaining 2 cups of corn kernels as well as the green onions and parmesan cheese. Set this bowl aside.

Add the egg whites to a medium mixing bowl and beat them with an electric mixer until they become soft and slight peaks begin to form on the tips. You can use a standard handheld beater for this, but an electric mixer makes much faster (and easier) work. Once the egg whites are nice and foamy and have formed little peaks, carefully fold them into the bowl with the corn mixture. Once everything is combined, transfer this mixture into your baking dish and set it in the center of the oven for 45 minutes. 

Cook the soufflé until the top is golden brown and the dish is cooked through. You can check the doneness by inserting a knife into the center of the soufflé. If the blade comes out clean, you’re done – if there’s a bit of liquid on the knife, it needs more time. (For what it’s worth, we ended up cooking for an additional 30 minutes to reach the “done” point – and we have a fairly reliable oven.)

All that’s left is to serve and enjoy. You’re free to top with additional salt, pepper or butter if you so choose.

The Results: 

The phrase “corn soufflé” should absolutely be in your culinary vocabulary. This dish was full of sweet corn flavor, balanced nicely from the browning in the oven (and the green onions). The highlight was the light and fluffy nature of the dish – it was almost like you were eating whipped corn…and odd concept, but when you try it, you’ll get it. In short, despite sharing two words that don’t typically associate – this recipe is one side dish you’ll definitely want to become familiar with.

Ain't Nothing Wrong with Mixing Chili and Pasta

Good evening everyone!  Sorry I haven't been around for a while - I've been adjusting to a new job and I've finally gotten some time to jot down the recipes I've been making.  The weather is getting colder and it's time for some warm, fill-you-up, kind of meals.  This recipe is no exception:  when you combine a hearty chili with pasta, the end result is quite delicious.

The Recipe:  Chili Pasta Bake
An Adaptation from a Recipe Found On: www.pinterest.com

What You'll Need:
1/2 Tablespoon Canola or Vegetable Oil
1 Whole Onion, chopped
1 Pound Ground Beef
1/2 Pound small shell Pasta
1 (15 Ounce) Can of Tomato Sauce
1 (14.5 Ounce) Can of Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
1 (15 Ounce) Can of Kidney or Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 Tablespoon Chili Powder
2 Teaspoons Cumin
3 Shakes of Cayenne Powder
1/4 Cup Water
2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

To start, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Next, in a large, nonstick skillet, drizzle the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the chopped onions and saute for three minutes, or until they have become softened and semi-transulcent.  Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until the beef is no longer pink, about 10 or so minutes.

While the beef is cooking, bring a medium saucepan filled with water to a boil, over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook according package directions are al dente.  Once cooked, drain in a colander and set the pasta aside.

After the ground beef is cooked, add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and green chiles, beans, chili powder, cumin, cayenne powder, and water.  Mix all the ingredients until well combined and let the combination simmer for about five minutes.  Then add the cooked pasta and stir to combine.  Let the new combination simmer for five more minutes.

Carefully, pour the chili pasta mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.  Flatten out the mixture with a spatula and cover with cheese.  Place the baking dish in the oven and cook for 30 minutes, until the edges are bubbling and the cheese has fully melted.  Spoon into serving dishes, top with sour cream and green onions (if desired,) serve, and enjoy!

The End Result:

This is one hearty meal!  First off, the chili portion, with the beef, beans, and tomatoes - while it didn't simmer in a stewpot all day, the flavor elements are there and that part works.  Plus, all those ingredients filling the pasta shells, made for little morsels of chili goodness.  While I am a fan of cheese, I'm not sure that a thick layer of cheese on top would have been the best course.  Incorporating the cheese into the chili pasta mixture might have been the better option.  Plus, the spices made the chili have a little bit of heat, so that helped, in what might have been a bland dish.  Overall, if you're looking to feed a crowd with a great, robust meal, this chili is for you!

Thanks for joining us tonight, check back frequently for more fall meals brought to you by myself and Tyler.  Until then,

~Cheers!