Turkey Pizza

After a meal of tradition fare that was absolutely wonderful, we opted for pizza on Thanksgiving night. I did decide, however, to keep the Thanksgiving theme going and we had, as a result, turkey pizza. To put the pizza together, I first preheated the over to 420 degrees--one the oven reached temperature, I put in (on a pizza stone) a Pillsbury thin crust  pizza dough sprinkled with some herbes de provence. I let this bake for around 5 minutes. While this is baking, I browned a pound of turkey sausage and then sauted in olive oil some green and red bell peppers, a thinly sliced leek, a chopped shallot, thinly sliced mushrooms, along with some fresh chopped rosemary and a bit more herbes de provence. Once everything was ready, I added on the sausage, the vegetables, some turkey pepperoni, and then a variety of finely shaved mozarella, Swiss, and asiago cheeses. Bake until the crust is finished out and the cheese melted and lightly browned. The taste is mild; after a day of  lots of  food, this is a nice alternative.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Pie

It's that time of year--pumpkin pie season. There's something about this squash pie that brings back memories of good and cozy times with friends and family. It's also a wonderful aroma to have wafting through the house on a cool evening. And, of course, what would Thanksgiving celebrations be without a pumpkin pie?

Making a pumpkin pie is easy--you can use a roll-out pie shell (I sure do like Pillsbury brand). Roll one out into a pie pan (I like to use glass so I can see what the crust is doing as it bakes). Then mix the following ingredients together:
1 regular sized can pumpkin (15 oz.)--be sure to use regular pumpkin and not pumpkin pie mix in a can (Libby's is really good)
2 or 3 eggs ( 2 if they're extra large)
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger
1/4 cloves
if you're crazy about the taste of nutmeg, use around 1/8 t. ; otherwise, omit
3/4 c. sugar
1 can of evaporated milk

Mix all these ingredients together until blended and then pour into the pie shell. I like to bake my pies at 325 for around an hour--you can do the "jiggle test" to see if it's done. Pull the pie out a bit and give it a little shake; if the center jiggles, it's not quite done yet.

One other way to make sure the pie is done--the slit test. Take a sharp knife and make a little slit in the top of the pie. If it's done, the knife will come out completely clean. Don't worry about the slit in the pie making it any less pretty...all good cooks know what that slit is for and will appreciate your diligence.
If you want to make the pie look seasonal, you can use leaf cookie cutters to cut out some dough leaves. Bake them in a pie pan separately; while the pie is still warm and the leaves are done, place them on top however you like.

Mixed seafood with Root Vegetables

Tonight seemed like a good night to feel the warmth and coziness of the kitchen. Rainy and damp outside--lovely aromas from inside.
I looked to the freezer for inspiration--I came up with a pound of mussels which I popped into a saute pan along with about a dozen frozen raw shrimp in shells, and 1/2 lb. of scallops. Then to the fridge for root vegetables--carrots, leeks, and turnips--roughly diced.  To this a bit of Herbes de Provence and a splash of Vermouth. Everything simmers in the pan; while the mussels and other seafoods are cooking, they are creating a lovely broth for the vegetables. Once the vegetables are slightly soft, everything is ready to enjoy!

Pecan Pie

What's not to like about pecan pie? It's simple to make and it tastes like a true delicacy. Here's the simple recipe I use from the bottle of Karo syrup (with a couple of tweaks):

One pie shell ( I use the Pillsbury roll-up pie crusts)
1 cup of  Karo syrup (I use a combination of light and dark)
3 eggs
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. sugar
Mix all these items together and then add 6 oz. pecans and stir together gently ( the chopped pecans or pecan pieces will work just as well the the whole ones and are much more economical)
Pour all this into the pie shell and bake around 50 minutes or so at 325 degrees. Keep an eye on it once you start smelling the great aroma.
Enjoy!

Clearing the Fridge Soup

Sometimes one just needs to clear out the fridge. No need to waste that good produce that you bought--if you have odds and ends left, make soup. Most any vegetable will go into a soup. And most any herb or spice will as well. The key is not to over-do it on the spices and/or herbs. Keep it to about four or less. Then the flavors of the vegetables and the chosen broth will blend and not fuss with the flavors of the chosen herbs and/or spices.

The other day I found myself at the end of several vegetables from my previous shopping a week previous. So, into the pot went some zucchini (leave the peel on), some cabbage, a couple of carrots, a celery stalk, an onion, and a few button mushrooms--all diced to various sizes (keep the sizes uniform to the texture for even cooking times). I had about a 1/2 can of diced tomatoes in the fridge, so I threw these in as well. To this I added three cans of beef broth (no meat this time). I didn't add any salt at the beginning; I wanted to see what the beef broth would do--the soup never needed any additional salt (and we like salt). Finally, I tossed in about 1/4 cup of slow-cook rice. Put all this to simmering on medium low heat and leave it alone to do its thing. Once it's been cooking for about 20 minutes, add in your chosen herbs and/or spices. We really like different flavors, but this time, I liked the flavor that was evolving, so I added nothing.

The soup held its texture very well as it cooked; we didn't eat it for about 3 hours after I started it and it wasn't mushy at all. It's a good hearty soup for these cooler nights we're having.

So...next time the fridge needs clearing. pull out the soup pot and have at it!

Pork Shrimp Noodles

I came upon a recipe I really liked yesterday evening. It started out as a soup recipe, but I dabbled with it some and ended up with it being more of a one-dish meal with an accompanying salad. If you like the flavor of sesame, you'll really like this. It's not a spicy dish; it's filling and the flavor has a nice lingering effect.

To prepare: Pour 2 t. of sesame oil and 1 T. of vegetable oil into a skillet. Slice one onion up into slender slices and cook in the oil until the slices start to brown slightly. Remove these from the skillet. (While you're minding the onions, you can put on a salted medium sized pot of water to boil and then add in around 5 oz. or so of egg noodles--use the smallest ones--they tend to work better).  Once they're cooked (don't overcook) drain them and return them to the pan to wait a bit. You can go ahead and stir in the onions at this point.

Now you can add around a quart of chicken broth, around 1/2 t. of ginger, 1/4 t. of garlic powder, the juice of 1/2 lime (use fresh--it's worth it), 1 t. sugar, and 2 1/2 tablespoons of oyster flavored sauce (you can find this at most any IGA store) to the skillet where you just cooked the onions. Let this come to a simmer. Add to this the lean parts of one port chop that you have sliced very thinly (avoid the fatty parts and don't add the bone). You'll also add in about 6 oz. of raw shrimp that you've chopped into small-ish sized pieced.  Let all this simmer together for a good 15 minutes on low heat. Once this has simmered and the shrimp is pink in color and the pork is white in color, add this mixture to the pot of noodles and onions. Stir together and let this cook a bit longer on lower heat until it's at a low simmer for a few (maybe 10) more minutes. While this is doing its final simmer, take a green onion (scallion) and dice off the green. Also dice up 4 or 5 cilantro leaves (do use fresh--indescribably better than dried in a jar). Serve the noodle dish into a bowl, then add a bit of the diced green onion and the diced cilantro to the top of each. A simple salad ( I used iceberg lettuce and mixed up a bit of dressing using a small amount sesame oil, vegetable oil, garlic powder, ginger, and a bit of soy sauce) and glass of good Sake and you've nothing other to do than enjoy!