Spinach artichoke dip and baked tortilla chips

In the food processor: cheddar cheese, cream cheese, one block of frozen spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic cloves, Tony's. Blend it up, bake til edges are browned. Slice tortillas, lightly spray with olive oil, bake until crispy!

Sunday freezer cooking

Coconut red curry chicken with spinach and cilantro

Chicken Alfredo with spinach and broccoli

Cilantro lime chicken with corn and black beans

Black bean taco soup

Don't waste it!

I've been really into NOT THROWING ANY FOOD AWAY EVER. And two really great things have come of this: homemade broth, and (TMI) I'm really regular. More on that in a minute.

So all that stuff you usually throw away -- broccoli stalks; the thick ends of asparagus; the stems and edges of bell peppers, onions, carrots; the stems and stalks from kale and cilantro and dill and parsley; the outside leaves of lettuce and cabbage; the slimy spinach at the bottom of the bag -- all that is good stuff!! To assuage my guilt at throwing away perfectly edible food that I had paid good money for, I used to made pickled broccoli medallions (ehhh), but I've recently realized two greater ends for these means. 

1. Homemade broth! 

Seen below is my homemade broth. It's reddish because I usually cheat a little with bouillon cube and Sazon Goya, but it's made of all the ends of stuff that I put in a bag and freeze until there's enough to make a pot of broth. You can of course make this vegetarian, but if you're good with your timing and you've got, say, the picked over leftover bones from an emergency grocery-store rotisserie chicken -- that there would be dee-licious too. 

2. Green ice cubes!

(This is the TMI part) -- If you're a shake person like me, green ice cubes are the perfect use for all those extra bits -- EXCEPT ONIONS, believe me. Leave out the onion bits for green ice cubes. But talk about a serious way to get extra nutrients and stay regular, especially if you're into Brassica oleracea -- that is broccoli, kale, califlower. They're all the same species, and they all make you gassy. The good spin on it is that if you're ever not regular and you wanna fix that, juice away and take a fresh shot. Guaranteed that by morning you'll be feeling right as rain and totally empty. 

So because I usually store up a bunch of ends and bits until I have enough that makes it worth my time to get out the juicer, I bought a couple of extra ice cube trays so I can make green ice cubes with all the juice. They're not always green -- one time we just had too many carrots by accident so I juiced the ones that were on their way out, so the cubes were actually orange. 

I also have one more spare ice cube tray that I use for all little bit of coffee at the bottom of the pot every morning. Those coffee ice cubes are great in coffee, Bailey's, ice cream, and morning shakes depending on the flavor (peanut butter banana chocolate coffee shake, anyone?). 


With all this beautiful smashed up vegetable pulp, one of my goals for this summer is to get on board with composting. 


Ps, will someone please buy me this Cooking With Calphalon 9-Pc. Utensil Set?? kthx. Also this: 

Amelia's birthday!

This morning I made cranberry walnut banana bread, cake brownie cupcakes and haystacks for my friend Amelia's birthday. Used Gawker (a Mac stop-motion program) to record my time in the the kitchen baking, fixing my lunch to bring to work and doing the dishes.

It's a surprisingly fast little video for the time I spent in the kitchen, with the interval at 1 frame taken every 30 seconds. I'm just glad it didn't catch me doing anything too embarrassing.

Amelia's Birthday: Experimental Cookery StopMotion! from Molly O on Vimeo.

You might remember my previous attempt -- arguably a failed attempt -- at haystacks a few posts down. The good news is that I had the recipe wrong! My Aunt Tammy uses PEANUT BUTTER (about a cup) and butterscotch chips. -- Not BUTTER and butterscotch chips like I tried last time. Epic fail! This time they were delicious.


The cupcakes were great, but -- don't tell anybody -- straight outta the box.


The banana bread is an old family recipe (that we got out of a favorite cookbook). Seriously, the best banana bread ever. It was perfect, but I let it get a little crispy around the edges ... because I was uploading the stop motion video and sort of forgot about it. Oops! That's the risk you run when you never set a timer in the kitchen. I know the inside will be delicious.



While the goodies were baking, I made a quick salad to bring to work tonight: spinach, cherry tomatoes, turkey (though I prefer Genoa salami), garbanzo beans/chickpeas, walnuts, cranberries. I bring along one of those little spritzer salad dressings -- the raspberry vinaigrette is so good.


So that was my morning in the kitchen -- really super fast!
Oh, and Happy Birthday, Amelia! =]

Thanksgiving! - Turkey Deluxe and More!

I had an amazing Thanksgiving. The preparation of the food was thrust upon me and my sister at very near the last moment. We were at the grocery store until midnight on the phone with our mom. But you know what? We didn't mess anything up! We cooked everything we set out to cook! And it was delicious! I'm so proud.

The hardest thing about Thanksgiving was getting the timing right. We had so many things to cook in the oven that all had to be done before the turkey. We were up until three baking the night before, and Haley was up at six to finish before putting in the turkey around 830 or 9.

We made:

• turkey & gravy
  
• cranberry goo
• sautéed squash
• creamed spinach
• cornbread dressing
• rice
• mashed potatoes
• cheesy potatoes
• corn
• pumpkin crunch
• pecan bars

Turkey Deluxe

Neither of us had cooked a turkey before. We had consulted with Mom, of course, and I had chatted with a customer where I work the day before. He swore it would be no good unless we brined the turkey first. Haley is a science nerd and thusly loves Alton Brown (I do too!) -- so we started with his Roast Turkey recipe here that Haley had seen on the teevee. Here's her prepping the brine.


We used a big fine gallon paint bucket to brine it. The brine is basically lots of salt, brown sugar, pepper and vegetable broth. You boil it up, pour it in the bucket, stick the turkey in breasts down, then cover it with icy cold water. It stayed out on my porch for about six hours, and we flipped it halfway through. I think with brining, the longer the better. Ed from the clinic said he brines his for twelve hours!

Next you add some aromatics -- the stuff you stick inside the turkey. We followed Alton and did apples (Minnesota Honeycrisp, a variety of apple designed by my alma mater) and onions.

Then you just stick it in the oven. You do it extra hot first, like, 450 or something. Then you bring it down after about half an hour. Unfortunately my oven is about this _____ big and really old, so even after we somehow made the 19 pound turkey fit inside of it, the house filled up with black smoke really badly. And I ain't got no ventilation. So we took it out and decided to bring it over to Nate's parents' house. Here's me with the already lovely turkey at 9 in the morning.


When we got there, the Rowans showed us their turkey trick: a big plastic baking bag. It keeps the moisture and flavor locked in and keeps things from burning and smoking. It cooked maybe... four hours? I won't give you the turkey porn 'til the end. Here's some other food.


Cranberry Goo

This is just cranberry goo. From cans. One of them was regular cranberry sauce (not jelly) and the other was whole cranberries. Mixed together. Rob made this. And how!


Creamed Spinach

Creamed spinach was easier and deliciouser than I thought. Apparently this is a staple to my sister because it's something her best friend always makes for Thanksgiving. We used two blocks of frozen spinach, cooked according to the directions. Then you sauté some onions -- usually scallions or something -- but we used purple because that's all we had by the time we got it -- with some butter and garlic. Once the spinach is done, throw it in and add about a cup of cream or half & half. Cook it until it thickens up. Don't forget salt & pepper. Voila!



Simple Squash

Oh god I love squash. Ain't nothin' better than sautéed squash. Just butter, onions and squash until they soften. And lots of Tony's.



Canfield Cornbread Dressing

Next is the crown jewel of this Thanksgiving -- my Maw-Maw's cornbread dressing. I was never a very big fan of this, but holy cow was it the most delicious thing ever when we made it. I think the reason was that it was a little crispier this time around.

It's sort of an ordeal, but worth it. Start by baking two boxes of cornbread into either one 9x13 or two 9x9s. Once it cools, crumble it up!

Then you boil a pound of chicken after seasoning. My mom does thighs, but I did breasts because I hate bones. While it's boiling, brown a pound of ground beef, well seasoned. Take the chicken out, let cool and then shred. You can do this with your hands or a couple of forks. It's a technique that anyone who's made authentic Mexican food should be familiar with.

While you're shredding, put all the turkey giblets (You know, they extra stuff that's in a bag inside the turkey. It's, like, the liver and heart and stuff.) into the same chicken water and boil those too. I know it's gross, but it's delicious. Now, if I'm not mistaken, my mom puts the giblets into the cornbread dressing -- or at least the neck meat. I know I couldn't stomach getting the neck meat off. Haley tried, but even she got grossed out. (In my mind, I have Nate quoting Napoleon's brother Kip: "You're bruising my neck meat!") Phydeaux was really happy to get the giblets. For us, they just made the broth amazing.

Chop up a couple of green bell peppers, an onion, some green onions and a bunch of parsley. Mix the crumbled cornbread, the shredded chicken, the ground beef, the peppers, the onions, the green onions and the parsley. Then put them in either one 9x13 or two 9x9s (or 8x8s?). Smush it down so it's packed tight, then pour the chicken and giblet broth over it. Not too much! You don't want it to be soggy. Then bake 'em!! About an hour at 350, of course. When they're golden brown around the edges, you'll want to scoop it up out of the hot baking dish with your bare hands it'll smell so good. Don't though!


Please make this your desktop background like I did. It's just so beautiful.


The Rest

This is the pumpkin crunch featured in the last post!


You know Krusteaz? Haley had wanted to make pecan pie, but we settled for a box of pecan bars. They're great! Really. Try them.


Sharon made her signature turkey gravy. Cold water and a Thunderstick are the two secrets, but I won't give away any more without permission.


Nate's Dad Bruce always cuts the turkey with this ancient electric knife, but this year he passed the honors on to Natey! I cried a little; it was my first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner and Nate's first time cutting the turkey. How pukishly domestic of us. I love it!!


Here's the food porn. GUH. SO GOOD.




All in all, the holiday was a complete success. Haley and I didn't sleep much, but we learned that moms and dads that cook Thanksgiving dinners do a lot of work with a lot of love. I'm really happy that I got to share the experience with Haley and Rob and Nate. And Charlie came to dinner too!

Thanks to the Rowans for letting us bring all the food over to their house and helping with the turkey when we were clueless. Thanks to Rob for some awesome photographic memories and help with dinner. Thanks to Nate for cutting the turkey and playing mandola all day. Thanks to Charlie for his pure self. Thanks to Mom for the Thanksgiving know-how and the many years of home-cooked meals. Thanks to Alton Brown for the rest. And a big dumb sentimental thanks to my big dumb sentimental sister Haley. I miss you!


The one thing I missed this Thanksgiving? Good ol' green bean casserole. But when I tried to make it, I didn't have enough green beans! What ever did I improvise? How badly did I adulterate a classic?? Find out next time in ... Experimental Cookery!