For a gathering we attended, I found a recipe in the book, Small Bites by Jennifer Joyce. It combined pears (I used canned), arugula and prosciutto. Topping each, a shard of parmesan and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a twist of freshly ground black pepper. Rolling up all inside the prosciutto, placing seam side down for a beautiful presentation and delightful bites.
Finding whole chickens on sale, I cooked one with piles of chopped carrots, celery and onion making lots of lovely broth. After deboning it for a recipe of Chicken and Dumplings, I pureed the cooked veggies and about half of the broth (six cups or so) Adding a cup of white wine formed the base. After adding the chicken in and correcting the seasonings, I mixed up a batch of dumplings, adding them to steam. It made a lovely comfort food dinner with a side salad.
Since we generally schedule our holidays on alternate dates, I pre-made all of our Thanksgiving dishes so that they would be ready to reaheat. A great way to use fresh out of season (not the most tender) green beans - a recipe for Crock Pot Green Beans from the Test Kitchen magazine. Slow cooked with a mushroom white sauce, they were tender and tasty and freed me to work on other items. For mashed potatoes, I cooked a potful of quartered Idaho potatoes (not peeled). After cooking and draining most of the liquid, I coarsly mashed them. By adding heated half & half, a bit of melted butter, a half cup of grated white cheddar and a half bottle of ale found depth of flavor. Oh yum! While the Turkey was grilling (in a foil pan, coated with melted butter and white wine), I made some Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast and the dinner.
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