Christmas Dinner - with my honey this year!

For Christmas dinner, we had a very special and unusual dinner. From the Blue Star Restaurant, here in the Springs, I had ordered a turducken. It is a specialty Cajun dish with de-boned turkey stuffed with boneless chicken, encasing a duck breast filet. It is stuffed with sage bread and Andouille stuffing, seasoned on the outside with Cajun spices. Yum!

While it was roasting, I steamed some green beans in the microwave and then sauteed them with garlic and ginger. We also had some boiled, sliced potatoes that were then drained and coated with some carmel (1/2 C sugar - cooked for 6-8 minutes, then salted & 1/2 C cream added): voila! Carmelized Potatoes. The addition of Murray River Flake Salt at the end, allowed the salt to stand on the carmel on the tops of the potatoes.

I have just finished reading Diane Mott Davidson's Sweet Revenge and so at the moment I have her Chicken Divine resting after coming out of the oven. (It's marinated overnite in a mixture of buttermilk, sugar & salt to tenderize it.) It smells . . . divine and is a lovely toasty brown.

Pecan Crescent Cookies

2 C whole pecans (or walnuts), chopped fine

2 C flour

3/4 t salt

1/2 # unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)

1/3 C superfine sugar

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 1/2 C powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix 1C shopped nuts, flour, and salt in medium bowl; set aside. In food processor, continue chopping remaining 1 C nuts until it resembles cornmeal - 10-15 seconds. Add to flour mixture.

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy, about 1 1/2 minutes at medium speed; beat in vanilla. Scrape sides of bowl then add flour mixture. Beat at low speed until dough just comes together. Scrape down sides of bowl & continue mixing 6-9 seconds more.

3. Using 1 T of dough, roll dough into 1 1/4" balls. Roll each ball into rope that measures 3 1/2" long. Shape each rope into a crescent shape, placing on an ungreased baking sheet, spacing 1 1/2" apart.

4. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets (from front top rack to back bottom rack) halfway through baking, until tops are pale golden and bottoms are just beginning to brown, 17-19 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets about 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

5. Cool cookies to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Roll cookies in powdered sugar to coat them. Will store up to 5 days in covered container (unless you eat them all immediately). You may re-roll in powdered sugar before serving. makes about 4 dozen cookies.

from: The Best Recipe (Cooks Illustrated magazine), 1999, p.427.

Thanksgiving tradition: Scalloped Eggplant with Shrimp

With a nod to my cooking friend, Craig, in Atlanta, here is one of my faves for Thanksgiving - or anytime you have a hankering for a shrimp dish that's a little different. When it comes out of the oven, it smells heavenly . . . the melted cheese on top looks so yummy, but do let it cool a bit or you'll burn your tongue!

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, peeled & cubed

2 t brown sugar

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 T olive oil

1 can healthy choice cream of mushroom soup

1 C sliced mushrooms

1/2 # raw shrimp

5 oz white cheddar cheese, grated, divided

2 t Worcestershire sauce

1/2 t cayenne pepper

1/4 t black pepper

1/2 C saltine cracker crumbs

paprika (mild)

1. Cook eggplant in covered pan with sugar in olive oil until tender.

2. In another pan, saute onion, green pepper and garlic with olive oil. (Shortcut: put all in microwave safe bowl & cook on high for one minute). Add to eggplant.

3. Turn off heat and add soup and mushrooms. Add shrimp, half of cheese and the seasonings.

4. Put into a 2-quart casserole. Cover with cracker crumbs and the remaining cheese. Dust with paprika and cook for 50-60 minutes at 325 degrees or until almost dry. Yield: 8 servings. 2003

Creamy Fennel Soup with Herb Salad

Brrrrr it's cold out . . . thus the need for soup today. I love cold weather, it so energizes me. That's probably why I spent so much time in the kitchen today!

I made Joanne Weir's soup - with a few modifications (of course). Find the recipe at: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/creamy-fennel-soup-with-herb-salad-recipe/index.html

However, after pureeing the soup, I just put it through my extra-large food mill. This took out the fibrous bits. After seasoning it with three kinds of salt (Shallot Salt, Rad Alae Hawaiian Kai Sea Salt & Smoked Sea Salt - all from Savory Spice Shop) I added 2 t of dark brown sugar and 2 t of white balsamic vinegar - to balance the taste. The soup is quite thin after taking out the solids, so in a pinch I might add a bit of instant mashed potatoes to thicken it. I was too hungry to wait! The grilled bread & herb salad make the taste wonderful. Bon Appetit