turkey

here's margaret's pumpkin pecan pie. i made the crust.

brined the turkey with alton brown's recipe for about 16 hours. we're lucky the bucket fit in our fridge. couldn't find kosher salt in 3 groceries, so used 1/4 less of the regular kind.

my first turkey. apparently alton brown knows what to do with a bird.

Thanksgiving

I failed you Patch at thanksgiving feast documentation

All I got was the appetizer.

A bread bowl made from the no knead bread and filled it with crab dip ala oldbay website recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded and divided

1 package of cream cheese

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 teaspoons OLD BAY® Seasoning

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Ground Mustard

1 pound lump crabmeat

Round loaf of no knead bread

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Dump everything together and stir
Cut center from bread bowl and fill

Sprinkle with remaining cheese and a dash of OLD BAY

bake with center of bread to dip

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until dip begins to bubble around edges.

Hope you all had a happy thanksgiving

Love.

Speedy No-Knead Bread

Recipe found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=1&ref=dining

3 cups bread flour
1 packet ( 1/4 ounce) instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Oil as needed.

1. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes more.
3. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6-to-8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under dough and put it into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.
4. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield: 1 big loaf.

Awesome Recipe! So easy and delicious! Very crusty and light inside.
I think I'm addicted to baking bread now. Will try to post any others that turn out as good as this!

labor (day) of love

grilled some black bean burgers and potatoes in the backyard on labor day...

we have a citrus tree in the backyard.

recipe: take black beans, mash some up, combine with

whatever's in the fridge.

Margaret's peach pie

Tofu appetizer

A delicious appetizer frank whipped up for my birthday dinner. Blackened tofu with a with a teriyaki sauce served with a carrot and cucumber salad dressed with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, lime juice, garlic and ginger. Very light. Very tasty.

Banana cake

Saw this recipe and I've been on a banana kick lately so I thought i'd try it. I was attracted to the idea of cupcakes but since im making Eric Birthday cupcakes later this week i just made a loaf cake. The result: Really moist and dense cake (so yummy I had to take a test bite).

Cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 small bananas

1/4 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp veg oil

1/2 tsp vanilla 

1. Set your oven to 350. Spray cupcake pan or loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In food processor (or by hand- I love any excuse to use my Food processor) blend banana and buttermilk until the banana is broken up. Let me tell you a little thing about buttermilk also..don't waste your money buying a whole carton of it. Measure out some milk to very close to 1/4 of a cup, then fill the rest with lemon juice and let it sit for a few minutes. Its the same thing. 

3. Combine banana mix with eggs, veggie oil and vanilla. Fold the dry mix into the wet mix. 

4. Scoop into muffin tins (or a loaf pan if you're too lazy for cupcakes) and bake for 20-25 mins. 

I just keep checking and pressing them until they are done, and by pressing I mean I push it and if it springs back its ready..if it sinks in its not...so 20 minutes could be an exaggeration for cupcakes but when i did it in a loaf it took at least 30 min and when I checked it with a tooth pick it was still wet so i kept adding 5 min and checking on it it was done when it was golden and the top was split and cracked! 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

6oz or 3/4 package cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 stick room temperature butter

2-4 cups powdered sugar

1. Combine cream cheese, vanilla and butter in mixer. Beat until creamy. Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar. Add 2-3 more cups until the desired consistency is reached. (I did like 2 and a half).

Let me just tell you, this makes a lot of icing.. So..if you want you could double the cupcake recipe and do the same. Or just eat the extra icing..its so good.