What's up, Doc?

 

When I was growing up I really didn't like carrots that were cooked.  They were mushy and pretty bland all around.  It's not that my mother didn't cook well, quite the opposite in fact, I just never remember her cooking carrots in any way that was good.  As I got older I began experimenting with my cooking and soon put together my first "gourmet" meal - Chicken Cordon Bleu, Potatoes Gratin, and Carrots Vichy.  To this day I don't know why I chose that recipe for carrots as my vegetable, but boy am I glad that I did.  I can't recall preparing cooked carrots any other way since that day.

What is also really great about this preparation method is that people who don't normally like carrots at all (let alone cooked) tend to eat these like they're going out of style whenever I make them.  And they make a great alternative vegetable for corn on Thanksgiving.

Carrots Vichy
3 pound bag of baby carrots
1-2 sticks unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 2 tablespoons dried parsley
salt to taste

Melt 1 stick butter in a large, high sided pan (I use a chicken frying pan that has 3" sides and is about 18" in diameter).  Add carrots and flip to coat.  Do this by flipping them in the pan as you would for pancakes, don't actually use a utensil to stir or otherwise move them around.  If the carrots are not well coated and a nice bit of melted butter is not left in the pan, add as much as needed of the second stick of butter to achieve this.  Place a well fitting lid on the pan and cook over medium low heat until carrots are tender.  Make sure to flip every once in a while.  Once they are tender, uncover, sprinkle with salt to taste and turn up the heat to medium high.  Cook the carrots, flipping often, until they are browned and caramelized in spots.  Sprinkle parsley over during the last 10 minutes of cooking. 

 

Cucumber Salad +10 Intellect

 

I took the turkey out of the freezer and put it into the refrigerator a couple of days ago and it's still pretty frozen.  Which means that I can't post about brining it until Sunday at the earliest.  In the meantime, let's talk about side dishes for Thanksgiving.  Salad is a definite need on our table.  In fact, we usually have two or three kinds.  One of the best ones is my mother's cucumber salad.  It's fabulous for Thanksgiving and fantastic any time of the year.  I have converted many people over to the cucumber side of the road with this one.  It's so good we even drink the dressing that's left in the bowl.  Seriously.

Mrs. B's Cucumber Salad
3 large cucumbers, peeled
2 cups sour cream
1/4 - 1/2 cup vinegar
2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
salt to taste

Slice the cucumbers thinly using a mandolin (or if you're gadget-heavy like me, with your Salad Shooter) into a large bowl.  Sprinkle them with about a teaspoon of salt, toss in the sour cream, vinegar, garlic and paprika.  Stir the whole mess together with a wooden spoon until well combined and little bubbles have formed in the sauce.  Let it rest for about five minutes.  Taste it for paprika and salt and add if needed.  Serve and try not to slurp the dressing when you have the bowl to your mouth.

And yes, you have to use a wooden spoon to mix it...because my mother says so.

   

Pork Love

What you see above is the remains of the pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, and broccoli meal I made the other night. I *may* have forgotten about pictures until we were all sitting around being fat. It was so tasty, we really didn't think about anything else outside of "where's my fork?".

Now, pulled pork is probably a misnomer for what I made, but I've always called it that and I'm not going to stop now. It's kind of like my sister and I calling Nitzer Ebb Nitzer with a short i instead of a long i as we found out it was actually pronounced years later. It's still Nitzer with a short i to us...and what I make is still pulled pork to me no matter that it's technically slow cooked pork.

Pulled pork is extremely easy to make and can be taste customized to the extreme. All you need is a nice piece of pork shoulder, an assortment of herbs and spices, and an oven. For the pork I made I used a 10 pound bone-in pork shoulder, which is actually pretty large. You can certainly use a smaller one, but make sure that it is bone-in for the best flavour. Let your pork sit out until it's room temperature. Then pre-heat the oven to 275 degrees. Mix together the herbs and spices of your choice, along with salt, and rub and press this mixture all over the pork shoulder. Place the pork in a large baking dish, cover tightly with foil and place in the oven. Let the pork cook, depending on weight, anywhere from 4 to 6 hours. You will know it is done when it is so tender, it pulls apart easily with a fork. Allow pork to cool for a few hours, then pull apart with either forks or your hands. There will be a fair amount of juice in the bottom of the baking dish that can either be poured over the pulled pork or used as a base for homemade barbecue sauce. I poured it over the pork because not everyone likes barbecue sauce in my house. Use the pork for sandwiches or serve as is with the side dishes of your choice.

The mixture I used on my pork contained the following:
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
rubbed sage
sweet Hungarian paprika
garlic powder
ground coriander
ground ginger
crushed red pepper flakes
light brown sugar

The macaroni and cheese was homemade as well. It was amazing and quite simple.
1 pound uncooked elbow macaroni
3-4 cups bechamel sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
8 ounces extra sharp Vermont white cheddar, shredded
8 ounces Havarti, shredded

Heat bechamel sauce over medium heat until simmering. Stir in the garlic. Slowly whisk in the shredded cheeses by the handful until each is melted and blended in. Turn off heat half way through. Boil macaroni until al dente, drain and add back to the pot. Pour cheese sauce over macaroni and fold in. Serve immediately. My kids are spoiled for mac and cheese now.

It's called a lance, hello!

I love asparagus and if you ask me, it gets a really bad rap. But I can kind of understand why. For the most part people are introduced to it via canned vegetables *shiver*, which means that they get mushy, greyish "spears" that taste like ass. Fresh asparagus is a complete 180; snappy, vibrantly green and succulent.

About a month and a half ago, I bought three pounds of asparagus and wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I really didn't feel like Hollandaising it or dousing it with any other heavy sauce. Luckily, I was on the phone with my mom gushing over my fabulous purchase and she gave me told me what to do.

Sauteed Asparagus
2 lbs cleaned and snapped aparagus
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs unsalted butter
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
zest from one lemon (optional)
juice from 1/4 lemon (optional)

In a wide pan over medium heat melt the butter with the olive oil. Add in the asparagus a single layer at a time, adding salt and pepper to taste. When all the asparagus is in the pan use tongs or two spatulas to move the spears around so that they all get coated. Saute spears for about 15 minutes, rotating frequently. Remove from heat, add in zest and juice, and gently toss to distribute. Serve immediately.

And yes, my stove really is THAT small.

Not sure how to snap asparagus? Join my daughter's hands...