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Monday, November 30, 2009

Thanksgiving and More

First, Thanksgiving. It was amazing. Perfectly roasted turkey, my grandma's stuffing, Brussels sprouts with bacon and figs, sweet corn pudding, glazed onions, and homemade gravy. Plus berry crisp and pumpkin pie for dessert. Not to mention wonderful company. There were too many pictures to post here, so this is a link to my photo album on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39930838@N06/sets/72157622791866185/

I made sure to take home some leftovers too. I must have at least one turkey sandwich after Thanksgiving. I made some turkey salad on Sunday before football, which I had in a sandwich on wheat toast. I used some diced extra celery from the stuffing and some red onion, then just mayo and a dash of mustard.

For dinner last night, I made another smaller batch of the dish I'd made Thursday - Brussels with bacon and figs. I overbought on sprouts and hadn't needed the entire packages of either bacon or the dried figs. It is utterly delicious and very rich. Bacon, figs, balsamic? Yes, please! I also had one large piece of turkey breast left over, so I decided to make a turkey and bacon melt! I melted swiss cheese over the turkey on a soft roll, then topped it with a couple pieces of bacon. How bad can that be?

Monday, November 23, 2009

Pork Chops and Rice Done Right

I made a great impromptu dinner tonight - grilled mustard pork chops and brown rice with peas and onions. I hadn't made pork chops in ages, but I picked some up on a huge grocery shopping trip last weekend. In anticipation of Thanksgiving and the coming cold month, I grabbed the car my sister and I share in order to do a massive grocery order. I made a list of ingredients for several recipes that could be easily made midweek, and tried to buy a few simple dinner staples like a pack of 4 boneless pork chops and 2 for $5 boxes of brown rice.

I ate out all weekend so I was craving something healthy, light, and homemade. The pork chops were my first idea because of
how quickly I knew they would cook. I know mustard goes well with pork, so I decided to whip up a marinade with Dijon mustard, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and some thyme that I had left over from my apricot balsamic chicken. I mixed it up in my mini food processor in no time. I covered the pork chops in the rub and let them sit for about 10 minutes. I then grilled them for just a few minutes.

On the side, I decided to whip up some brown rice. That sounded boring, though, so I checked out
the fridge and freezer for things I could add to it. I saw half an onion so I chopped that up and sauteed it in some butter and olive oil. Then Ken helped me add the rice, getting it coated in the onion and butter, and water. Toward the end, I threw in some peas. The problem was, as always, I have a rice problem. I can never make it right. It's so simple but I mess it up. At first it was too hard and there wasn't enough liquid. So I added some, but really too much. We saved it by stirring it over high heat to absorb the water. It was a little mushier than anticipated, but it kind of turned into a risotto. It made the whole thing kind of creamy.


Everything was delicious. The meat in particular was fabulous - you could really taste the mustard, the garlic, and particularly the thyme. It was tender but a little crispy on the edge. It was so simple but so good. Even better, it was super-healthy with lean meat, barely any oil, whole grains, and a little bit of veggie. The cost wasn't bad either, in fact, it was downright cheap!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Second Time Around: Apricot Chicken

It is really fun sometimes to make something again. I like figuring out what I can do better on the second time around, and analyzing what I liked and didn't like about a recipe. The second time making a dish is where you perfect it. And luckily, I can go back now and see what I thought before! Tonight I decided to make Apricot Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar. This dish was one of the first recipes I wrote about on The Dinner Blog! I really enjoyed it, but one thing in particular that struck me was that it needed to be cooked in a bigger pot, more appropriate for browning meat and braising. Now I have my dutch oven.


As I expected, the chicken (I used boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of tenderloins, its cheaper and more flavorful) browned much more evenly than it had before. Wider shallow shape allowed for all of the chicken to be braised completely covered in sauce, and that in turn, thickened the sauce more as well. I also used about a 1/4 cup more of balsamic vinegar, remembering that I'd felt the sauce could have been more tart last time. It all worked beautifully and the dish produced this evening was much deeper in flavor. The sauce was so rich and the chicken was tender. I served it again over multigrain pilaf that I get at TJ's, but this would also be good over any sort of rice, couscous, or pasta. My only wish is that I'd had some crusty bread to mop up the extra sauce. Next time...

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Eating My Way Through Washington

This weekend I ventured to Washington D.C. to visit my good friend Lauren, a fellow foodie with whom I've been dining for many years now. Among our shared loves are Asian food and Jewish delis. I knew she would take me to some great places.

We started out at Bangkok Joe's in Georgetown. The space is very hip but comfortable, and people seemed to enjoy the bar area too. They're known for their dumpling bar, so we ordered chicken potstickers and pork and crab shu mai. The potstickers were really crispy and the filling actually had flavor, unlike a lot of dumplings you find these days. The pork and crab shu mai

In the morning we hit Luna Grill and Diner in DuPont Circle for brunch. It's a tiny place where you're elbow to elbow with your neighbor. They have a fairly standard menu of breakfast dishes. Lauren had a really yummy-looking bagel and egg sandwich, while I had a huge bowl of very crunch granola with vanilla yogurt and fruit, plus a side of very tasty sausage. It set us up well for a day of shopping!

For dinner, we went to Lauriol Plaza, an absolutely monstrous Mexican restaurant with 3 floors of seating. It was packed with people, and apparently averages a 1 hour wait on any given weekend. It's a fun place, and I could see why D.C.-ers enjoy it so much. Margaritas and sangria flow freely and the atmosphere is bustling. We were magically seated quickly, and ordered up a pitcher of white sangria that was so good. I ate entirely too many chips because I loved the really spicy and smokey salsa that they clearly make in-house. I ordered the enchiladas de mariscos - huge scallops and shrimp and a little cheese stuffed in rolled tortillas with a seafood sauce and avocado. I'd never really thought about seafood in enchiladas but these were so good. The sauce was a thickened seafood stock and very rich. I love Mexican food but I always appreciate a slightly different take on a standard dish.

On my final morning, we had breakfast at Kramerbooks and Afterwords Cafe, also in DuPont. It's a really neat little place - independent bookstore in the front, and cute cafe in the back. The have a great patio, which must be amazing in the summer. I was surprised at how upscale the menu was, featuring some interesting omelets and a cafe-cured salmon that I just had to try. It set me for a long day of traveling so I didn't have to look for food at the airport.

I had a wonderful time and I certainly ate well! Thanks to Lauren for showing me around town - I can't wait to come back!
were a softer steamed dumpling with a thicker filling. I think they were my favorite. For entrees, Lauren and I shared Siamese pork noodles (really tender pork over the really skinny rice noodles) and a ginger beef rice bowl. The portions were huge and we enjoyed both dishes, though it was annoying when they charged us $2 to substitute a vegetable.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Perfect Night for a Chili Night

First of all, it is my great pleasure to introduce to you...my new dutch oven! She's a beauty, a 5.5 quart oval Racheal Ray dutch oven in bright orange. Now onto chili...

Yes, I know, I'm swooning over a pot.

Today is November 1st. It was also the first day of daylight savings time, and it was pitch dark in good, old northern Boston by 5:30pm. It felt like the absolutely perfect night to make this pumpkin turkey chili I've been thinking about for weeks now. Pumpkin, in chili, you ask? Yes! Pumpkin puree isn't as sweet as you think of - its not pumpkin pie filling, its real pureed pumpkin with nothing added. The pumpkin thickens the chili and adds a warmth and bit of sweetness to the smoky and spicy flavors of standard chili. In the post about this recipe on the blog Serious Eats, the writer suggested that a dash of cinnamon would be appropriate, so after I seasoned the chili per the initial recipe, I tasted it to see if the spice would add anything. I decided to try it and mixed in two good shakes of cinnamon. The cinnamon, as well as a slightly heavier hand of cayenne, added a deeper flavor at the end of the bite.

The chili is ready to eat

I served up heaping bowls with a good sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese and a hunk of multi-grain bread (Trader Joe's Peasant Bread). I have to have something to sop up my chili. It felt like fall and football. It eats like a great traditional bowl of chili, with a wonderful underlying flavor that only enhances the dish. We scarfed it up!

Just about to eat it up!

It couldn't have been less labor-intensive, taking me probably 45 minutes in total, from chopping to serving, and 20 of that is just waiting for it to simmer. Plus you only need one pot. It's incredibly healthy - the meat is turkey, the pumpkin has a wealth of vitamins and good stuff, and there's hardly a bit of fat in the entire thing. Finally, it is cheap and big! I spent only about $10 on ingredients and had all of the spices on hand already. Ken and I had huge portions tonight, and there's at least 3 more smaller servings left. I can't wait to try it again tomorrow for lunch with a big slice of bread. I'll bet the flavors will meld even more in the fridge over night!