Turkey's Day After

Turkey is the American symbol of Thanksgiving, of harvest time, of bounty and abundance.  Makes you wonder if turkeys have any sense of their importance? Maybe it's a source of great pride? Maybe it's a source of great depression? For the turkey that is.  But for us humans, the turkey represents one of our most anticipated and joyously celebrated holidays.  It's cool too that it's uniquely American.  Interestingly enough, there are some people who regard turkey as the ultimate delicacy and yet, there are those who are just ok with it and some who really don't like it.  But, we roast 'em, fry 'em, grill 'em and serve 'em every year.

Almost as anticipated as the Thanksgiving turkey itself is the leftover Thanksgiving turkey.  Some people dream about the leftover turkey sandwich. I've heard everything from a simple white bread and turkey sandwich to an elaborate turkey, dressing, cranberry sandwich tower. After all the leftovers went into the fridge, Neil & his brothers used to go retrieve the now-cooled gravy, slice it off (yes, slice it) and put a slab of cooled, congealed gravy between two slices of bread.  I AM NOT making this up! My mind usually goes to the old turkey tetrazzini or turkey enchiladas.  But, today we tried something new and I think it's now my favorite.

Back story:  as most of you probably know, my mom and I work together selling real estate.  For many years, we've been sending our clients a monthly recipe postcard.  We've had numerous clients call us to let us know that they've tried the recipe with great success.  I always mail one to mom and dad's house so that I know they've hit the mail and have been delivered.  This month, right before the holiday, the card arrived with a recipe for "Asian Turkey Soup."

We whipped up a batch of this today and served with some veggie egg rolls on the side.  Man, did it hit the spot!  Especially on a cold day. And, best of all, it was a snap to prepare.  

We had enough for the three of us and more for tomorrow.  The Asian flavors were just right for making this something new and different than the usual, traditional leftover turkey fare. 

 

Boursin!

Are you familiar with Boursin cheese?  It's a spreadable, butter based "cheese" that is delightful on crackers and crudites.  It's also pricey.



Being the coupon addict that I am, I sometimes use that addiction to bring items home that I normally won't buy.  I've become a cheap skate you see.  Boursin is one of those items. A few days ago, I had a coupon that combined the purchase of bagel chips and Boursin.  Overall, it wasn't a stellar coupon, but given the fact that I was buying about $150 worth of groceries for only $65, I thought I could afford the "fluff."  So, I bought Boursin "light" garlic and herb. I considered it a special treat.  

Tonight, my little one asked for one little after dinner snack.  I played my usual "I don't know if you'll like this.  See right here?  It says gourmet on the package.  I bet not many other 2nd graders would like this fancy stuff."  Hook.Line.Sinker.  Opened up the bagel chips and Boursin and the kid went crazy.  She even went so far as to explain to me that the Boursin was a buttery flavor with an "herby undertone."  I promise, that's what she said! There you have it.  Kids can and will eat pretty much what you give them. You just have to present it in a way that jives with their personalities.

A few years ago a good friend gave me the coolest Christmas circe. It was a little ceramic crock of homemade "Boursin" with a little spreader and the recipe attached.  If you know anything about my recipe/microwave/notebook deal, let me assure you that same little recipe card is in the book...preserved forever.  And, I'm going to share it with you. Especially since the holidays are upon us, you may find this useful for holiday parties, hostess gifts, appetizers at the big family feasts, etc.  You get my drift. Enjoy and toast a glass of champagne to my friend Mary Ann.

Boursin Cheese

• 1   8 oz tub whipped sweet cream butter
• 2   8 oz packages cream cheese
• 1   crushed garlic clove
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp dill
• 1/4 tsp marjoram
• 1/4 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Let the butter and cream cheese soften so that you can cream together. Mix all spices together and sprinkle on cheese mixture.  Mix so spices are distributed evenly. chill for at least an hour before serving. (May be frozen)

The Real Deal

You guys have probably been wondering where I've been.  At least I hope you have.  I feel guilty and a bit off my axis because it's been so long since I've written.  You see, our nephew got married on October 26 in Lakeville, Minnesota.  I've never been there and of course, the wunderkind hasn't either and she'd never flown before.

Seriously, is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen?  Still hasn't mastered the spelling of her middle name yet though!

  Neil hasn't been back since 1994. As a Southerner, born and bred, here's what I thought I knew about Minnesota:

• Everyone, I mean, everyone is of Viking descent
• All 10,000 lakes are freezing cold
• With the exception of July and August, it's numbingly cold and snowing all the time
• They have a killer restaurant scene, if you believe Guy Fieri or Adam Richman

Turns out I was right about one of these.  The restaurants.  Think it about a minute.  If you watch Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Man -vs- Food, etc., you may have noticed the disproportionate number of MN restaurants featured on these shows.  Why, I often wondered?  

One that caught my eye a long time ago was about two joints in the Twin Cities area that have a long time feud about who invented the "Juicy Lucy."  You may remember this post after I saw this on TV.  I told Neil back then, "One day, when we go up there, we're finding this place and having a Juicy Lucy."  The place I'd decided looked and sounded the best to me is called the 5-8 Club.  So, when we booked our flight for the wedding, I promptly went to the 5-8's website for their address because, as I said, WE ARE GOING TO GET THIS HAMBURGER. Since I now have crazy coupon lady syndrome, I noticed a little place on the site that said "Join our email club."  This, of course, made me say to myself, "hmmm, I bet if I do that I'm going to get something."  Well, sure enough, I instantly received an email coupon for a FREE Juicy Lucy.  We're officially in business.

We arrived on Wednesday and I mentioned this Juicy Lucy obsession to my brother-in-law.  His response?  "Let's go tonight!"  And it was so.

Friends, this was a hamburger. I split one with the little one because they are 1/2 lb.  Just as expected and promised, I cut it in half to see golden, oozey cheese burst forth.  The meat was well seasoned and cooked just right. A nice crust that comes from a nice, hot flat top. The closest I have been able to come to this is with a good ol' fashioned cast iron skillet.

Did somebody say Ooey Gooey Good Golly?

 To make the whole experience even better was looking around and recognizing where we were from the TV shows.  Oh yeah...we also had real, Minnesotan cheese curds.  Not familiar with these?  More on that later.

Authentic Minnesota Cheese Curds!

 Our trip was fantastic on many levels.  My nephew's wedding was beautiful, the parties were rockin' and the food, drink and dancing kept us all busy well into the night(s)!  Jackie and her wedding party were all gorgeous and her style was evident in all the details.  

Neil's old house

Como Park, St. Paul MN

We also got to see Neil's old childhood home, the ski slope where he trained (and so did Lindsey Vonn), went to the 1st zoo established in the state of Minnesota (Como Park), saw St. Paul, saw Minneapolis, and got to visit the 5-8 Club for the original Juicy Lucy.  I'd say this was one successful voyage!

Chile Relleno Nirvana

Mexican food has been one of my favorite cuisines for most of my life.  I can still picture in my mind the way my mom would "set up" tacos at our house.  Little bowls lined up on the counter with diced tomato, cheddar, shredded lettuce, olives, and taco meat, of course.  As we aged, our Mexican repertoire grew.  This was helped along by the fact that one of our good friends, who happened to be Mexican, opened a restaurant near our house.  Now, it was easy to get our hands on enchiladas, tamales, panchitos, quesadillas, carne asada and chile relleno. 

Relleno is hands down my favorite Mexican dish.  But, it's not always made the same way.  Some restaurants serve a plate of gobs of melted cheese under which you discover a slice of pepper draped over some hamburger meat.  This is not relleno. You may be saying, "But, Elizabeth, it's a Mexican restaurant. Surely they know what a relleno is."  Here's my retort:  just because you own a restaurant doesn't mean you're a good cook. Some restaurants get closer by actually serving a stuffed poblano, but they don't call it relleno, but the otherwise catchy title of "stuffed poblano."  Crafty little diablos.  I've had some that are pretty darn good: crispy, spicy, cheesy, saucy.  And others who can't even be appreciated because they are so eggy you'd think you got slipped an omelet instead.

A few days ago, Neil returned from Atlanta with a plethora of beautiful stuff from the Farmer's Market.  In addition to a bag of Scotch Bonnets, a fresh cut bunch of bananas, 4 giant mangoes, 2 pineapples, there were 5 gorgeous poblano peppers.  I am a huge fan of poblanos.  Whenever I make corn chowder, I use roasted poblano to give it depth.  But looking at these beauties, I knew we had to make chile relleno!

Right off the flame getting ready to be sealed up in the paper bag to steam

 

Ready to slip that skin right off

 I have spent the last couple of days searching for the right recipe.  I've made this dish in the past, but never landed on a preparation that I thought was right on.  But today, I struck gold!  I used this recipe but I deviated by browning some ground beef with onion and mixing that into my cheese mixture. Also, I didn't have any Monterrey Jack, so I used mozzarella and cheddar only. Well, I'm sure you know what I'm gonna say next...why would I be writing this anyway?

This is the perfect relleno recipe. In fact, after my first bite I told Neil I thought this was better than any I've had in a restaurant. The exterior was perfectly light yet crunchy, the filling I used was just right, the batter held together and kept my filling from leaking out and the sauce was simply divine.  You know that feeling when you cook something that you, as the cook, feel is so good that you get that elation, total satisfaction, almost to the point of a high?  Well, that's what happened to me tonight.  Everything about the dish was exactly what I wanted: roasty poblano flavor, cheese, and the cinnamon in the sauce added a depth that I can't really find the words to describe. 

Finished product. I ended up eating two!

 

This is me diggin' the result!

I will sleep well tonight knowing that I've finally unlocked the secret to a perfect relleno.  What's really cool is knowing that now this can be a regular feature here at home and will be fun to make for friends!

Muy bueno!

Neil was in Atlanta for a couple days this week and came across the State Farmers' Market.  He called me, excitedly, at the abundance of peppers, crazy fruits and beautiful veggies.  He said he was seeing some of the biggest poblanos he'd ever seen. Should I bring some home?  Uhh, yeah.

He arrived here with quite an assortment of bounty.  About 2 dozen habaneros (yikes to most people, but not this man o' mine), 2 pineapples, 6 giant mangoes, a fresh cut bunch of little bananas and a bag of crazy looking bread, simply labeled as "Mexican sweet bread."

 
I've never seen anything like this stuff.  It's colorful,it's mildly sweet, which is great for someone like me...not being a big sweet freak and all.  And, it's practically light as air.  This morning, Viv ate hers just plain but I lightly toasted a slice and gave it a coat of (real) butter.  Oh my...where has this stuff been all my life??

Eggplant disguised as a Meatball

Eggplant has a tough time.  It seems that people either love it or hate it.  I'd put myself in the "love it" camp, but I must admit, I've had my "hate it" eggplant days too. For instance, I can't deal with baba ganoush.  At. All.  I've tried it numerous times over a period of years. I mean, the name just sounds so fun, you'd think anyone would love it. But, for me, no.  And there are other eggplant preparations that I can't deal with.  After a semester in France, I can tell you unequivocally that I loathe ratatouille.  (Loathe: v. hate, detest, abhor, abominate.) It was even hard for me to sit through the animated movie with my daughter because of my ratatouille flashbacks.  (Live a semester with a French family whose regular repertoire is ratatouille, cous cous, pretty much raw hamburger steaks, celery salad and scrambled eggs with french fries, and you might begin to understand...) Yeah, no "French cuisine" in the average household over there, that's for damn sure!

Having said all that, let's move on, shall we? I grew up loving eggplant.  My dad always planted a huge garden since we lived on acreage. My mom found all kinds of cool ways to introduce us to our own backyard bounty so that we never got bored.  But, when it comes to eggplant, the best is simple, thin-sliced eggplant fried nice and crispy.  Now, as we all know, the late 80's began the Anti-fried movement in America.  If you read me often, you know my thoughts on frying properly and frying in the old fashioned, non-healthy-on-any-level way. Using good oil, a heavy cast iron skillet and the right heat yields a good crispy eggplant (or zucchini, squash, pickles, shrimp, etc.)  Yet, I think all of us kids of the 80's were effectively shamed into denying our love of fried food so that none of us cook it often.  That's ok though, because when we do, it's more special.  

So, anyway...seriously, my mind is really wandering but what can I say?

The point of all this is that I tried out a new eggplant dish that I want to pass on to you guys.  I've been reading it over and over again for months.  The curiosity was tickling my imagination but the possibility of the rest of the family not digging it was holding me back. My last Brown Box Veggies box contained two big beautiful eggplants, so I decided the time had finally come to give it a whirl. EGGPLANT BALLS. 

Just going into the oven

 Wow!  Who is Aunt Mary and what made her think up this recipe?  Well, no matter, she's a damn genius and that's all we need to know.  Y'all, this dish was ridiculously easy to prepare, was "meaty" and filling yet lighter than meat and so packed with flavor.  We took the suggestion of serving with spaghetti and red sauce. I added the "Mullaney salad" and a fresh baguette on the side. 

My husband, like most men, appreciates meat.  But, he had no complaints with this dish.  In fact, before he finished his first helping, he said to me, "Good meal, babe."  And, coming from a not-so-crazy-about-eggplant guy, this is significant!

Vegetarian or not, you'll enjoy this dish.  I love the idea of using the mixture for a "burger" or a "fritter" too.  We had the "meatballs" over spaghetti with a red sauce which I think complemented the eggplant and Parmesan perfectly.  One thought I had as I was eating this dish was "what if I added some grated zucchini to this?"  I think that sounds like a good plan, just to ramp up the vegetable value...stay tuned.