Basic Turkey Gravy / Butter and Soy Sauce / Sweet Potato Risotto

Blog Post & Recipe: How to: Make Turkey Gravy…Revisited

I figured it was worth publishing my recipe and troubleshooting tips again this year. This recipe does not involve adding wine or herbs, though those things can provide very satisfying results, too. Rather, this version is as basic as turkey gravy recipe can get.

Blog Post & Recipe: The Dynamic Duo: Butter and Soy Sauce

It's a one-two punch that works fantastically with so many ingredients: all manner of mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, shrimp, scallops, flounder fillets and more. First sauté the ingredient in butter, and when it's just cooked through, drizzle in soy sauce. Cook a little more and it's done.

Blog Post & Recipe: Meatless Monday: Sweet Potato Risotto

Most risottos take a fair amount of time and quite of bit of babysitting while you slowly add stock to the rice, gently coaxing it into creaminess. Not this one. Instead, you boil the rice for about 15 minutes, add it to the skillet with the sweet potatoes, onion and ginger, and use the wine and the mascarpone to instantly give you that signature, melt-in-your-mouth, creamy consistency that everyone expects from a risotto.

Concept: cook with butter and soy sauce.

Yorkshire Pudding / Leek and Herb Quiche / 3 Turkey Sandwiches

Blog Post & Recipe: Yorkshire Pudding

One of the tricks to get the Yorkshire pudding to rise well and to not fall is to bake it in a very hot oven and you can preheat the pan in addition to the oven to take it one step further ...

dm said... What's also nice is making it so it is shaped like a large bowl which you can then fill with a stew, meat or veggie.

Blog Post & Recipe: Leek and Herb tart

There’s a few things that really make the difference between a soggy sponge-like thing and a crisp, buttery comfort food. The pastry - it's got to be short, really short, like, leprechaun short.

Article & Recipes: The turkey sandwich reinvented

On the construction of a sandwich, he says: "When you bite into it you should taste the bread, but by the time the top of your mouth meets the bottom you get meat and cheese with every bite. Every bite of sandwich should be the same bite."

Turkey sandwich with kabocha spread and chutney ... Turkey with melted Camembert and mostarda ... Turkey sandwich with fried sweet potatoes and aioli

Concept: Yorkshire Pudding bowl

Roast Shoulder of Lamb + Apple & Toffee Cake / Roast Chicken & Butternut Squash Fusilli / Fried Winter Squash with Gorgonzola Butter

Article & Recipes: Put a shoulder into it

A slowly roasted lamb falling off the bone by the forkful, followed by some sweet appley goodness makes for two courses of pure pleasure.

Roast shoulder of lamb with onions and potatoes ... Apple and toffee cake

Blog Post & Recipes: The Best Reason to Roast Hot Hot Hot

A while back I watched a Jamie Oliver Meals in Minutes show and he was making a roasted chicken dinner in under 30 minutes. Impossible you say... not when you cut out the spine, flatten it and blast it at 500°F/260°C...

Roasted Herb & Garlic Spatchcock Chicken ... roasted butternut ... Roasted Chicken & Butternut Squash Fusilli

Article & Recipe: Discovering a new squash: The Rugosa butternut

There are many good things about Rugosa, but I especially like that the seed cavity is quite small and the squash is quite large, which means you have a great deal of solid flesh at your disposal for gratins or other dishes with large intact pieces. Another plus is that the flesh is smooth and creamy, like a butternut, but not quite as sweet — rich, but with more chestnut in its bite.

Fried Winter Squash with Gorgonzola Butter

Concept: roast very hot

Celeriac Gratin with Caramelised Onions / Salt Crusted Burgers with Mashy Peas / Turkey Stock For Gravy

Blog Post & Recipe: Celeriac Gratin with Caramelised Onions

Serve the gratin with a spoonful of caramelised onions and a crisp green salad lightly dressed with sherry vinegar and cold pressed rapeseed oil.

Blog Post & Recipe: could you feed yourself for $5 a day?

The secret is using the salt layer to cook the burgers. So as the juices drip out, the salt helps them congeal and form an instant crust which makes for a moist, full flavoured burger. I actually find that more fatty (and cheaper) beef makes for a more moist and tasty burger.

salt crusted burgers with mashy peas

Blog Post & Recipe: Turkey Stock For Gravy: Start Soon

I don’t know where we got the idea that a roasting turkey results enough juices to make gravy. It doesn’t ... Donna picked up two full turkey wings and four turkey necks, about 4.5 pounds/2 kilos. I roasted them in a hot hot oven till they were good enough to eat (Donna and I made a meal of the meaty parts that night, with brown-butter-sage pasta). I also cut up two big onions ...

Concept: salt-crusted hamburger patties: "as the juices drip out, the salt helps them congeal and form an instant crust which makes for a moist, full flavoured burger." Worth trying, M.?

Key Lime Pie / Nyonya Style Pumpkin & Prawn Curry / Barbacoa Beef Cheek Tacos

Blog Post & Recipe: Key Lime Pie

I like this recipe because of the lime zest in the graham cracker crust. The filling is sweet and the zest gives some bitterness to the crust and creates a very nice flavour.

Blog Post & Recipe: Nyonya Style Pumpkin and Shrimp Curry

Now, let us get back to today’s recipe. This curry turned out relatively mild as the red chilies found here are not that spicy and the sweet pumpkin did neutralize the heat a little.

Blog Post & Recipe: Cook the Book: Barbacoa Beef Cheek Tacos

For those who are unaccustomed to cheek meat, braising it for tacos does wonders to accessibility because, after all, there's really nothing all that scary about a taco (right?). But odd cuts aside, these beef cheek tacos are pretty incredible. They're marinated in a mole-esque blend of spices, chiles, coffee, and peanut butter with a deep yet mellow spiciness that permeates the cheeks beautifully.

Concept: braise beef cheeks

How To Roast a Suckling Pig / Herb Soup with Eggplant Bacon / Panko-Coated Eggplant Nuggets

Blog Post & Recipe: How To Roast a Suckling Pig

Every 30 minutes or so we rotated the pig 45 degrees. Slow and even is the mantra. We made sure to pile the coals a little fuller near the front and back of the pig as the shoulders and hams take a little more fuel to cook through than the mid section belly and loin.

Blog Post & Recipe: herb soup w/ eggplant bacon...plus ABC kitchen (manhattan)

Remember that eggplant bacon I wrote about once? I skipped the fake stuff (liquid smoke) and instead brushed my eggplant with smoked paprika, oil and salt before roasting the slivers in the oven. I wasn't expecting them to come out looking anything like bacon, so I had to show you the picture below. How did the eggplant know what I wanted it to become?

Blog Post & Recipe: Crispy panko-coated eggplant nuggets

Although eggplants by themselves are almost impossible to turn crisp without first dehydrating them, with a little magic using very ordinary ingredients, you can transform them into appetizers cum snacks with layers of texture and flavor. Thinly sliced eggplants are dredged in seasoned flour, dipped in beaten eggs, rolled in panko (Japanese bread crumbs) then pan fried.

Concept: eggplant bacon, forsooth.

Potted Shrimp / Braised Eggplant & Tomatoes / Charred Corn Tacos with Zucchini-Radish Slaw

Blog Post & Recipe: How to cook perfect potted shrimps

Potted food, according to food historian Bee Wilson, is a descendant of the pie in which the heavy, air-excluding crust ("medieval cling film" as she wonderfully dubs it) has been replaced by a more elegant spiced butter.

Blog Post & Recipe: Recipe: Braised Eggplant and Tomatoes

I like this recipe a lot because it doesn't try and dress up the eggplant with too much oil or gobs of cheese. So often people will fry up their eggplant (which isn't half-bad, I'll be the first to admit) or douse it with loads of olive oil and cheese while baking in the oven. Especially in the hot summer months, it's nice to let eggplant stand on its own as it does here.

Blog Post & Recipe: charred corn tacos with zucchini-radish slaw

It’s this obsession that finally got me to unearth a dish I’ve been meaning to put my spin on for two years ... The dish is called esquites and from what I understand but have sadly not yet experienced yet in person, it is a street snack in Mexico. Corn is cooked in butter with onions, garlic, chiles, an herb called epazote and salt. It’s then seasoned with lime juice, chile powder and served with mayo in small cups.

Concept: potting!

Mayonnaise in 60 Seconds / Silverbeet Stems with Sesame-Yogurt Sauce & Black Sesame Seeds / Ham Cooked in Hay with Beer

Blog Post & Video & Recipe: Mayonnaise in 60 seconds (video recipe)

ALL INGREDIENTS MUST BE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE; YOU NEED AN IMMERSION BLENDER/HAND-HELD BLENDER FOR THIS METHOD

Blog Post & Recipe: Stem that waste

So here is a recipe for chard stems, braised and served with a tahini-yogurt sauce and black sesame seeds. It’s a very simple dish. And if you have the greens, you can cook them and serve the two together. Amounts are really irrelevant here; you can do this with pounds of chard stems if you have them. Just make more sauce as needed.

Chard Stems with Sesame-Yogurt Sauce and Black Sesame Seeds

Blog Post & Recipe: Cooking with hay

[Elena] Molokhovets [author of Russian cookbooks] was using hay to stew cabbage by spreading it on the oven floor ‘as soon as the rye loaves are moved from the oven’ (to judge the right temperature), to boil jars of preserves wrapped in straw to prevent them from knocking, to store eggs and fruit, to test the readiness of cakes etc etc. The possibilities of using hay was truly limitless – a 19th century equivalent to our microwave (not that I own one of course!)!

Ham cooked in hay with beer

Concept: cook with hay. Eat silverbeet stems.

Making Tortillas / Grilled Vegetables with Balsamic Vinaigrette / White Beans, Sweet Potato & Spinach Tacos

Blog Post & Recipes: Making Tortillas

It is important to note that you will save yourself a lot, a lot, a lot of heartbreak and broken tortillas by lining the top and bottom of your press or pin with plastic wrap, parchment paper or baggies. Especially when working with the stickier dough for flour tortillas, any time saved by skipping this step is just not worth it.

Blog Popst & Recipe: Meatless Monday: Grilled Vegetables with Balsamic Vinaigrette

I’ve started grilling mass quantities of vegetables every few days and keeping them in the fridge, so they’re always ready to go. Making an omelet? Why not throw in some grilled onions, peppers and mushrooms. Need a quick lunch? How about some grilled vegetables and tzatziki in a pita? Add them to fajitas or pasta. Or, warm up the vegetables, and add some crumbled goat cheese for a big grilled vegetable salad.

Blog Post & Recipe: White Beans, Sweet Potato, and Spinach Tacos - A Guest Post by Joanne Bruno of Eats Well with Others

You see, you cook this pound of beans. And then you have dinner halfway prepared for every night of the week! You can throw the beans in salads or pasta or soup! Or my new favorite, which is to grab whatever greens I got in my CSA this week (and we all know that we're all getting greens aplenty in our CSA's. Don't even try to pretend otherwise.), wilt them down and saute them. Mix in my bean-of-choice for the week along with a roasted root vegetable. Season with smoked paprika and chipotle chile powder. Throw into a tortilla shell. Call it a taco or burrito or tostada or whatever Mexican dish pops into your head at that moment. And voila.

Concept: Grilled vegetables kept in the fridge. Line "the top and bottom of your press or pin with plastic wrap, parchment paper or baggies" when making tortillas.

Store Certain Herbs / Braised Radishes / Homemade Ginger Beer & Dark 'n' Stormy Cocktail

Blog Post & Tip: How to Store Cilantro (and Other Herbs)

Some herbs take to freezing well (such as basil, mint, chives, and obviously cilantro), and then they are quite easy to use later (or much later!) in soups, stews, and other cooked dishes.

Blog Post & Recipe: Braised Radishes {recipe} – When a Side Dish Not a Side Dish

Then we realized that we could braise them in the same way that we’ve braised their much larger Asian cousins, the daikon radish, but with different seasonings and flavors. Lemon. Thyme. Butter.

Blog Post & Recipe: Homemade Ginger Beer and the Dark 'n' Stormy

Besides all the cool ideas and wavelengths that must bounce around in that shop, they apparently have delicious ginger beer. And they offer an informal recipe in the spread: take ginger, cut it up, add some lemon juice and sugar, toss in hot water and yeast, and give it 24 hours.

Concept: braise radishes (remember, we were wondering about this last night?)

Portabello Mushroom & Basil Pesto Panini / Roasted Sweet Potato Salad / Escabeche & Savory Granola

Blog Post & Recipe: Portabello Mushroom and Basil Pesto Panini [via]

I decided to have a vegetarian dinner for my family last night and picked up some big beautiful portabello mushrooms for our paninis. I also added fresh basil pesto, mozzarella, tomatoes and sweet vidalia onions to them.

Blog Post & Recipe: Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

And it definitely takes the right kind of potato salad to make me realize that it’s ok to eat something warm on a hot day. I simply have no patience for chill time when there are sweet potatoes, black beans, red peppers, cilantro, and lime involved.

Blog Post & Recipe: Escabeche + Savory Granola (+ Las Manas Tamales)

So, you can imagine our delight when a plate of pickled asparagus, beets and carrots topped with a mess of puffed millet, seeds and spices arrived at our table. After our first bites, we both nodded in agreement. This is so good ...

The vegetables were sharp, intensely flavored and very vinegary. The granola is toasted, salty, sweet, and umami.

Concept: use that grill as a sandwich press. (Or has this already occurred to you, M?)

Roasted Pears with Goat Cheese & Pine Nuts / Raw Overnight Oats / Store Porridge in Jars /

Blog Post & Recipe: Roasted pears with goat cheese & pine nuts

I loved this dish, because I love pears and I am fond of goat cheese!

Blog Post & Recipe: (Raw!) Overnight Oats

Raw oats are equally fabulous as the cooked kind. They’re a different creature to be sure, but if you like your oatmeal on the chewy side you are in gold territory here.

Blog Post & Recipe: Oatmeal in Jars: Make a Week of Breakfast in 5 Minutes

With a little forethought and a few Mason jars, you can make enough steel-cut oats for a whole week in just 5 minutes. The result? Monday through Friday, you have a jar of wholesome oatmeal all ready to go. Pop it in the microwave at work and breakfast is served!

Concept: jar porridge.

100 Cooking Tips / 3 Recipes with Bread Crumbs / 3 Pear Recipes

Article: 100 Greatest Cooking Tips (of all time!) [via]

Food Network Magazine asked top chefs across the country for their best advice.

Article & Recipes: The California Cook: Mighty, mighty bread crumbs

But what I'd never really realized was the true potential of bread crumbs, how instead of being bland character actors toiling in the background, they can actually become the stars of a dish, or at least a very impressive second lead.

Grilled romaine with radishes, hard-boiled eggs and toasted bread crumbs ... Spaghetti with arugula and garlic bread crumbs ... Swiss chard with golden raisins and lemon bread crumbs

Article & Recipes: Perfect pears

To test to see if a pear is ripe, all you need to do is press the neck of the pear and if it gives a little it is ripe. If it is hard as a rock it needs a bit of time. Pears are rich in fibre and vitamin C – most of this is in the skin, so make sure you are eating some pears in the raw and in their skins to get the maximum nutritional value from them.

PEAR CHUTNEY ... PEAR AND PECORINO SALAD ... POACHED PEARS

Concept: bread crumbs

n.b. M! I'm going to top linking to the New York Times because they've installed a paywall.

4 Spanish Recipes / Sunshine Barbecue Chicken / Eggplant Manicotti & 2 Other Recipes

Blog Post & Recipes: My Recipes published at DELICOOKS, and 4 delicious recipes for you to celebrate 3 Years of Blogging!

My Personal Spanish Menu (desserts not included)

Snail and mint Tapa ... Zucchini puree with Iberian Acorn ham ... Potatoes stuffed with Butifarra and grated with Allioli ... Toasted noodles with Palamós fresh shrimps

Blog Post & Recipe: Sunshine Barbecue Chicken

[This bbq sauce is] pretty undutch but at the same time it’s also a lot like our Dutch piccalilli, only in a sweeter jacket and with different vegetables. Very unlike anything I’ve ever tasted in combination with bbq chicken.

Blog Post & Recipes: Deliciously Upsided Down Dinners

I have an awesome new cookbook that I'll be raving about very soon and this Eggplant Manicotti caught my eye. The funny thing is... there is no real manicotti. The "pasta" is actually slices of eggplant with a very tasty filling.

Eggplant Manicotti ... Seared Lamb Chops with Sage, Anchovies & Capers ... Herb & Garlic Orzo

nb. M., I'm introducing your 'concept' tag.
Concept: eggplant in place of manicotti, or canneloni, pasta.