All the shopping, planning, and preparing.

All the eating, drinking and burping—just one more piece, spoonful, and slice…

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly fit one more—okay, just a sliver… pass the wine!”

The Thanksgiving single day cost on wallet, mind, body, and soul—well, who can count the dollars, calories, or years off our lives, let’s just say—expensive!

Leftovers the morning after…

Priceless…

Technorati Tags: Bacon, eggs, Grammy's stuffing, Guinness, KETCHUP, tabasco, Thanksgiving day after, toast

Well, you can’t just have turkey! Isn’t it really about the large and varied cast of supporting characters…

(what a beautiful table! What a wonderful day!)

Stuffing—my grandmother’s version by my father: a rice based stuffing with pork, beef, onion, mushrooms, fennel, and SAGE…

Fried vegetables—my grandmother’s version by my mother and father: batter, then breadcrumb dipped: carrots, artichoke hearts, cauliflower, asparagus…

Candied yams—my great aunt’s way by my mother: medallions of yams with butter, brown and white sugar, FC—S&P, and corn syrup for good measure…

Stuffed mushrooms—my grandfathers version by my father and I: onion, garlic, mortadella, breadcrumbs, grated cheese, mozzarella, oh and mushrooms…

Cranberry sauce*—B.F. version by Patty: whole cranberries, sugar, butter, cognac…

Apple sauce—Mott’s version: original

Mashed potatoes—my mother’s version: potatoes, butter, milk, FC—S&P

Gravy—my version 2009: pan drippings minus fat, beef stock, red and white wine, just enough Wondra to make the sauce coat the back of a spoon—NOT MORE THAN THAT—GET IT?!

Cherry Cheese pie—my great aunt’s version by my brother: cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, heavy cream, cherries…

Pumpkin Cheese cake—my brothers version: pumpkin, cream cheese, egg, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon…

Cranberry Sauce*—traditional: right out of the can, with the ribs of the can still showing…

My Plate:

Well, my first plate anyway…

**   **   **

TG Suggestions:

Start Thanksgiving day off right by watching a parade or football game or having your own of either and the nectar of the gods—Thanksgiving day Guinness…

***Next day, top your eggs (your choice of preparation) with some leftover stuffing that’s been sauteed—better than corned beef hash and eggs—I’ll tell  you that! (And, do it right, wash it down with a Guinness instead of coffee! Relax,  it’s the holidays for Pete’s sake… That’s where I’m going right now!)

Technorati Tags: apple sauce, artichokes, asparagus, candied yams, carrots, cauliflower, Cherry cheese pie, Cranberry sauce, fried vegetables, gravy, iChef recipes, mashed potatoes, mortadella, pumpkin cheese cake, pumpkin pie, stuffed mushrooms, stuffing, Thanksgiving feast, Turkey

Turkey before the oven…

Stuffed with lemons, basted with butter, herbs and love (ala Pat-E-licious!)

Ingredients:

• Stuffed with: garlic and lemons
• Basted with: butter, thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage FC—S&P

*  *  *

Stage 2

The Oven…

Basting.

**    **   **

Stage 3

Fin

**    **    **

The table

Technorati Tags: Basted, butter, garlic, iChef, lemons, Oregano, Pat-E-licious, rosemary, sage FC—S&P, thyme, Turkey

Thank you for your sacrifice…

Okay, WOW!
I savored this one. I worked it real slowly. Took my time. Investigated. Let my senses loose to play and I enjoyed each and every bite.
Separate from the meal itself—I enjoyed the fact that someone took the time, someone cared enough to make something for me, to eat. For me, effort trumps flavor, but in this case there were no sacrifices to be made on my part…

First the flattery, making something I recently made (with their own stamp on it), using my cryptic recipe—a recipe, mind you, without amounts, only a list of ingredients, limited non-specific written instructions, and their own instincts and did an AMAZING job!

I had to stop eating (if that’s how you want to describe it…) to write this review because I wanted to be in the moment—I didn’t want you to miss it… I wanted to share with you the wonderful gift an amazing person shared with me.

The vegetables, the carrots, the parsnips, the rutabaga were all perfectly cooked—tender, but not over cooked and you could taste each vegetables flavor accented with the infused flavors from the savory braised short ribs, fennel, onion, garlic, red wine and special ingredients.

Thank you Esme for enriching my life, this time, with food that nourished my body and soul…

No Squalor here…

—Sergeant xChef

*  *  *  *

And yes, that is a Mai Tai in the upper right corner—it was Friday after all…

Technorati Tags: carrots, Esme, fennel, friendship, garlic, love and squalor, Mai Tai Friday's, onion, onions garlic, parsnips, red wine, rutabaga, Sergeant xChef, Short ribs

PoP Goes the Weasel Ale™ in being conceived!

BrewMeister iChef was hard at work until the wee hours last night perfecting another brew!

Malted barley, pungent hops, pure water, and Gobble-It-Down liquid ale yeast from California—that’s ALL!

All, that is, except for time, patience, and PAINSTAKING SANITATION!

***

The Airlock has blown off three times in s very volcanic fermentation! Can someone say Blow-off hose needed!

Technorati Tags: BrewMeister, California, Gobble-It-Down liquid ale yeast, iChef, Malted barley, PAINSTAKING SANITATION, pungent hops, pure water

Getting into the holiday (Thanksgiving) spirit and having a hankering for some roasted pork loin I decided to kill the birds…

The combination WAS in fact killer! The sweetness of the cranberry, the subtle heat from the wasabi, the saltiness of the soy sauce, the licorice from the fennel, the melt-in-your-mouth texture of the pork— it’s making my mouth water all over again!

Ingredients:

• Pork loin roast
• FC-S&P
• Olive oil
• Soy sauce
• Wasabi
• Cranberry sauce
• Fennel seeds
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• 425 degrees! (the temperature at which turning raw pig into a kings delight occurs)

Now, go and DO!

Roasting pork is simple and requires very little with regard to seasoning to make it fantastic—make it work, you won’t regret it!

Technorati Tags: 425 degrees, Cranberry sauce, FC-S&P, Fennel seeds, garlic powder, olive oil, onion powder, Pork loin roast, soy sauce., Wasabi

Okay, I have to say, I’m not sure how I could do better than tonight’s dinner. Now, it is true that preparation did start last night, which wasn’t that big a deal and made throwing it together tonight possible. The flavors going on were a party I could only hope to repeat… The tenderness of the short ribs could only be comparable to so many things on this planet… The tangy glaze that brought sweet and sour to the table after all these bitter years…

• The accouterments… Ah, how iChef loves the accouterments!
• Mashed Yukon gold potatoes, rutabaga, and butternut squash made wonderful bedfellows accented by some lemon zest and some roasted diced butternut squash for texture and pop!
• Seared fennel and carrots were not only eye appealing but quite delicious and complimentary flavors!
• The supporting cast was a meal on its own, but the main lead Short ribs braised to perfection with shiitake, morels, oyster, and portabella mushrooms—Oh, M F’nG!!!
• The glaze made from the reduction of Pinot, onions, carrots, mushrooms, beef stock, olive oil, KETCHUP, GRAPE JELLY, and BALSAMIC VINEGAR, (Yes, ketchup, grape jelly, and balsamic vinegar!)  which the short ribs were braised in and basted with in the final broil was beyond words…

Ingredients:

• onion
• garlic
• carrots
• assorted mushrooms
• cherry tomatoes
• beef short ribs bones about it
• FC—S&P
• parsley
• red wine
• beef boullion
• ketchup
• grape jelly
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil

Method of preparation:

• Searing the meat
• Saute vegetables
• Braise under pressure
• Depouillage
• Keep all ingredients separate

***

• Dice and boil potatoes, rutabaga, butternut squash with salt, mash with stock
• Searing the fennel and carrots
• Roasting butternut squash—to be mixed into mashed mixture at the end before plating
• Keep all ingredients separate

***

• Reduce sauce and adjust flavoring—main three ingredients adjusted: ketchup, grape jelly, balsamic

***

Broil meat with glaze

***

Arrange on plate

***

Pour yourself a big old glass of Pinot and a pint of Back in BlackLager ENJOY!!! (you deserve it!)

Technorati Tags: and BALSAMIC VINEGAR, and butternut squash, and portabella mushrooms, beef stock, braised, carrots, GRAPE JELLY, iChef, KETCHUP, morels, mushrooms, olive oil, onions, oyster, Pinot, rutabaga, shiitake, Short ribs, Yukon gold potatoes

It won’t be long now before this silky dark dream is released into the wild and being enjoyed from a pint glass! Brewmaster iChef had a carboy sample after checking specific gravity. Oh MY IT was special!

This iChef crafted liquid-gold has been coming along nicely since we started a few short weeks ago. Back in BlackLager™ has become more refined over time; gaining rich character from the yeast process of gobbling up the malted sugar and converting it to alcohol.

Duh! It's a secret recipe!

Only simple and natural ingredients have created the right balance of malty sweetness with hoppy bitterness in this darkened pilsner—making this brew like no other! Dark in color but not heavy at all—packs a punch of flavor yet fades away leaving you coming back for more…

When it touches your lips… Well, you get the idea! Can you stand the wait?

Time for ™Back in BlackLager’s brother to be created—a double hopped IPA is on the way!

Technorati Tags: Back in BlackLager™, Brewmaster iChef, darkened pilsner

Sometimes I can’t decide what I want to eat—much worse when I’m at a restaurant and have a whole menu at my finger tips. One of the reasons I love Tapas so much is because many small plates means I don’t have to choose one item over another—I CAN HAVE IT ALL!!!

I’ve had this bug in my head about salmon and wasabi and I always enjoy it broiled au natural… Why not have both???

Salmon Two Times (sidenote: that’s why they call me iChef two-times I say everything two times, like, “I’m goin to get the paper, I’m getting the paper..”)

Broiled salmon with olive oil, FC—S&P®, lemon and that’s it!

Broiled salmon basted with Soy Vay, lemon and wasabi  and that’s it!

How could something that’s sooooO Goooooood be so easy and at the same time be so hard for some people???

Technorati Tags: FC—S&P®, iChef, Recipe, Recipes, Salmon two times, salmon. lemon, Soy Vay, Wasabi