Kitchen Fiascos #87 & 88

Juiceboy has gone veggie on me again, a full three months earlier in the year than normal. I'm okay with it though, as I can get meat at lunchtime and it's not a bad thing for me to be cooking healthier meals.

For dinner last night I was going to use up some of the 25 cups of brown rice I'd brought home from work (leftovers from an event). Since I've been having problems cooking rice, I was quite glad to take the white and brown stuff off their hands.

On the menu was absolute peasant food: cabbage soup and hot and soup broccoli. The soup was fine, though dull. I'll noodle out the recipe some more and when I perfect it, I'll post it.

For the broccoli, I was to get oil in the pan smoking hot, then brown a slice of ginger, which I did. Then I was to add cider vinegar, soy sauce, chicken broth, cayenne, etc. I started with the vinegar.

SHPLOOOM! BANG! HIIISSSSS! BLANG!

Uh, duh.

Never put vinegar into a pan of hot oil. First, mix all the ingrediants called for, and add them in a large quantity, and maybe, just maybe, let the oil COOL DOWN before adding it.

I'm just lucky I don't have a gas stove. I only had minor burn spatters on me, though the surrounding area of the stove sure got a good covering of grease.

After all was said and done, the broccoli was pretty bad, any way. Too much cayenne, which I don't like as a result of trying that ridiculous colon-cleansing recipe. Cayenne lemonade, indeed!

Tonight was much more successful: a variation on the Barefoot Contessa's Crunchy Noodle Salad and fried rice. I'll post these throughout the week.

Black Friday

Yesterday I blogged as I cooked Thanksgiving dinner. It was my first complete TG dinner ever made all by myself, having gone to potlucks for the past 12 years. But this year we weren't welcome at the potluck and I was pleased to have the freedom to cook what I wanted, the way I wanted.

I thought I'd have many problems, mix ups, and fiascoes. Surprisingly, I didn't. I planned in advance, double checked ingredients (save for the buttermilk), and expected delays. My dinner table wasn't as pretty or as fancy as I would have liked. I'd planned on turning the little gourds into candle holders, and I'd thought I would plate up in the kitchen, but at the end, I just ran out of counter space.

Here are my lessons learned:

1. Turkey: Don't put two cups of water in the pan. I think one cup would have been enough. Also, check the temperature much earlier. When I pulled it out to check it was at 180, so it probably rose to 190. The breast meat was good, but my guess is that when it's cold it will be dry. I found I didn't need to baste it--rubbing melted butter all over it before I put it in did the trick. I also cooked it on top of a whole bunch of carrots, a really big, quartered onion, and some celery, to make the juices flavorful.
2. Stuffing: The cornbread by itself was really dry, so I'm glad I used it in stuffing. I used the Joy of Cooking Southern Corn Bread recipe, which was dead easy (email me if you want the recipe). Then, I cooked up some Jimmy Dean Sausage, and I do think next year I'll add some andouille to that. Into that went 3 tablespoons butter, 1.5 cups of chopped onion, 1 cup chopped celery, a large clove of garlic, chopped. That cooked till fragrant, then I crumbled in the corn bread, about 1/3 cup chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage (which I'll increase to two T next year), 1 teaspoon thyme (again, I'll increase that), one beaten egg and chicken broth to soften. Next year: more onion, sage, thyme, another egg, and I think I'll take some of the liquid from the turkey pan in addition to the chicken broth--if I have as much as I did this year.
3. Bubble & Squeak: Definitely this year's stand out winner. Juiceboy snuck back into the kitchen and had more later in the night. I'll post a separate recipe for that. It just kills me that it's a recipe for using leftovers and I made it all fresh!
4. Corn Popovers: They were a nice idea and looked great as they puffed up in the oven, but they were heavier than I had thought they'd be. Don't know why I expected something like miniature Yorkshire Puddings when I loaded them down with corn meal and corn, but there you go. They were good with butter and I'm going to have one for breakfast. Hmmmm....what should I have on it? How about....
5. GRAVY: My favorite part of any holiday dinner. The turkey gravy came out GREAT. First, I made a roux with about 4 T flour, and really let it cook. I think I could have let it cook a little more than I did, to darken the sauce. Then, I added room temperature chicken broth in doses, whisking like mad. All told, I probably added 1.5 cups. I took my de-fatted turkey juices and added about four cups, mixing well in between each addition, and then I just let it boil furiously for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. I was going to add some wine, but I forgot. And that was okay--it tasted great with just a shake of ground pepper. I'm happy to say I have a big container of "gravy fixins" in the freezer now for the future.
6. Salad: I have a new sweet & savory salad dressing. Since I don't have measurements, it's not going to be its own recipe: about 1/4 cup honey, about one clove of garlic chopped fine, olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste, thyme, salt and pepper. This would be great with some crushed red pepper flakes, too. For the salad I tossed organic greens, one roasted beet that I'd julienned, about 1/4 cup dried cranberries, and some softened goat cheese. It was very good and I look forward to having it for dinner!
7. Chocolate Trifle: Well--this went sideways. I was making Paula Deen's Chocolate Coffee Trifle, which I'd had at someone else's house. It was the best dessert EVER. However, I didn't have any Kahlua, and wasn't about to buy a bottle just for this dessert. Another missing element--I don't have a trifle bowl. So, we had pieces of cake with the fudge sauce over top, a scoop of Hagen Daaz vanilla and a little Cool Whip. There were supposed to be chopped up Heath Bars on it, but I forgot to add them. I don't think anyone noticed...not the way my guys were wolfing it down! I hadn't made the sauce before dinner because as soon as the popovers were done they needed to be served. And I was ready to eat after six hours of cooking.

Halloween Cookin

There *is* no cooking on Halloween. It's my favorite holiday and I wasn't spending this year worrying about what everyone was going to eat. Not that there was time....

Today I took a vacation day. Yes, for Halloween. Partly because I was still working on The Bug's costume. He was Gaara from the Japanese comic Naruto. We made a big sand gourd for him to carry on his back (guess who carried it 60% of the time). The gourd, for those who are trying to figure out how to do it, was made thusly:

**Two rubber playground balls, one 16" and one 12", wrapped in plastic bags, duct taped together with a styrofoam disc separating them.

**Then, we paper mached over them with three layers of newsprint and one of white paper.

**When that was dry, we spray painted with a quick-drying water-based spray paint and decorated as needed.

Paper Mache Recipe
Boil four cups water with four tablespoons salt, one tablespoon cinnamon. The salt prevents mold, the cinnamon makes the "glue" smell much better.

Mix one cup of cold water into one cup of flour till smooth. Add to simmering water. Boil until well thickened. Adjust thickness as necessary. Let cool completely before using.

Please, this is *not* a food recipe. Don't eat it!

Absolutely nothing to do with anything: I don't understand why parents DRIVE their kids around from house to house in a development for Halloween. If all this is about is snagging the most candy, save everyone the hassle and buy an $8 bag at the store and just dump it in a bucket for the kid.

The Bug and I walked for almost two hours, watching the sun disappear, the moon rise, the stars brighten. As the air cooled wonderful aromas filled the air. On leaving one house I commented that they had something good cooking inside, and The Bug said, "YEAH. Smells like spaghetti. Wish they'd given me a bowl of THAT for Halloween!" (yeah, he's my kid.)

And if we were driving in our golf carts or minivans-with-the-doors-open we would have never been "pulled over" be the neighborhood firemen in their nice truck, with lights and sirens, and given a big handful of candy by nice, sweet do-gooders.

Ahhh--it was the golf-carters loss.

Can Sugar Go Bad?

Someone wanted to know if sugar can go bad. According to the October issue of Real Simple sugar can keep up to two years (and sometimes more)--if kept in an airtight, moistureproof container. And brown sugar can be softened by microwaving for 15 seconds, but, because of the molasses in it, it should be used up within a year.

Flour is more of a problem. If you're like me, you use plenty of flour in cooking and baking. Again, use the airtight container in a cool, dry spot. I have my grandmother's tins for flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and the third tin used to hold cookies but now holds sticky rice (uncooked, of course). Are you using whole-wheat flour or other whole-grains? Keep those in a big freezer bag and in the freezer--inside a Tupperware container to keep the bag from getting punctured.

What about baking powder and baking soda? I hate to say when I was young I was known to user the baking soda out of the box in the fridge. Good lordy, learn from my mistakes! That box is there to absorb bad odors--and whatever you're baking will taste like bad smells. Ieew. Use one for the fridge and one in the cupboard. And what about odors in the cupboard? I put my box in a zip-lock baggie to keep it fresh. Real Simple says Baking Soda is good for two years unopened, one year if opened. And baking powder is easy--it has a use-by date printed on the can. Why didn't I ever know that?

They didn't address powdered sugar, which for me always tastes like gym socks and I have to get a new bag if ever I need it. So of course, I never make anything that requires it.

What are your tips for storing powdered sugar?