Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie and Leftover Thanksgiving Grub Sliders

Happy Black Friday Everyone!!! I, myself, have never been out there, but I know some hardcore shoppers. You all be safe out there. Every year, I remind everyone to wear extra padding and a slingshot just incase folks get a little crazy.

So, there was this big American holiday yesterday. We ate so much food and my children decided to use ME as a trampoline afterwards:


I've been preparing for this meal all month as my husband has been away so I wanted to be prepared and not skimp on anything! And for the most part, everything went smoothly. My first virtual stress-free Thanksgiving since my first one. This year, everything but the pound cake and cookie topping used in the Pumpkin Tiramisu was from scratch!


If you follow me on Twitter you've seen all my annoying informative turkey day prep tweets! It was nice, because I was communicating others what I was doing it kept me on track! Especially my husband was awayand most days there were no one to talk to. I talked Thanksgiving to death with my friend Becca- poor thing hehe.  Anywho, my husband arrived home early this Monday morning. He was pleasantly surprised and suddenly very hungry after seeing all the preliminary work I did!


This year I am also proud to say I got my first organic, free-range turkey. It was 5kg of awesomeness! It was also a pretty penny, so an early birthday present for me (it's tomorrow!). I also butterflied this massive bird by removing its backbone and breast bone! This mofo did NOT want to give up that breast bone, but I needed to remove it to ensure a flat bird! I also brined it the night before, then rinsed and dried it, made a butter/spice mixture and massage the lovely bird all over and under its skin. I then covered it, let it sit and dry, outside as it was COLDER than my fridge and there was no room left in my fridge (Thank goodness we do not live next door to The Bumpasses' hounds, heh), then brought it to room temp, grilled it over indirect heat for about 2 hours. The most difficult part was flipping the bird, and I was pretty sure I was an expert at that (i hate traffic). This resulted in a perfectly cooked bird, tend er juicy, amazing flavor and I would most certainly do this again!!!



Finished


After reading all the POMs posts, I decided to to try something using pomegranate. I made a pomegranate glaze using pomegranate molasses, soy sauce, dijon mustard, and dash of salt and a lil dark brown sugar. My daughter could have ate the glaze alone!  It was amazing! And it complimented the turkey very well!

Dinner was delicious! The menu I ended up going with was:
Grilled and Butterflied Pomegranate Glazed Turkey
Apple-Sausage Cornbread Stuffing - I made my own sausage!!!
Green Bean Casserole with Herbed Onion Ring Topping
Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon and Potato Chip Topping
Vichy Carrots
Sweet Potato-Thyme Rolls from scratch
Pear-Ginger-Cranberry Chutney
Pumpkin Tiramisu
Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie with Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream



I have to say my faaaaaaave of everything was the Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie. I usually make pecan pie and leave it for the hubby. He's a southern  boy who loves pecans and pie. However, after seeing him eat 5 slices, I asked for one. OH MY GOSH. The flavors were incredible together and I just needed more. I woke up thinking about PIE. I ate the last slice...how lady like!  So here is the recipe, by my main man, Tyler Florence. This man never steers me wrong, I tells ya.

I made the crust two weeks in advance and froze, thawed overnight, then let sit at room temp about 20 minutes so it wouldnt crack when I rolled it out.

I am making this again next week!



Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
Tyler Florence

Ingredients:
For Pie Pastry
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup finely ground pecans
1 T sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small chunks
2 T ice water, plus more if needed

For Filling:
1/4 cup butter
2 oz unsweetened chocolate--i used 72% cocoa
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 t vanilla extract
3 T bourbon
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 cups pecan halves

To make the pastry: combine the flour, ground pecans, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix with a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the ice water and work it in to bind the dough until it holds together without being too wet or sticky. Squeeze a small amount together, if it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle. Carefully roll the dough up onto the pin (this may take a little practice) and lay it inside a 9-inch pie pan. Press the dough into the pan so it fits tightly and trim the excess around the rim. Place the pie pan on a sturdy cookie sheet so it will be easy to move in and out of the oven.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
To make the filling: melt the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, remove from heat and let cool. Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl until frothy and then blend in the sugar. Stir in the syrup, vanilla, bourbon, salt, and the melted butter mixture until well blended.
Arrange the pecans on the bottom of the pie crust and carefully pour the egg mixture over them. Bake until the filling is set and slightly puffed, about 45 minutes. Test for doneness by sticking a thin knife in the center of the pie, if it comes out pretty clean, you're good to go. Transfer the pie to rack and cool completely before cutting.

I served this glorious pie with homemade vanilla bean ice cream. Recipe here or just purchase some nice stuff.



Post Turkey Day Sliders

NOW a quick idea for those leftovers. You all know I love sliders from previous posts, they're mini with a big bite! I made sure I had just enough rolls leftover to make these. I basically used my compund flavored butter to spread across the tops of the rolls, warmed turkey, chutney, stuffing and rolls in the oven, split the rolls in half crosswise, chucked in the goods and added some fresh sage. UH-MAZING!!! This will be a post huge dinner tradition!!!



Thank you for reading this!!!

Ghosts of Thanksgiving Past

Is it me or is Thanksgiving Dinner the "What I've learned about cooking this year' test? If so, I've failed. Miserably. I am sure I am the only one who feels its a test because the menu is large, expectations are high, and hell, it's Thanksgiving the most important cooking day for us Americans!

 I've been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my own little family for 4 years now. I remember the first time I was so nervous! I even wrote down emergency Turkey day phone numbers! We cleared our fridge, and made sure we had enough room for the mass amounts of food thawing and eventually leftovers. The meal was only for me, my husband, and 2 little ones (at the time was 2 months old and 2 years old). I baked all the pies in advance and cooked everything else the day of. I took A LOT of shortcuts. My focus mainly was having a juicy turkey and not those dry turkeys you usually have. Having such a small oven, I only roasted the breast. I also roasted it in those bags. I really didn't want a dry turkey!

That year I made:

Roast Turkey breast

Glazed Spiral Ham

Stove-top Stuffing

Canned Collard Greens

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

Mashed Potatoes (from scratch)

Macaroni and Cheese (from scratch)

Canned Cranberry Sauce

Sweet Potato and Pecan Pie (with store bought crusts and homemade fillings)

Candied Yams with Marshmallows and Pineapple

My really lowcut housewife dress, husband, and then 2 y/o and 2 month old 

FOOD

Though I did take a lot of shortcuts, it was all delicious and made with love. It was also the least stressful Thanksgiving I've ever had!

My second home cooked Thanksgiving took place on my birthday. Great day, yeah? Er no. I broke our 'good' plates, our landlord cut off the hot water and oh yeah I was 5 months pregnant cooking up a mostly from scratch Turkey day menu. Stressed out? HELL YEA I was. I planned everything so it would be easy for my pregnant self, but it all backfired from the time hot water went out. Luckily I cooked a lot of food in advance! All that was left to do was assemble salads, make toppings, Turkey (bagless yet VERY MOIST!) gravy and veggie sides. Sounds easy, but my small kitchen, small oven, not hot water, 5 inch heel wearing when I am already 6'2 AND pregnant did not make it easy. I was so stressed by the end of it all that could not eat. I cried actually. I got over it, and happily ate leftovers for days afterwards.

The menu that year was....

Roasted Herbed Turkey with Mushroom Gravy

Roasted Broccoli and Tomatoes

Stuffing- homemade!

Hawaiian rolls

Green Bean Casserole

Apple Salad

Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue Topping

Pecan Pie

Five months pregnant with my 3rd. I hated that stupid roof. I slanted down and me feel even more like a giant. 

Now last year. Last year was uber stressful. We were going through so much personally and financially (always around the holidays!!!) that Thanksgiving almost never happened. I had a huge breakdown, a lot of tears were shed. That was probably one of the toughest times in our marriage. So bad that I refused to cook the day of. Even after I prepped a lot through the week. Sigh. In fact, I did not cook on Thanksgiving.  My husband scraped up every piece of cash we had and went to the commissary and bought all the food from my mass amount of lists. How could I let him down? I cooked my ass off even brined my turkey for the first with excellent results. 

My menu 

Bacon Wrapped Turkey

Homemade Stuffing - same as previous year

Green Bean Casserole- same as previous year

Macaroni and cheese

Candied Baby Carrots- boiled in 7up!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecan and Pineapples

Sweet Potato Pie with marshmallow meringue

Pecan Tart

Day after Turkey Day

This year, I plan and hope to plan, plan, plan a lot better. This time of year I have my holiday notebook. I write in detail every single thing we're doing it. It's much more detailed at Christmas time, and I plan to do the same with Thanksgiving. Especially as my husband comes back the week of Thanksgiving. So I must be prepared! I've made my menu and I am hoping for the best. It's a mix of our favorites, and new dishes! Here's that menu.

Deep Fried Turkey---Heard nothing but raves. Plan B. If there is a problem I will cut up the Turkey and grill. Gotta have a plan b!

Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage- Who doesn't love pork and cornbread?

Green Bean Casserole- I am putting my own spin on my husband's favorite Turkey Day side dishes from the past 2 years. 

Macaroni and Cheese with Topping- Deliciousness we ate this summer must be incorporated in our menu

Cranberry Chutney- I made my own cranberry sauce for the first time last Christmas. I've always loved canned, but fresh is best!!!

Mashed Sweet Potato with topping- I love sweet potatoes

Sweet Potato Rolls- I love sweet potatoes and bread together hehe

 Pecan Pie- with a lil this and that

And something special with pumpkin!

I sort of left out some details, because I want it to be a surprise. Plus I am even more nervous after revealing my plans. This dinner, again, is for me and my family. I just go all out for my babies :) 

Also, the great news is my husband will be home with us until March after he comes home in 3 weeks! But that also means he will be away until September. But I am happy he won't be leaving so soon!!

Biscuits and Gravy, Y'all!

Wow, what a week. Full of ups and downs and unfortunately it ended at a low point. I would love to dish the juicy details, but it's for my book. Luckily my lovely husband just got home from a week-long TDY Friday night when everything went down. He provided much needed advice, love, silence, hugs, and bought me my favorite comfort sweet- Ferrero Rocher chocolates! So yesterday I asked him, "what do you want me to cook you? An elaborate dinner or breakfast?" He quickly said breakfast. He then looked at me with bright-eyes and a hungry smile, then said, "Biscuits and Gravy." 

Twins?

I'm going to be honest. I've only seen Biscuits and Gravy at chain restaurants and buffets. They never ever looked so appealing. The smell, the gravy skin, the appearance was just a huge turn-off for me. But how could I say no to him? So I promptly looked up some Biscuits and Gravy recipes, but the best one looks-wise came from my favorite southern chef, Tyler Florence. I used my favorite biscuit recipe and adapted his gravy recipe. And lemme tell y'all something, it's gooooooooooood!! And super simple!

Biscuits and Gravy!

For Biscuits:

Adapted from Ina Garten's Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

1 T Baking Powder

1 1/2 t kosher salt

3/4 cup of cold butter

1/2 to 3/4 cup buttermilk, well shaken

1 large egg

Sausage Gravy

Adapted from Tyler Florence

1lb of sausage. Any suace can be used. I used mild Italian sausage links and took them out of their casings

2 T Bacon grease or butter (optional if there isn't enough fat from sausages in the pan)

1/4 cup flour

4 cups of warmed milk

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 425F.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add cold butter and combine with a pastry cutter, your finger or stand mixer/food processor, cut in butter until butter is the size of peas.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix about 1/2 cup of buttermilk and egg. Make a well in the butter-flour mixture and add milk and egg. Stir until mixture is wet. if it's too dry, add more buttermilk. If it's too wet add more flour.

Now dump contents on a lightly floured counter/board. Gently knead about six times to combine the biscuit dough. 

Pre-kneading

Now, either using a flour-dusted rolling pin or the palms of your hand roll/pat out do into a 10 by 5 rectangle. OR roll or pat dough until it's 1 inch high. Either cut rectangle or use a biscuit cutter (or if your ghetto fab like me use a standard floured drinking glass). cut out about 8 rectangles or as many rounds you can.

Line a baking sheet with parchment and place biscuits on. At this point you can refrigerate the dough until needed. 

Bake in the over for 20 minutes or until golden. 

This is great made ahead! I put mine in the fridge, then started the gravy.

Gravy

Brown Sausages in a skillet

Remove sausages from skillet. Some straggler sausage bits will be left behind which is fine, but leave as much fat as possible.

Melt 2T of fat over medium heat. In this case, I used some bacon grease I saved from cooking bacon. Waste not! Momma would be proud.

Add flour and cook flour until it's a nice caramel color. This is to ensure the floury taste is eliminated. This take about 4 minutes to do.

Add warmed milk by the ladle-fulls. Whisk like crazy initially add ladle-fulls of milk for a smooth gravy.

You may or may not use all the milk. Add enough to the consistency you prefer. Stir in the sausage. And season with course salt and freshly ground pepper

Serve over biscuits and you're done!

Hope you try and enjoy this!!!

Risotto's Given Me a Second Chance

I remember 3 years ago I wanted to make a risotto. It seemed pretty easy, so why not? 

Well friends, it ended up being a a gluey mess. Even my husband was crazy brave enough to say he didn't like it. Actually when I told him that risotto was on the menu that night, I could literally see the fear in his eyes. We watch a lot of cooking programs together, and one of the dishes that was emphasized as being easy to screw up was risotto, and he kind of hinted that fact- especially as I was very new to the kitchen. But at the time I felt fearless. Though I've only been cooking a month or 2, I was ready to tackle it! With or without his support. Or arborio rice! The recipe said long-grained was fine, and that's all I could find. 

Straight Outta Tuscany. It leans, too!

So I am going through the process; the onions are softening beautifully, the garlic is fragrant, the rice is getting nice and toasty.... I go to the bathroom. Wait, what? I was 8-months pregnant, people! I come back from the bathroom, the onions are dry, the garlic is burning, the rice is scorching! Shit! I had to add some (cooking) wine any way so I went on. Let me tell you, the best thing out of this experience was that steamy chemically fake wine facial. I lower the temp a bit, add the chicken broth and stir. Then wait for the rice to absorb....and wait....come on!!! I stir like mad and increase the temp. Oh crap it's sticky! I add more broth and patiently wait. The rice absorbs nicely, then repeat. I thought it sort of fixed itself. THEN I go on to prepare the main- oops. After all that's done, I call in the guinea pig hubby to try dinner. Of course he tastes first. 

Him: Hmm interesting....ok not good. Babe, this is a difficult dish. Remember Gordon Ramsay said...

Me: *cries* I am never making risotto again! *pregnant wobble/run/gallop away*

That's the embarrassing story. It's the reason I haven't cooked risotto again. However, while on twitter, I asked how I should serve scallops as a main and an awesome twitteree  recommended a risotto. I  got very excited and said to myself, "I must get over this fear" Though I haven't cooked risotto in years, I read and watched many programs on this dish.  I went for it and had an even better result than expected. A little patience, a bit of research, and an empty bladder goes a long way!  It's great learning from mistakes, it hurts when a recipe doesn't work the first or seventh time, but practice truly does make perfect. Even my husband believed in me this time!  And he loved the end result.  I am already planning my next risotto dish! 

Come along with me on my journey to yummy risotto.

Risotto with Peas, Mint and Scallops

Adapted from Tyler Florence 

Ingredients

5T extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

Kosher Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup fresh mint

8 cups of chicken stock, heated

1 cup fresh peas, cooked ( or frozen peas, rinse under cool water to thaw)

1/4 cup plus 1T butter, room temp

1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano Cheese

1 pound Sea Scallops

Directions

Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat and pour in 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add shallots and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in rice and half of the chopped mint making sure to coat all the rice grains with the oil.

 Add wine and cook until most of the liquid (as well as the alcohol) has evaporated. Season with a little salt and pepper. Ladle in 1 cup of hot stock. Using a wooden spoon, stir gently until most of the stock has been absorbed.

I had a pot of hot chicken broth. We want creamy not glue!

 Keep adding stock a cup at a time and stirring. After about 10 to 15 minutes, test the rice. It should be cooked and creamy but still have a slight bite to it. (You may not need all of the stock.) 

Gently fold in peas and 1/4 cup butter. Stir in the Pecorino Romano and taste for seasoning. Remove from heat and cover while you sear the scallops.

Set a non-stick saute pan over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Pat the scallops with paper towels to make sure they are very dry. Season on both sides with salt and pepper. Add scallops to pan, making sure not to overcrowd, and cook until they are nicely browned on both sides, about 4 to 8 minutes depending on the size of your scallops.

Want a nice sear? Dry the heck out of those scallops!

Check the risotto and add a bit more stock if it has gotten too thick. In a shallow bowl or plate, make a nice mound of risotto and top with 3 or 4 scallops. Garnish with remaining mint and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately!

Hope you give this a shot!

Chicken Spiedini Salad

Nooo this not a salad made with the chopped up remnants of Speidi aka uber annoying couple Heidi and Spencer Pratt...though it's not a bad idea. It's an Italian dish meaning food   cooked on a stick; this recipe features chicken, baguette, bay leafs, and sausage.


 I am a mother of 3. And I love quick meals and one pot dishes during the week, nah scratch that; I NEED quick meals during the week. I have a full schedule and lots of people to make happy, and I rely on quick fixes! I plan on starting school again this fall, so these quick meals will be even more needed then. 

I've been bitten smitten with the Tyler Florence bug and yet cooked a meal from his book, "Stirring the Pot". Seriously, if you do not have this book- get it! It's full of diverse, delicious recipes that's separated by cooking methods; i.e. roasting, steam, sauté, etc. I adore him, and am so inspired by his cooking.  This recipe is full of wonderful flavors and any sausage can be substituted. 

Ingredients (adapted from Tyler Florence’s “Stirring the Pot” Chicken Spiedini Salad)

Spiedini

·        1 crusty baguette, sliced into rounds

·        2 medium boneless, skin-on chicken breast halves cut into 4 pieces each

·        4 links sweet Italian pork sausage, halved crosswise

·        12 fresh bay leaves (I only had dried)

·        ½ cup of extra-virgin olive oil

·        Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

·        2 lemons, juice only

I removed the bones from skin-on bone-in chicken. Don't throw away bones as they can be used for stock! Throw the bones in a bag and and freeze them until you have enough bones.

 Salad

·        2 anchovy fillets

·        1 clove garlic, peeled

·        1 tablespoon lemon juice (I used about ¼ cup!)

·        2 egg yolks

·        2 tablespoons water

·        1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

·        2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Romano (I used Pecorino- Romano)

·        Kosher Salt

·        2 heads romaine lettuce, washed then torn

·        2 lemons, halved and grilled

·        Finely shredded Parmigiano-Romano (Pecorino-Romano used)

Directions

Using four metal skewers, thread the components, alternating bread, chicken, sausage, and bay leaves, until the skewers are full.

 Baste the kabobs with the ½ cup of olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Preheat grill to high. Place kabobs on the grill; turn the fill to medium. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown, basting with lemon juice and turning to ensure color on all sides.

Meanwhile, prepare the salad. Combine the anchovies, garlic, lemon juice, and egg yolks in a blender. Blend to combine; add the water and blend again.

 With the blender running, slowly pour in 1 cup of olive oil through the hole in the top; blend until emulsified (thickened). Add the 2 tablespoons of cheese, blend until just combined. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the romaine in a large bowl. Add some dressing and gently toss to combine. When kabobs are done, remove from the grill. Serve kabobs with romaine and grilled lemons and sprinkle with shredded cheese.