I come from a culinary arts background, but have since left that industry. I am now working on my writing, and enjoying cooking for family and friends.
Because elves stick to the four food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup, I thought it was perfect to focus on for the night before Halloween! I know, I know, I could have done The Nightmare Before Christmas, but this movie has better food options.
Tonight also marks my first fail. I made a recipe I won't bother sharing, because the recipe itself is flawed. I tried out an orange caramel rice krispie treat recipe that involved making my own caramel. Sugar work is very finicky, and I didn't let it get dark enough so the flavor was blah, and the recipe was too much cereal to caramel and was completely dry. It's now in my compost bag sadly...
But dinner turned out great!! I made Confetti Spaghetti and it's basically spaghetti meets sloppy joes and it was fabulous! Since the sauce leaned sweet and even has brown sugar in it, I thought it was appropriate for how Buddy the Elf likes his spaghetti...!
Here is the ingredient line up for both recipes. I won't bother showing the process for my recipe fail, but it was kinda cool to experiment with caramel.
The recipe calls for ground beef, which I don't eat, so I used ground chicken instead. That's why it looks different.
The sauce is super easy to make, and pretty fast, all things considered.
I made it earlier in the day and left it in the fridge till I was ready to assemble the dish.
Action shot! Pasta boilng in the water and the sauce reheating on the stove.
I did not break the noodles in half because you cut the portions later and I thought that would cut them into smaller pieces that way.
All mixed!
The recipe says to put the cheese on after the half hour of baking but I didn't pay attention and put it on anyway. It turned out ok but some of it did stick to the foil, so if you can, go ahead and wait till that last 5 minutes.
Here's the final product. Does this look amazing, or what?!! This will make enough that I can freeze portions for another time.
Here's a close up of the dished-up product. This was really good and my sister really liked it too! It's just sweet enough without being overly sweet. The spices don't come through too much but I hope by tomorrow when everything melds, it'll be more "spicy." I could always add more the next time I make this.
This is something I could easily make over and over again. It would be good for family gatherings because everybody would like this. And the cheddar on top is wonderful!
Buddy the elf would highly approve of this meal. He would probably still pour some syrup over it for good measure, but he'd love this! If you want a dinner while you watch Elf this year, this is definitely one to go for. You won't regret it!
This is one of my newer favorite Christmas movies. My sister and I discovered it in a random pile of cheap dvds at an office store years ago and bought it to try it out and immediately fell in love with it. What's not to love about Madeline Kahn, Steve Martin, Liev Schrieber, and Rita Wilson in a Nora Ephron film? It's absolutely bonkers and absolutely hilarious.
One of the scenes in the movie revolves around the group eating Chinese food, and that's what inspired tonight's meal.
I picked three recipes and immediately realized it was too much food and pared it down to two: egg drop soup, and Chinese-style barbecued chicken. Both are old recipes without sources so I will write them out here. Chinese food can be very labor-intensive and time-consuming and I'm excited that these two were not that. They were super easy! First up:
Egg Drop Soup
4 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. dry sherry
1 Tbsp. cold water
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 eggs, well-beaten
2 green onions, bias cut
2 tsp. sesame oil
1.) Combine broth, soy sauce, and sherry in large saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer 2 minutes.
2.) Stir water into cornstarch in small bowl; mix well. Stir mixture into soup; simmer 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened.
3.) Stirring constantly in one direction, slowly add beaten eggs to soup in thin stream. Stir in green onions. Remove from heat; stir in sesame oil. Serve immediately.
4 servings
I used frozen homemade chicken stock and honestly because I didn't label it, it might have been turkey stock, but it doesn't really matter, the flavors added cover it up. You could even use vegetable stock if you're vegetarian who eats eggs. This isn't completely thawed in this shot.
Here are the rest of the elements for the soup. It's very simple.
My system is acting up so I can't rotate photos tonight for some reason so this is an odd angle, but here is the soup after you stir in the soy sauce. Most egg drop soup I've had in restaurants is the color of the chicken broth so this definitely looked different to me, but the flavor was really good.
Here is the soup after you add the egg and stir it well. It basically cooks as soon as it hits the broth, so you don't have to worry about raw eggs, if that bothers you.
And the final product. I topped it with the green onion instead of stirring it in, and did a few drops of sesame oil.
This recipe was really tasty! It's amazing how filling something a simple as broth and eggs is, but I had this as an appetizer and had planned on making potstickers(frozen) to go with all this but found it was enough to skip them. This has made me curious to try all the other egg drop soup recipes I have because it was super easy and fast to make this. We'll see how this reheats tomorrow because I made a half batch of this recipe and ate half tonight.
My entree tonight was this:
Chinese-Style Barbecued Chicken
1(2 1/2lb) chicken, quartered
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. dry sherry
2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. honey
Dash cayenne pepper
1.) Rinse chicken pieces and pat dry. In a medium bowl, combine oil, garlic, sherry, vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and cayenne. Stir to mix well. Add chicken pieces and turn to coat. Marinate at room temperature, turning once or twice, 30-60 minutes.
2.) Prepare a medium-hot fire in a grill or preheat broiler. Set chicken about 6" from heat and grill or broil, turning and basting with marinade every 10 minutes, until browned outside and white to the bone but still moist, about 25 minutes.
4 Servings
Here is the chicken marinating. I used hindquarters instead of a whole chicken because I didn't need 4 servings, just 2.
Post-marinating, ready to go into the oven. I didn't do what the recipe says. I baked them in the oven, turning once, cooking about 40 minutes before putting them under the broiler. I also didn't have rice wine vinegar so I used a combo of rice vinegar and white wine instead.
Here is out of the oven, pre-broiling.
Action shot in the broiler!
And post-broiler. It looks burned but it's not, it just gets really dark. The bigger piece ended up needing about 10 more minutes in the oven so we ate in shifts.
Again, I can't rotate this shot, but here's the final product. We made this with Trader Joe's vegetable fried rice on the side which is tasty and really easy to make.
The chicken we perfectly cooked and the skin was very crispy. I felt that it wasn't very flavorful, however. I think it needs to marinate longer than an hour. In the future I'd probably marinate it all day in the fridge. And I should have added a few more shakes of the cayenne pepper shaker...!
Like I said, I was impressed with how quickly this all came together. It was relatively hands-off except for stirring the soup. I really loved the soup and can't wait to make it again some day!
If you've never seen Mixed Nuts, you definitely need to eat Chinese food when you watch it. Just make sure not to forget the fortune cookies, like I did!
There are a couple of great options for foods in the classic Grinch cartoon, but I narrowed it down to roast beast, and Who hash. Because I don't actually know what beast it is that's roasted, I decided to try my hand at Who hash. There isn't an official recipe for this, of course, but the internet has come up with plenty of options, so I picked one at random, and also found a hashbrown recipe from my own recipe collection to try out. I ended up with a delicious Grinch-themed brunch this morning!
Here are all the ingredients ready for prepping.
And here they are post-prepping, ready to be cooked.
First up is the Who Hash recipe, which I took from this site:
Here is the mixed potatoes and veggies, with the lemon juice, ready to fry.
And into the frying pan! Please note, that I did something different with the sausages. I never trust them to cook all the way through when you pan fry them, so I boiled them instead and then cut them into pieces like the recipe calls for. I would just rather know that the sausages are cooked through, you know?!
My second recipe has no source that I can find so I will write it out.
Hashbrowns
4 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 bu. fresh rosemary
1 large yellow onion, diced
6 large Idaho or russet potatoes, thoroughly washed and cut into 1/4" cubes
3 green onions, green part only, finely chopped
1.) Add oil to a large, heavy skillet and place over medium heat.
2.) Add garlic and rosemary and cook just until fragrant, about 4 minutes.
3.) Stir in yellow onions, continue to cook until onions and garlic are translucent.
4.) Add potatoes and green onions, stirring often to prevent sticking. Cook until the potatoes are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, about 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately.
Makes 6 servings
I used dried rosemary because I didn't have fresh and I'm not the biggest rosemary fan. It can be very overwhelming and I've had bad experiences with it. It takes like eating a Christmas tree when done badly...! The Grinch may have stolen all the Christmas trees from Whoville, but he was smart enough not to eat the needles...!
The pan was too small but it was the next biggest one I had. The biggest one was used for the Who hash that needed more space. This was a half batch too, btw. This took longer to cook then the recipe says, same with the Who hash, but you know how potatoes are. They cook as long as they take, and then some, sometimes...
Here is the final product dished up very casually with some buttered toast! Both tasted really good, but were a lot of work for hashbrowns when frozen work so well. It's fun to experiment with making your own though.
I really like the Italian sausage in the hash. It never occurred to me to use that kind of sausage in this kind of dish, but it was a great addition!
You can see why the Grinch would steal this from the Whos in Whoville. If I could get a canned version of this, I totally would eat it all the time!
The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Christmas Movie Edition-Week 2
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
This week's movie has some fun food options to choose from, the most infamous being, of course, a year subscription to the jelly-of-the-month club. I was not about to make jelly, though, because I don't have the set up or knowledge to do canning. So I studied the rest of the foods from the Christmas Eve meal, and focused on Aunt Bethany's Jell-O mold. The one with the cat food on top...My grandmother made a lime Jell-O every major holiday for the family, and as I was looking through my recipes, I came across one from her step-mother that I had never tried before, and decided to try that out for this week's recipe.
My grandmother and her family were Canadian, and my sister and I recently got our Canadian citizenship sorted out. As tomorrow is Thanksgiving there, I thought it was an extra appropriate time to try this recipe. Since I have to work tomorrow, it'll make me feel like I'm celebrating the holiday early.
Here is the recipe:
This is one of those very stereotypical Jell-O salads from the 1960's so popular with white families in the US and Canada. It's ok to admit it. If you're white, you have likely encountered a salad like this.
I had the carrots leftover from last week's meatloaf, and thought it would be a good way to use them up. Keep in mind, that the smallest can of crushed pineapple you can find in the stores these days, is 8 ounces, not 2. I used an 8 ounce can, and found it worked just fine. I kept the recipe exactly the same otherwise, though I only did a few grinds of salt, as I thought it sounded like too much salt for my tastes.
Here we have our picture of all the ingredients. Complete with not only whipped topping, but store-brand whipped topping! I had it in the freezer to use up for something, so it was perfect to use.
Action shot! I drained as much of the pineapple juice I could and then did water for the rest. Because it was an 8oz can, it was more juice then it called for. I was concerned that the enzymes in the pineapple juice might affect the gelling ability of the Jell-O, but it worked just fine.
Here we have the post-Jell-O shot. It brings it out of a boil immediately, so turn up the heat a bit more to bring it back.
I poured the liquid into a bowl and chilled it for about a half hour before it was thickened enough to add the rest of the ingredients. Pineapple and grated carrots makes this almost a Jell-O version of carrot cake, if you think about it!
And the exciting addition of the whipped topping. It does thin out quite a bit in this step. I was sure it wouldn't thicken properly.
I poked holes in two pieces of plastic wrap and put them across the Bundt pan so that the mold wouldn't get stuck in it. I highly recommend doing this because it would be really hard to get this out in one piece, otherwise.
The plastic wrap does make the outside look a bit wonky, but it's still worth it to get it out in one piece. Also, as you can see, this did firm up after all!
Here's the interior of the salad. It's pretty monochromatic.
Here's a serving. It's pretty sweet so a little goes a long way. The flavor wasn't half bad. I wasn't too wild about the random crunchy carrot shreds, it sort of ruined the texture. The pineapple was good, it's soft so it just blended into the rest of it.
Well, I can't say this recipe made a Jell-O salad fan out of me. I think I grew up in a time when that type of food was no longer en vogue, so it's just not my thing, but I can see how somebody who grew up on this type of dish would really enjoy it. I had a box of strawberry Jell-O and almost tried it with this, but decided to go with the lemon anyway. I bet it would be good with strawberry and maybe leaving out the carrot. Strawberry and pineapple is a delicious pairing. I also don't know if the 1/2 cup of sugar did anything structurally for the salad or if it just made it needlessly sweeter. Maybe I'd try it again without that as well. Maybe it was for if you used plain whipped cream? To add that sweetness. I bet that was it...
I think Aunt Bethany would be very proud of this salad, and I bet she'd gift-wrap it for her family for next Christmas Eve!
The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Christmas Movie Edition-Week 1
A Christmas Story
"Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double-beatloaf. I hate meatloaf."
Well, we have come to another year of my 12 Weeks of Christmas blog project. This year's theme is Christmas movies and the dishes or foods featured or mentioned in them. To kick off the project, I chose one of my favorite Christmas movies: A Christmas Story. There were several options I could choose from in this movie. The turkey dinner that was destroyed, and the "Chinese turkey" meal that replaced it were definitely good possibilities, but I have plans later on for similar dishes and didn't want to repeat myself. This left one iconic moment to use: the meatloaf meal that truly showcased what a picky eater Randy, the little brother, was.
I picked out two recipes to try, and both ended up being sister-approved(another picky eater), which means they must be really good!
First up: Meatloaf with Mushroom Gravy(Source unknown)
Meatloaf:
2Tbsp. canola oil
3lb ground chicken
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped carrot
1 cup unseasoned whole-wheat breadcrumbs mixed with 1 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup ketchup
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. garlic-pepper blend
Gravy:
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 lb. sliced mixed mushrooms
1/4 cup flour
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp. salt
1.) Meatloaf: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a large roasting pan with canola oil
2.) In large bowl, mix chicken, onion, carrot, breadcrumb mixture, Parmesan, ketchup, eggs, salt, poultry seasoning, and garlic pepper. Divide in half, form into 2 loaf shapes. Place each in prepared pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 60-70 minutes, or until 160 degrees.
I made homemade breadcrumbs by drying out pieces of bread on a plate and crushing them with my hands and a coffee mug I used as a rolling pin. It still had some big chunks, but it doesn't matter when you add the milk.
Here is the pre-mixed meatloaf ingredients, before adding the ground chicken. The recipe says to chop the carrots, but I grated them on a box grater. Just easier that way.
Here is the mixed meatloaf.
And here is what it looks like on the prepared sheet pan. This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated till you're ready to bake it.
And here is the finished meatloaf, out of the oven. This actually only ended up needing about 45 minutes to cook through.
3.) Gravy: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms. Cook 5 minutes. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute. Gradually whisk in broth, wine, poultry seasoning, and salt. Simmer 3 minutes.
Serve with mashed potatoes or cooked noodles.
Makes 2(6 serving) meals
The sauteed mushrooms and flour make a bit of a roux but it needed more oil or fat to really be a proper roux.
Here is the gravy with all the ingredients, simmering. I bought pre-sliced mushrooms and should have taken the time to slice them thinner, I think they would have cooked down better.
Caramelized onions are theoretically easy to make, but I always seem to sautee them and then they get overcooked a bit. Low and very slow is what you need for caramelized onions.
Pan-roasting the garlic. Also low and slow is best for this.
It's hard to tell, but on the right side is the mashed garlic, and the onions are on the left side.
And here is the finished product, with the onions and garlic mixed in. Because this is a "healthy" recipe, there is no butter, and it works with the gravy added, but I'm not sure it wouldn't be too dry if you ate them just plain. The flavor is pretty good, though. Caramelized onion and roasted garlic are hard to beat as far as flavors go.
Here's the plated version with the gravy on the potatoes. I was tired and ran out of time for a vegetable, but there's carrots and onions in the meatloaf and mushrooms in the gravy, so I figured those were good enough!
I thought the final product was pretty good. If I had to do it over again, I might have sauteed the onion and carrots for the meatloaf, as they didn't cook fully and ended up being a bit crunchy for my tastes. I would have chopped the mushrooms smaller, as well. They would have cooked down better. The mashed potatoes had great flavor and texture in spite of not having any butter in them!
If you want a comfort dish, you can never go wrong with meatloaf and mashed potatoes. And I can guarantee you won't need to trick anybody into showing you how the piggies eat to eat this dinner!
