Savory Brussels Sprouts!

Mr. Lawyer has been on a big brussels sprouts kick so for our impromptu Thanksgiving I surprised him with a batch. This maybe our favorite roasted brussels sprouts recipe to date! Now I do have  a soft spot for the sweet maple roasted ones but Mr. Lawyer prefers the savory ones. This recipe might have won me over to the savory side. I think the smoked paprika adds an interesting flavor that we couldn't get enough of.

Delicious Roasted Brussels Sprouts

(adapted from Alton Brown)

Ingredients:
1 pound Brussels sprouts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Cut off the stem end of the Brussels sprouts and remove any yellowing outer leaves. Cut in half if desired or leave whole.
2. Mix the olive oil, garlic, mustard, paprika and salt. Toss with the brussels sprouts.

3. Preheat oven to 400 and cook 15 to 30 minutes depending on the size. 

Thanksgiving, Part 4?!

I picked up a $30 turkey for 10 bucks this past weekend....because we hadn't had enough turkey with our three Thanksgivings. We had talked about brining a turkey but because we always go to our families for Thanksgiving dinner we never had the opportunity. This was our opportunity. A fifteen pound turkey all to ourselves, leftover galore, I wouldn't have to cook all week! So far it has worked our marvelously.

The turkey and all the fixings!

Gravy, Brussels Sprouts, Cranberry Sauce (from a can!), Brioche Rolls from Reading Terminal served up with a Garlic-Chive Butter, and Lillian's Secret Mashed Potatoes!

 We went with the Alton Brown recipe because he is Mr. Lawyer's food guru. It was a little tricky to brine the turkey in our apartment but we squeezed the turkey into my largest stock pot and rearranged the fridge to make it happen. The roasting went smoothly. We might have found our go to recipe for whenever we host a holiday in the far future!

I love that you can see the Christmas Tree in this picture.

 Now it's time to find some fun recipes for all the leftovers. Turkey soup? Chili? Salad? Plus making stock from the bones! I cannot wait.

Brined & Roasted Turkey

(From Good Eats by Alton Brown)

Ingredients:
1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
1 gallon heavily iced water
For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil
Directions:
1. 2 to 3 days before roasting: Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F. 

2. Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
3. Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat: Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.
4. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine. Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.
5. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.
6. Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

We kept all of the dishes Alton Brown inspired and went with gravy recipe as well. I didn't follow the proportions of this recipe exactly and used sherry instead of wine but it came out wonderfully!

Best Gravy Ever

(from Alton Brown)

Ingredients:
1 Good Eats Roast Turkey, recipe above
24 ounces reduced sodium chicken broth
8 ounces red wine (I subbed in sherry)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh herbs such as oregano, thyme or rosemary
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Remove the turkey from the roasting pan and set aside to rest. Leave the drippings from the turkey in the pan and place the roasting pan over medium heat. Add the broth and wine at the same time. Whisk to combine, scraping the bottom of the pan until all of the bits have come loose. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes in order to reduce the mixture slightly. 

2. Transfer the liquid to a fat separator and let sit for 5 minutes to allow fat to separate. Return 2/3 to 3/4 cup of the fat to the roasting pan and place over medium-high heat. Discard any remaining fat. 

3. bAdd the flour and whisk to combine. Cook, whisking continuously, until the mixture starts to thicken and become smooth, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Once this happens, gradually add the liquid back to the pan and whisk until smooth and you have reached your desired consistency, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Remember, your gravy should be slightly thin in the pan as it will thicken once you serve it. Add the herbs and whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Broccoli Candy

This is what 20 bucks gets you at the Market.

And the only reason it was that high was due to the stupid 6.99 Cuties.

We have been eating a ton of fruits and veggies this week but that is for another post! This post is for that huge one dollar bag of broccoli in the upper right hand corner. Half of it went into our Spicy Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry and I needed to use up the rest of it. We're going to a friend's school fund raiser tonight so I figured we'd be munching on some less than healthy food, this inspired me to make a super healthy lunch snack: roasted broccoli! Throw in the fact that it was an Alton Brown recipe (who the Mr. Lawyer has a huge man crush on) and we may have been fighting over the last pieces. Who ever thought we'd be fighting over broccoli?!

It was like broccoli candy: a little bit sweet, a little bit salty. The panko added a nice little crunch. I even shaved a few calories off and didn't use the whole amount of cheese. After about 1/8 cup everything looked pretty coated so I stopped adding it. I served it up with some whole wheat pitas from Feders.

Oven Roasted Broccoli

(from Alton Brown, Food Network)

Ingredients:
1 pound broccoli, rinsed and trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or sharp Cheddar
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Cut the broccoli florets into bite size pieces. Cut the stalk into 1/8-inch thick, round slices. Place the broccoli into a mixing bowl and toss with the olive oil, garlic, kosher salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Spread the panko into a 13 by 9-inch metal cake pan and place into the oven for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove the panko from the oven and add to the bowl with the broccoli mixture. Toss to combine. Return the mixture to the cake pan, place in the oven and roast just until the broccoli is tender, 8 to 10 more minutes.

4. Remove from the oven, toss in the cheese and serve immediately.

Holy Guacamole!

I was all Iron Chef making this guacamole and was whacking the avocado seeds with a big knife and yanking them out. It was exciting. I did not make the salsa but I did make some Pita Chips! Which are highly addicting and delicious with everything, especially guacamole. Seeing as how there is no guacamole left I will definitely be making this recipe again.

Guacamole

(Alton Brown, Food Network)

Ingredients:
3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (omitted because I didn't have any)
1 clove garlic, minced
Directions:
1. In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated. 

2. Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. 

3. Then, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. 

4. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve.

Pork Chop Dinner!

Also known as Jenni cooks a real meal with multiple sides and didn't completely destroy everything while multitasking! Tonight we had Molasses and Coffee Pork Chops with salt/pepper/garlic haricot verts (because Whole Foods can't call them green beans), and Potato Au Gratin balls. 

Two things greatly affected this recipe: my inability to properly use my grill pan and my intense fear of food poisoning via meat (never mind the fact that if I eat out I will order my steak/burger medium and love the pinkness but so help me god if there is any pink in meat I cook at home there will be a panic attack). So I burnt the pork chops a little bit on the pan, part my fault/part burning marinade that would have dripped down in a real grill. They would have been stellar on a real grill (some of the reviews broiled them but I was feeling adventurous hence the grill pan). The flavors were still good, an interesting mix of sweetness and then bitterness from the coffee. We decided that we would make this recipe again with Mr. Lawyer in charge of the actual cooking.

Molasses and Coffee Pork Chops

(Alton Brown, Food Network)

Ingredients:
1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 cup molasses
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
6 to 8 sprigs fresh thyme (I used a couple pinches of dried thyme)
4 6-to-8-ounce bone-in pork chops (1 inch thick)
Directions:
1. Combine the coffee, molasses, vinegar, mustard, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, the ginger, thyme and pork chops in a 1-gallon zip-top bag; seal and shake to combine.Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat a grill to medium-high. Remove the pork from the bag. Pour the marinade into a saucepan; boil gently over medium-high heat, stirring, until reduced to 1/2 cup, 12 to 15 minutes.**
3. Grill the pork chops for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until they reach an internal temperature of 145. Let rest for 5 minutes; serve with the glaze.

**Say what?! I was always told not to reuse marinade even if you boiled it but if Alton Brown does it...I still reserved some non-meaty marinade to reduce down into a glaze.