Grand Mariner Cranberry Sauce

Its almost time for Thanksgiving.  One of my favorite meals of the year.  Its so epic.  I know not everyone goes crazy over turkey but I love it. I always do Alton Brown's brined turkey recipe.  Comes out moist and delicious and we all love it.  I like to do the cranberry sauce ahead of time and freeze it.  One less thing to do when there are a thousand other things to do.

Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce

24 ounces cranberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
2 teaspoons orange zest


1.  Zest oranges. Set aside.

2.  Cook cranberries and zest until cranberries have mostly broken down. 

3.  Add sugar and Grand Marnier and cook five minutes more.

Niçoise Salad

If you eat eggs you can add them in.  This is a delicious salad with or without eggs. The dressing is makes everything come together.  Something about mustard and potatoes!

Niçoise Salad

Serves 2 with enough dressing for another time. Or another salad. :)

10 olives 
1 cup green beans, halved
2 cups small potatoes, chunked
3 cups mixed salad leaves
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 small cucumbers, chunked
1 ripe avocado, diced
2 tablespoons capers

dressing:
3 tbsp white wine vinegar 
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp maple syrup
5 tbsp olive oil 
an assortment of fresh herbs, parsley, basil, dill

Toss it all together.

Asian Style Eggplant

 

I threw some vegetables together that needed some attention. I was excited that it actually worked.  I love it.  I went right out and bought more eggplant from the farmers market.  going to the farmers market for me now is like a kid going to the candy store.  I go crazy and often go a little overboard but we end up eating all of it.

Asian Style Eggplant 

3 small eggplants, chopped in 1 inch dice

2 green bell peppers, chopped in 1 inch dice

1 onion, chopped in 1 inch dice

1 Chile, chopped fine

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Sauce

3 tablespoons broad bean paste

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 white pepper 

1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 tablespoons maple syrup

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons tapioca powder

1/4 cup water

Sauté the bell pepper and onion and chili and olive oil for 10 minutes. Add chopped eggplant and cover. Continue to cook for 10 to 15 minutes until eggplant is wilted.

Make sauce while waiting for the bell pepper for the eggplant to cook when just about done add and sauce until thick. Serve with basil over top.

Deconstructed Sushi Bowl

 

This is one of my faves when I am wanting some Asian flavors.  Most ingredients are available in the Winter so its easy to have then. But with some summer fresh cucumbers, its the BOMB!

DECONSTRUCTED SUSHI BOWL

2 to 3 cups mixed greens

1/2 cup purple cabbage

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 cup cucumbers

1 cup rice

1 avocado, chopped

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup pickled ginger ****

1/4 teaspoon wasabi

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

**** make your own pickled ginger. 

Pickled Ginger

9 to 10 ounces ginger

⅓ cup plus 1 ½ cups sugar

2 teaspoons fine sea salt, or 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt

⅔ cup rice vinegar

Peel ginger and cut into super thin slices, use a mandoline or very sharp knife. Cut across the grain and aim for nearly see-through pieces.

Transfer the ginger to a saucepan or heatproof bowl. Toss with the 1 ½ tablespoons of sugar and salt. Set aside for 30 minutes to reduce its harshness.

About 10 minutes before the ginger finishes mellowing out, bring a kettle of water to a boil. When the ginger is done, pour the just-boiled water over the ginger. Use enough water to cover the ginger. Gently stir and let sit for 20 seconds to further reduce the harshness. Dump into a mesh strainer. Don’t rinse. Shake a few times to expel water, then transfer into a 2-cup capacity glass jar.

In a saucepan, bring the mixture of sugar and vinegar to a boil. Stir once or twice to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and pour into the jar of ginger.

Push down with chopsticks or a spoon to submerge. Cool, uncovered, then cap and refrigerate.

Indian Style Bowl

I am going crazy for bowls right now.  Throw it all in, mix it all up and enjoy.  Its kinda what I did on my plate anyway.  Much easier in a bowl.  I figured I would gather up a few of my faves for ideas in the future when I forget what I did.  Ha!

KERALA STYLE BOWL

1 cup prepared Thoran

1 cup mango, chopped

1 cup tomato, chopped

1 cup rice

1 to 2 cups mixed greens

1 tablespoon evoo

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup cilantro

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 cup water

Toss all ingredients together.  You can add some garam masala if you like for a little flavor boost.

Cabbage Thoran

2 tablespoons coconut oil 

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
10 curry leaves if you have them
3 small green chilies, halved lengthwise or whatever hot pepper you  like
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
4 cups green cabbage, sliced thinly
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut

Saute cumin seeds, curry leaves and mustard seeds in oil.  Lightly toast and add 1/2 cup water right away so they dont burn and become bitter.  Add cabbage and onion, cover and let cook.  Stirring occassionally.

GADO GADO

 

What is it about peanut butter?  I mean I like bacon.  Everyone goes wild over bacon, but honestly I like peanut butter more!  Creamy, delicious and versatile.  Sweet or savory.

My husband said this dish is a bit like deconstructed spring rolls.  Yes, it kind of is.  Way less work though.

You can make everything in advance which is kind of nice.  The hardest part about this dish is all the chopping.  But frankly chopping vegetables is a stress reliever for me so I dont mind.  It is worth any amount of work you put in.  Great flavor.  You made need to play around with the ingredients to get the right balance of sweet and tart with a hint of heat.

GADO GADO

4 garlic cloves

1/3 cup Tomato paste

1 cup peanuts or 1/2 cup peanut butter

1 Mild chile such as Pablano, if you like more heat you can choose a jalapeño or cayenne

1/4 cup Shallots or one small onion

Hand full of Chives

2 tablespoons Kecap mainis

1/2 cup Tamarind juice, like concentrate

1/2 cup water

Lime juice, 1 to 2 limes

Some things you can have on your tray might include:

Green beans

Cucumbers 

Sugar snap peas, parboiled

Tofu, cooked

Boiled eggs

Purple cabbage

Brown rice

Carrots, parboiled

Green bell peppers

Aromatics: 

Mint

Thai basil or regular basil

Cilantro

Arrange everything on a platter. You can get pretty artistic here. Lots of fun. 

In the center you can put your sauce. People can take there choice of vegetables and protein and the some sauce.  The brown rice goes nicely along side if you like.

Pineapple Pork- Adobo Pork with a Twist

I love Hot Thai Kitchen.  Pai is such a sweet person with lots of videos to intice you into make Thai food.  She has other dishes on there as well but primarily Thai.  

I bought some pork belly recently for the first time.  I made it two ways.  I tried Char Sui which was a fail.  It was okay but not what I had envisioned.  Then I made this dish by h Pai.  WE LOVED IT!  Will definitely make this again.  Here is a link to her recipe.  I am putting it on my blog with my changes.

Pork Adobo with Pineapple

2 lb pork belly, cut into large cubes

1 onion, cut into strips

6 cloves garlic, chopped

½ cup coconut milk

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon black pepper, ground

2 bay leaves

2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into small bite-sized pieces (see note)

green onions for garnish, optional

Saute pork cubes.  Once browned, remove from pot and add onions to auste until golden.  Add in garlic and then coconut milk.  Cook one minute.  Add in soy sauce, vinegar, pinch of salt, pepper, bay leaves and soy sauce.  Stir.  Finally add the pork back in. Cover and cook for about 1 hour, check.  If too much liquid, leave top off. Continue to cook about another hour until pork is tender.

In a separate pot caramelize pineapple in a pan.  At the end, add in pineapple.  When serving, garnish with green onion.