Smoked Turkey

For all the non-meat eaters out there, advert your eyes ;-) The day after Thanksgiving Joel smoked a turkey. Since I brined it, I'm taking credit too.

This was the brine recipe I used. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/pws-turkey-brine/

My sister turned me onto this blog. she takes some good food shots.

Note to anyone who wants to try this at home. do not make gravy from the drippings unless you want to eat a plate full of smoke.

Sorry about the rotated picture. it's late and I'm tired.

Camamelized brussels sprouts with pistachios

This hands down was the winner of the night. I followed this recipe exactly but for halving the Brussels sprout and onions. Of course I didn't take a picture of this, but there are some on all recipes where I got this recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Caramelized-Brussels-Sprouts-with-Pistachios/Detail.aspx

Barley & wild pilaf with pomegranate seeds

I'm not even going to post the recipe, since I really did not care for it. It sounded great in theory and healthy to boot. I did seed a pomegranate for the first time. Doing everything underwater is key. The seeds sink to the bottom and pith rises.

Roasted corn pudding in Acorn Squash

I got inspired from 101 cookbooks. I mostly followed the recipe here. http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/roasted-corn-pudding-in-acorn-squash-recipe.html

Things I learned. I really don't care for anise (who knew it tasted like licorice?) and cheese inside of the corn pudding would have made this even better.

presentation wise though, it wins hands down.

Mexican Calabacitas

This is another healthy (and tasty) Mexican side dish.

5 medium size zucchini or yellow squash (or a mix), peeled and diced
1 can sweet corn, drained
1 onion, chopped
1 can ro-tel tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
olive oil

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, zucchini, and onions. Cook until the onion is tender, and then add the corn and tomatoes. Cover the skillet, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

Apparently this is an incredibly popular recipe on the web (probably because it is so easy). Once I found it, I found about a million copies of the recipe with slight variations.

Sopapilla Cheesecake
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9"x13" baking dish with Pam. Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. (I don't have a mixer and was able to do this by hand.) Unroll one can of crescent roll dough and press the two rectangles into the 9"x13" pan to cover the bottom. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish. Unroll the other can of crescent rolls, press them into a 9"x13" and shape, and put this on top. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, the cinnamon, and the butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting.

Potato Chimichangas

This recipe is from my neighbor Mary. She's made them for us a few times, and Jake and I both love them! The recipe is not exact, but very flexible. (Really, how can you go wrong with tortillas, potatoes and cheese?)

Chimis
3 russet potatoes
1 green pepper (chopped)
1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (pressed)
goya adobo seasoning
tortillas
sour cream
shredded cheese

Boil the potatoes until you can easily stick a fork in. (Tip: do this early, and then stick in fridge to cool so that they will be easy to peel.) Peel skins from potatoes, and cut into cubes. Saute the pepper and onions in olive oil. Add the cubed potatoes to the peppers and onions. Sprinkle with adobo (liberally, to taste) and add the garlic.

In each tortilla, put the potato mixture, a spoonful of sour cream, and a little cheese. Wrap and roll. At this point you can either put them in the fridge overnight or cook immediately. Heat slowly either on the grill or on the stove.

Serve with salsa. You can slice these to serve as appetizers, or serve them whole as a main course.