I’d like to offer you some facts. Fact 1: Mashed potatoes are glorious wonderful things. Fact 2: Bacon, green onions, sharp cheddar cheese, creamy havarti cheese and gruyere cheese are also wonderful. Fact 3: If you mix creamy, fluffy mashed potatoes with bacon, green onions, sharp cheddar cheese, creamy havarti and gruyere you have one heck of a Thanksgiving side dish. Fact 4: I ate two huge plates of these last night. Fact 5: My jeans are tighter this morning. Fact 6: These mashed potatoes are totally worth it.
Thanksgiving is a mere 2 1/2 weeks away and that could only mean one thing, its Turkey Time! Wonderfully juicy, perfectly roasted turkey. For many people this means a big 10 or even 20 pound bird. However for those that are having a smaller gathering. Or for those, like me, who really prefer the dark meat, these roasted turkey thighs are the perfect option. The meat is succulent and flavorful, everything I look for in my Thanksgiving turkey.
Brace yourself folks. This chicken is ah-mazing. Lick your plate and plead for more amazing. Allow me to elaborate. First a chicken breast is breaded and pan fried until golden. Then that perfectly cooked, perfectly golden chicken breast is topped with a lemony-buttery-cappery (I may have made up words just now but that is how good this chicken is) sauce. It has capers. It has lemon juice. It has wine. And the best part: butter. Glorious, wonderful, melted butter. It just might be my new favorite way to prepare the sometimes rather boring chicken breast.
Who doesn’t love nachos? I mean seriously, what is not to love about a big plate of chips covered with cheese, meat, beans, tomatoes, olives and jalapenos? Now, imagine with me for a moment that you remove the chips from the equation and take all of those wonderful goodies that you usually pile on top of the chips, layer everything in a casserole dish and bake until hot and bubbly. That my friends is what I like to call Hot Nacho Dip.
Its cold. Its rainy. You notice a person coughing next to you on the bus and you contemplate getting off and waiting 20 minutes for the next one. When you finally get to work the office is quieter because so many of your co-workers are out sick. The news is stressing the importance of getting your flu shot but lines for said shot stretch around the block. All of these things could only mean one thing, cold and flu season is officially upon us. While we can buy medicine to make us feel better, to me nothing quiets the sniffles and soothes the sore throat pain like a nice hot bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup.
Whether it is crab, jalapeno or pork I usually always have some frozen wontons waiting to be plucked from my freezer and tossed into the fryer on a moments notice. I say usually because to my utter dismay, when I opened my freezer to grab some for dinner last week, I realized I was out. Apparently I had been a little too busy (or was it lazy) lately to replenish my stock. But this was a problem that was quickly and quite easily remedied by these wontons filled with bay shrimp, vegetables, garlic and a little Chinese 5 spice.
Last Friday I shared my recipe for Fire Roasted Tomato Soup with you and mentioned that I like to serve my tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. Well I may have fibbed a little. You see, I didn’t exactly serve my soup with a traditional grilled cheese sandwich. Instead I served it with this slightly grown up version of a ham and cheese. Slightly grown up in that instead of ham it has salty prosciutto, instead of cheddar it has creamy mozzarella and to top it off, some sauteed chanterelle mushrooms are thrown in too. All of this goodness sandwiched between 2 slices of crispy panini bread may not be a grilled cheese in the true sense of the word but it sure makes for one heck of a dunking sandwich.
Its been pretty dark and dreary here in Seattle the past couple of days. On days like this I just want to say in the house, curl up with a good book and eat a childhood favorite, grilled cheese and tomato soup. There is just something about that gooey cheesy sandwich being dunked into hot, steamy homemade tomato soup. To be more precise, I mean homemade tomato soup that is loaded with fire roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, white wine, garlic and a little half and half for good measure. You’ll be surprised at how easy it actually is.
