Deconstructing Thanksgiving leftovers

I originally posted this at Open Salon in response to the Thanksgiving leftovers Salon Kitchen Challenge.

I really love cooking for the fall and winter holidays, but have never before tried to get really creative with leftovers. This year they included turkey, roasted veggies, lots of homemade turkey stock, cranberry relish, and healthi-er takes on some southern classics like corn pudding and sweet Vidalia onion cornbread dressing. I used a little bit of everything to pull together what proved to be a little bit of an awesome meal. I love adding champagne to the challenge!

In the bowl:

CREAMY TURKEY AND ASPARAGUS SOUP WITH (CHAMPAGNE) AND CRISPY VIDALIA ONION CORNBREAD DRESSING CROUTONS

To start, I sliced cold cornbread dressing into 2×3-inch squares, about ¼ inch thick. I put them in the oven at 325 degrees to dry out and crisp while I made the rest of the soup.

In a dutch oven, I browned one chopped yellow onion, one large chopped shallot, and four small cloves of garlic. When the onions became translucent, I added about two cups of turkey stock and about 3/4 cup of potatoes chopped small and about 2 cups of chopped asparagus. When the potatoes were soft, I used an immersion blender to puree the vegetables. Then I added about four or five cups more stock, another ¾ cup of chopped potato and about two cups of chopped cooked turkey meat. When the potatoes are soft, the broth should be thickened. Adjust thickness with flour and water if desired, but the puree of vegetables should give it some thickness.  Turn off heat and add ½ to ¾ cup leftover champagne (a great use of flat champagne). Stir. Turn off heat. Remove croutons from oven.

Ladle into bowls and top with a tablespoon of half-and-half, croutons, and a sprinkle of paprika cayenne pepper.

On the side:

BAKED CORN PUDDING PUPPIES

Corn pudding is a custardy concoction that is traditionally made of creamed corn, cornmeal, a bit of flour, eggs, butter (I used non-fat Greek yogurt) and milk. It is baked like a casserole and spooned to serve. To make corn pudding puppies, I shaped spoonfuls of cold corn pudding into one- or two-inch balls (the size and shape of hushpuppies), froze them to hold the shape, then dipped them in egg wash and dusted them with flour. I then sprayed them very lightly with olive oil and baked them at 450 degrees until they were brown and crispy, turning once after about 15 minutes.

In the glass:

CRANBERRY CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL

One part chilled vodka, two parts cranberry juice cocktail, shaken, poured, topped with cold champagne and a lime twist.

nuoc mam cham

nuoc mam cham is a delicious vietnamese dipping sauce often paired with grilled meat. it could also work as a nice salad dressing or dipping sauce for spring rolls, etc.  sometimes, i would just pour it over white rice and dig in. many people are squeamish about fish sauce (nuoc mam) since by itself  it smells like what it is: fish packed into a barrel between layers of salt and left to ferment (or rot) for several months, the liquid drained and poured back over the fish to ferment some more. BUT! when combined with other ingredients, nuoc mam is sublime. it’s all about balance.
i got this recipe from the vietnam cookery center in ho chi minh city, where i took a couple classes last year. if you’re in the neighborhood, i definitely suggest taking one of their classes. great fun and great food.

ingredients:
2 T white sugar
2 T freshly squeezed lime juice (little asian limes are the best!)
2 T fish sauce
.5 t garlic, minced
.5 t  small, fresh red chili, minced

directions:
in a small bowl, add lemon juice and sugar. whisk until the sugar is dissolved.

add fish sauce and stir until any remaining sugar is dissolved.

add chili and garlic, stir again and taste. if it tastes too fishy, add more lime juice.

note:  if you can find it, use vietnamese fish sauce. in my experience, thai fish sauce tends to be darker and have a heavier flavor.

enjoy,
dave

nem nuong xa (grilled meat on lemongrass skewers)

i came across this dish for the first time at a sweaty grill joint in ho chi minh city, viet nam.  there you could get just about any kind of meat (including various preparations of penis and stuffed goat’s udder) grilled either in huge oil-drum grills at the front of the restaurant or in smaller ceramic braziers at the table. i’m not exactly sure what they called  the dish or how exactly they made it, but i made my own version last night it came out very tasty. could be served as an appetizer or a main course.

(makes 10 or so skewers)

ingredients:
.5 lb ground pork
1 lb ground bison (beef would do; i happened to have ground bison)
5 lemongrass stalks, with outer layers removed and cut into 6-7 inch pieces
1 T lemongrass inner core, finely minced
1 T sesame oil
1.5 t ginger-garlic paste
1 t fish sauce
1 t kosher sea salt
1 t lime juice
1 T soy sauce
1 t brown sugar

directions:
mix up all the ingredients (save for the lemongrass stalks) in a medium sized mixing bowl. get in there with your hands and make sure everything is well combined.

take small handfuls of the meat mixture and squeeze one around each of the lemongrass stalks. it’s important to make sure that the meat is applied with even thickness (about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch should work well).

place the meat-sticks on a very hot grill, allowing the meat to acquire browned grill marks on all sides (3-4 minutes per side, depending on how hot the grill is)

serve on a bed of baby salad greens with nuoc mam cham (a wonderful dipping sauce-see recent post) and copious amounts of watered down beer.

happy eating,
dave

Tomatoes stuffed with basil and cornbread

This recipe is in honor of tomato and fresh herb season, which is finally upon us. Any sort of tomato can be used (I even used cherry tomatoes once for a bite-sized version, but what a hassle!), but cooking time may have to be adjusted based on the qualities of the particular tomato. The photos were taken the last time I made this, well before home grown tomatoes were available, so the ones pictured are the organic “on the vine” hothouse type.

I like to make this recipe as a side or pot-luck dish, but it also works for a light meal, especially with a tosses side salad of chopped romaine, pine nuts, goat cheese and garlic lemon vinaigrette. This is the vegetarian version. Try adding a spoonful of crumbled bacon or chopped Tasso ham to the stuffing if you dine on the swine. One could also adapt this recipe to any hollow-able vegetable—red or green peppers, squash, maybe even eggplant.

You will need:

8-10 medium just-ripe tomatoes

½ pan day-old (stale) cornbread

¼ cup pine nuts or chopped pecans

1 medium shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup thinly sliced celery stalks

¼ c. minced fresh parsley

1 teaspoon of fresh lemon zest

1 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped (a big handful)

Salt, cracked black pepper and cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon of olive oil

About 3 cups vegetable stock

Balsamic vinegar for drizzle

Preparation:

An hour or two (or even a day ahead), crumble stale cornbread into a large bowl, and then add shallots, garlic, parsley, lemon zest and basil. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic, celery and shallots. Cook until just soft, about two or three minutes. Set aside. Toast pine nuts in the warm skillet. Toss to combine. Gradually add stock until mixture becomes moist, but not runny. Season to taste with salt, black pepper and cayenne. Mix well, cover and let sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Before stuffing, mix in pulp from hollowed tomatoes (see below).

Wash and cut the tops off of the tomatoes. Carefully scoop out seeds and pulp with a small spoon or melon ball scoop. Turn the tomatoes upside-down on a dishcloth or paper towel so that the inside of each “cup” can dry out a bit.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Use a small spoon to scoop stuffing into tomatoes. You don’t want to pack or overfill them because it will make the tomatoes more likely to split when baking. Fill each just to top of the cup, and line up the filled tomatoes on a lightly oiled baking sheet.

Bake the stuffed tomatoes 15-20 minutes, or until they are hot all the way to the center. They get overcooked, they are still delicious but will not be as pretty because the tomatoes are likely to melt and split.

Transfer the stuffed tomatoes to a plate, top each with a fresh basil leaf, and lightly drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

preposterously good panzanella

hooray! at long last i can post. thanks, amber. for my first trick, i’d like to post my panzanella recipe adapted from one the national restaurant was handing out at the athens farmers market a couple months ago. the best thing about panzanella is that almost any tasty vegetable would work in it. so go crazy. here goes…

ingredients:
6 cups of stale-ish baguette chopped crouton style
3 T olive oil
1 T fresh thyme (most fresh herbs work here. more than 1 t is probably better)
3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large onions, sliced thinly
2 T capers
1 C torn basil leaves
3-4 C of baby arugula
1 C fresh tomatoes, chopped (halved cherry or sungold tomatoes are perfect)
1/3 C mayonnaise (if you have more bread, add more mayo)
1 T red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar (add a little more if you increase the mayo)
directions:
toss bread with 2 T olive oil, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper–toast
in a 350 degree oven until golden brown, set aside to cool

in a saute pan, heat 1 T olive oil over medium heat, add onion and
saute until well caramelized, set aside to cool (to caramelize the
onion, i like to salt the onions once they go into the hot pan and
then sprinkle 1 tsp of sugar on them once the turn translucent)

in a small mixing bowl whisk mayo and vinegar together until smooth

in a large bowl combine everything and then add the mayo mixture

that’s it! happy eating…
dave

Larb, wonderful larb

Larb, a sour and spicy Thai- or Laotian-style salad, is my new favorite summer dinner. There is no one way to make larb, which makes it versatile and easily suited to one’s personal tastes, preferences, and food taboos. I’ve seen recipes for larb made with chicken, fish, duck, beef, tofu and pork, raw and cooked, served cold or hot, with various combination of herbs, spices, and vegetables. This recipe which calls for lean ground turkey breast and lots of chili paste is adapted from one I found on Epicurious.com and adjusted quite a bit. I was very satisfied with it, and will definitely make it again. I think next time I’ll try it with extra firm tofu. It is wonderful cold or hot.

THE SAUCE (whisk the following together in a bowl and set aside)

• 1 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/3 cup fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 generous tablespoons sambal oelek (ground fresh chili paste)

THE BODY (instructions follow)

• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1.5 pounds lean ground turkey breast
• 1 bunch of green onions, thinly sliced (about 1.5 cups)
• 4 shallots, peeled, halved and thinly sliced into half-rings
• 3 tablespoons very finely minced lemongrass
• 2 tablespoons fresh serrano chilis, sliced into paper-thin rings
• 1/2 cup each of roughly chopped fresh cilantro and mint
• 3 tablespoons of toasted white rice, roughly ground

In a heavy skillet or wok, bring broth to a simmer, then crumble ground turkey into the pan. When the turkey is cooked and well crumbled, add toasted rice, green onions, shallots, lemongrass, and serrano chilis. Cook until veggies are just tender, then remove from heat and let rest about 10 minutes, then add sauce, cilantro and mint. Taste when herbs have wilted, and adjust chili sauce to your preference.

Larb can be eaten with a spoon right out of the pan, served on a bed of fresh greens, or wrapped in lettuce leaves, but my favorite way to have it is wrapped in green cabbage and radicchio leaves. Vegetarians should substitute tofu for the turkey, and a good vegetable stock for the chicken stock, and I think it will be just as nice.

Things to do with cornbread

Cornbread is the quintessence of soul food. It’s cheap, it’s easy, and it’s ubiquitous but it is also family and sharing and memories and all of those good things that really good food is a part of.  You can make it healthy(er) or really wonderfully rich with bacon and butter and very sharp cheddar cheese. Buttermilk, sour milk, hushpuppy, pone, fried, spicy, herbed, sweet like cake, savory holiday dressing, muffin or skillet—cornbread diversity, yum. Yep, definitely one of my very favorite foods to cook and to eat, especially with greens or black-eyed-peas seasoned with hot peppers and vinegar. There are cornbread purists of all stripes. I’ve heard all manner of claims about the real deal–that buttermilk is the only way, that you should always use white corn meal or only yellow corn meal, that you have to pour batter into a really hot skillet so the crust is properly charred, or that once you start adding “extras” like jalapenos or kernel corn it’s not really cornbread any more–but like lots of things it’s really a matter of taste. For plain jane cornbread I personally like to use white corn meal (for the light, fluffy consistency) and soured milk with a little yogurt added to the batter for moisture and acidity, but there’s something to be said for the rustic, hearty qualities of a good stone ground yellow corn meal, especially for the winter or to make a good southern-style cormeal stuffing with lots of celery and onions. Here’s a basic recipe, or you can always use the Jiffy, a pantry staple:

BASIC CORNBREAD

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, with a large greased cast iron skillet on the center shelf.

Mix the following dry ingredients:

1.5 cups yellow or white corn meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Make a well in dry ingredients for the following wet ones:

1 large egg
2 cups buttermilk or soured milk (milk with 1 tbsp of vinegar added)
3/4 cup yogurt or sour cream
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix the thick batter until it isn’t lumpy, then carefully pour into the now-hot skillet. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is firm and browned all over, or until your house smells really good and you know it’s done.

Here’s a fancier version for special occasions only:

“COMPANY” CORN BREAD (as in “cornbread for company”, not like “the company store”)

1.5 cups yellow corn meal
1 cup bread flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 tablespoons baking powder
1.5 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon ground red pepper (or more to taste)
1 ¾ cups buttermilk (or milk soured with a little vinegar)
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ to ½ cup honey or sugar
1 cup very sharp cheddar cheese, grated
½ cup salted butter
1 giant yellow onion, chopped small or minced
¼ cup cider vinegar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large cast iron skillet, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent but not quite caramelized (usually about 12-15 minutes on medium heat). Transfer cooked onions and butter to a bowl to cool, but do not refrigerate. Keep the skillet warm over low heat for baking the corn bread (already greased).
3. Combine corn meal, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground red pepper in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center.
4. In separate bowl, combine milk, sour cream or yogurt, egg, and honey. Pour into dry ingredients and mix vigorously by hand until smooth. You may need to add more milk to get the right consistency, depending on humidity.
5. Fold in warm onions and sharp cheddar.
6. If you like, add the cider vinegar last and mix in gently.
7. Immediately pour into warm skillet, then bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, but you’ll know when it’s ready by the smell. Sometimes it takes longer to cook. Just make sure the center is done. It is very moist cornbread even when fully cooked.

This second recipe is so rich that you should cut it into very small pieces

Coming up: tomatoes stuffed with cornbread and basil

Sinister Chili Verde

I entered (and won) a chili cookoff at Brooklyn Botanic Garden in NYC a few years ago with this recipe. The secret is lots of peppers, so that the flavor comes from the peppers rather than from stale old chili powder. It looks scary, but trust me–it is totally approachable by all but the weakest eaters. Here you go:

Sinister Chili Verde
INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds assorted hot green chili peppers
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
½ pound tomatillos, chopped
1 quart chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
1 generous handful fresh chopped cilantro
½ tablespoon cumin
1 pound chicken breast meat
2—16 oz cans whole kernel sweet corn
1—16 oz cooked black beans
salt
fresh ground black pepper

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

Roast the chili peppers, peel, and remove all the seeds.  The heat of the chilies is in the white placenta that connects the seeds to the flesh of the pepper. Cleaning the chilies is the key step, and makes the difference between a teasingly hot taste and one that is potentially painful.  Rinse the chilies
after seeding if they still seem too fiery.

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil on medium heat and add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until onions start to wilt and turn translucent.  Add garlic.  Chop roasted chili peppers and add to pot, along with tomatillos.  Add broth and spices and bring to a simmer.  Add remaining ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.  If it is too caliente, wait—it should become slightly milder as the flavors meld together.  Let everything simmer for at least 45 minutes, check seasoning, and serve.