Honeymoon!

I'm on my honeymoon! Please forgive the lack of posts while I'm away. Jamie and I got to Delhi yesterday afternoon. It's such an incredible place, unlike anything I've ever seen. Sensory overload! The food has been amazing and I will be attempting to recreate it when we get back. So far the favorite was koothu parotta- a sort of fried rice type dish with torn up parathas (sort of like a large scallion pancake/a thicker roti) and onions, egg, tomatoes, and peppers, accompanied by some mint-coconut chutney. Yum!!

I'll try to post more, but no promises.






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Location:India

Chicken Liver Pâté

Chicken liver pâté sounds kind of fancy and scary, but it's actually super cheap and pretty simple to make. There are  very easy versions, like this, and this one is slightly more complicated. It has a wonderful flavor and texture and is a real treat. Don't eat this every day or you'll get gout. But for special occasions, definitely whip some up to share with friends - as long as those friends like chicken liver pâté. (It is an acquired taste.) I got the recipe from MarthaStewart.com and it's great.

See, $2.19 for more than enough chicken livers.

Ingredients:

15 tablespoons (1 7/8 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 pound chicken livers, rinsed and drained

Bacon Caramel Popcorn with cashews, almonds, and chipotle

Yum! This stuff is like crack. I made it the other day and decided it would be a great Christmas present for a few lucky friends. Now that I have given them away, I can post about it! This is such a treat for a movie night, or for putting in a pretty Ball jar and giving as a present. The salt, chipotle, bacon, and caramel go together amazingly well, and you might find yourself mining for the caramelized bacon - it's unreal. If you don't have tea, you can skip that step. (Also, this recipe is from here.) I think this would also be amazing on vanilla ice cream. I may have to test it out with the last jar (I can't bring myself to part with it.)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

¾ lb thick bacon, chopped

1/4 cup unsalted raw cashews

¼ cup almonds

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt or coarse sea salt

1/4 teaspoon chipotle pepper

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Rooibos tea bag

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F. Heat popcorn and oil in covered heavy large pot over medium-high heat until kernels begin to pop. Shake pot until popping stops and pour the popcorn into very large bowl. 

Sunday Night Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

Yesterday was a rainy Sunday and I was just really in the mood for a nice roast chicken. Roasting a chicken on top of root vegetables is always an easy 1-pot dinner, and I had some extra time, so I brined the chicken, too. (You don't need to brine a chicken if you buy a kosher chicken.) I think it added some flavor and made it juicier. This is a really nice Sunday dinner, hearty and with good flavors. Feel free to change the root veggies and do carrots or potatoes or butternut squash - whatever you like.

Ingredients:
1 4 lb chicken

Brine:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup salt
4 garlic cloves, crushed
tbsp black pepper corns
water

Quick Cioppino

After a long weekend of staying up late and eating junk food (fried chicken from the Dutch on Sunday morning with Alice), I thought Jamie and I needed some soup. I saw this recipe for a quick cioppino on Epicurious and it looked perfect - I altered it slightly with adding in some clams and letting the wine cook down a little bit. It's pretty healthy and has a really hearty, stew flavor from the red wine. It's great as a winter meal with some toasted sour dough bread and you get so many nice, chunks of seafood. And I got to use my beautiful, new Le Creuset pot, so I was a happy little housewife.

Ingredients:

1 fennel bulb, halved and sliced

1 medium onion, halved and sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 bay leaves 

1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

Fried Turkey

First off, I'm the worst. I know. Sorry it's been so long!

Onto the fried turkey... Jamie and I fried a turkey over Thanksgiving and it was awesome. It is so speedy, and the skin is crispy and delicious. The internal brine gives the turkey meat an extra zip. I highly recommend it! The only issue is the oil. We strained it and put it back in the giant Costco canister and I hear we can use it two more times so we're planning a winter frying party, but after that I'm not sure. I read online someone gave theirs to someone who uses bio diesel in their car? I don't know. We were lucky and had a beautiful, warm Thanksgiving day, and everyone kept coming outside to see this miraculous contraption - and smell the amazingness that is a turkey frying in a vat of peanut oil.

I mostly used this recipe from the New York Times, but tried Alton Brown's method of dipping the turkey in at 250 to avoid splatter. I think if your turkey is dry enough, this is unnecessary. It takes the oil a long time to heat back up. Just make sure your bird is super dry!

Ingredients:
1 12 pound turkey
5 gallons of peanut oil