On Leftovers, Cooking for Two, and a Recipe

This week I have been actively committed to using up the massive amounts of Thanksgiving leftovers that took up residency in our fridge last Thursday evening. Considering we made enough food to feed at least six people, maybe even eight, that has proved quite the task. I've nuked plates of Turkey Day fixins' and gobbled 'em up as is for breakfast and lunch, but we've also remixed the leftovers into new recipes for dinner. I love leftovers, I do, but they are definitely starting to lose their luster.

First, since I had an extra frozen pie crust, I made Giada's Thankful Shepherd's Pie (subbing out whole milk for heavy cream, glazed carrots for fresh, and frozen peas and corn for celery). The recipe helped use up most of our mashed potatoes and gravy. Next, inspired by a Rachael Ray recipe, I winged my own version of a crustless, sweet potato-topped shepherd's pie, with green bean casserole as the base.

Both of these casseroles were good (the first better than the second), but they tasted just like Thanksgiving. In other words: a bit boring.

So the other day I turned to our new favorite cookbook for a recipe that required turkey but didn't mimic the flavors of our recent holiday feast, and found this: Turkey Chili! 

For his birthday two months ago, I ransacked Crate & Barrel and, among other things, got G a hefty (read: manly) 12-inch Lodge cast iron skillet along with "One Pan, Two Plates: More Than 70 Complete Weeknight Meals for Two" by Carla Snyder, and it has quickly become one of our go-to cookbooks. Besides the wonderful and varied gourmet recipes housed within, the beauty of this book is three-fold (and obvious by its title): each recipe is made in one pan/skillet, is the perfect amount for two people and, as such, leaves no (or very little) leftovers.

"One Pan, Two Plates" is perfect for couples and newlyweds, like G and I, but also roommates and empty nesters. No need for mathematics to cut recipes in half or thirds, or to dirty a bunch of pots and pans in the pursuit of dinner.

We absolutely loved (and devoured every last drop of) the turkey chili so I thought I'd share the recipe with you here. We lucked out and had most of the ingredients on hand. If you've succeeded in using up all your leftover turkey, don't fret, just pick up a package of ground turkey at the grocery store as the recipe suggests.

Turkey Chili with Poblano and Queso Fresco

Recipe from One Pan, Two Plates | Cook time: 20 minutes, Total time: 25 minutes | Serves 2

Ingredients

1 cup canned cannellini beans

1 tsp. ground cumin

Kosher salt

1/2 tsp. chili powder, plus more if needed

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Pinch of ground cloves

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 large poblano chile, seeded, deribbed and diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb ground turkey

1 1/4 cups chicken broth, plus more if needed

Kernels from 1 ear corn or about 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed

2 tbsp. sour cream (and more for topping, if you're like me)

1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco or farmer's cheese (shredded Cheddar works, too) *note: we didn't use queso fresco since I'm not a big cheese fan

1 tbsp. minced fresh cilantro (we used parsley since it's what we already had on hand)

Directions

1. Drain the cannellini beans, rinse well and drain again. Put the beans in a bowl and mash lightly with the back of a fork. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, chili powder, cinnamon, cayenne and cloves and season with black pepper. Set the spice mixture aside.

2. Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil. When the oil shimmers, add the onion and poblano and sauté until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, spice mixture and turkey and cook, breaking up the turkey meat with a spoon, until the turkey is no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and mashed cannellini beans and stir to mix thoroughly; the beans will thicken the chili. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the chili for about 5 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. If the pan gets dry, add a little more broth or water.

3. Stir in the corn and sour cream. Taste the chili and add more salt, pepper or chili powder if it needs it. If you like corn on the crunchy al dente side, remove the chili from the heat now, but if you like your corn soft, continue to simmer it for another minute or two.

4. Ladle the chili into shallow, warmed bowls and top with the queso fresco and cilantro. (I put an extra large dollop of sour cream on mine.) Serve hot.

Optional, if you're extra hungry: Serve with your favorite tortilla chips. Great crumbled on top or when used to scoop up the chili.

Every recipe in "One Pan, Two Plates" includes a wine pairing, which may be the other reason I love the cookbook so much. Here's the recommendation for the turkey chili:

There are a few directions you could go when pairing wine with this dish. There's Joseph Drouhin Beaujolais-Villages if you want to go red, and for the white lovers, a Chablis from the same producer would do just as well. Then there's always the classic beer and chili one-two.

Personally, we had an open bottle of Pinot Grigio in the fridge so we made do. The chili is spicy (but not overwhelmingly hot) so something light and refreshing, whether it be wine or beer, seems like a good choice to me.

The hubs and I look forward to cooking many more "One Pan" meals. This white chili was our fifth foray. Previously we had made the cover dish (above), Flank Steak with Chimichurri and Summer Squash Hash (the chimichurri was divine; I wished there was more!), Jambalaya with Chicken, Shrimp and Andouille Sausage (below), and Flash-Roasted Tilapia with New Potatoes, Peas and Pesto Mayonnaise. Also, G took inspiration from the cookbook's three frittata recipes one morning and whipped up a one-pan breakfast.

If you're part of a twosome and looking for a new cookbook, I'd highly recommend picking up a copy. Available online now at Barnes & Noble and Crate & Barrel (temporarily out of stock at Amazon).

Next, I'm thinking we should try the Prosciutto-Wrapped Salmon with Corn and Poblano Succotash (pictured below). Yum.

(Top image via The Kitchn, bottom image via Cleveland)

Old Dogs, New Tricks : Picking up a Hobby

The holiday season is officially here and in full force. You'd think since I am not working at the moment that a holiday wouldn't have the same effect as having days off, but I am finding it hard to bust out of my perpetual food coma (which has been lingering thanks to a fridge full of Turkey Day leftovers) and much of this weekend was spent glued to my laptop while online shopping, trying to find the best deal and hoping a better one wouldn't come along the very next day. Thank you, Cyber Monday. It's a little stressful, don't you think?

Anyway, now it's Tuesday and after a morning spent walking the dogs, doing laundry, cleaning dishes and dropping Jasper off at the groomer, I'm starting to feel like I'm getting back into my usual routine. You know, the one where I sit on the couch, attempt to resist the brain-suck that is the TV and be productive. Ha.

Now, given its title, this post is supposed to be about a new hobby. And no, it's not about my addiction to and skillfulness with online shopping. (Even though I was able to score some good deals and mark a few people off my Christmas list yesterday.) This is about starting a more difficult but hopefully more rewarding hobby with my hubby: guitar lessons!

[ The hubs playing around on his new Ibanez acoustic guitar. Forgive the morning hair! ]

About two weeks ago, G came home and expressed to me that he wanted to find himself a hobby. He loves to cook, he is obsessed with football (San Diego Chargers, woot woot!), but he felt like he needed to do something more, to challenge himself. He decided he would like to learn to play the guitar. G had a bass guitar as a kid, but he never really learned to play more than a few chords. I was totally on board with him picking up the guitar because I've been wanting to learn for years, too. In fact, it was more than three years ago that I bought myself a guitar. 

It was an impulsive purchase; a I'm not getting any younger, seize the day, do what you dream of doing, make it happen, just do it already kind of purchase. I don't regret it, necessarily, but I do regret that the beautiful blue acoustic-electric guitar has just been sitting in its case all this time, not being played. I tried to take a few online lessons via YouTube but I think this is the type of hobby where you really need a skilled expert to teach you. The DIY-approach may work for some things and for some people, but it may also just lead to bad habits and technique. And, as in my case, laziness when it comes to practicing. Paying for standing weekly lessons is a sure-fire way to keep you accountable.

G researched potential guitars and we made a trip to Guitar Center two weekends ago. He ended up going home with a gorgeous mahogany Ibanez acoustic guitar. Fast-forward to today and we have our first lesson this evening. I'll be a bit nervous, I'm sure, but hopefully we will have fun, too. Wish us luck!

[ Me and my guitar, after I bought it three years ago! ]

Do you know how to play the guitar? Or another musical instrument? (I played the oboe from junior high through the beginning of college, and I was actually a vocal major before switching to journalism.) What are your hobbies?

A Married Thanksgiving

I was so busy cooking in the kitchen yesterday that I didn't even have a chance to pop on in and wish the blogging world a happy Thanksgiving! But I do hope you had a wonderful day. Ours was great. We had a lot of dishes to make-- everything was homemade from scratch with the exception of my pie crust-- and it got a little stressful at the end, just with the timing. That's almost the hardest part, isn't it? Making sure everything is done and ready at the same time. But I told myself and G not to freak because, hey, it's just us! There's no one to impress, and we're not keeping anyone waiting but ourselves :)

Fortunately, despite my worries that the holiday would be lonely or sad as just the two of us, it was anything but. I think the fact that our full menu kept our minds and hands busy helped, but it was truly nice to just sit down to an abundant table filled with food, cheers to each other and enjoy one another's company. Plus, after dinner, there was no pressure to sit and make small talk or feel bad for wanting to just crash on the couch. The hubs immediately got up and changed out of his jeans and into some sweat pants. The perks of a low-key holiday at home!

All but one of the dishes we made were new-to-us recipes and I'm pleased to report that everything came out delicious. The cornbread and ciabatta stuffing with spicy sausage and pecans, which I made the day before, was a big hit (G said, to my delight, "Wow, this is really good stuffing!" after his first bite), and the "best ever" green bean casserole, cooked in our Lodge cast iron skillet, was far superior to the condensed-soup kind. The turkey was tasty thanks to an herb paste smeared over and under the skin and the slightly-sweet, onion-heavy gravy was so good it was addicting, I dolloped it on almost everything. My mom's sweet potato puree was a nice taste of home (and yummy for breakfast this morning). 

Next Thanksgiving, I'll hold back a little on the orange juice and zest in the cranberry sauce (or just use a smaller orange as ours was huge!) and I might try another mashed potato recipe. This one was good, but not out-of-this-world amazing like I hoped. We didn't use a potato ricer or food mill though, just a standard masher, so maybe that's the secret.

Finally, dessert. G seemed to love the 3-in-1 Apple-Pumpkin-Pecan Pie since he had two slices (even while claiming to be already full). The pie didn't set up perfectly but the flavor was there. I'm still an apple pie girl though. And the hubs still favors pumpkin. The battle continues!

I set the table with some of our wedding "china": colorful plates from Anthropologie, green rocks glasses from Bed, Bath & Beyond, gold-stemmed flatware and handblown pink wine glasses from Crate & Barrel. I also busted out the hand-painted lavender champagne flutes we toasted with on our wedding day. Tea lights were placed in vintage glasses that were part of our wedding decor, too. It felt good to put to use all these extra special items.

One tradition that I enjoyed when I spent Thanksgiving with G's aunt and uncle, and extended family, a few years ago was when, after dinner, everyone took turns sharing what they were thankful for. I know this is something many families do but it was new for me. I remember being so nervous. G and I were still young in our relationship and I had just met many of the people around the table for the first time, but everyone was so warm, welcoming and lovely. I'm paraphrasing now but, I shared how thankful I was to be around such good energy and how thankful I was to have G in my life. I started tearing up as I spoke, a mixture of nerves and true emotion, and even though I was mildly embarrassed at the time the moment has remained a wonderful memory on my heart and I like to think it endeared me to the family and solidified my place in it, even early on.

So last night, I placed on each of our plates a paper and pen so we could record what we are thankful for this year. After dinner we took a minute to jot down our thoughts and then we read them to each other. Not surprisingly our thoughts were almost exactly the same! I look forward to making this a tradition for us each Thanksgiving, and my heart swells at the idea of our children one day sitting around the table and sharing with us what they are grateful for.

Full of good food and good wine, the hubs passed out around 11 o'clock, but I was still wide awake. I stayed up with the pups, though they quickly fell asleep as well, most likely thanks to the large chicken jerky treats and several bites of turkey we fed them (it was their Thanksgiving, too!). Jasper, a little cuddle monster, conked out in my arms in a food coma.

Yep, a good day was had by all.

A Thanksgiving Menu

Turkey Day is almost here! And I have the lengthy grocery shopping list to prove it. I spent a day last week researching recipes, and, to be honest, several days debating what kind of stuffing to make-- none seemed quite right!-- before forcing myself yesterday to just pick one already damn it. In case you are in need of some recipes as well, I thought I'd share our Thanksgiving menu.

Here's what we'll be making and eating for our first Thanksgiving together, as a married couple:

Herb Roasted Turkey Breast with Homemade Gravy

(We'll be using onions, carrots and apples cut in large chunks, instead of rack, to keep the turkey lifted out of its juices. Bonus: we get roasted veggies!) 

Cornbread, Sausage and Pecan Dressing

(Dressing, not stuffing, since it is cooked outside the bird. Store-bought cornbread will make this recipe extra easy and I'll mix in some crusty artisan bread for varying flavors and texture. We're also planning to use spicy sausage for some heat.)

Chive and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

(With a large dollop or two of sour cream mixed in because, well, just because. I'm a little obsessed with sour cream, especially on potatoes.)

Sweet Potato Puree

(My mom has made this every Thanksgiving for years. It's a Laura Bush recipe that she pulled from Redbook, or some similar magazine, long ago. Sweet and delicious, it's almost dessert. The image above is not of the exact recipe, it's actually from a lightened-up sweet potato mash, but it looks similar to the puree my mom makes.)

Best Ever Green Bean Casserole

(G and I both love green bean casserole, and while we grew up on the Campbell's condensed soup kind, and it is homey and comforting in its familiarity, this recipe was recommended to me highly by a foodie friend. I'm excited to try a from-scratch version.)

Cranberry Sauce

(I'm going to watch the sugar since some reviewers commented that this recipe was too sweet, but I was drawn by the use of fall spices as well as orange juice and zest. The plan is to make this Wednesday, to relieve a bit of cooking pressure on Thursday.)

Apple-Pumpkin-Pecan Pie

(My mom always bakes tons of pies to suit our family's varied tastes: pumpkin, apple, pecan, mincemeat... G's fave is pumpkin while I'm more of an apple girl. With this recipe, we get a little bit of everything, without actually baking a pie per person. It looks a little labor intensive, but I'll be using a prepared pie crust-- gasp!-- to keep my sanity.)

Since it's just the two of us, we are clearly going to have lots (and LOTS) of leftovers. I see turkey sandwiches, turkey enchiladas, turkey soup, stuffing fritters, mashed potato cakes, etc., in our future... Yep. The best thing about Thanksgiving, in my humble opinion, is the sides, but the second best thing is leftovers for days.

On Thanksgiving Traditions

Like many people, I've been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving the past couple weeks. It started out with excitement. I sat down with G and planned out our menu, what dishes we love and had to have. It ended up being quite the dinner for two average-sized people. But I figured, it's Thanksgiving, the national eat-all-you-can-eat holiday, so what the heck? We'll roast the bird, whip the spuds, and make six more side dishes. Plus pie. You can't forget the pie.

But the closer we get to the day, now only a week away, the more the excitement has given way to what was hiding underneath all those plans: a bit of sadness and a tinge of loneliness.

*****

This will be our first holiday as a married couple and it will be just the two of us. Our families and friends are not coming out to visit, and neither are we hopping on a plane to the West Coast. It simply isn't practical or feasible financially. At first I relished the thought of Thanksgiving (and Christmas) being just the two of us this year. No family drama to contend with. No deciding whose house to go to. The holidays would be quiet, intimate and special. We would start our own traditions, together, as husband and wife.

Growing up, G (who is an only child) and his parents often spent Thanksgiving at a relative's home, where the food and the activities of the day varied (sometimes greatly) from year to year. So as a result, he doesn't feel like he has a specific set of traditions that are important or meaningful to him to carry on. I, on the other hand, do. Though, I sort of grew up with two different holiday season experiences.

When I was very young, my extended family used to all gather at my maternal grandfather's house. A long table, probably 20-feet, would be set up for all of us. My mom, always a frazzled mess in the kitchen, would do much of the cooking, with some help (good and bad) from her brothers and sister. My paternal grandmother, Grandmama, would bring her chocolate pie, which I absolutely loved of course. It was like chocolate pudding in a crumbly graham-cracker crust. What's not for a kid to love? Once dinner was ready, all the adults would sit down at the world's longest table while us youngsters had our meal at the children's table in the kitchen, listening in through the wall as the grown-ups talked, invariably getting into some kind of argument, which is bound to happen when large families with large personalities come together. Those were the Thanksgivings of my childhood. Trade out all varieties of pie for rice pudding, add some carols and dancing around the Christmas tree while holding hands (seriously), and that was my Christmas.

But death changed things over the years. Grandmama went first, then my grandfather, whose home brought us all together. Our large family gatherings turned into small dinners with my immediate family, and sometimes my favorite uncle, at our home. When my older brother died the holiday dinners got even smaller, and much sadder for a time. Those were the Thanksgivings and Christmases of my teenage and college years.

It sounds depressing, and it is in some ways, but nevertheless I find myself wishing I could be home for the holidays. There were a couple years where I didn't spend Thanksgiving, or Christmas, with my family but instead with a boyfriend's family. But even then there was still the option of going home, or stopping by for a few hours. This year that option isn't there. And it likely will not be an option in many of the years to come.

I've always done my best to be home for the holidays because I hate the thought of my mom, my dad and my younger brother just sitting around the table by themselves. Perhaps it is a stupid and self-important thought but sometimes I feel like I'm my family's "glue." On holidays I help in the kitchen. At the table, they turn to me to say grace. My younger brother and my parents have not always had the best relationship, though it is getting better, and he can be quiet morose on holidays (he doesn't appreciate the expectation to pretend like everything is happy and perfect when he feels the opposite, and I don't really blame him). I'm not sure he is even going to go home for Thanksgiving, even though he lives just 20 minutes away. He may have to work or he just may not go, for the above stated reasons. So then it would just be my mom and my dad. Kind of like how it will be here. Just the two of us.

*****

The plan for this post was to talk about Thanksgiving traditions. Keeping old ones, starting new ones. Instead I find myself clinging onto the old, even when the past was far from perfect. It's funny how distance can make you miss the things you didn't even know you cherished. Life is forcing me to change, to let go, and I'm a bit unwilling.

I'm hoping this purging of my thoughts and emotions will help with that letting go part, and let me get back to what I was feeling a few weeks ago: excitement. 

Initially, I told G that I wanted us to roast a turkey, a whole one, but yesterday I cooly informed him it was silly to spend the time and money (we'd need to buy a roasting pan and rack) doing something we have no idea how to do, only to be left with way more leftovers than we probably can handle. So now the plan is to simply make a turkey breast. And, having thought about it a little more, I'm OK with that. I actually like the idea of saving the big roasting of the turkey for when we do host a Thanksgiving dinner for family or friends or both, or when we have a little one whose eyes will widen at the sight.

We'll still make most of those side dishes. Mashed potatoes and stuffing are a given, but I also must have my mom's sweet potato puree and G loves green bean casserole. And we'll shove all the pies we're accustomed to having (apple, pumpkin and pecan) into one with this crazy recipe. Maybe it will be our new favorite, and a new tradition.

In the meantime, until next Thursday, I'm going to cut myself some slack. Our first Thanksgiving doesn't have to be an extravaganza. Small can still be special, and whatever we do this year does not need to be repeated forevermore. The best traditions often come about slowly and by accident, without even realizing a tradition has been made. And new traditions will be added throughout the years, as life changes-- because it certainly always does.

(Top image via The Kitchn, bottom photo from our engagement session, by heidi-o-photo)

Sweet Fall Treat : Pumpkin Dump Cake

I made this easy cake on Halloween and totally forgot to post about it. Luckily, it is not just a Halloween-appropriate dessert. This Pumpkin Dump Cake is the perfect fall treat. It tastes like pumpkin pie, but it is so much easier to make. That's the thing about dump cakes. While they don't have the most appetizing or elegant name, they are simple, quick and delicious. You basically dump the ingredients in a pan and bake. Even better? You probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry and fridge already. So if you're craving something sweet this weekend, give this cake a go.

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Recipe via Tablespoon, with a few minor changes

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 60 minutes | Serves 16

INGREDIENTS

1 (29 ounce) can pure pumpkin

1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk

3 whole eggs

1 cup white sugar (I used half white, half brown for a deeper, molasses-like sweetness)

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1 (18.25 ounce) boxed cake mix (instead of the suggested Betty Crocker Supermoist Yellow Cake Mix, I used a Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix for extra fall-time flavor)

1 cup chopped pecans (optional, but highly recommended)

3/4 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish.

2. In a large bowl, mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar and cinnamon until well blended. Spread pumpkin mixture in prepared baking dish. The mixture will be very wet! This is OK.

3. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over the top of the batter. If adding pecans (please do!), sprinkle them over the cake mix. Pour melted butter on top, evenly distributing over the dish. Bake 50 minutes.

4. Let cake cool, then cut into slices (which may fall apart like mine did, but it still tasted good!). For extra decadence, top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I used Talenti Tahitian Vanilla Bean gelato and it was heavenly.

My husband loved this cake, saying it tasted just like pumpkin pie, and even a friend who watched our dogs over the weekend (while we were in Miami) enjoyed the leftovers. I will warn you: this makes a lot of cake! We were unable to finish the whole pan. So it is ideal for an autumn dinner party, or even to cap off a Thanksgiving meal.

If you give this recipe a whirl, I'd love to hear how you like it!