How to Make a Proper Hot Turkey Sandwich November 25, 2009
Posted by Toy Lady in Cooking, Holidays Countdown, random stuff.1 comment so far
Consider this a public service post. After all, before you know it, this is information you’ll be looking for, right?
A long, long time ago, before Surly Boy was even born, I did a stint waiting tables. And the restaurant where I spent the most time had the best hot turkey sandwiches, the hot turkey sandwiches that spoiled me for all the rest of them, I guess.
Now first, I want to assure you that I’m not a difficult-to-please sort of person. I understand that different people do thing differently, and for the most part, I’m fine with that.
However. I have been unable to find a decent hot turkey sandwich in years, and it’s just not right. A proper hot turkey sandwich is simple to make, and it’s beautiful in its simplicity. And since a decent hot turkey sandwich is apparently far more elusive than anyone would have ever thought, I’ve been forced to do it myself.
You know what they say – if you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself.
We start with some basic components – turkey and gravy.
Slice your left over turkey, just like you would for any other sandwich. Heat it gently, over a low heat, with plenty gravy.
You always have a ton of leftover gravy, right?
While the turkey and gravy are heating, reheat some of your stuffing, too.
Since we don’t actually have a steam table to hold our dressing, we just shoved it in a baking dish, sprinkled a bit of apple juice over it, covered and stuck it in a low oven until it was hot.
This is a crucial part of the hot turkey sandwich experience! You have to have some stuffing (dressing) (whichever you call it) to make a proper hot turkey sandwich.
You’ll thank me later.
And the bread and potato components. Mashed potatoes are the norm here, but sometimes, I like to mix it up with french fries instead.
This is the only time I ever put gravy on fries (well, this, and hot roast beef sandwiches), and yes, I know it may sound kind of disgusting, but trust me – it’s actually not!
And of course, the bread. After all, it’s not a sandwich without bread, is it?
No, it’s not. But not just any old bread – oh, no!
Toasted white bread. Toasted and buttered white bread, to be more specific.
Oh, this is gonna be so good!
You’ve got all your parts – now it’s time to put them together:
The buttered toast first, with your choice of potato beside it.
Then a big old scoop of stuffing right on top of the toast.
Several slices of turkey, and all smothered in gravy.
And, if it’s the day after Thanksgiving, you know you can rustle up some cranberry sauce on the side, and you’re all set!
Just like most of the rest of our little tiny world, we’ll be taking the rest of the holiday week off – enjoy your Thanksgiving with family, friends, pets, whomever – and we’ll see you right back here on Monday!
November: The Roundup November 24, 2009
Posted by Toy Lady in Third Thursday, random stuff.1 comment so far
Welcome to the November Third Thursday roundup!
This month, we had two players – that’s twice as many as last month, isn’t it?
Surely you remember my peanut butter pie, courtesy of Lisa the Homesick Texan. I’m already looking forward to making that, as well as her chocolate pie, for Thanksgiving dinner!
This month, we were joined once again by Susan at Girls in White Dresses. Susan made lasagna. In her Crockpot.
I will admit that I tried something similar once, a long time ago, and, while not quite a failure, it wasn’t quite a success, either. I’m thrilled to see that Susan has found actual directions (something I lacked) and that her family was pleased with the results! (And it’s also good to see that it’s not just me who couldn’t bring myself to deliberately bust up perfectly good lasagna noodles!)
Thanks, Susan, for playing along!
And this month, we also have Melinda, Scrappin’ Mommy to 3 Boys, joining us, now that football season is winding down for those boys!
Melinda shows us how simple making Hearty Meatball Soup can be when you’ve got help in the kitchen! Though I’m not so sure what to think about her interpretation of “cold” weather – I think Melinda’s a little (OK, a lot!) farther south than we are, and if there’s one thing we northerners do, it’s cold!
Either way, though, thanks, Melinda, for highlighting a wonderful-sounding soup!
And again, thanks to both ladies for playing along, and please join us for next month’s Third Thursday (sure we’ll do it in December too) on Thursday the 19th of December – let’s see some of your special Christmas cooking!
Monday Musings: 11.23.2009 November 23, 2009
Posted by Toy Lady in Musings, random stuff.6 comments
Aww. . .
You know, that darned cat is just nuts. She follows me down the stairs and around the basement, twining herself around my ankles, saying “oh, please pet me,” and when I do, she tries to bite my hand
And, um, yes, that WOULD be the hand that feeds her. I think she looks sorry, though, don’t you?
Speaking of freaky-freaks.
Have I mentioned how much the Big Lug loves his peanut butter? So here’s the thing.
On Friday evenings (pizza night here!), when we have our dinner, we give the dog a Kong toy filled with some kibble, a few treats, all held together with, usually, peanut butter.
Well, I’m pretty sure he has a way to figure out when Friday is, because we can NOT get him out of the kitchen! Finally, I smeared some peanut butter on his snout.
THAT kept him busy for a while!
So Thursday’s Thanksgiving. And, as you’ll recall, Surly Boy will be coming home for the holiday. I’ve arranged to take Tuesday and Wednesday as vacation days – I’ll drive to Vermont Tuesday, and Wednesday is for cooking.
While one of my normal “food assignments” is to bring dinner rolls (I’ve been making homemade dinner rolls for Thanksgiving for 25 or so years), my mother decided that I was too busy this year and has made “other arrangements” which, although a little misguided, was thoughtful.
So the very least I could do was pick up one of the gorgeous floral arrangements I found at the market this weekend. That should look nice on a holiday table, don’t you think?
We had pot roast for dinner the other evening, and, as is often the case on the weekends, when it came time for dinner, we were starving, and our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.
We just couldn’t finish all the potatoes, carrots and parsnips on our plates, so, rather than throw them out, I shoved them in the fridge, to be mixed in with the dog’s dinner for a few days.
Looks like someone is starting to pick up the bad, bad habit of, uh, counter-surfing.
You see that big old nose there, sniffing around as soon as Peep’s back was turned? Yeah, that’s gotta stop.
And once again, it’s time for the weekly menu plan. This week is going to be a little weird for us (for most people, I suspect!), with the holiday, traveling, extra time off work, or all of the above! We try to strike a balance between simple and quick (family holidays are SO exhausting!) and making that little extra effort since we have those couple of extra days off!
Monday - I know that this week is going to be tough, health-wise, so we decided to at least start it simply with some baked salmon, brown basmati rice and frozen green beans from the garden. Healthy and tasty!
Tuesday – Since I’m on the road that day, I have no idea what I’ll be doing for meals – I’m planning to leave between 7 and 8 in the morning, probably stop somewhere for a quick lunch, then reach Surly Boy’s school in the early afternoon. We’ll be leaving there when he’s done with class, and we’ll stop somewhere for dinner before we head home. Meanwhile, Peeps and my brother will be home, fending for themselves.
Wednesday – Swim class is still on this week, and even though I’ll be home baking pies all day, we’re still going to shove something in the slow cooker – this time, Peeps pulled the last of the Cincinnati chili out. By the time the table’s set, the spaghetti should be done and we’ll be ready to eat!
Thursday – WOW, can you believe it’s Thanksgiving already? We’ll be spending the holiday with my parents, and we’ll be doing the basic stuff – turkey with the works!
Friday - Ah, pizza night! Since there will be four of us, it’s going to be a lot easier to make calzones – they can all bake at once! I wonder if Surly Boy has missed pizza night?
Be sure to click on over to The Organizing Junkie’s Monday Menu Plan post for loads and loads of other ideas.
Red beans and rice. Ahhhhhh November 20, 2009
Posted by Peeps in Cooking, Food.add a comment
I’m going to take a little time off from whining and griping here and talk about something positive. Try not to be too shocked.
Instead of our weekly cooler weather soups, last week we decided to do red beans and rice. One of my all time favorite comfort foods. The very first time I had real red beans and rice was in New Orleans, and I fell in love. Just not with the $6.50 price tag on it. I’ll never understand why this dish costs so much out. Whatever, let’s cook.
The day before you plan to cook your beans, they need to soak overnight. There are quicker ways to do this, but if you have the time, why not? Make sure that you sort through the beans before soaking them. Having a small rock slip through into your meal is never a good thing. I used small red beans. That’s what it says on the bag. I don’t use kidney beans, although some people do. And I’m sure it turns out fine. But I’m all about tradition.
Okay, dried beans have been sorted and soaked overnight. Check. Time to do a little work. Onions, celery and green bell pepper all need to be diced. That’s right, the famous “trinity” you may have heard about.
I used two smallish onions, a rib of celery and half a green pepper. While I had the cutting board out, I also minced a couple cloves of garlic.
In our big Dutch oven, I heated a little oil, about a couple tablespoons. Once it was hot I added the onions, celery and pepper and let it sweat. Cook slowly on low to medium heat until the vegetable soften.
At this point you want to start seasoning. A good pinch of salt and about a teaspoon of cayenne pepper goes in with the vegetables, along with a couple bay leaves. This is one of the very few dishes I make that does not have black pepper in it. I’m not sure why, but it works.
Once the vegetables are soft, add the garlic and cook for about another minute.
Next, take the beans that you’ve drained and add them to the pot. Then you add liquid. For the vegetarian crowd, you can use either water or vegetable broth. I prefer chicken stock. Our home made stuff, preferably. We had about half a quart in the fridge. I finished that and brought up another quart from the basement.
Bring the beans to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and wait. This would be a good time to catch up on the back episodes of your favorite programs that are stacking up in your DVR.
Once the beans are soft, about two hours, it’s time to finish it. You need to thicken this. One way is to remove a cup or so of beans and run them through the blender and return the puree to the pot. You can also use a potato masher right in the pot, so long as you don’t mash everything. Or you could do what I did. Use the stick blender! One of my favorite things to play with. This would also be a good time to check to see if you need more salt.
Just one more thing to add. Traditionally, you add slices of smoked sausage like andouille to red beans. I didn’t happen to have any. But I did have some chunks of ham that spent a few hours in my smoker. That’s close enough for me.
The ham, diced, goes into the pot with the beans. Let that cook until the ham is just warm through. Turn off the heat, find a container big enough and empty the pot into it and refrigerate.
You can eat red beans the same day you make them. And they’re fine. But if you’re smart, you’ll listen to me and let the sit for at least a day in the fridge. You’ll thank me later.
Since this was going to be a swim class night dinner, when I got home from work, I put the beans in the crockpot to heat gently until dinner time. When we got home from swim class, we got the rice cooker going. Less than half an hour later, diner was ready.
This dish should always be served with bread. Good French bread, ideally. Some Tabasco should be on the table, for those who want a slightly hotter finished product. And while milk works fine as an accompanying beverage, beer is very traditional. Just saying. Oh, you have to have the right music. Some things go better with beans and rice. Like this:
November Third Thursday: PB Pie November 19, 2009
Posted by Toy Lady in Cooking, Holidays Countdown, Third Thursday.6 comments
Not only is it the Third Thursday of November, it’s a week before Thanksgiving!
This month’s entry, therefore, will serve double duty – not only is it borrowed from another blog, it was also a test for my Thanksgiving Food Assignment.
Multi-tasking. That’s what I’m all about.
Back when I picked blueberries and played around with making mini blueberry pies, I threw together a couple of extra pie pastries – I wasn’t sure how many times I was going to want to try, and I wanted to be prepared! So, when I decided not to make yet more baked goods, I just wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for later.
Kinda serendipitous, huh? I mean, I stumbled on Lisa the Homesick Texan’s directions for making peanut butter pie, AND I just happened to have a couple of pie crusts in the freezer? I would say that’s kinda like a sign, wasn’t it? I had to try it!
So the first thing I did was blind bake one of the pie crusts. I keep a jar of beans, with the trimmed piece of parchment, in the cupboard for just such an occasion!
Have I mentioned that our dog is a Peanut Butter Freak? He can smell a jar of peanut butter cracking open from a mile away! I guess he comes by it honestly, though – I’m a big fan of the peanut myself!
So the filling is basically a peanut butter custard, which is just an awesome idea! In a saucepan, I mixed together 1/2 cup of sugar, 5 Tablespoons of flour and 1/4 tsp. of salt, then whisked in 1½ cups of milk and 3 egg yolks, and heated them over a medium-ish heat until the custard started to thicken. Try not to let the filling overcook, or it may weep – just don’t ask me how I know.
Then, off heat, stir in ½ teaspoon of vanilla, 3/4 cups of peanut butter (choosy moms choose Jif!), and 1/8 teaspoon each of cinnamon and cayenne.
I separated the egg whites into the bowl of the stand mixer, and once the pie filling was done and poured into the crust and cooled, THEN it was time to whip the egg whites for a meringue.
Whip with a bit of salt, and once the egg whites are frothy, gradually beat in your sugar – about 2 Tablespoons for each egg white, or, in the case of 3 egg whites, 6 Tablespoons of sugar. How’s that for math?
You’re going to want to whip the whites to about a medium-peak – not too stiff, because it’ll be hard to spread on top of the pie, and not too soft, because you want, you know, peaks.
Make sure, when you top the pie, that the meringue touches the crust all the way around – if it doesn’t, the topping will shrivel up and it’ll just look sad. You don’t want that.
(Which is another reason you don’t want the egg whites to be too stiff – it’s really hard to spread!)
Once the pie is covered with meringue, and you’ve got the peaks swirled to your satisfaction, just run it under the broiler until it’s just barely browned – whatever you do, don’t walk away! It can go from snow white to scorched in a matter of moments! What you want is a toasty-marshmallow color, that’s all.
We let everything just set overnight, and enjoyed our pie the following day, and let me tell you, enjoy it we did! I almost forgot to get pictures – THAT’s how anxious I was to try it! I found that a small piece went a long way – it’s really rich and peanutty.
And, since, much like the dog, I come by my love of peanut butter honestly (my father is also a peanut butter lover), this pie is coming with us for Thanksgiving dinner.
Well, not this pie, obviously. You know what I mean.
Don’t forget – if you want to play along, the Third Thursday Guidelines are right here – just send us an email with the information, and we’ll highlight any participants on Tuesday!
