Thought some of you might need a place to start, you can change/add herbs, sage, sausages, chestnuts, etc.
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped celery
1 cube butter
melt butter in sauté pan, add above chopped ingredients and sauté a minute until onions get transparent
1 box herbed bread cubes -put in large bowl, pour sautéed ingredients over bread cubes
season with:
approx. 3/4 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. chopped parsley
lots of salt and pepper
Enough for 12 lb. turkey
Family holiday gatherings, the smells of Christmas dinner, and the rich, luxurious taste of eggnogs are high on my list of favorite childhood memories. I attribute the peacefulness of the gatherings to eggnog which was always homemade and served hot, Uncle Bob never slugged Uncle Burney although there could be some loud discussions in by the tree. My daughter was visiting this Christmas and was thirsting for this beverage which we tried to find in our local stores, but the whole valley was “out of eggnog” due to high demand! I realized that we had never written down this recipe and after looking though old cookbooks, searching on the web, I came up empty handed. I called my sister, we struggled to remember but only came up with a guess, I decided to do the best I could, as I proceeded, the smells stimulated all the memories and low and behold, “The Eggnog”!
I offer it to you with this note of warning. Upon awakening this morning, I was given this question by my confused sweetheart, “ Why are there black panties draped across the bananas?”
1 egg
1 tablespoon sugar
¾ cup milk
Fresh grated nutmeg
Spirits such as Whiskey or Brandy
Plan on 1 egg per serving. Separate whites and yolks, beat sugar and some nutmeg into yolks, whip egg whites into peaks. Gently add yolk mixture to whipped whites. Heat milk to simmering. Fill cup ½ full of egg mixture, pour in hot milk to fill cup, add spirits to taste, top with a dash of nutmeg.
Pollo Pibil (Yucatán-Style Chicken with Achiote)adapted from Saveur, August 2012
1 cup fresh orange juice
⅓ cup fresh lime juice (~3 limes)
¼ cup fresh grapefruit juice (~1 grapefruit)
4 oz. achiote paste (the package I bought was only 3.5 oz)
Kosher salt, to taste
3 (28″-long) frozen, thawed banana leaves (optional)
1 (3–4-lb.) whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (I probably would take the skin off as the skin isn’t very appetizing to me when eating. The husband likes it fine. Whatever you prefer.)
pickled onion, for serving (optional)
Warm tortillas, for serving (optional)
1. Combine juices, achiote paste, and salt in a blender, and purée until smooth, at least 2 minutes. Pour through a fine strainer into a medium bowl; set sauce aside. (I did not strain and don’t know what purpose it would serve other than to make more dishes.)
2. Line the bottom of a 6-qt. Dutch oven with 2 crisscrossed banana leaves, if using, letting the excess hang over the side of the pot. Add chicken pieces to pot, and pour over sauce. Tear remaining banana leaf into small pieces, and scatter over top of chicken. Fold excess of banana leaves over top of chicken, and place lid on pot. Place pot over medium-high heat, and bring sauce inside to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, covered, until chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes. (We couldn’t find banana leaves and would like to try this recipe again without them. I don’t know if there was a huge taste missing without them but I was pretty darn happy with how it came out. Also, we bought two additional chicken legs (drum and thigh) and I just added more fruit juice to cover.)
3. To serve, uncover pot and peel back banana leaves. Divide chicken among serving bowls, discarding pieces of banana leaves, and serve with plenty of sauce from the pot, along with pickled onions and tortillas, if you like. (When serving cold the liquid will solidify but it ‘melts’ quickly and you can heat the meat up with the juice. The juice is delicious and a happy part of the end product.)
Alternately…I made a pot of red beans and served them together without the tortillas. To make the beans, I soak 2 cups of red beans in water overnight changing the water as much as possible (3-4 times). If I can’t soak them overnight, I soak them in hot tap water for a few hours. I then dice an onion and saute it in a little olive oil, slice up a few (3-8) garlic cloves and toss in some dried hot peppers. I saute until they are translucent or the pan starts to brown. I then rinse the beans, add them to the pan, cover with water, bring to a boil, turn to low and simmer until the beans are tender but not falling apart (40-60 minutes). I then add salt to taste. These live on the stove for days and I keep heating them up and serving from them. If it is hot or you leave them out for too long they will spoil. We usually go through them in a few days and it is of no worry.
Here is the original recipehttp://www.saveur.com/article/Recipe/Mexico-Chicken-Achiote
This “tradition” was developed before electricity, before refrigeration, at a time when the food needed to be preserved in a manner that would provide sustenance in the future when the gathering time was well over. It requires a lot of planning to enjoy because the fish needs to cure in rock salt for several months before the pickling process. My mother, Ivy Sjolund/Crowther, is Scandinavian and a fisher person to the core, the rhythm of the sea is in her blood and the rhythm of the great Salmon fish as well, she passed these genes on to her grandson and one of her great grandsons, missing me completely! She spent many an hour on the sea in a small boat littered with her catch of the day, sometimes coming home with King Salmon as big as she was so the raw material was usually at hand when I was living at home. Her grandson/my son Brian, is the one who carries on this tradition best!
Brian Dahl’s Cured, Pickled Salmon
CURING
Use a large, freshly caught salmon with high fat content, ideally 20 lbs. or bigger.
Fish cured this way will last an incredibly long time. I have used it a year later and it is fine.
PICKLING
a sit-down dinner 