Update from the 'Nati...

richard-in-cincy

Well-known member
I have been cooking like a fiend. No recipes as usual, I just wing it...

This week in the kitchen:

a huge casserole of stuffed peppers. I used green, red, yellow, and orange stuffed with a Turkish chicken and rice stuffing (chicken breast, brown jasmine rice, parsley, oregano, black pepper, red pepper, cilantro, cumin, garlic, onion, pickles, hot paprika).. My big trick was I had some canned garlic pickled veg from my garden from a couple years back that was soft when I opened it, but still tasted great. I added a quart of the pickle (cabbage, carrot, onion, red pepper, cauliflower, etc....) and tomato sauce. It was amazing. I stuffed the peppers and poured a can of pureed tomatoes, chicken stock, fresh garden herbs over the peppers, laid criss-crosses of bacon over each pepper, and baked. Then, topped with shredded Emmentaler near the end of baking and it was sublime.

Then there were cookies. 8 dozen Spitzbuben (they're called Linzer in this country), 10 dozen gingersnaps, and 6 dozen Russian Tea Cakes for a reception.

Several salads and soups...

And tonight's baked ham dinner.

I found a big-assed ham at the grocery for $10 in the mark downs. I have always unwrapped these grocery hams and baked. Dried cut side, etc.

So, I channeled my grandmother: I boiled that sucker. I poured over it the house Cherry Bourbon, and sprinkled it with cinnamon and cloves and did a nice long simmer which also pulled the salt out of it. Then, I speared it and put it on a rack, and coverered with peach bourbon sauce, crushed pecans, bread crumbs, and brown sugar (mix it up and spackle the ham). Put it back in the 450F oven to glaze, and it was, excuse, me: Awesome. We could tast the bourbon, cherry, and peach; the ham was so wonderfully flavored with the above. Grandmother always boiled her ham before glazing.

I served the ham dinner with kale, sweet potatoes, and salad:

Salad: arugula lettuce, butter lettuce, red cabbage, carrots, celery, cucumber, tomato, corn, peas, grapes, blackberries, smoked almonds, homemade 1000 Island with chopped hard boiled eggs, pickle relish, etc.

Cornbread: Stone-ground Weisenberger grits, semolina, wheat flour, clabbered milk, sour cream, butter, eggs, baking powder, sea salt. Batter poured into smoking hot cast iron skillet with bacon fat.

Kale:2 hour simmer of kale, bacon, onions, garlic, red peppers, vinegar, sugar, and coconut aminos.

Sweet Potato Stacks:. Mandolined thin slices of potato layered in buttered muffin tins with asiago, thyme, rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper. Then hot cream with crushed garlic, white pepper, and butter poured over the stacks. Bake covered with foil. 10 minutes before finishing, remove foil and cover top with cheese, melt, brown. Invert. Beautiful. Delicious.

Marg's Coq au vin recipe. Wow. Every pan and dish in the kitchen was dirty, but what a glorious dish. I marinated the chicken in the wine, herbs, and veg for 3 days and it was just simply stunning. I will be using this recipe from now on. However, I did keep my bacon rolls as garnish. They are always a hit.

A chocolate covered cherry trifle: Leftover chocolate cake, bittersweet ganache, and maraschino cherry flavored meringue icing became a trifle filled with chunks of chocolate cake spackled with ganache and chopped maraschino cherries, homemade cherry jam, sprinled with cognac, and layers of the pink icing standing in for whipped cream. Top was garnished with cherries and shaved chocolate. It was devoured. I'm surprised they didn't lick the bowl!

Breads this week were 18-grain loaves and sourdough rye batards.

I have pics, just need to figure out how the photo post is working here on the new site. Paul, you explained how it worked on the old site, but that doesn't seem to be working on the new site. Is the photo upload still available? Thanks.

 
Holy cow. Just reading it is exhausting. Where DO you get the energy?

Loved the sweet potato stacks idea. Will need to try that.

A ham for $10? I'm moving to Cincinnati.

 
Wow, Richard--a Thanksgiving feast will be NOTHING for you to whip up! It all sounds delicious,

and methinks you should write down ingredients and directions for a couple of your "wing it" items so you can successfully re-create them in the future--OR for posting on this board. Smile.

 
No Thanksgiving this year.

The thing of it is, next time I "wing" it, the dish will be completely different. It's how I roll. My cooking is dependent upon my mood and my needs. Comfort food: channeling my grandmother. I can recreate every one of her dishes nearly exact. But if I'm on a whim, I'll take her dish and transport it somewhere else and have fun. I can go to the kitchen, head toward Mexico, and end up in Thailand before I'm finished. It's just how I cook.

The assorted branches of family are with their other families this year, the planets, moon, and stars all lined up and Jupiter aligned with Mars.

I have made reservations to dine in style at the Netherland Plaza in the Hall of Mirrors for the traditional Thanksgiving buffet.

Jackie dined here with JFK so I'm in good company.

No cooking, no leftovers, no cleanup.

I'm a lucky boy.

The family hoarde descends for Christmas this year and it will be over the top. I'm serving old Kentucky traditional menu with Kentucky Ham, smoked turkey, cornbread dressing, Russian potatoes, pan gravy, scalloped oysters, corn pudding, baked onions, tangerine and honey glazed carrots, Kentucky 7-layer salad, cranberry relish, pole beans and ham with onions, Austrian dinner rolls, green tomato and watermelon rind pickles, blackberry jam cake with caramel icing, transparent pies, German's Chocolate cake, overflowing punch bowls, platters of German Christmas cookies, house egg nog, cherry bourbon, cognac, & chocolates.

Photo: The Netherland Plaza Hall of Mirrors where I shall dine on Thanksgiving Day.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nxfmF42Bh8U/Tn2UXJq0JiI/AAAAAAAAPvQ/HbFtEfX0bjQ/s1600/wedding+receptions+cincinnati+3.jpg

 
The menu...

After I hit the oyster bar, the crab legs, the smoked salmon, and scallops, I will be off to the house made desserts in between sips of champagne...

Menu from a couple years back, the only thing that has changed is the price smileys/smile.gif

"Rooftop" means the beehives they keep on the roof where they harvest the honey served in the restaurant who have dined on the riverfront flower gardens in Riverfront Park, Yeatman's Cove, and Bicentennial Landing, along with their own churned butter, rooftop herb garden, housemade stocks and sauces (no cans, no mixes), house bakery breads, and the wonderful selection of desserts by the house pastry kitchen.

My absolute favorite Cincinnati restaurant.

http://www.orchidsatpalmcourt.com/thanksgiving.aspx

 
It helps that I work from my home office...

You can stay here while you shop for a house. Can you even imagine if we lived in the same city?!?!? Oh the dinner parties! Oh L'amour L'amour!!!

I can prep all day. I wouldn't be turning out the loaves of homemade bread like I do otherwise.

The sweet potato stacks are AMAZING! Play with them. Different cheese, herbs, and spices are on the drawing board. I love savory sweet potato dishes. Let me know where you go with them. The hot garlic cream was about 2 tablespoons per cup, BTW.

Never understood the sickly sweet versions tradtionally served for the fall.

 
Smiling at your menu - our Carrabba's Friendsgiving 5-Course dinner planned

on Wednesday night smileys/wink.gif Colleen

FRIENDSGIVING
Gather together with friends who are like family and join us for a Dine Rewards Member Exclusive five-course food and wine pairing featuring sautéed-to-ordered pastas and perfectly paired wines.

RESERVE: $40 PER PERSON*
*excludes tax & gratuity
FIVE-COURSE MENU INCLUDES

ITALIAN SALAD
Mixed greens, garden vegetables, kalamata olives and our Italian vinaigrette dressing
Paired with Ecco Domani Merlot

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RAVIOLI WITH CHICKEN
Ravioli stuffed with butternut squash tossed in brown butter and topped with our wood-grilled chicken and sage
Paired with William Hill Chardonnay

RIGATONI CAMPAGNOLO
Large rigatoni tossed with Italian sausage, red bell peppers, our pomodoro sauce, topped with warm caprino cheese
Paired with Gabbiano Chianti

SHRIMP & SCALLOP LINGUINE ALLA VODKA
Sautéed shrimp and sea scallops tossed with basil in our tomato vodka cream sauce
Paired with Mark West Pinot Noir

PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING
Warm brioche bread with pumpkin custard topped with ice cream and drizzled with salted caramel
Paired with Saint M Reisling

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018 at 6:30 PM

https://reservations.thuzi.com/dinerewards?utm_campaign=cig-friendsgiving-181112&utm_medium=email&utm_content=news&utm_source=email-list%7Call

 
Postponed - will be doing our family thanksgiving dinner in early December

Couldn't pass up $.39/# turkeys! And we did just vacation with all 3 kids so we'll get to catch up on their "end of November celebrations" when we meet again. Colleen

 
You are a wizard! And your stamina smileys/wink.gif

I so look forward to your binge cooking posts! Thanks so much for sharing all of you creative suggestions. Colleen

 
OMGoodness, does that menu sound divine-- ESPECIALLY the Pumpkin Bread Pudding. My mouth is watering

 
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