Turkey Test Run

Now that it's nearly Christmas, I figured I'd finally post some pics from my sister's (the chef) Turkey Test Run Dinner. The whole thing came into fruition when my cousins in Michigan volunteered to host Thanksgiving out there. That said, Brittny offered to make sides, but still needed sate her chefly desire to cook a perfect holiday bird. So she cooked twice the sides and appetizers (some for Michigan, some to accompany her turkey) and invited the immediate family over to sample everything early. Some of the main players included, baked homemade ricotta with a lemony, garlicky olive tapanade, mashed potatoes, baked mac and cheese (my Mom actually made this dish), and my personal favorite, creamed spinach with roasted parsnips. Mmmmm... I can't take too much credit for anything that went out, but I can take credit for photographing it, writing about it, but most importantly eating it.

Baked Ricotta

Heaven in Progress

The Bird

Note: We enjoyed the much anticipated butternut squash, thyme and goat cheese in pastry puff canapes on the actual holiday. They were so freaking good and fairly simple.

Brittny's Butternut Squash Canapes with Caramelized Shallots and Goat Cheese

1 medium butternut squash
3 cloves of garlic
4 shallots
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 pkg puff pastry
1 tube goat cheese
1 egg
olive oil
sea salt
white pepper

1. Roast squash until fork tender, but still firm enough to peel and chop. Let cool
2. Sautee garlic over medium heat, add shallots when garlic becomes fragrant cook until sweet and translucent, add chopped thyme just before removing from heat. Set aside
3. After squash is cooled, remove the skin and chop into a small (1/4 inch) dice.
4. Mix squash into shallot mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Cut puff pastry into 1 inch rounds using a cookie cutter
6. Spoon 1/2 table spoon of the mixture onto the puff pastry and pinch the edges to create a ridge to keep the filling in.
7. Balance a teaspoon of goat cheese on top of the canape.
8. Bake at 375 degrees until pastry is cooked through and cheese is slightly browned.
9. Serve immediately

These are really good with a good crisp white, like a sauv blanc.

I like to think that I'm a little bit sassy and a lotta bit classy.

I spend an unnatural portion of my day thinking about food. Seriously, I do. Entirely too much time. I don't procrastinate on Facebook (okay, I do) but I spend much MORE time trolling the internet for food blogs, Top Chef recaps, and good pictures on flickr's infamous 'food porn' thread. In the last year I've read everything written by and about Anthony Bourdain and have developed a nasty little hetero crush on him. Intellectually, I am something of a foodie. The thing is, I'm usually too broke to dine out or even cook the foods I love. What is a poor, poor foodie to do? Well folks, I, luckily, know my way around the gourmet market well enough to find those key ingredients can elevate a common dish to something more acceptable to my bourgeois palette. So, for now, I must be content to continue reading, dreaming, drooling, and (as you will see) modifying cheap food into something a little bit classy.

Case in point:

I've been trying to detox for the last 3 days. Day 1, I gave up and dug into the free Italian Beef sandwich I was given at work. FAIL. Day 2, I drank a gallon of water and three cups of green tea and ate nothing but cottage cheese, an apple and Kashi cereal (without milk) until dinner--where I proceeded to make a turkey sandwich w/ brown sugar bacon, spinach, mayo and a raspberry vinaigrette drizzle. FAIL. Day 3, that's today, was going to be an automatic fail because I knew I'd be drinking alcohol at a work event AND getting a free dinner, so I decided the hell with it and treated myself to a lunch I could chew. Ever since I watch the 'grilled cheese' episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay, I have been CRAVING a grilled cheese sandwich with turkey, tomato and goat cheese. Today, I decided to finally sate that craving. Unforch, none of the restaurants near my office actually serve that sandwich, so I had to get creative. First, I went to Baci Cafe and got a turkey, mozzarella and tomato panini. Then, I high tailed it over to Presidential Market and bought some goat cheese. In no time at all I was back at my desk slathering goat cheese all over the crusty ciabatta bread. I popped the refurb. into the toaster oven to melt everything together, and let me tell you what--it worked just fine! Classy and delicious. Spot. On.


I enjoyed this sandwich so much that I:

1) was inspired to write a food blog after eating it.

And

2) felt moved to at least take a picture of the carnage.
(Note the telltale goat cheese stained knife)