Curried Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

There’s a theory that if you talk about an upsetting experience you have, it helps to get your feelings out in the open and you can move on past the unpleasantness.

Welcome to my Thanksgiving.

Things for the celebratory evening at the Red Brick Ranchero were in place.

Food cooked beautifully, witness the pictures.

HOWSOMUCHEVER….when said food was served, it was not as it had presented itself.

The cranberries did not accept the gelatin that would make them stand up and be accounted for.


They refused same and, well, there you go.

Cranberry Soup.

If only they had let me know ahead of time.

I would have gotten out the bowls.

I found these the day after. Sort of forgot about them in the hystericalness that ensued.

The first turkey.

Looks are deceiving.

The second turkey.


I can’t talk about it.

I guess all I say is that it kind of seemed sacrilegious to stuff two turkeys in a huge pot and BOIL them to get them done.

Thank God my mother had brought a ham.

The turkeys came to a very creative end; involving wild and brown rice, garam masala and cumin, golden raisins and cilantro.

Warming, soothing, comforting.

There…I feel much better.

I can think about Christmas Eve dinner now.

　
Curried Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

4 cups cooked turkey breast and thigh meat, chopped coarsely
3 cups cook wild and brown rice mix (I used RiceSelect Royal Blend..it’s divine.)
Couple of swirls of extra virgin olive oil
2 large leeks, trimmed, rinsed and coarsely chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
6 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
8 fat cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
Freshly ground black pepper and coarse salt to taste
6 cups chicken or turkey stock, heated
2 tbsp hot curry powder
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne

Heat a large pot over medium high heat and add a couple swirls of extra virgin olive oil. When oil is wavy, add the leeks, green bell pepper and celery, stir to combine, reduce heat to medium and cover to sweat the veggies for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add the garlic and seasonings and cook for five minutes. Add the turkey and cook five minutes. Add the hot chicken/turkey stock and stir.
Let this cook for about 25 minutes. Add the cooked rice mixture and let heat for about ten minutes.

Serve with chopped fresh cilantro, golden raisins, and sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
Serves 4 generously.


Click here for a printable recipe.

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Two Years Ago on Feeding Groom
　

Curried Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

Feeding Groom Daube a` la Vin Rouge

Never met a beef stew I didn’t like.

Seriously.

But the French version, called daube takes beef stew to a whole new level.

Beef marinates in red wine, red onions, carrots, bay leaves, grated fresh nutmeg and orange zest, rosemary and garlic.

Marinate it overnight or 45 minutes.

Up to you.

After that, plan for a couple of hours on top of the stove.

Serve over noodles, smashed potatoes and turnips or by itself with crusty French bread and butter.
Use your imagination.

A stew becomes a daube becomes dinner.

What’s not to like?

By the way, this is a celebratory post.

Feeding Groom is two years old this month!

Thanks to Last Night's Dinner for the inspiration and to Groom for the kick in the pants to get this going.

And to those of you that stop by and see what’s happening at the Red Brick Ranchero, cheers!

Feeding Groom’s Daube a` la vin Rouge

1.5 boneless beef short ribs, cut into bite sized pieces
½ sweet red onion, cut into slivers
½ sweet yellow onion, cut into slivers
2 large carrots, peeled, sliced on the diagonal
6 fat cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 bay leaves
1 cup red wine
1 cup beef stock or chicken in a pinch
½ orange, zested
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh Italian parsley, about a handful, chopped for garnish

Put the beef, onions, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, red wine, orange zest and rosemary in large bowl.

Season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Let marinate overnight or at least 45 minutes.

Heat a couple of good swirls of extra virgin olive oil in a large dutch oven. When the oil is wavy, add the beef, don’t crowd the pan and let it brown on both sides. Remove the cooked beef and continue til finished. Drain the veggies from the red wine (reserving that and add the veggies to the hot dutch oven. Cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring.

Add the reserved wine and a cup of beef or chicken stock. Let cook 1-½ to 2 hours, til the beef is tender. Remove the veggies and beef, and raise the heat to reduce the sauce down a bit to your taste.

Serve over what you like…pasta, smashed potatoes and turnips or alone with crusty French bread. Garnish with freshly chopped Italian parsley.

Enjoy.

Serves 3 generously.

Click here for a printable recipe!

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Two Years Ago on Feeding Groom

Feeding Groom Daube a` la Vin Rouge

Pan Sauteed Pork Chops with Roasted Butternut Squash and Crisped Pancetta

The pig and the butternut squash.

A match made in heaven, that’s what it is.

Butternut squash roasting with garlic, rosemary, coriander in the oven.

Pancetta crisping , pork chops sautéing.

So easy to do.

A great weeknight supper.

A grand candlelight dinner at home for two.


Pan Sauteed Pork Chops with Roasted Butternut Squash and Crisped Pancetta
With kudos to Jamie Oliver and Blue Kitchen

Preheat oven to 400.

Spray baking sheet with Pam.

1 large butternut squash, sliced in half lengthwise, peeled, seeds removed, sliced in half, then lengthwise again to make half moons
1 large tbsp coriander seed, crushed in mortar and pestle
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 long red dried chiles
8 garlic cloves, smushed
Several sprigs rosemary, stripped
Extra virgin olive oil

Spread butternut squash over baking pan sprinkle with the crushed coriander. Add the rosemary sprigs, add the peppers, add the garlic drizzle with olive oil season well bake 30 minutes.

3 ounces pancetta, chopped
2 large boneless pork chops
Extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh Italian parsley, chopped

In a large cast iron skillet, heat a couple of good swirls of extra virgin olive oil. When oil is wavy add the chopped pancetta and cook about five minutes or so over medium high heat until crispy. Turn heat down a bit, so the oil doesn’t smoke and add the pork chops. Cover and let cook 5 minutes. Don’t disturb them.
Turn them over and cover and cook 5 more minutes. They’ll get a nice crust on them this way.
Remove from heat, let sit for a couple of minutes.

Plate the squash first, add the porkers on top of the squash and sprinkle with the cooked pancetta and chopped Italian parsley.

Serves 2 very happy peoples with leftovers for the lunch.

Click here for a printable recipe!

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Pan Sauteed Pork Chops with Roasted Butternut Squash and Crisped Pancetta

Pan Sauteed Halibut with Red Bell Pepper, Capers and Toasted Cumin

Halloween night.

Cold and clear.

Perfect for “ghoulies and ghosties and long leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night.”

World Series on the tube. The rain stops in Philly.

Star Wars creatures at the front door.

Once the trick or treaters are done., filets of halibut waiting on the stove are quickly cooked in a bit of olive oil and butter, a tasty topping of sautéed red bell peppers, garlic confit, capers and toasted cumin at the ready.

A dish to please any ghoul or baseball fan alike.


Pan Sauteed Halibut with Red Bell Pepper, Capers and Toasted Cumin
Adapted from Bistro Cooking by Patricia Well

2 5 ounce halibut filets, seasoned with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red bell peppers, sliced into strips
2 tbsp capers
2 tsp whole cumin seeds, toasted
1 tbsp garlic confit, chopped
1 tbsp butter
Extra virgin olive oil

In a medium skillet over medium high heat add a couple of swirls of extra virgin olive oil. When oil is wavy looking, add the red bell peppers and stir, lowering heat so they can cook and soften for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic confit, capers and toasted cumin seeds. Stir to combine and cook five minutes. Keep over low heat.

In a medium cast iron or non stick skillet, over medium high heat, add a couple of swirls of extra virgin olive oil. When olive oil is wavy add the butter. Butter will foam and as soon as foam subsides add the halibut. Let cook about 3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish and turn. Cook 3-4 minutes on the other side. Monitor the heat so the butter does not get too brown.
Put the fish on the dinner plates. Swirl the red bell pepper mix into the pan you have just cooked the fish in and pour over the fish.

Serves 2.

Click here for a printable recipe!

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Pan Sauteed Halibut with Red Bell Pepper, Capers and Toasted Cumin

The Ultimate Chicken Spaghetti

Chicken, tomatoes, spaghetti, black olives and cheddar cheese.

Baked in the oven.

School Food circa 1965.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this stuff.

But I’m not 9 years old and my taste for chicken spaghetti has grown up.

Roasted fennel, red peppers, onions, garlic tossed with chopped roast chicken and tomatoes.

Kalamata olives, whole wheat spaghetti and fresh baby spinach.

Manchego cheese.

Now that’s Chicken Spaghetti.


The Ultimate Chicken Spaghetti

1 large fennel bulb, sliced thin
1 large sweet red onion, sliced thin
1 large sweet yellow onion, sliced thin
10 fat garlic cloves, smashed
2 large red bell peppers, sliced thin
A couple of good swirls of extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fennel seeds
2 good shakes crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup Kalamata olives pitted and sliced in half, optional
1 28 ounce can diced san Marzano tomatoes, drained
2 cups roasted chicken, chopped
3 cups baby spinach
1 cup grated Manchego cheese
whole wheat spaghetti to serve 3

Put the water on to cook the spaghetti.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put the pan in the oven as it preheats.

Toss fennel, onions, garlic, peppers with the olive oil and add the red pepper flakes and fennel seed. Season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Pull out the oven rack the sheet pan is on very carefully to the point where you can add the fennel mix. Stir onto pan…be very careful. Roast for 15 minutes. Add the chicken, tomatoes, olives and stir well. Roast until fennel is tender. Cook the pasta.

Take chicken mixture out of oven and put in large bowl, toss with the spinach. Drain the pasta, add to the bowl and add the cheese, tossing to incorporate. Season to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Serves three generously.

**Thanks to The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper for the fennel garlic onion roast inspiration.

Click here for a printable recipe!
One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

The Ultimate Chicken Spaghetti

Ground Lamb Burgers with a Sweet Leek, Fennel and Sundried Tomato Confit

The blogger stands, yet again, in front of the refrigerator.

Ingredients present themselves.

Ground lamb.

Pancetta.

Fennel.

Prosciutto.

Leeks.

A light bulb goes off over said blogger’s head.

A bit of chopping, a bit of sautéing, a glass of wine, Joni Mitchell sings softly in the background.

A pretty damn good meal for a weeknight appears on the plate.

The blogger smiles.


Ground Lamb Burgers with a Sweet Leek, Fennel and Sundried Tomato Confit


1 lb ground lamb
2 ounce pancetta, chopped
2 ounces prosciutto, chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Combine lamb, prosciutto and pancetta in bowl and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add red pepper flakes and lemon juice and mix well. Form into nice sized patties and let sit thirty minutes.

1 small leek, rinsed well and chopped
3 fat garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1 small fennel bulb, sliced
1/3 cup chopped sundried tomatoes in oil
¼ cup roasted chicken stock

In a large skillet over medium heat, add a couple of swirls of extra virgin olive oil and when the oil shimmers, add the leeks and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the fennel and garlic and cook another 10 minutes, adjusting the heat so they do not burn. Raise the heat and add the chicken stock and after it cooks down add the sundried tomatoes. Keep warm over low heat.

In heavy skillet over medium to medium high heat add a swirl of extra virgin olive oil. When it shimmers, add the lamb burgers and cook about 8 minutes, or until browned. Flip the burgers and cook until done to your taste, about 8 minutes for medium, 10 for well done.

Plate the burgers, top with the confit and enjoy.

Makes 3 good sized portions.

Click here for a printable recipe!

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Ground Lamb Burgers with a Sweet Leek, Fennel and Sundried Tomato Confit

Chicken Liver Pate

Round the Red Brick Ranchero, we like to celebrate “the Golden Hour.”

It’s the time right before sundown when Groom and I sit down with a glass of wine or a cocktail and reconnect.

Friday nights, the “Golden Hour” becomes “Order and Structure” as we visit with my mother and let the week fade away into the weekend.

Sometimes we have an hors d’oeuvre.

Sometimes not.

This week, Chicken Liver Pate.

Smooth, buttery, hints of nutmeg and Marsala.

Quickly made and travels well.

Make French bread toasts to accompany

One bite and I’m back at the Elegant Red Brick Ranch Home of my parents, cocktail party in full swing, Ella Fitzgerald singing the Cole Porter Songbook on the stereo, lots of chatter and clinking of glasses, Pops making his infamous vodka martinis and my mother’s wonderful food passed on trays to appreciative guests.

I hate to admit it, but I’ve eaten pounds of this in my lifetime.

And as long as chickens are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, I’ll continue.

Chicken Liver Pate

½ pound chicken livers, rinsed and patted dry
1 stick unsalted butter
1 large shallot, chopped
2 good splashes Marsala
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Heat a medium skillet over medium high head and add butter. When foamy, add the shallots and the chicken livers. Cook until done, probably takes five to seven minutes. Add the Marsala, cook for a couple of minutes, remove from heat and season with coarse salt, freshly ground black pepper.

Put in food processor and pulse until almost smooth. Add the nutmeg and pulse until smooth. Adjust seasoning.

Makes about a pint of pate. Lasts a week in airtight container if you’re not a chicken liver pate freak.

French Bread Toasts

1 loaf French bread, thinly sliced
Extra virgin olive oil or roasted garlic oil or melted butter or nothing
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400.

Arrange slices on cookie sheet. Brush with oil or butter or leave plain.
Grind pepper over the slices.

Put in oven for about 10 minutes until done.

Remove from oven and let cool on rack. Makes about 20 -30 slices. (Depends on the size of the loaf, you want these thin).

Keep in airtight container. Do not store in plastic bags.

Click here for a printable recipe!

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Chicken Liver Pate