Your regularly scheduled holiday guilt… November 6, 2008

Thanksgiving’s Moveable Feast

By CORBY KUMMER

 

Published: November 23, 2006

Boston

A RECENT article in the Montreal newspaper La Presse quoted growers as claiming that within a few years Canada would be a larger producer of cranberries than New England.

That the article was written in French only pointed up the hurtfulness of the boast. Canada is already the biggest harvester of lobster, that other quintessential symbol of New England — even if the Pilgrims regarded it as little more than trash fish, unworthy of a place of honor at the original Thanksgiving table (the only sure items at which were deer and wildfowl, according to Kathleen Curtin and Sandra Oliver’s “Giving Thanks”). Bad enough already that Wisconsin produces more cranberries than Massachusetts. Must we cede to Canada those too-tart, hard-to-love, health-giving remnants of a time when New England agriculture had national significance? For the rest of the New York Times article, click here.

 

So tired. November 3, 2008

Seriously. I can’t come up with any decent titles for this post, but I neeeeeeed to crank it out, so that’s what you get. The first decent suggestion I get will win the coveted atop-the-post spot.

“Fried” Chicken

-1.5 c buttermilk
-1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
-salt
-1 (3 lb) cut-up chicken (8 pcs), skin removed from all pieces except wings
-1.5 c bread crumbs, preferably panko
-1 tsp grated fresh lemon peel

1. In a large zip top plastic bag, place buttermilk, cayenne, and 3/4 tsp salt; add chicken pieces, turning to coat. Seal bag, pressing out excess air. Place on a large plate and refrigerate chicken at least 1 hour or preferably overnight, turning bag over once.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray jelly-roll or large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine panko and lemon peel.

3. Remove chicken from buttermilk marinade, shaking off excess. Discard marinade. Add chicken pieces, a few at a time, to panko mixture, turning to coat. Place chicken in prepared pan.

4. Bake 30-35 minutes or until coating is crisp and juices run clear when thickest part of chicken is pierced with the tip of a paring knife. For browner coating, after chicken is cooked, turn oven to broil. Broil chicken 5 to 6 inches from source of heat 1 to 2 minutes or until golden, keeping a very close eye on it.

Makes 4 main-dish servings.

This recipe is from Good Housekeeping June 2008.

 

I really liked this recipe. The buttermilk and lemon zest added  a clean, unexpected kick to the breading. The recipe was fairly easy as well. Definately a delicious alternative to traditional fried chicken.

Gobble gobble crunch crunch gobble November 3, 2008

I ordered my fresh Thanksgiving turkey today-it’s going to be a 12-16 lb free ranger. It’s my first year to use a fresh turkey as opposed to the rock solid frozen ones you pick up at Wally World and have to defrost for 6784 days before discovering that on Thanksgiving day it still hasn’t thawed and you have to run cool water through it until your arms ache from holding it up before you can cook it. I’m interested to see the difference in taste and appearance between this lovely free range supposedly “happy” turkey and what I’ve used for the past few years. Will it be knock your nose off different, or more of a subtle nuance? I also finalized my menu this evening. I’m going to have 9 people attending, including myself and Mr. Rogers. This year’s menu consists of:

Roasted Dry-Brined Turkey (new recipe to try from Martha Stewart Living’s Nov 08 issue)

Some sort of store-bought bread picked out by my husband (his contribution)

Kicked Up Deviled Eggs

Ginger Cranberry Sauce (again, new from MSL Nov 2008), and 1 can of the canned stuff for my mom who can’t handle the seeds right now that are in the fresh made

Green Bean Casserole (same recipe as last year,not my favorite, but well liked by others)

Twice Baked Potato Casserole (same as last year)

Sweet Potato Pie

Pea Salad (brought by my mom)

Pumpkin Pie

All of the recipes except for the new ones should be here on my blog if you’re interested in checking them out for your meal this year. Have a happy one!