Our friend James, who used to be a professional chef, was telling me recently about his mother’s Chili Verde. I have a recipe for Crockpot Chili Verde on my blog already – also made with pork – and it actually has more ingredients in it than this one. It’s been awhile since I’d made it, so when James was describing his mother’s and how he slurped it up with some tortillas, it got my mouth to watering. A few days later James handed me his mom’s recipe and I set out to make this version.

Chili verde (green chili) is a moderately to extremely spicy Mexican and Mexican-American stew or sauce usually made from chunks of pork that have been slow-cooked in chicken broth, garlic, tomatillos, and roasted green chiles. Tomatoes are rarely used. The spiciness of the chili is adjusted with poblano, jalapeño, serrano, and occasionally habanero peppers. . .  this came from Wikipedia.

And yes, that describes it perfectly! Chunks of pork (shoulder or stew meat) that’s cooked with some broth, onions, garlic, cumin. After browning the meat well (which will give it plenty of flavor) you add in all those other ingredients and simmer for half an hour. Then you add in some poblano chiles, a jalapeno or two, a yellow bell pepper (gives it nice color) and a whizzed up mixture of fresh tomatillos and cilantro. That simmers for 30-45 minutes and it’s done. Since I always think stews and soup mixtures taste much better the next day, I made it a couple of days ahead, actually, through the first simmering instructions. Then I added the fresh chiles, tomatillos and cilantro and finished it off.

I had on hand some really good tortilla chips, so they were crushed in my hands and sprinkled on top, along with some shredded Jack cheese and a little sprinkling of cilantro. And I served it with a buttered flour tortilla on the side. Delicious. The only change I made to the recipe was using pork broth (I have one of Penzey’s jars of pork soup base) but chicken broth is what’s in the original recipe. Don’t overcook the pork – it will get dry and stringy. Total cooking time is about an hour or so. After the stew was cooked, I cut the pork chunks into smaller bite-sized pieces, and removed the last traces of fat.

What I liked: the rich flavor – much of it from browning the meat very well – that fond in the pan provides so much good taste. It was easy to make too. Great as a leftover meal as well.

What I didn’t like: really nothing. Know that the broth is just that – broth – it isn’t a thick soup, although the tomatillos and cilantro add some good texture to it. That’s why I added the crushed tortilla chips to the soup – they give it texture as well.

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Awhile ago a friend told me to read the book The Last Chinese Chef: A Novel by Nicole Mones (who also wrote Lost in Translation).

I promptly visited the bookstore and bought a hard copy. Usually I read books on my Kindle, but this time, since it was about cooking, I assumed I might want the actual book in hand. It’s been on my bedside table for a couple of months and I’d just had too many other books to read first. When I started reading this one, though, a day or two ago, I could hardy put it down.

The book was enchanting. And I know next to nothing about Chinese cooking. I used to eat Chinese with some regularity. BUT. Then I married a diabetic, and we did eat Chinese food occasionally, but once the medical world figured out that counting carbs in a meal was what spelled the secret to diabetic control, well, going to Chinese restaurants became a very risky proposition. When I cook anything Asian at home I have to put the recipe into my MasterCook program and guesstimate how large a serving he will have so I can tell him how many carbs he’s eating. And it’s never precise unless you literally measure out each serving.

We live in an area where there are some well-renowned Chinese restaurants (in the San Gabriel Valley mostly, east of downtown Los Angeles, about 40 miles north of where we live). I’ve never been to any of them. I’d like to. But it would be difficult for my DH as no waiter can ever tell him how many carbs are in  any meal we eat out, Chinese or any other food for that matter. It’s always a guessing game.

All that said, what it means is that I don’t know much about Chinese cuisine, other than a few very lame Chinese-American dishes that I make now and then. What makes it hard is the use of unusual sauces and additions. If it’s just meat and veggies – no problem. But usually there’s a sauce involved, as with most other Asian cuisines.. Many of the contain sugar – like oyster sauce, or kung pao sauce, etc. Very unpredictable, is what it is!  Sometimes I go out for Thai when my DH is away for an evening. I relish the opportunity.

THE BOOK: So, when I started to read this book, I was mesmerized right away by it. It IS a novel; but you get engrossed in the story almost immediately. A middle-aged woman finds out a year after her husband’s sudden death (from an accident) that a woman in China claims her daughter is her husband’s, conceived from a one-night-stand some years before. A claim is made against the husband’s estate (because he worked on occasional for a few weeks at a time in China). The couple was childless, supposedly a mutual decision between husband-wife. The news is devastating to the widow, who begins to question everything she ever thought she had in her marriage. She goes to China to find out the truth, and also goes there with a purpose (she’s a writer) to follow a Chinese-American chef who is competing in a nationwide culinary competition.

Part of the book is about her determining the truth (through DNA), and part of the book is about this Chinese-American chef in the competition. He speaks English, since he grew up in America, yet he has a strong Chinese culinary heritage (supposedly the grandson of a very famous Imperial Dynasty chef – before the Cultural Revolution). An attraction develops between these two people, yet the story is studded with interesting facts and quotations from the (fictitious) book written by the grandfather, this dynastic chef. Visits to Chinese family ensue, frantic cooking takes place prior to the competition, and in between encounters with the chef and his family, the widow makes her way around discovering facts about her husband’s affair.

What I learned by reading this book was all about the symbolism in Chinese cooking. About how every dish allows the soul to shine through. Quotes (supposedly from the cookbook/book written by the grandfather) scatter throughout, and some famous (real) Chinese poetry too. The quote I liked the best is this from the fictitious book:

The major cuisines of China were brought into being for different purposes, and for different kinds of diners. Beijing food was the cuisine of officials and rulers, up to the Emperor. Shanghai food was created for the wealthy traders and merchants. From Sichuan came the food of the common people, for as we all know, some of the best-known Sichuan dishes originated in street stalls. Then there is Hangzhou, whence came the cuisine of the literati. This is food that takes poetry as its principal inspiration. From commemorating great poems of the past to dining on candlelit barges afloat upon the West Lake where wine is drunk and new poems are created. Hangzhou cuisine strives always to delight men of letters. The aesthetic symmetry between food and literature is a pattern without end. . . . . Liang Wei, The Last Chinese Chef

But remember, this is a work of fiction. As I read the quotes/anchors at the beginning of each chapter (all from this fictitious book written by the grandfather) I was quite charmed by the writer’s (Nicole Mones) creativity. I was so prepared to believe what this Imperial chef had written. His mantras. His lessons regarding his country’s cuisine. In the end, it’s a bit of a love story too. Beautifully written and crafted. Even if you don’t have a lot of interest in Chinese cooking, I think you’ll find this book very enlightening. Very educational without feeling like it is, and immensely entertaining.

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Looking for something simple for dinner? Something to make with leftover chicken or turkey? This is your ticket – easy – tasty and very, very healthy (only 4 grams fat per serving).

Yes, indeed, I’ve copied the title exactly – honest, I didn’t make it up. Some of you – those of you who are “of a certain age” will remember Dinah Shore. She was a famous singer and entertainer back in the day. She produced many a vocal album, was the spokes-singer-woman for Chevrolet for years (remember “See the U S A in your Chevrolet?”). I can sing it in my head and just did!  One of her Chevrolet commercials is available on youtube if you’re interested. She had a long-standing relationship with Burt Reynolds (20 years her junior). Was married more than once, I believe.

During the 1970’s she had her own talk show, and I was a young stay-at-home mom at that time, so I must have watched her show regularly. It was about that time that I bought a small orange covered 6×9 3-ring binder, pictured below. I’d not been married all that long so didn’t have a huge repertoire of recipes anyway. I began copying all of my favorites into the binder and as the years progressed I added more and more. I scotch taped some recipes in there. I folded some newspaper articles, even a couple of pages that came loose from my then favorite cookbook. My mother even wrote a couple of recipes in the book at some point. I typed some, and some were written in by hand in blue, black or red ink. Some recipes now have a big, huge X over them. Tried and discarded, obviously!

Many of the old-old recipes you’ve read here on my blog come from this binder. Most of the recipes have been transferred to my MasterCook software program, but there are still a few that haven’t made it there . . . . yet. This particular recipe is in the binder, neatly typed on my old Olympia portable typewriter my parents bought me when I went away to college, and I did write in Dinah Shore as the origin for the recipe and I wrote “from her TV show” and “winner of her cook-off.” The recipe isn’t in Dinah’s cookbook I own – it may not have ever made it into any of her cookbooks. Who knows. The recipe isn’t available anywhere online – I searched as I was writing this post.

Dinah had a helper at home – maybe she was Dinah’s full-time cook? – Pauline Bumann – who contributed lots of the recipes or to their collaboration. But Dinah was a good cook all by herself. She loved to entertain, and did so often according to the cookbook stories.

Dinah was a gracious host on the show. (Dinah Shore died in 1994 from ovarian cancer, age 77.) You can’t equate Dinah to an Oprah, for instance, but Dinah was entertaining and witty. A convivial host, as I recall. Dinah published several cookbooks. I own the 1983 Dinah Shore Cookbook. Can’t say that I cook from it anymore, but I haven’t given it away, either (oooh, I have a very hard time giving away any of my cookbooks, if you haven’t ever figured that out). Anyway, on the show she’d occasionally demonstrate a recipe, and this is one of those. My recollection is that cooking a quick meal didn’t have the traction that it does now. There WERE no 30-minute meals, hardly. We had Minute Rice, canned creamed soups that went into everything, and boxed cake mixes. But I don’t believe there were any easy-to-make entrees particularly. I’m not even certain you could buy packages of just chicken breasts at the market in the early 1970’s. You bought a whole chicken. Period. Correct me if I’m wrong!

Not all of the ingredients are piled up here on my board, but you can see the bacon, garlic, mushrooms (only add if you happen to have them, as I did this time), onion, celery, applesauce, curry powder and garam masala.

To cut to the chase here, this is a really simple recipe but it has good flavor in it. Sometimes I enhance the flavors a little bit – as I’ve become a better curry cook in the ensuing years, I know what enhances curries (like garam masala seasoning, for instance). But if you want a simple, weeknight dinner using some leftover chicken or some leftover Thanksgiving turkey, try this. Use whatever condiments you’d prefer. Don’t like raisins? Use dried cranberries. Add mushrooms if you want (I did this time, although they’re not in the original recipe). Don’t have any bell peppers? Eliminate them – they’re mostly for garnish anyway. Add cilantro or Italian parsley if you want. Add some minced apple to the garnish if you’d like. And if you don’t like curry powder – well, don’t use it – just  call it it a chicken and gravy instead. It’s a healthy dinner in any case if you don’t use much bacon.

What I liked: how easy it is. What a great use of leftover chicken. Maybe I need to start a new subject category here on my blog for “leftovers,” since they seem to be such a problem for people. The dish has good flavor – certainly not gourmet fare by any means, but it’s tasty and great for a weeknight.

What I didn’t like: can’t think of a thing. Obviously if I’ve been making this since the 1970’s, it’s something I like! Don’t expect haute cuisine, though. This is simple food.

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A great side dish – with warm, comforting flavors from ground cumin and cayenne. Do serve it with a nice piece of grilled meat – even Tandoori chicken, which is what I used.

This dish I made a couple of months ago – before we went on our trip in late September. I served it alongside some Tandoori chicken. This stuff was really good – if you look closely at the photo above, you can see just one little piece of the caramelized onion – just about in the center, dark brown. Those onions are  what “make” this dish. You don’t want to prepare the dish without the onions – you’ll be clamoring for more onions – in fact when I make this again, I’ll probably make more onion, just because it’s that delicious.

There you can see the onions all by themselves. Really brown and scrumptious. Use a good, sturdy pan when you make them as they’ll burn easily otherwise.

The recipe came from Aarti Sequiera, of the Food Network. I followed her recipe exactly. Do give yourself ample time – this takes longer to prepare than you might think (she estimated 1 1/2 hours). Make a big batch, freeze the leftovers with the caramelized onions separated in a different plastic baggie inside the main one with the rice and lentils. Add the pine nuts as a garnish. And remember that lentils are really good for you. Use brown basmati rice if you have it. She served this as a meatless entrée, along with an eggplant salad, which I’ll also post soon.

What I liked: the overall flavor – a great backdrop for some delicious spicy grilled meat – chicken? fish? Even beef or pork. I was so glad I had leftovers as they made a side dish for another meal several days later. Next time I’d double it and freeze the leftovers in a couple of different packages.

What I didn’t like: nothing at all. Delish.

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Sometimes in years past I’ve just cut and pasted a long, long post I did some years ago with a listing of lots of different Thanksgiving choices  you could make from recipes on my blog. Since many of you have looked at that more than once, I thought I shouldn’t do it again this year. If you want ideas, though, go to THIS POST to read about it. Last Thanksgiving my DH had just gotten out of the hospital following heart bypass surgery. We didn’t celebrate very much, although we had family who brought us food. We’re thankful my DH is doing just fine one year later!

This year we’re reverting to our usual Thanksgiving – we’re going to our house in Palm Desert – and some of our family will be there – two of our children and their families – for the full 4 days. We’ll have good friends of ours come for the day, too, Joan & Tom. And we signed up to include two Marines from a local military base in Twenty-Nine Palms, to have dinner with us as well. We don’t know them – they’ll be bussed to our residential development in the late morning on Thanksgiving Day and we return them to the bus at 5:30 with a couple of turkey sandwiches in hand for them to eat for their dinner.

What am I making this year?

My usual cranberry relish. That I make every year. Every single year.

A new turkey recipe this time – posted today also – a Pancetta, Sage and Rosemary (basted) Turkey. I’ll also prepare a spatchcocked turkey (a second turkey – cut in half to flatten out so it will cook in a reasonable time) to do on our barbecue grill. Our two turkeys are about 13 pounds each. One definitely isn’t enough to feed 13 people with leftovers.

The new Italian Sausage Dressing with Leeks and Mushrooms I posted a few days ago. Along with the delicious pancetta Turkey Gravy to go with it.

I’ll prepare one of my make-ahead mashed potato dishes in the crockpot (you can make it ahead that morning, as long as you use something like cream cheese or mascarpone mixed into it – then just put it in the crockpot on the lowest setting).

We’ll have pumpkin pie from Costco (just way too good and so easy) and two additional pies I ordered from our granddaughter for a school fundraising thing – an apple crumb and a sugar-free peach for my DH. Although he may well eat the pumpkin anyway. With plenty of whipped real cream to go on top. Maybe some vanilla ice cream for the apple crumb pie.

My friend Joan is bringing a salad of some kind. We may not have any rolls or bread – who needs it when you’ve got a bread dressing and mashed potatoes! Some years I don’t make an appetizer either – it’s just overkill. Maybe we’ll set out some nuts. And we’ll have several bottles of white and red wine. Probably some champagne too. And coffee. Maybe a little swig of Port or Madeira. Or not since we may all be too full. And turkey sandwiches later on in the evening and more pumpkin pie. We have several pumpkin-pie-lovers in our family (me included), so two 12-inch Costco pumpkin pies will barely make it through the day and evening. For the sandwiches – mostly I buy the wheat grain bread from Corner Bakery these days – it’s just so tasty. I think that will make great turkey sandwiches for everyone – with a bit of the cranberry relish to slather on the sandwich as well. With Best Foods Mayo, full fat. And leaf lettuce or even head lettuce.

From that groaning Thanksgiving menu, my plate will contain turkey dark meat, lots of dressing and gravy (those two almost my favorite part), the cranberry relish, a small scoop of mashed potatoes and some salad. And pumpkin pie. And in the evening probably a half a turkey sandwich and another slice of pie. And coffee. I shudder to think how many calories that is. I don’t want to know.

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Literally, I could just dive into that plate right this second. It’s several days before Thanksgiving as I’m writing this, and I’m ready for the big food day. But there’s no question I’m using this new recipe for 2011’s feast. A Phillis Carey one, celebrating an Italian influence to the menu. I was quite content (I thought) with my last several years of Thanksgiving turkeys. But this one – oh gosh, so very good. Worth the little extra effort. Trust me on this one.

What’s different? Well, you make a pancetta, rosemary and fresh sage butter which is carefully pushed up under the turkey skin, to gently baste the turkey meat with its herby flavors. It gets all whizzed up in the food processor so it’s really finely minced. That way it bastes all over the turkey. What a wonderful flavor. Some of the herbs are placed inside the cavity, and you can wipe whatever is leftover from the basting butter onto the legs and wings and any other area that you couldn’t quite reach under the skin. Phillis suggested that if we had trouble with the butter-under-the-skin part, to use a chopstick to push little pieces into any tight crevices.

The Pancetta Gravy – I posted that part of the recipe along with the Italian Sausage Dressing a few days ago. It is part of this recipe as well – in that you need to add the broth to the big roasting pan which is used for the gravy you’ll make while the turkey is resting – using the broth and drippings. Just make this, okay?

What I liked: the Pancetta butter just added the most divine flavoring to the turkey and it’s truly not difficult to do it.

What I didn’t like: nothing. Absolutely nothing.

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We were invited to our son’s for dinner and I offered to bring a veggie. I had a 2-pound package of haricot verts, those lovely little tiny green beans, in my refrigerator. And I had some fresh corn (where in the world does that come from in mid-November, do you suppose?). I went to my online cookbook resource, Eat Your Books, and entered “green beans” and up came about 20+ recipes contained in my own cookbooks. The only thing the listings don’t tell me is what page the recipe is on, within each cookbook. It listed ingredients and I had nearly everything except shallots (for this recipe that I selected), so I did have to make a quick stop at the supermarket. I used this as my base recipe. It came from Sheila Lukins’ cookbook All Around the World Cookbook. The recipe’s origin is Martinique – or at least it was Sheila’s interpretation of something she ate in Martinique. The corn was my addition. And I altered the quantity of nearly everything else. I’d intended to serve it with lime wedges (as the recipe instructs) but I forgot them at home. They were fine without.

The beans have to be quick cooked in boiling water – and I stand over the stove after about 3 minutes, because I want the beans to be just right in texture – done past crunchy, but not mushy in any way at all. I pull out bean after bean to taste before I finally drain them. I plunged them into ice water to stop the cooking, dried them, then I cooked up the shallots and garlic in olive oil, chopped up the tomatoes and corn, and added the chicken broth. I had to add a bit more water to keep the mixture from burning, then I tossed it all together and served it at room temp. If you want to be more Martinique-authentic, don’t add the corn, but I really liked it that way!

What I liked: the corn (sweet), the shallots (which turn sweet when they’re gently cooked as these were), the garlic overlay (I love garlic in just about every way). Plus, I just love green beans in just about any way possible. It was altogether good and liked by everybody in attendance.

What I didn’t like: it did take a bit of time to make – the beans themselves and then the shallot-garlic stuff too. But it can be made several hours ahead, so it’s not all bad!

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Really, I wasn’t sure I’d ever read Ree Drummond’s book (memoir),  her story of meeting and marrying Marlboro Man. Yes, I was interested, although over the years I’d read parts of her story on her blog, which I’ve been following for several years. To buy it, well, maybe not. BUT, she’s pretty amazing – that I knew. She’s a very clever writer. She’s pretty. Cute. And after reading her blog for so long, I feel like I know her. Like she could be a friend of mine – except that she lives in the middle of nowhere near Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Not exactly a place close to anybody’s radar. But I feel like I could just walk into her kitchen and be right at home. And she’d serve me a glass of her iced coffee (she says she drinks gallons every day), introduce me to her 4 children who would be quietly (ha) studying at their desks as she’s homeschooling them, while she’s whipping up a dinner for 20, taking 4000 photos, writing a post for her blog, Photoshop’ing all 4000 of those photos, and pulling on several different pairs of her infamous cowboy boots. I’d meet Charlie (the basset hound) who would be lounging on the leather sofa. She’s written a book about Charlie too. And, of course, meeting Marlboro Man, her very handsome husband. What this woman is, is a marketing genius. But it’s all surrounded in her homespun, self-deprecating voice – that voice – a person –  who could be your next door neighbor, your cousin down the street, or your best friend from high school. I love all that about her. She has a HUGE following. I mean huge.

Her recent episodes on the Food Network were very fun. Seeing her live, in her own element, at the Lodge, the house her husband’s family uses for guests and events. Seeing her husband (shy) and her 4 kids (adorable), and numerous members of her extended family was great. I have her first cookbook – The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl. Actually I don’t know that I’ve cooked anything from the book. But I loved the photos of their cattle ranch. I’ve thought about buying the book about Charlie (a children’s story) – Charlie the Ranch Dog for my grandson. But he favors cats since that’s what they have in their house. She’s also written a sequel cookbook – The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier that will be released in 2012. Did you hear me say she’s a marketing genius? But she also gives away oodles of stuff from her blog. And I shouldn’t forget to mention her comprehensive Tasty Kitchen website too.

So anyway, I was at the library recently, and there was her book The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels–A Love Story –  right there on the shelf. I glanced through it (no photos). Oh well, I took it home anyway. But first, I needed to read the new Philippa Gregory book – The Lady of the Rivers: A Novel (The Cousins’ War), which I rented from the library actually, and had to return in a week. By the way, that is one fascinating story, revolving around the reign of King Henry VI, England’s boy king, his wives, and told from the voice of one of the Queen’s ladies in waiting (a real person, though there’s never been anything written about her). It was such a good story I found myself going to my computer several times to read online about the actual history of that period (c. 1450). This is a brand new hardback book, and since buying books on my Kindle these days are getting more and more pricey, I decided to try the library. The week cost me $1.50.

Once I finished the above book I opened up Ree’s memoir and started reading. And I read. And I read. I don’t read romance novels except on very rare occasions. But then, this isn’t a novel – it’s a memoir of her own life, about a year in her life. It’s spicy and steamy without any graphic detail. It’s LOL funny. A few nights ago I was lying in bed reading – again, I could hardly put it down – and was laughing and laughing and laughing. My DH thought I was nuts – although he knows all about Ree Drummond because I told him about her – and he watched all of the Food Network episodes. In her book, though, you’ll read about linguine with clam sauce. About Ladd’s starched blue denim shirts, his Wranglers, and his chaps. About their dates (let me tell you, there really isn’t much to do near Pawhuska Oklahoma!). About their wedding, their honeymoon, and a whole lot about her first pregnancy. And all from her hysterically funny voice. I finished it last night and didn’t want it to end. It’s a good thing I have her blog to go to, that’s all I can say.

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Those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time already know about my Christmas favorite, Bishop’s Bread. It’s something I make every single year – because I don’t like fruitcake. You have to understand – I cannot stand those pieces of candied fruit things. This, however, is made with maraschino cherries, chocolate chips and walnuts. Okay? NOT fruitcake!

So why did I make something different than the old standby, you ask? Well, because I was reading the King Arthur Flour blog, called Baking Banter. And they did a write-up about a Golden Fruitcake they developed – about how and why they made theirs the way they did – and with a different batter to hold it together. That was what got my attention – the batter. Last year when I made my Bishop’s Bread, I thought the cake part was just too dry. I’ve noted that a couple of times over the years, but never really knew what to do about it, so I did nothing.

But  reading their blog got me to thinking and I decided I had to try it. Theirs has you soak the fruits in brandy (raisins, cranberries, dried apricots and oh-yuk – candied red cherries – all things I never put in MY bishop’s bread). It has 5 eggs in the batter. And corn syrup. Some Fiori de Sicilia (a flavoring available from King Arthur’s that I’ve had in my refrigerator for about 5 years – it’s a citrusy vanilla, sort of). And it has milk in the batter too.

With all that in my head, I just switched out their batter, and used their proportions of fruit/nuts (about 7 cups for a regular 2-loaf recipe). I also added in some dried cranberries (but decided after the fact that I didn’t like that addition at all). I did soak the maraschino cherries in brandy (and the recipe has you add whatever leftover brandy there is into the batter), but I discovered with my first batch that when my fruit mixture didn’t absorb any of the brandy, of course, the batter was too wet. The better part of the first batch went into the trash.

Before I made my second test batch I did two things: (1) I reduced the amount of brandy altogether – since it was just for flavoring anyway – I didn’t need that much; and (2) I researched the web to find out the internal temperature of fruitcake – when it’s finished. Since I’ve now invested in one of those fancy-dancy instant-read  Thermapen thermometers (above), I’ve been using it for several things. And it was just the best tool for this. The answer to my online query was 200°. Even with fruit in it – you want the internal temp of fruitcake to be 200°. Knowing that, I found that in my particular bread pans, it took 96 minutes to reach that temp. Their recipe suggested 50-80 minutes baking time. At 300° it took mine a whole lot longer, obviously. Why? Don’t know, but it did and does. In the second batch I used Convection Bake and it took less time, but it browned the bread way too much, so half way through I reverted it to regular Bake and it seemed to be fine although I did have to remove it sooner. I won’t use that method again, though.

The bread has a more tender crumb – I like that part of it. You’ll notice that in the picture at top the bread crumbled a bit. I cut slices before the bread had cooled enough and the edges were still almost crispy. Once I’d wrapped it up and let it sit overnight it sliced just fine. So, I think I’ll be making this version from now on. My friend Cherrie came over the other day and we baked and baked – we made a double batch of this Golden Bishop’s Bread, and we made two batches of our other important Christmas favorite, the Chocolate Almond Saltine Toffee (cookies). We’ll get together one more time in early December to make some of our other favorites – and Cherrie has a new recipe to try too.

What I liked about this version: the brandy flavor, plus the Flora di Sicilia flavor too (but if you don’t have that, no worries, just use vanilla), the tender crumb. Even the freshly grated nutmeg gives a very subtle under-note to the bread. Altogether good stuff!

What I didn’t like: well, it does take a long time to bake, but I think my old version took 90 minutes, so what’s 6 minutes?

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Here you can see just the veggies
and the sausage the dressing contains.

OMGosh! Oh, my gracious was this dressing ever the cat’s meow. The be all, end all of dressings I’ve ever, ever had. I will be making this next week for our family’s Thanksgiving dinner. So, okay, what’s so different about it? Well, I’ll tell you that I have an Italian sausage dressing I’ve been making for a several years, but this one? Well, it’s going into #1 position. Part of it’s the vegetables (a lot of them). Part of it’s the moistness of it (it’s a relatively wet dressing) and another part of it is the gravy (oh-so tasty). And the fresh herbs. And the mushrooms (not exactly a common veggie in dressing). Oh, heck. It’s all of it put together as a whole. If I were a vegetarian, I’d gladly have this as my entrée (well, without the sausage, I suppose).

Several weeks ago my friend Cherrie and I went to a Phillis Carey class that was all about an Italian Thanksgiving menu. Everything in it was fantastic. The only thing I might not make is the pumpkin pie (a different take – and I’m just too hooked on the traditional Libby’s style Costco pumpkin pie). Otherwise I think I’ll be making the entire meal from this class (green beans with shallots, the artichoke Romano bruschetta, the Mascarpone mashed potatoes, the pancetta-butter basted turkey, and the gravy I’m writing up here, with the dressing.

It was several years ago I discovered how much I liked Italian sausage in my turkey dressing. And there’s been no turning back. I think my mother usually used Pepperidge Farms dry, packaged mix with her simple additions. And I made it the same way for many years, until I went to a cooking class and had some real, honest-to-goodness completely home made dressing, including the bread cubes. I had some with cornmeal one year. It was okay. But somehow cornbread didn’t fit in with my vision of a Thanksgiving dressing. But now, THIS one. Gosh. Made with fresh, torn bread cubes that are briefly baked in the oven. With oodles of veggies – onion, celery, including some of the green tops, leeks, and mushrooms. And the fresh herbs (sage, rosemary). And the Italian sausage, of course. Certainly there is ample bread in this dressing, but it’s almost more about the vegetables – of which there are lots – and the gravy. The gravy, the gravy. Pictured at right – you can see the little bit of cream added in at the end. Makes it so luscious. Back to the dressing – the one thing that’s a bit unusual in this dressing is the addition of EGGS. Phillis told us they’re not an absolute, but she thinks the dressing stays together better with them. So I’ll be adding those. So delicious.

So, if you’ve had any second thoughts about making your old standby, may I just suggest you try this one, okay? Read further below for the gravy write-up and recipe.

printer-friendly PDF (dressing)
Files: MasterCook 5+ and MasterCook 14 (click link to open MC – 14 contains photo)

Now then, the gravy. Not difficult, although there are two parts to it. You’ll make some really flavorful stock from what develops in the bottom of the turkey roasting pan. That part is essential! A part of it can be made while the turkey is roasting, and then once you’ve removed the turkey and it’s resting, all that good tasty broth is added to the pancetta flavored gravy mixture. It has to cook to just the right consistency and you’re done. The pancetta is part of what makes this – also the use of white wine in the gravy.

printer-friendly PDF (gravy)
Files: MasterCook 5+ and MasterCook 14 (click to open in MC – 14 contains photo)

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