Mister Bird

This post will probably let everyone know how mildly obsessive I am, but I'll take that risk. In preparation for someday hosting Thanksgiving at my own home (still a few more years at least), I decided this year to roast my first turkey, so that I have a couple years to practice and get it right that way it doesn't deflate like in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

This decision also came about as a result of finding an 11.5 lb turkey at our grocery store for $5.41, and I'm pretty sure it's physically impossible for me to pass up a bargain like that.

I decided to take the less-intelligent route of not finding a recipe and just following the basic instructions on the turkey label, combining that information from whatever was stored in my brain from helping my mom every year.

Here is the basic recipe I followed.

Thaw turkey. They say to give four hours per pound in the refrigerator, or 4-6 hours in a tub of cold water for an 8-12 lb bird. I did small combination of both - about 36 hours in the refrigerator, and about 5 hours in a tub of cold water. And let me tell you - THAT BIRD WAS STILL FROZEN. I have memories of my mother swearing up and down that she would never buy another frozen turkey for the rest of her life, and I think I just learned why. Unfortunately, these are also the cheapest birds, so, pick your poison.

Back to the recipe. Once I finally got it thawed, I hoisted Mr. Bird into my recently-sterilized sink and removed the giblets and the neck, which I'm sad to say weren't as neatly packaged as when you buy Whole Roaster Chickens. For the faint of heart, I didn't take pictures of this part, but I will show you a picture of Mr. Bird chilling in the sink. Everyone, meet Mr. Bird.

Once I got him cleaned up, I got my pan ready. Since I have recently set up my kitchen, I don't have any huge roasting pans, and I forgot to pick up a tin foil one at the store, so I had a redneck moment and created my own roasting set-up. Which consisted of wrapping a 15x10 jelly roll pan and a 13x9 Pyrex baking dish in foil. Because we all know that I'm obsessive-compulsive with foil.

I think we're ready for when UFO's attack.

You can also see in the above picture a ginormous plastic bag. This is a trick I picked up from my mom -  to buy the Oven-Roasting bags. The box claims to give you moister, juicier roasts and turkeys, so I figured hey, why not! The bag doesn't make too much of a difference as far as cooking directions go, except the main instruction for that is to sprinkle 1 tbsp of flour in the bag and shake it around, supposedly to help keep the bag from exploding. Although they have you cut in steam-vents so I'm not sure what purpose the flour serves. But I did that anyway, since I have recently learned my lesson about food exploding.

Next! I cut two small onions into quarters, and then put them in a mixing bowl with a hefty drizzle of olive oil, and who-knows-how-much garlic powder, sage, montreal chicken seasoning, and about a tablespoon of italian seasoning. I tossed the onions in this mixture and then, erm, placed them gently up Mr. Bird's derriere.

After this violation, I figured I'd help him relax and get ready for his trip to the oven sauna by giving him a nice massage with the remaining oil and seasoning mixture. I had made sure to have a lot leftover - it was probably equivalent to about 3 tbsp of the mixture.

Once he was thoroughly coated in the oil mixture, it was time hoist Mr. Bird's obese body into the roasting bag, which was barely a one-person task. These crazy people who roast 24-lb birds must have personal assistants. 

At this point, Mr. Bird was starting to get suspicious that something might be going on, but I assured him that he should just relax and enjoy his spa experience.

I tied the bag up and cut in 6 1/2-inch slits as steam vents, and slid Mr. Bird into his 325 degree sauna.

Say goodbye to Mr. Bird. It looks suspiciously
like a body bag doesn't it?

One benefit of not having a huge roasting pan was that I didn't have to truss up the bird too much. It had already come with a convenient leg clamp, and the wings stayed pinned to the side because he was nestled nice and cozy into the 13x9 pan.

Fast forward 3 1/2 hours, per the instructions on the label. Since Mr. Bird was in a roasting bag, I didn't bother with attempting to baste him, although they mentioned that if you felt like untying the bag every time you could feel free to baste. In hindsight, I probably should have done this and cooked him for a little less time, because like most turkey in my experience, it was a little bit dry. But, still, triumph!

Golden brown and smelling delicious, it was finally time to eat! Well, after we let the bird stand for 20 minutes. Scott held his position as man of the house and carved the turkey.

Perhaps not the best method honey.

That's much better.

Mmm...yum. Mashed garlic potatoes and steamed broccoli on the side - nothing too fancy this time.

Let's play a guessing game. Let's guess which plate is Scott's best friend, Christian's?

Hmm....which one could it be.

Oh wait, yup, you guess right. Never fear though moms,
I made him go back and get some veggies. (In all fairness,
he was so excited about the turkey he just forgot about sides.)

So, hurray for success on my first turkey attempt! Next time I'll be trying to figure out how to make Mr. Bird a little juicier. (Maybe I should get him a little drunk like Martha Stewart does...)

One of the best things about this adventure? My leftovers for lunch at work tomorrow look like this:

Stay tuned for recipes that will help you use up your turkey leftovers later on this week!

And let's not forget, thank-you Mr. Bird, for your service and dedication to our meal. You were delicious.

May he rest in peace.

Madeline

This cutie is my best friend Kate's daughter Madeline, whom I love just as much as I do any blood relative. This cutie is also special in so many other ways, and has an incredible story. I'd like to invite you all to join in the journey we've been taking with her since she was born. Check out her story on Kate's blog.

Turkish Adventures...in Baltimore

So, a couple months ago I purchased a Groupon to a restaurant near our apartment in downtown Baltimore, thinking it would be fun to try out something different. Once Scott and I finally found a good evening to make the trip, we headed towards Cazbar..."an authentic Turkish Taverna".


And wow was it different! We had a really good time. As in most restaurants, the lighting was dim which made it difficult to get a good photograph of our surroundings, but it had a romantic, exotic  atmosphere, and light fixtures that I'm pretty convinced I want in my house someday.

We were seated by the window, and it just happened that the way
the reflections were situated, it looked like the ceiling fixtures
were actually hanging outside in the trees. I loved it.

Needless to say, the menu was more than a little bit intimidating, with items like Adana Iskender & Kofte Kebap on it. Fortunately, they had English explanations under each name, which made the choices a bit easier.


I settled on Manti, which is Turkish Beef Dumplings, topped with yogurt and garlic butter. Scott bravely decided to tackle Lamb Kulbasti, which is grilled filet of baby lamb, seasoned with oregano and garlic.

Blurry, but a photo of Scott's Lamb Kulbasti, served with a dill-yogurt sauce.

Manti. YUM!

As nervous as we were, this actually turned out to be  great adventure. Scott's lamb was tender and moist, and my Manti was unlike anything I had ever tasted before. 


It's always fascinating to me to see how different cultures use different flavors. At first I was weirded out at the thought of yogurt...on my food? My warm...savory...dinner food? But amazingly, it really made the dish. It's difficult to describe, but trust me, it was delicious.


Another interesting thing we noticed was our side salads (you can see the bright colors on our dishes). This side salad was incredible. Upon thorough examination, I came to the conclusion that what gave it its fresh, almost tangy flavor was an incredible amount of fresh, curly parsley. It never occurred to me to put parsley in my salad before, but I can guarantee you I'll be trying it at home. Basic ingredients like mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions had a whole new life brought into them by the simple addition of that one little herb.


We finished off our evening by splitting an Turkish apple soda, which is basically just glorified soda water flavored with what tasted like an Apple Jolly Rancher, but it was fun, different, and green, which made it all worth it.

Overall, we really had a great time. I highly recommend going out of your comfort zone to a restaurant of a different ethnicity. It's definitely a change of pace from your typical steak and salad bar restaurant, and makes for a really fun date night!


Have you had any interesting ethnic dishes lately?

The Meatsaballs...Subs.

This Thursday's dinner feature was definitely a learning experiment. Delicious, but there were definitely a few bumps along the way.


This recipe comes from Rachael Ray's 2, 4, 6, 8 Cookbook, and is one of her "meals for 4" recipes. It was a little involved, so let's jump in.


Chicken Parm Meatball Subs
As you can probably tell from the name, these are not your average meatball subs. The lovely Ms. Ray has combined Chicken Parm and Meatballs for a DELICIOUS and man-approved meal...that's really pretty healthy, if you consider it! (Shh, don't tell the men.)


Another quick side note, one thing I love about Rachael's recipes are that she writes them like she would tell you how to do them, so any commentary within the ingredients/directions is Rachael. My comments will be in purple.


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
• 1 tbsp grill seasoning, such as McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup Italian-style bread crumbs (I didn't have Italian-style, so I'll confess that I used plain breadcrumbs and just added a couple shakes of Italian seasoning. I know, I'm terrible.)
• handful of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 3 tbsp EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil), plus some for liberal drizzling (If you ever follow R.R. recipes, you know that she tends not to specify amounts of EVOO. So since she actually specified 3 tbsp...I stuck to it.)
• 2 large garlic cloves, cracked from their skins and split
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, a couple of healthy pinches
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, San Marzanos if available
• 1 cup chicken stock
• salt and black pepper
• 8 to 10 fresh basil leaves, torn or shredded (My indoor herb garden has been temporarily reduced until I get can get everything re-seeded, and I refuse to buy fresh basil in the store because it's so expensive, so I just liberally used dried basil. I'm sure fresh basil would have been fantastic though.)
• 4 6- to 8-inch crusty sub rolls (I guarantee you, you will need more than this. Try six, at least.)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Provolone (If you can find shredded Provolone cheese in your supermarket, I'll be impressed. We just used a shredded Italian blend.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the chicken in a bowl and season it with the grill seasoning. Add the egg, half of the grated cheese, the bread crumbs, parsley, and a serious drizzle of EVOO. Combine the mixture and form 12 large meatballs, placing them on a baking sheet. Squish the balls to flatten them a bit - like mini oval meat loaves. Be careful not to form the balls wider than your bread. The flattened balls will stay put on your sub - no roll-aways! 

Meatsaballs!

Mmm. Mini oval meat loaves.

Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes, or until golden and firm. Switch the broiler on.

While the chicken balls bake, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the 3 tbsp of EVOO and the garlic and cook them for 5 minutes. Discard the garlic, add the red pepper flakes and the tomatoes, then stir in the chicken stock.

Before we get to pictures of this step, we're going to take a brief moment and review this step. If any of you follow me on Twitter/Facebook, this would be the recipe that caused a minor volcanic eruption in my kitchen. And by minor, I mean the entire kitchen was covered in tomato and oil splatters. 

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the 30-second eruption, but I have witnesses. Witnesses that were deeply involved in a video game and actually jumped up and ran over in concern after they heard the explosion. By the grace of God I escaped without third-degree burns, and I want you to have the same good fortune so pay careful attention to my re-phrasing of this portion of the recipe.

"While the chicken balls bake, heat a medium skillet over MEDIUM-LOW heat. Add the 3 tbsp of EVOO and the garlic and cook them for 5 minutes. REMOVE PAN FROM HEAT and let the oil cool for a minute or two. Then...THEN, discard your garlic and add your red pepper flakes, tomatoes, and chicken stock."

Okay...back to your regularly scheduled programming. This has been a Public Safety Announcement from Megs. Cook wisely my friends.

One of my favorite things: garlic. 

Warning sign #1, my garlic was getting way too browned.

 Season the sauce with salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes. Adjust the seasonings to taste and stir in the basil. Use a thin spatula to loosen the chicken balls from the baking sheet and add them to the sauce, turning the meatballs to coat.

Post-explosion, and simmering like it should be, looking delicious.

Cut the sub rolls, making the bottom a little deeper than the top. Hollow out a little of the bread and lightly toast the sub rolls under the broiler.

Fill the bottoms of the breads with the sauced meatballs. Combine the Provolone and the remaining Parmigiano cheese. Cover the meatballs with cheese and return to the broiler to melt the cheese until it's golden.

Set the roll tops in place. Pour any leftover sauce into a bowl and serve at the table for dipping.

Oh MAN. Cheesy, meatsabally goodness!

My guinea pigs, and meatball-eruption-rescuers.  Think they were happy?

So...there you go. With the exception of the tomato-eruption, the recipe was really easy to follow and not that complicated. Great for if you have a lot of hungry men in the house. The only downside I can think of is that it doesn't make for great leftovers, since so much of it is a broiling/toasting process. Scott had one the next day that we just put in the bun in the toaster, but it wasn't quite the same. 


Also note that this recipe made four more more meatballs than you see in the photos, which would make about 6 subs. There was MORE than enough sauce for all the subs/dipping.


Now go, and make meatsaballs! And don't have a repeat of my tomato incident.

Quote for the Day

"And this is what Denise told me: she said it's not hard to decide what you want your life to be about. What's hard, she said, is figuring out what you're willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about."

[Bittersweet, by Shauna Niequist]

I'm currently reading this book, which has already challenged my thinking several times, made me cry once, and made me reminisce about old friends at least twice...and that's just in the first few chapters. The best part about this is, I will be giving away a free, signed copy of this excellent novel on December 3rd, so stay tuned for more excerpts and further details! Yay!

New Art!!

Our apartment is ever-evolving, and Scott and I hit Ikea (my favorite place in the world) to scout out some new picture frames to put artwork in in our hallway. What we left with, was actually not several picture frames, but one VERY large, pre-framed piece of art. (Gasp. I KNOW. I can hear my artist-grandfather spluttering now.)


However, it is pretty rare that Scott and I both see something and say, "I like it!"


Especially on a piece of modern art.


ESPECIALLY on a Picasso.


What?!


(For those of you who aren't aware, I'm one of those odd birds that loves most modern art. I'm fascinated by non-traditional vision. Scott doesn't usually share this love.)


So, lo and behold, our new artwork!

Please forgive the bad formatting, but I wanted to make the picture big enough to be worthwhile. :)

Unfortunately we still need to find a home for it, because we don't want something we like so much hanging in our dark little hallway, so the placement of it is still to come.

It's still Merry Monday...so here's a little addition! 

I highly recommend going to check out Apartment Therapy, where they did a feature of Seasonal Stationary. Some of the funniest, most unique holiday cards I've seen in a while!

Thanks to my wonderful friend Laur who pointed out this feature to me! :)

Considering they have a segment called "Cheeky Christmas Cards"...I'm a big fan.

Enjoy!