One holiday down...one more to go

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Wow, I didn't realize how much time had passed since I last posted. Thanksgiving came by so suddenly. Usually I have a menu prepared weeks in advanced, but not this time. I was wavering until the last minute. But it doesn't really matter because I had so much fun spending time with the family. We hosted and both sides of our immediate family came together to enjoy a long and juicy meal. It was pretty nice cooking with my sisters. Merah was my sous chef and Ann was the dishwasher. We were a well oiled machine. Though not as deeply thought out a menu, this is what we served...


The bird was absolutely delicious. It turned out juicy and full of flavor. I combined a few recipes together. I'm a Food Network fan so I usually turn there for my recipes. I followed Emeril Lagasse's Brined and Roasted Turkey for the brine only. I brined the turkey for about 15 hours and the salt water concoction made the turkey tender and super moist. I love putting bacon on my bird for a little extra flavor so I decided to use Tyler Florence's Maple-Roasted Turkey with Sage Butter. It was the most simple recipe to follow ever. The only thing about this recipe is that the flavors of the gravy will dramatically change with the maple flavored drippings. Probably why he didn't offer a gravy recipe. I made one anyway and it was too sweet. Like most things, I like my gravy savory. I definitely recommend trying this recipe. It was delicious.



I subscribe to Top Secret Recipes online and every week they release a copycat recipe of famous restaurant or fast food dishes. After the week is passed it is no longer available. They really want you to buy their many cookbooks. So I save ones that I want to try for later. Several years ago I received one on HoneyBaked Ham Glaze. I had to go out and buy a creme brulee torch to follow it exactly. It was worth it. I thought it was very tasty. It was such a huge ham that we divided it out, at it everyday since, and I still have left overs. I'm glad that I offered both the turkey and the ham. Koreans like to eat ham with rice in a bowl of water. Hmm, hmm, hmm. It reminded me of my parents house.

Here's the recipe:

HoneyBaked Ham Glaze Recipe



Purchase a ham that is pre-sliced. I purchased a pre-sliced, smoked bone-in ham from Costco. To get the coating right you must have a blowtorch that is used for creme brulee. I purchased mine from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

1 fully-cooked shank half ham, bone in (pre-sliced is best)
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ginger
dash ground ginger
dash ground allspice

1. If you can't find a pre-sliced ham, the first thing you must do is slice it.
2. Mix the spices together in a small bowl.
3. Lay down a couple sheets of wax paper. Pour the sugar mixture onto the wax paper and spread it around evenly.
4. Roll the ham over the sugar mixture so that it is well coated. Do not coat the flat end of the ham, just the outer, pre-sliced surface.
5. Turn the ham onto its flat end on the plate. Use a blowtorch with a medium-size flame to caramelize the sugar. Wave the torch over the sugar with rapid movement, so that the sugar bubbles and browns, but does not burn. Spin the plate so you can torch the entire surface of the ham. Repeat the coating and caramelizing process until the ham has been well glazed (don't expect to use all of the sugar mixture). Serve the ham cold or reheated.

I did mine early and put it in the fridge. In the last few minutes we carved, warmed, and served. The Grilled Potato Salad is something I discovered from watching Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meal. I've made it a lot over the summer. It was so easy, but different enough that everyone will rave over it. There's something about the roasted sliced potatoes in the grill seasoning mixed with red wine marinated orange slices and red onions all over a bed of arugula that is so tasty. It is ridiculously easy to make. I use my George Forman grill for the potatoes so I don't have to clean up the BBQ grill.

I'd never had acorn squash before but the picture from my November 2002 issue of InStyle (I love the Party Guide section of this magazine...it's the main reason I get it) looked really good that it was worth a try. Merah made this one. Aside from laboring over cutting the rock hard squash, it was really good. Not at all what I thought. It was very sweet like sweet potatoes...in fact, with a similar consistency. It was sliced and baked in a cornmeal crust.

Of course I didn't take too many pictures this year. I'm getting worse and worse. I seriously flaked on everything. The house wasn't decorated, not that I traditionally decorate for Thanksgiving, but there is always the dream of doing so. Oh well...maybe next year.

My pictures don't seem to want to download. I'll post later. BTW, my computer died again!!! The logic board crashed during a software update. This is the second time on this second new computer that we received from Apple. Hmm...I thought Macs were supposed to be more reliable??? I'm a little disappointed.