Preparing for Thanksgiving - Compound Butter

Thanksgiving is this week! I love this time of year. Wonderful food, smells, family time, decorations.... It's simply my favorite time of year. The best part about my life around Thanksgiving is that I have a husband who loves to cook almost as much as I do and he helps out a bunch. One of the things he asked me to make this year is a compound butter. This is a great way to add buttery goodness to a dish as well as amazing flavor. This year we wanted to infuse the great flavors of Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley, and Sage into our turkey. We have already tried it and it was marvelous. (Stay tuned for some turkey tips)

For this dish we will need:

Herbs whatever kind you want fresh is the best
Butter

Really, that's it. Specifically for what I did, I used about 2 TBS a piece of the herbs chopped up and 2 sticks of butter. In retrospect we could have done half of that, but we like it enough that we will use the rest of it later, and it keeps in the fridge for quite a while.

Soften your butter thoroughly. It should be easily spreadable. If you are softening it in the microwave, only use increments of 5 seconds, you will have to run the microwave about 5 times but it's better to be safe than sorry. When butter melts, it's physical properties change and it won't set back up properly. 

These are the fantastic herbs that we used. (from the left: Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, Parsley) 

Pluck the leaves off of the stems and chop them up finely. (Tip: I chopped them up more than this picture shows, but I still should have chopped them more, it's not fun to get a big piece of an herb in your bite of turkey)

Mix the butter and the herbs together. I did this by hand, but you can use a mixer. (You can see how big some of my herb pieces are still)

Scoop your butter onto some plastic wrap and make it a log form. This allows you to cut off nice uniform pieces if you are using it for something like a steak. (It is really yummy to put a slice of compound butter on top of a hot steak. Then you get melty, buttery, flavorful goodness.)


I should point out that I made this a few days early. From what I have found, you can keep it in the fridge for a couple of weeks and in the freezer for a couple of months. If you freeze it you will want to do more than a single wrapping of plastic wrap (stick in a freezer bag, or wrap over the plastic with foil). Of course, this all also depends on the things you put in your butter, if it is a quickly perishable item, it may not last as long.

(sorry about the yellowiness of this picture.... our house has poor lighting at night)

To use this butter in with our turkey, we rubbed the entire outside down with it, and stuffed some under the skin (part of the trick to a moist turkey). Lyle is usually the one who cooks the turkey and this butter definitely made this one the best yet!

Turkey Tips:

• If you want a moist turkey, don't cook your stuffing in it. Everything that I have seen or read says that will just dry your turkey out. Make your stuffing separately. 
• If you want a really, really moist turkey. Cut up some oranges and stuff them in the turkey. They release steam and juices during the cooking process which help the turkey stay moist, without really flavoring the turkey like orange. Also, stick other things like onions, garlic, and whatever other herbs/flavorings you want to use, inside of it. 
• USE A MEAT THERMOMETER! Carryover cooking is a real thing, and if you cook the turkey till it is "Completely cooked" it will probably be overcooked by the time you serve it, which could lead to a dry turkey. According to Alton Brown (from food network) cook it until the temperature hits 161 degrees F. Then cover it with foil and let it sit for 15 minutes. This will allow the turkey to finish cooking while not over cooking it and drying your bird out.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! 

Blueberry Spritzer - Easiest Mocktail Ever!

So, I have this collection of about 8 books that are all about fancy drinks. Most of the books I have contain recipes that are completely alcohol free. Lyle and I have been loving figuring out ways to make awesome drinks without the booze that are super yummy. While a lot of the drinks are really good, some of them are very, very complicated. We have been trying to figure out shortcuts and create our own recipes. So far, our favorite is the blueberry spritzer.

Here is our shopping list:

1 to 2 cups of Blueberries fresh or frozen

1 cup granulated sugar

Lemon/Lime Soda (Sprite, 7up, whatever kind you want) about 1/2 can for 8 oz serving

raw sugar or large sugar crystal (enough to coat the rim of a glass)

lime juice (again, enough to wet the rim of your glass)

Instructions: 

Put the blueberries in a pot with the granulated sugar. Add about 3 tablespoons of water (if they are frozen, don't worry about the water). Let the mixture come to a gentle boil, then let it simmer until it becomes a thick syrup. It should take about 15 minutes. 

After it is thick (there will still be blueberry chunks), use an immersion blender or a regular blender to puree the mixture. You can also use a fine sieve to separate the juice from the skins. I did that method here because I couldn't find my immersion blender. Use something, like a wooden spoon or ladle, to push as much juice as possible through the sieve. 

Let the mixture cool down for a little bit. I usually put it in a tupperware and put it in the fridge until it is cold. At this point you should make sure your pop is chilling too. :)

The rest is really simple, but I'm also going to show you how to dress it up. Lyle and I like to make things look fancy. First you pick the glasses you will be using. Lyle and I got these at Kohl's a box of 4 for $5 (Sometimes they have great deals!).

Put some lime juice on a plate. Put some sugar on another plate. 

Turn the glass upside and swirl the rim in the lime juice. 

Then swirl it in the sugar. We are not using salt here because this isn't a real margarita and I like sugar better. :)

Pour some of the blueberry syrup into the glass. A couple of tablespoons will do, no really, it can be strong stuff.

My glass is the one on the left, Lyle's is the one on the right..... he likes a lot of blueberry flavor. 

Pour the Sprite into the glasses and stir the until the drinks are blended.

Then go kick back and relax, or give these to party guests to really impress the pants off of them. :) 

Wait, you mean I cooked something today?!

Hi everyone! I am so sorry that I haven't blogged in a little while, but life has been crazy. I have a sneaky suspicion that I will be blogging very little over the next few months. With the holiday season around the corner, though, hopefully I can squeeze in some posts of my family's favorites. :)

Today I made Lemon cupcakes filled with lemon curd topped with Meringue. YUM! I have been wanting to fill a cupcake with lemon meringue for a while, and finally decided I had put the homework down and  do it today. The meringue was Lyle's idea. He found a recipe on this website (the bake cakery) and I thought, "I can do that." :)

So, I dumbed it down because of my busy schedule. I made the cake from a lemon cake mix (easy right?), and made the lemon curd from Alton Brown's recipe (my all time favorite), and I used the recipe for marshmallow meringue frosting from the first link. The frosting is AMAZING and the cupcakes turned out wonderfully. It would probably taste better to make the cake from scratch, but if you are looking for an impressive treat that is fairly quick, give these a try. :)

Friday Favorite!!!! Fresh Herbs!

I know, yesterday was Friday.....*sigh.* It's amazing how hard blogging can become when life suddenly begins to move again. I couldn't let another week go by without a favorite, though. This weeks favorite is The amazing Aero Garden!

We started our garden 3 weeks ago. I bought it for Lyle as a birthday gift and we put it in storage when we moved to South Dakota. He was so excited to get it out when we got home that he put it together almost immediately. I am pleased to announce that we now have a fun little indoor garden growing. 

We have an herb pack that has been growing. There are 3 different kinds of basil and a couple of other things. Look how huge that basil has gotten! 

I am so excited this means we can have fresh herbs for a long time. So even through the winter months I can put fresh basil on my pizza without having to buy it at the store and have it go bad before I use it all.

I absolutely love it. :) 

Rice Crispy Fun. :)

My sister's baby shower is in just a few weeks and I get to make treats for it. I had the magnificent idea of making really cute monster cupcakes, because of this picture I found online:

It's super cute right? Well, it's a good thing I tried to practice my frosting techniques because I learned that I need to practice it more. I didn't want to go through the motions of making the cake just to practice decorating it, so I instead made Rice Crispy balls. :)

This is how some of my little monsters turned out......

They are super cute right? Hahaha....yes, you can laugh at them. As hinted at before, this was my first time decorating something as a monster. Don't worry Kimberly! I will practice more before your baby shower. :)

Anyways, I thought that making mini-cupcake-size rice crispy balls was super fun, and its really fun to eat them that way. So, I encourage you to try it, and maybe letting your own little monsters try decorating them.

My Rice Crsipy recipe is simple, I don't follow the "official" recipe, I just throw stuff in a pot. But here is what you will need.

Shopping List:

1 stick of butter

1 bag of mini marshmallows 

3/4 box of Rice Crispy cereal

Melt the marshmallows and butter in a pot and mix in the cereal when it is all melted. 

Mix well and pour out onto parchment paper or a very well greased pan. 

Use a mini cupcake pan and wrappers. If you don't want to make them mini sized (which is advisable because even then they take 2 bites) then make sure you still use something like a cupcake pan that will allow you to shape the treats better. Butter or crisco your hands up really good before using them to make your treats. 

Decorate them however you would like. I used a basic buttercream recipe and whatever candies I could find. :)

I also tried to make a dinosaur......

Hahaha....it's definitely the scariest one I have ever seen in my life. :)

Again, just play with it and have fun. I still really enjoyed the the result of my little experiment, even if they aren't perfect yet. 

Don't worry, I'm still alive!

I'm sorry about my hiatus! Holy moly life gets crazy!!!! Since my last post we have moved back to Idaho Falls, into a house with Vandy, Tyrel, and Kemry (Vandy is Lyle's sister). I have applied for more jobs and been unpacking and all sorts of fun things! Whew! Anyways, I didn't want you to think I don't have any good recipes or any favorites of anything. So, here is a favorite for yesterday.

This is a blog that Lyle and I have started following very frequently. It is called Tartelette and it is written by Helene, a pastry chef from France and also a food photographer. I love her recipes and her photos! 

Make sure you check it out! She also does a lot of gluten free recipes. 

Sorry this is short, but I'm still unpacking!!!!!! :)

Friday Favorite! Lemon Curd!!!!!

What is lemon curd? That's what I said a few months ago when Lyle's mother found a recipe that she thought would be fun to try. It was the recipe for these delightful little morsels:

It's a simple little recipe, and I'll share it one day. But for now I will just say that Alton Brown is the king of fantastic Lemon Curd. Which is basically a lemon custard, but its really not hard to make! Follow his recipe, and you will end up with a fantastic product. It is a little tricky to make it. So if you are intimidated by it, follow the process of this video with Alton's recipe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqUKUxgsq44&feature=related  When you are all done, if the lemon flavor is too strong for you, feel free to mix it with some whipped cream and it will lighten the flavor. You can also lighten the lemon flavor when you make it by adding water as a portion of the required lemon juice amount.

It's soooooooo good with blackberries, blueberries, raspberries.........You can bake it in a tart, you can use it as a layer for parfaits, you can just eat it (like I've been doing). Yum! 

Saturday Sweetness (AKA: I forgot about a favorite yesterday, oops!)

So, since I am an awful person and forgot to blog about a favorite yesterday, I am going to post a favorite today. Funny enough I discovered this amazingness yesterday. Do you like Jamba Juice? Well, if you don't have one close buy, you can try the jambaliciousness (their word, I borrowed it) which is their new Jamba Bars! We saw them at Wal Mart yesterday (and because we are deprived of a Jamba isn South Dakota), HAD to try it! And I will say, it absolutely fills the Jamba craving. In fact, they not only meet the Jamba craving, they your basic craving for Ice Creamy Goodness!!!!

AND THE BEST PART IS?!!!!!!!! They are all very low in calories!!!!! We tried the "Coconut Pineapple Passion Smashion Fruit Sorbet and Yogurt" (thats a mouthful!) bars and they were only 90 calories a piece and some of the others were only 70!!!!!!

If there is one favorite of mine that I think you really need to buy, it's this one. Especially with the heat the way it is out there! Dear 93 degrees, thanks for the excuse to eat some creamy goodness on a stick. :)

Lovin it lots and lots (aka Friday favorites!)

So, today is FRIDAY!!!!! Hallelujah! I should change things up this week and not do another website that I love, but honestly, I love this website sooooooo much! I almost did this one last week instead, but I was trying to wait. The fantastic site I am talking about is called: http://www.smartyhadaparty.com/

I LOVE THIS SITE!!!!!! The majority of all of the dishes (plates, silverware, cups, etc) are disposable. But that doesn't mean it's the stuff you buy at Wal Mart!!!! This is fancy disposable wear. And I love it.

Those plates hold your cup too!!!! WHAT AN IDEA!!!!!! Yes, they are more expensive than a pack of plates at the dollar store, but think of the amazing dinner parties you could have with them. They look fantastic and you can just throw them away after! 

I seriously dream about some of their products. I've often thought about catering or parties where you don't want to buy a bunch of glass parfait dishes (or other similar things) just for people to eat the few bites that are in them and wash them later. Again, they answer those needs. You can make a fantastic dish and make it look amazing, and not worry about washing all of the little dishes later (of course, if you were my mom you would re-use them anyways - I love that lady). 

I'm just going to post more pictures of things I love from this site. And if you are like me, you will just drool over them for a little bit. 

Are the wheels turning in your head about the amazing dinner parties you can have in the future? I'm so ready? Anyone want to join me for a fancy shmancy (disposable) dinner party?

My love for bacon and pears....yes, in the same dish.

There is a taste sensation that should be sweeping the nation, however, it remains relatively under wraps. I have no idea why, except for the fact that people just don't know about it! So, I am going to spread the word about the amazing taste fabulocity that is created when you combine pears and bacon. There's a story about how I stumbled upon this amazing flavor combination and I'm sure you really want to hear it. :)

In one of my culinary classes, a few semesters ago, I was assigned the task of creating a cold hors d'oeuvre to be served for my final. As a class, we were opening a restaurant for one night and we each had to take part in making a recipe to go on the menu. Well, my professor (Chef Hamblin) being the good teacher he is, shot many of my ideas down. They were too simple, and quite honestly he expected more from me. So, one day I was searching recipes online and I came across this one. Roasted baby pears... It was a salad created by Tyler Florence. I was not assigned to the salad course, so I thought, how can I make this into an hors d'oeuvre? I loved taste of pears and bacon together and I just needed to make a complete dish. After much talking with my professor and many trials in the kitchen, I came up with this. (by the way, writing a recipe that comes out the way you want it to every time is soooo hard when you make the whole thing up!)

If you're my friend on Facebook, which all of you currently are, you have seen this picture before. 

I call it a Vol au vent with pear confit, goat cheese mousse, and bacon (that is a mouthful, so if you have suggestions on a better name, feel free to throw them my way). I decided to share this fantastic recipe with the world (which currently consists of 12 of you). I changed it up a little this time and it's ok to do that, however, I will warn you that there are many potent flavors in this dish and any one of them on their own will not be as pleasant as all of them together. So, just stay mindful of the savory vs. salty vs. sweet vs. acidity.......as you experiment and you'll be just fine. :)

Here's our shopping list:

1 sheet of store bought puff pastry dough (or a recipe that yields .5 lb)

5 oz goat cheese (you may use gorgonzola or blue cheese)

1 1/2 cup heavy cream (for whipping, but don't buy pre-whipped cream, it will be too sweet)

3 large pears

1 cup champagne vinegar

3/4 cup honey

1 cup sugar

1/2 apple juice

4 slices of bacon

Step 1: The puff pastry

Let the store bought dough come to room temperature. For the dish I made today, I did a homemade gluten free puff pastry dough. Lyle's mom can't have gluten, so I followed this recipe www.artofglutenfreebaking.com  It turned out really well for gluten free puff pastry. If you are adventurous to make your own, there are good instructions here. You can also find a regular recipe online. One day I will put mine up, but that would make this post much too long. :)

Roll the dough out (if necessary) to about 1/4 of an inch thick. Cut the dough into identical rectangles big enough to make a big napoleon "cake" style dish. You can really make it whatever size you want. The recipe will give you plenty of ingredients for one cake the size of the one in my pictures and then some (you can probaby get 2). The cake served 4. I'm really not specific with my portions (incase you can't tell), it's hard to write a recipe. 

Bake the dough off according to the box instructions. Puff pastry won't grow sideways very much (it mostly gets taller), so cut it as big or small as you want it (don't you love my lack of precision). 

Step 2: The pear confit

Now, or a few days before, or whenever, you can start preparing your roasted pear confit. Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Mix your champagne vinegar, honey, apple juice, sugar, in a bowl large enough for you to throw your chopped pears into as well. Take your pears and chop them up. Or you can slice them for this style if you would like. Just have fun with this. After they are chopped put them in the mixture. Pour them into a roasting pan or onto a cookie sheet. All of the pieces need to lay flat. You don't want any of them sitting on top of each other. Make sure that there is only enough liquid to come up half way to a piece of pear. Basically, you don't want to have your pears covered with the liquid because you want them to get a nice browning color on them. They need to roast unti they are tender about 20 minutes. Stir it up about half way through. Trust your gut. If it looks like they are done early, take them out. If they look like they need to be in there longer, give them a little more time.

When they are done let them cool and put them in the fridge for later. 

Step 3: The mousse

Normally I make this dish with Goat cheese (chevre), but I couldn't find it at the store this time so I went with gorgonzola. Goat cheese is a lot like gorgonzola or blue cheese, but its a lot lighter in flavor. We don't really want an overpowering mousse, so if you use blue cheese or gorgonzola, I usually only use a couple of tablespoons of it and add about the same amount of cream cheese. Heat the cheese up in the microwave 20 seconds at a time. You don't want to cook the cheese, but you need to soften it so you have a smooth mousse. Mix the cream in a mixer until you have stiff peaks (don't over mix or you will get butter). After you have a smooth mixable cheese and the whipped cream is done, fold the cream into the cheese mixture. When it is thoroughly combined throw that in the fridge too. 

Step 4: BACON!!!!!

Cook up some bacon. Pretty easy right? It needs to be crispy, but not burnt. But then again, however you prefer to eat it is just fine. When it is cooked and cooled, chop it into small pieces. This is just a garnish, but the flavor is soooooooo important to the dish. :)

Step 5: Assembly

Take a piece of the puff pastry and lay it on the plate. Top it with the pear mixture and some of the mousse. 

On top of that, place another layer of puff pastry (it's kind of a balancing act, so just watch what you are doing).

Then add more pears and mousse. I was squeezing the mousse through a plastic baggy with no tip....so it looked weird (we all know I'm not perfect). 

So I spread it out.....again, not the best. But it tastes good. That's what is important. :)

Top it with bacon. Honestly, you can't have too much bacon in each bite, so go crazy if you so desire. 

Carefully (really carefully) cut them into individual pieces. It's pretty wobbly and will fall apart easily. If you don't wan to deal with that, cut the puff pastry first then construct lots of small ones. (Hind site is 20/20 right?)

If you are so excited about this new discovery of bacon and pears, you can also slice some pears (sprinkle some sugar and a tiny bit of vinegar on them), wrap them in bacon, and throw them in the oven at 400 till the bacon is cooked. It's sooooooooo good!!!!!! 

Well, now that you know how to create this amazing flavor combination, I'm sure you want to get to it. So go and experience this wonderful dish! I hope you enjoy it. IF you don't, I'll understand. It's one of the most random things I've ever eaten or made in my life. :)