The Turkey Breast Roast: Cooked and Conquered

For years I'd see those vacuum-sealed, raw turkey breast roasts in the supermarket and just ignore them. Turkey's just for Thanksgiving, I'd mutter to myself and soldier over to another meat section. If I'm being honest, the main reason for my reluctance to cook this roast had nothing to do with Thanksgiving; I had just never cooked one before - I didn't want to screw it up! However, after my successful Thanksgiving Day turkey last year, I was emboldened to cook one of those suckers and overcome my fear ...

Click to read more ...

British Invasion: Shepherd's Pie - adapted, of course

The first time I had Shepherd's Pie was when I visited my friend, Jarrod, and his wife, Susse, in London. It was also the first time I was meeting Susse. Susse was radiant Scottish sunshine. She was totally at ease and totally charming; she chatted with me while sautéing chopped onions and ground meat with one hand and sipped from a glass of red wine with the other. She tossed in some frozen veggies, stirred a packet of Colman's Shepherd's Pie seasonings in a bowl with some water and poured it into the sizzling pot of ground meat and onions. The meat mixture was poured into a casserole dish, covered with mashed potatoes, a fork-tined crosshatch pattern was drawn over the top and then popped into the oven; along with a salad, dinner was cooked and on the table in about an hour. We chatted and laughed for hours. Did I mention it was a weeknight? Even though I didn't grow up eating it, Shepherd's Pie will forevermore be comfort food to me, thanks to that completely relaxed and warmhearted meal. 

For today's musical accompaniment, here's Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds. Why? Well...

• It's a Scottish band - reference Susse
• Lead singer Jim Kerr was married to Chrissie Hynde (she's American) - Jarrod and I were interns at Smart Design in New York
• Jarrod and I started our internships on the same date, twenty years ago as of last week. If we don't cross paths (we rarely do), we always email on our Intern Start Date Anniversary, keeping tabs on what's going on in each other's lives, regardless of where we are in the world.
• And lastly, The Breakfast Club was a seminal movie. 

So, hop over to YouTube and hop back because there's a Shepherd's Pie going in the oven and you're making it! Happy Friday!

Click to read more ...

Apple Flavored Roast Turkey Recipe

For Thanksgiving, you'll need to start the entire process on Tuesday. Figure you need an hour of brining per pound, 24-hours of air-drying, 10 minutes per pound of bringing it to room temperature, 2 to 2-1/2 hours of roasting, and an hour or so to get the stuffing and gravy finished. Work backwards from when you plan on eating. For example, if we were eating at 6p (with 45 minutes alloted for travel time and arranging), I would start brining the turkey on Tuesday at 8:15p. Let the games begin...

Click to read more ...

a meal fit for a president (and presidential hopeful)

Today is Election Day. In honor of today, I made a couple of the 2013 Presidential hopefuls' favorites: President Barack Obama's Chili and Governor Mitt Romney's wife's Meatloaf Cakes. I don't normally think to take cooking advise from politicians but today, I thought why not, and I learned something from both parties ...

Click to read more ...

turkey chili sundae

Day 2 Dinner: We didn't grow up eating chili. This first time I had chili with fixings, was at my ex-boyfriend's - during college! His mom had pots full of piping hot kidney bean and beef chili and fluffy long-grain white rice on the stove and bowls of chopped tomatoes, scallion, shredded cheese and sour cream on the counter. I loved the concept of a do-it-yourself chili fixing bar.

Click to read more ...