(no subject)

The starting pistol for the COOKING MARATHON has been fired. First out of the gate is: HOT CHOCOLATE ON A STICK.



Original recipe here, but it's very talky, so I condensed it:

Hot Chocolate On A Stick
8 oz. chocolate, preferably high cocoa-fat, like 70%. I didn't have that, so I tempered chocolate chips with a lot of butter.
1/4 cup cocoa (not hot cocoa mix, but baking cocoa, the powdered kind)
1/2 cup confectioner’s/powdered/icing sugar
pinch of salt

Melt chocolate over a double boiler (tempering if necessary). I never bother using a double boiler, I just melt the butter in the pan, turn off the heat, stir in the chocolate, and if necessary use low heat to get it fully melted.

Add cocoa, sugar, and salt and continue to stir until combined. It should be the texture of frosting. Pour chocolate into a ziplock bag and clip off the corner. Pipe the chocolate into your chocolate mold. In my case, it's an AWESOME IKEA ICE TRAY. Add a stir stick, which should stay upright with no trouble (I did some of mine tilty just for laughs). Place in fridge to firm up.

To use, heat milk or cream in a saucepan, pour into cups, and place one stir-stick in each cup. Stir until melted. OM NOM.

(no subject)

It might look like a bowl of pond algae to you...



...but to me it's a delicious brine for tomorrow's turkey!

For an 8-pound bird (multiply as appropriate, but my bird's 8 pounds):

8 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns
3/4 teaspoons allspice berries
3/4 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
(For those last two, I substituted a little powdered ginger and a few cloves)
8 cups heavily iced water

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

To brine the bird, combine the cooled brine and ice water and place the thawed bird in the brine. Soak overnight o for at least 6 hours in a cool place. Rinse, pat dry, and rub with oil before roasting.

(I am also putting an herb rub on the turkey, under the skin, the recipe for which I will post when I make it :D).

(no subject)

R came over tonight. It was a very literary night!

R: So, I'm doing gigs with [That girl who once bought us hamburgers] in Boys Town like, last week and two weeks in December.
Sam: Are you becoming a star?
R: Yesterday I was walking down Belmont and two guys stopped me and said they loved seeing me play.
Sam: You're the toast of the gayborhood.
R: You know who loves me? Gay guys and bluesmen.
Sam: Catchy title for a book.

[one pizza later]

R: If I had five hundred dollars I would throw a HUGE party. We'd have a DJ. And gumbo. I'd get a soupiere to come in.
Sam: A soupiere?
R: Like a soup chef.
Sam: Seriously?
R: It's gumbo, man. I have to take it seriously.
Sam: With soupieres.
R: Yeah. For bisques and such. Hey, that's a catchy title. You gotta write a book called Bisques And Such.

So apparently I'm writing a book called Bisques And Such.

I suspect lobstermen will be involved.

I'm pretty sure soupiere is not a word for a soup chef. But only pretty sure.

(no subject)

It's remarkably hard to mash potatoes without a potato masher. I keep flashing back to the Potato Ricer scene in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "How can you not have a potato ricer? What IS a potato ricer?" "We will just use a fork, like the pilgrims did."

Anyway, the turkey is brining (the brine is very green. I worry this is going to be a repeat of the curry-marinated Neon Chicken incident) and the stuffing is chilling in balls, waiting to be fried on the morrow. The oyaki dough is cooling in a tupperware on the counter. R is safely off to play Blues all night and then drive home for Thanksgiving at 3 in the morning. I have Hot Fuzz and To Catch A Thief and The Thomas Crown Affair (the original AND the remake) on DVD.

LET THE GIVING OF THANKS AND VIEWING OF COPS AND ROBBERS FLICKS BE FORETOLD.

As florahart reminded me, of the many things I am thankful for this year, health insurance is very near the top of the list. If I could, I would put you all on my plan.