Friday, December 3, 2010

Thanksgiving, and then some.

Here it is, nearly a week since Thanksgiving, and I'm finally getting around to write of my triumphs. They weren't at the Thanksgiving table though, but in the days leading up, when I made a yummy broccoli pasta for dinner one night, and stuffed portobello mushrooms the next.

To me, the pasta didn't seem too heavy on broccoli. We put it through the food processor so it was very well chopped, and stuck to the noodles very well.  This broccoli "sauce" was pretty basic: olive oil, a couple of pressed cloves of garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, about 10 ounces of broccoli, and a bit of parmesan cheese. Cook all that together, toss it with a pound of pasta, add a huge amount of additional parmesan cheese (at least if you're my family), and chow down! As it turns out, my sister really enjoyed this meal and kept asking for it days later.


The stuffed mushrooms were another success--strategically planned, mind you, for a night when little sis wasn't around for dinner, because she was adamant it was something she would not eat. The stuffing consisted of garlic, onion, white button mushrooms, unseasoned breadcrumbs, and fresh goat cheese. The portobellos were marinated for 3-4 hours in a soy sauce, olive oil, balsamic vinegar mixture before baking and stuffing, and baking some more.
I'm a fan of mushrooms--if I'm making pizza for myself, they're the only topping I add to the traditional cheese and tomato sauce--so I was pretty sure things couldn't turn out badly.  And I was definitely right. I laugh to think about how my eyes must have popped open when I took the first bite. So meaty, and flavorful, and rich!

This meal, however, illustrates where I need to improve as a cook: making more than one thing for dinner! I'll often make burritos, or veggies, or the above mentioned mushrooms, and just when it's time to sit down and eat, realize that some rice or other accompanyment would have been nice. That's just something I'll have to work on...

The Thanksgiving festivities were held at our house, which meant we made the turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and pies. While I may admit to eating meat occasionally (Mom's Thanksgiving bird was locally-sourced), I definitely don't help with prepping and cooking it. I did slice and arrange the sweet potatoes, as well as give them a dab of butter and brown sugar, which was not generous enough to meet with my sister's approval.  Our crowing accomplishment, as far as I'm concerned, was probably the pies.  Here's the breakdown of work: Mom mixes the dough, while my sister mixed the filling. Leaving me to stand and watch, basically. I did get in on rolling out one of the crusts, and pouring the blackberries into the pan, but that's about it. And you know what, that's ok. Because it isn't about doing all the work, it's about being together for the holidays!
But here are some shots of our pies, in process. I spaced out and didn't take any of the finished product. oops.

1 comment:

  1. If I come live with you, will you make me dinner? I'm somehow still the most boring cook, but I don't want to be!

    ReplyDelete