It’s that time of the year again. You know where family gather and people eat like there’s no tomorrow. It’s also the time of year when everyone wants to show off their culinary skills (or the lack there of) with tables full of traditional and not so traditional meals. Well with the weeks leading up to the big turkey day and Christmas fast approaching after that The Chef In pearls will be sharing video tips to get you through the holidays with ease. You’ll be able to participate in the videos by catching them live on Periscope. You can download the app for free in your app store, Apple and Android users alike. Once downloaded look for me as, you guessed it, The Chef In Pearls. Then listen out for that sexy whistle because I will be coming to you live . You can always let me know some of the things that are your biggest challenges and I will try to address them in the scopes. Looking forward to helping you make new memories this holiday season
I’ve come to realize that most of my food posts have been to my social media sites. Which if you aren’t following you should. I’m on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as you guessed it TheChefInPearls.( go follow me now if you aren’t already) . I seem to always have something food related on those sites. So this month I’m going to do a review of some of the things I have created or eaten that were posted and not blogged about. Keep reading it should be fun.
First I’d like to share with you an amazing time I had at a food tasting with Chef Ed Harris. He was a Food Network “Chopped “winner. I got a chance to see why first hand. He created a night of Dim Sum. Anyone that knows me well will tell you Asian cuisine always wins in my book and Chef Harris did a great job of presenting on this night.
Best Bartender ever…He creates his own drink mixes from scratch including his bitters..his name Fire
Brittany passing Salmon Tartare atop a purple potato
Ratatouille with Parmesan Cream
Can’t recall the name of these dumplings but they were good.
Chicken Pot Stickers
Raspberry filled Mini Vanilla cupcakes… a sweet ending
Chef Ed Harris, Food Network’s Chopped winner along side The Chef In Pearls
Another event I attended in December was Bella N Black. I had the opportunity to vend as Gems and Baubles while taking in the networking, music and food. The event took place at the Glenn Hotel. They did their take on a passed hors d’oeuvre of Chicken & Waffle. It came off a bit large for a passed hors d’ oeuvre and a little messy since it had been drizzled with syrup and served on a napkin. Other than that it was quite tasty.
The Chef In Pearls with Miss Ruby Woo and Mr. J Lang
Ruby & J performing
chicken & Waffle hors d’oeurve
In honor of winter, the holidays and childhood memories I spent some time creating hot chocolate which I did blog about. If you missed it you can always check it out here. Had to include it because it happened in December.
Hot Chocolate with fresh whipped cream with grated chocolate on top
Whenever I get a chance to visit the DeKalb Farmers Market it always brings me joy ( I smiled just writing that sentence). The fresh ingredients always inspire me. The fresh broccolini inspired an Asian dish along with fresh ginger and Shiitake mushrooms. Those ingredients became Gingered Beef with Broccolini & Shiitake Mushrooms served over steamed rice.
broccolini
shiitake mushrooms
ginger root
Prepped veggies
stir fried veggies
I always try to get some clams when I visit the farmers market because well, I like them and also they make an easy lunch. I start off by dicing onions, celery and sweet bell peppers and sauteing them in olive oil with chopped garlic and a few red pepper flakes . I add the cleaned clams and then approximately 1/2 cup of either wine or chicken broth to steam them open. Once open I removed them from the pan turn the heat up to reduce to a sauce adding butter and fresh chopped parsley to finish it off. I top the clams with sauce and then serve with french bread slices.
Steamed Clams for lunch
For the Christmas Holiday I was able to travel to North Carolina where my Dad and his wife relocated to from New Jersey. I love a good road trip and this turned out to be pretty good. We got to stop at one of my favorite spots off I-85 for lunch, JPeter’s Grill & Bar. They make a juicy burger and their steaks are like buttah. Check them out the next time you are in South Carolina. They keep expanding so I’m sure you’ll be able to find one close to where you may be visiting.
We made it just in time for Christmas Eve dinner with my Dad and older brother’s family. Since both men are married to Filipino women we were lucky to have some Asian cuisine on the dinner table. I always enjoy good Asian food and this was no exception. Christmas morning we were blessed to have a traditional Jamaican breakfast of cabbage & saltfish, fried dumplings, plantains and bammy courtesy of the Dred aka my husband. I think it’s great to have such an international flair within my family.
Shrimp in an oyster sauce
Vegetable lumpia
Le Chon- Roasted Pork Belly
Cabbage & Saltfish with plantains and bammy
I hope you enjoyed my December food recap. I look forward to bringing you more interesting things in the coming new year. Now go forward and make memories.
Ooh yeah I forgot I made this wonderful frittata with broccoli, sweet potatoes, cheese and topped with a black bean corn salsa…hey I made it in December so it should be included. Now go get fab for NYE!
Most people haven’t thought beyond turkey sandwiches on the day after let alone what’s gonna happen to the leftover leftovers. And by day 3 believe you me your family doesn’t want anything more to do with turkey either. Here’s a way to move beyond that bump in the road.
My one suggestion is to get rid of the turkey. No I don’t mean throw it away. I mean get it out of your family’s eye sight. Then you can re-introduce it at a later time…in a different form. First things first you have to…
Freeze your leftover turkey. Remove you turkey meat from the carcass. Portion them out into plastic freezer bags and date. Try to remove as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn.The USDA says that turkey can last in the freezer for up to 4-6 months. If you want to keep it moist when you thaw, freeze with gravy or some stock.
Now that you know how to freeze turkey you need to know what to do with it once you decide to thaw it. Actually this is one for the day after the big meal or the day before the big freeze. This one may get rid of quite a bit of your leftovers and still keep the family interested. Got turkey? Mashed potatoes? Gravy? Vegetables? Then you’ve got the makings of Turkey Shepherd’s Pie.
2 cups cubed leftover turkey meat
1 1/2 cups gravy
2 cups of leftover vegetables (broccoli, peas, carrots string beans whatever you like or rather whatever you have on hand)
3 cups leftover mashed potatoes
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Heat oven to 400°. Lightly grease a 9″x 9″ pan. Heat gravy and turkey together in a sauce pan. Transfer heated mixture to 9″x 9″pan. Top meat with vegetables and then top vegetables with mashed potatoes (Have potatoes at room temperature or warm some. It makes the next step easier to do). Spreading potatoes out to within a 1/2″ of edge of pan. Sprinkle shredded cheese across top of potatoes. Place pan on top of sheet pan and bake in oven for 30 minutes.
Ok so suppose you still have turkey to freeze after this dish. Consider yourself lucky and proceed to freezing it. What do you do with the turkey when it comes time to thaw. It’s really up to you. Take your favorite recipe and substitute the meat it calls for with your thawed turkey meat. Like Chili or maybe a Brunswick Stew. Or try adding it to a dish that doesn’t traditionally have meat in it like maybe your favorite Mac & Cheese recipe. Use your imagination. .you never know you create a favorite for your family.
I hope this series has helped with the madness of holiday meals. Let me know how this series may or may not have helped you. Leave a comment.
Happy Holidays from Cassandra as The Chef In Pearls and owner of Gems and Baubles. Now go make some memories!
Are you still eating cranberry sauce from a can? I know I say I won’t judge you but I will give you the side-eye for not going fresh. I mean, once you learn how easy it is to make cranberry sauce from scratch you’ll never go canned again.
I want you to walk away from this post with not only the know-how on how to make cranberry sauce but that cranberry sauce ain’t just for turkey. That’s right i said it. You can do so much more with cranberry sauce like appetizers, drinks, entrees and desserts. The sky’s the limit or at least your imagination.
Basic Cranberry Sauce
1 12oz. bag of cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup of water
1-2 cups of granulated sugar
Wash and sort cranberries. Place cranberries in a sauce pan with water and 1 cup of sugar. Allow to simmer. You can add more sugar depending on how sweet you like your sauce. After about 10 minutes of cooking and you can no longer hear the berries popping you can turn off stove. Pour sauce into a bowl and allow to cool. Sauce thickens as it cools.
Cranberry Sauce
Here are some other dishes I used cranberry sauce in.
Baked Brie topped with warm Cranberry SaucePork Tenderloin Medallions and Whipped Sweet Potatoes with a Cranberry- Pomegranate SauceWine Spritzer made with Cranberry Sauce, your favorite white wine and topped with seltzer.Cranberry Shortcake made with a cranberry, apple & pear compote
I hope the post has you ditching the can and being inspired by fresh cranberries. CIPapproved
So your gravy is…well…not the best. Lumpy is just the start of what makes your gravy unappealing. So what do we do to make it better? Well we turn to a little math, If you have this little equation you are well on your way to better gravy. 2 + 2 +1= Perfect Gravy. That is 2 Tablespoons of fat plus 2 Tablespoons of flour plus 1 cup of liquid and you’ve got gravy kinda. The only special equipment I suggest for this gravy making task is a whisk,it helps to eliminate lumps.
2 Tablespoons Fat ( butter, olive oil or fat drippings from meat)
2 Tablespoons all Purpose Flour
1 cup Liquid (stock,broth or meat drippings)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Melt fat in a sauce pan. Once melted add flour and allow to cook for about 1-2 minutes. Then add liquid while whisking to prevent lumps. Allow to simmer until thickened 3-5 minutes. Taste so that you can adjust seasonings as needed.
Once you have this basic gravy down then you can get a little fancy with it. You can make a mushroom beef gravy by sauteing freshly sliced mushrooms before melting fat and adding flour and using either a beef broth, stock or dripping from cooked beef. Or maybe you want something a little spicy add cracked peppercorn to the melted fat before adding flour. The varieties are limitless and left only up to your imagination and taste-buds.
Now you’ll be the champion of gravy at your next holiday meal
