Thanksgiving Leftovers

Did everyone have a wonderful and fulfilling Thanksgiving this year?  Full of turkey, corn bread, casseroles, pies, and stuffing galore? With our fridges packed with leftovers, there are endless possibilities to producing that perfect creation of Thanksgiving wonder.

After gorging down two Thanksgiving feasts in the past couple of weeks, I figured it’d be a good idea to slow down a bit before the Christmas holidays really tackled my butt.  I cut some fresh lettuce greens from our garden — a mixture of green leaf lettuce, red leaf spinach, mustard purple mizunas, and fresh herbs to serve as my salad base.

 

For my toppings I used some cornbread that was leftover from my stuffing and warmed up some creamed corn for the perfect amount of savoriness.  Feel free to throw some turkey or maybe even some cherry tomatoes and fresh avocado for a Southwestern twist.  What are some of your favorite leftover recipes from Thanksgiving?  

Here are some great ideas for ways to utilize your Thanksgiving leftovers:

• 5 Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes with AndyTalk 
• Grilled Turkey Sandwiches with Stuffing and Cranberry Relish
• White Chocolate Bread Pudding
• Mom’s Turkey Soup
• Top 10 Thanksgiving Breakfast Recipes

 

 

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Event: Coppell Farmer’s Market

This past weekend my friend Eric and I decided to go on an adventure — to Coppell Farmer’s Market! I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter helped me host a farm to table lunch.  The mission was to choose a local farmer’s market, find some wonderful fresh produce then go home and make a meal using ICBINB products and farm fresh produce.  Originally I had a pretty strong group going but then the morning of (we had to leave at 9am) the group quickly dwindled down to one.  YES, one. In amidst of questioning my popularity, Eric arrived at my place and I had to think fast.  So I knocked him out with a frying pan, tied him up and threw him in my car — GOTCHYA, there’s no escaping now!

 Okay so maybe that’s not how it happened exactly but don’t worry, no one got hurt. 

 

The two of us ventured out to Coppell,TX and found the wonderful farmer’s market.  Though the market was relatively small compared to the Dallas Farmer’s Market, I really enjoyed a lot of the vendors here.  The entire shopping experience was less daunting, with about 25-30 tents compared to the 100s at the DFM.  They had all your neccesities — fruits, vegetables, grass-fed meats, honey and jams, fresh herbs, fresh breads and my favorite…a sorbet stand.  But I’ll get to that later.

There was a wonderful bread stand from Village Baking Co. — by the time I got there it was slim pickins so I figured the bread must be good.  We chose the last Jalapeno Cheddar Loaf, because the cute guy selling the bread said it was his favorite — what can I say, I’m a sucker for blonde hair and blue eyes AND JALAPENOS AND CHEDDAR! I warmed it up in the oven when I got home — it was quite delicious with melted pockets of cheddar cheese and jalapeno slices scattered in every bite.  It was money for sure.

 OKAY now this was my favorite stand by far.  The folks at Savoy Sorbet are magical — they make these sorbets that are not only all natural but they are freaking DELICIOUS.  They call it “like catnip for humans!” because it’d probably be inapproriate to write “like crack for humans!” because that’s how addicting it was.  I wanted to buy the entire truck of sorbets and bury my face in it — but apparently that’s un-lady like.  I tried the lavender which was bright yet floral but it didn’t taste like soap (which I thought it would) it was truly the most elegant sorbet I’ve ever tasted.  But my favorite by far had to be the Chamomile Orange, which tasted like sunshine rainbows and hugs.  Don’t believe me?  Try it out yourself.  With the sweltering heat that day, there couldn’t have been a better tasting remedy. 

We picked up the last of the summer squash — zucchini and yellow squash, sweet yellow corn and a couple pounds of tasty grass fed ground beef and lamb sausage for our lunch menu.  We also swiped up some fresh SPICY salsa and corn tortillas and a watermelon (that turned out to be a dud). 

I kept the corn simple — after Eric cleaned and husked the corn, I just threw them in a pot of boiling water for 3-4 minutes and served them as-is.  That’s the beauty of fresh produce, you don’t have to do much to it to get great flavors.  We used some ICBINB spray and sprinkled some seasoning salt ontop — you can opt for lemon-pepper, cajun seasoning, or just plain salt and pepper.  I gave mine a dash of cayenne, cuz everyone can use a kick every once in awhile 🙂  

For the veggies I diced the zucchini and yellow squash in to 1″ pieces and blanched them with some french green beans.  In a medium sauce pan I sauteed some minced garlic and shallot along with some salt and pepper with some ICBINB spray and tossed the veggies in the mixture.  Again, very simple to do and the veggies tasted fresh and crunchy — I love blanching my vegetables for that very reason — my heart always hurts a little when I taste overcooked mushy vegetables.  You are not only losing a lot of nutritional value that way but the beautiful natural flavors go away too! 

Ah, last but not least!  Our 1/2 lb grass fed beef burgers.  I bought Hawaiian hamburger buns (YES THEY MAKE THOSE!!) and the sweetness of the bread really complimented the earthiness and savory flavors of the beef.  I seasoned the patties with some cayenne and some coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  When making the patties, if you poke a hole through the center (like a meat donut) it helps it cook faster.  I cooked the patties similar to the way I’d cook a steak –preheat your oven to 400F, heat up your skillet at medium-high heat and add your butter (I used ICBINB spray in this case).  Once the butter is bubbling sear your meat patties, about 3 minutes on each side at medium-high heat and finish the rest of the way in the oven (about 4-5 minutes) you can use a meat thermometer to get the perfect doneness level as follows.

Rare Medium-rare Medium Medium-well Well done

120° – 125° 130° – 135° 140° – 145° 150° – 155° 160° and above

  Everyone loved the farm to table lunch — everyone being me, Eric, Collin and the guy who helped us dig a ditch that day (We’re installing a french drain so I can have my deck for my housewarming party, my fiance will claim I am a slave driver but I urge everyone not to listen to his lies.)  I’d like to thank I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter for hosting the event, it was a blast!

Here is some additional info on I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter —

• 0 Calories per serving
• 0g Fat per serving
• No gydrogenated oils
• Is made from a blend of vegetable oils like vanola and soy
• has no cholesterol

You can find additional recipes at I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter where they also have giveaways and promotions, so check it out!

Chicken with Basil Butter and Succotash

Beans beans the magical fruit, the more you eat the more you…well you know how the rest of the saying goes.  Either way my fiance is stuck with me and what better way to use beans than in succotash! Succotash became popular during the Great Depression since beans were one of the few items that were cheap and readily available.  I managed to grab the last few ears of corn before having to wait til Summer to eat it again.  It’s a great dish for those cool fall nights, with the earthiness of the beans and corn enriched with the beautiful basil butter, it will leave your tummy happy and satisfied.

Ingredients for Succotash:

• 1 1/2 cups dried mixed shell beans, such as lima, flageolets, fava, cranberry, kidney, or butter beans (allow to soak overnight)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 1 large ear of corn)
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock (can be store bought)
• Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
• 4 chicken breasts or thigh, cut and trimmed

Ingredients for Basil Butter:

• 1 large shallot, finely minced
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Chardonnay
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, cut into tiny cubes
• 4 tablespoons fresh basil, cut into chiffonade

What the heck is chiffonade? It’s a technique of cutting ingredients like herbs into ribbons.  You stack the leaves ontop of each other and roll them into a cigar-like shape, the cut the roll crosswides and the pieces will unravel in ribbons.

For the succotash, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and fill a large bowl with ice water.  Add the beans to the boiling water and blanch for 3 to 4 minutes, drain and transfer to the bowl of ice water.  This will “shock” the beans and stop them from cooking as well as set the colors.  Drain again and set aside.  Heat a large and deep saucepan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of butter.  Once it has melted add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Add the corn and beans and stir to heat through.  Pour in the stock and increase the heat to high.  Cook until the liquid is soaked up by the beans, but leave just enough to coat the vegetables, about 15 minutes.  If the beans are still too hard, simply add more stock and cook it down until they have softened.  However, becareful to not overcook the vegetables or they may discolor.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, cover to keep warm and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and saute the shallots.  Place the chicken breast or thigh on top and pour the stock and wine into the pan.  Sear the chicken on both sides and stick the pan into the oven and allow to cook the rest of the way, about 8-10 minutes.  Remove chicken from oven and pour the juices into a medium saucepan.  Cover the chicken with aluminum foil and set aside.  Add the lemon juice to the pan of juices and bring to a boil until reduced by half, about 3-4 minutes.  Stir in the cream and continue to boil for 1 minute.  Reduce the heat down to medium and slowly whisk in the cubes of butter, incorporating each cube before adding more.  Season with salt and pepper and stir in the chiffonade basil right before serving.

Plate the succotash with a slotted spoon and divide evenly among 4 plates.  Place the chicken on top and generously spoon over the sauce.  Serve immediately.