Spatchcocked Turkey with Ginger Maple Scallion Glaze

Marigold Knob Farm's Kosher turkey's are held to higher standards than USDA meat and poultry inspection standards. This farm is sustainable, vegetarian, humane, and only 250 miles from Buffalo. The slaughter is a quick process using cold water and salt to remove excess blood and water and produces a roaster that is perfect in every way.

Start by gently washing the turkey inside and out with icy cold water. Dry thoroughly, removing all moisture. Using cutlery shears, cut away the neck and backbone. If you are intimidated by this ask your butcher to cut this away for you. I roasted the neck and backbones and saved the meat for my cats and for my Niece's dog when they came to visit for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Trim away any loose or sagging skin and large parts of fat. A well trimmed bird not swimming in fat tastes so much better!

Flip the bird over and crack the breast bone. Use a step stool so you are directly over the bird and use your full body weight to snap the bone flat.

Straighten the bird out as flat as it will go, adjusting the thighs and wings.

Make small cuts in the joints now so when you carve later you won't have to fight with a hot bird.

In a saucepan heat brown sugar, maple syrup, minced ginger, scallions, salt and white pepper. Whisk until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature. Tuck the bird into three or four plastic grocery bags. Pour the cooled glaze all over the bird, turning it over several times to coat. Close up the bag tightly and tuck away in the fridge over night.

Three hours before serving dinner lay the turkey out in a cookie sheet and set the oven to 425 degrees. When the oven is heated to this temperature, put the bird in cover with foil and then turn down to 325 degrees. Do not open the oven until the last 30 minutes, when you remove the foil. This 15 pound bird only took two hours to cook. You're going to take two temps., the first in the thighs which should read 180 degrees and the second in the breast which should 165 to 170 degrees.

Juicy delicious and delicately flavored! Enjoy!

2009 Chapelle-St.-Arnoux Cotes du Rhone Orange-Cranberry Gelato

 This 2009 Chapelle-St.-Arnoux Cotes du Rhone ranks low on the Rhones but that just makes it all the more delightful as a cooking wine. It retains it's dirtiness in it's base that comes through as a flavor when added to dishes, but is not priced out of range for the average chef.

 This gelato has two bags of fresh bright purple red cranberries boiled down in 4 cups of water. Two cups of sugar helps the berry's pectin really come out.

1/2 cup of orange juice helps tone down the intensity of the tartness without masking the flavors from the Rhone.

Use a stick mixer to blend down smooth. Allow to cool for 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until cool enough to pour into a cheese cloth strainer to strain out the seeds and skins. Then pour into a large container suitable for freezing. Freeze for at least six hours.

Ham and Potato Au Gratin

 Grate five potatoes and one medium onion, layering into a 9x11 casserole dish. Heat the oven to 380 degrees.

In a saucepan heat milk, water, salt, pepper, parsley, mustard, paprika, celery seed, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, salt, mace and ginger.

Mince ham and cheese and stir in until smooth. Then pour on potatoes and stir. Bake for 45 minutes or until a golden crust forms.

St. Lawerence, Patron Saint of Chefs

So I got it into my head that it would be great to have a statue of St. Lawrence in the house, being a chef and all. I've developed a love for unique statuary, and I figured anyone that could get my culnarian egotism it would be Laurie who apparently said as they slow roasted him over a grid iron, "One side is done; you can turn me over now.”, which they did....

I'm having a hell of a time (no pun intended) finding a non-gruesome version of him, or at least one where he isn't lugging his grid iron about with him! Below is a quick history on the man, and although I'm not Catholic, I certainly admire his resolute tenacity in the face of a horrible situation.

Saint Lawrence (or Laurence) of Rome (c. 225-258) is one of the most honored of the Christian martyrs. Not much is known of him. He may have been born in Huesca, Spain. A deacon of the Roman Catholic Church during a time of Christian persecution, Lawrence was entrusted with safeguarding the Church’s holy relics, among them the Holy Chalice. In Christian history, the Holy Chalice is believed to be the cup Jesus and his Apostles drank wine from at the Last Supper. At this first Eucharistic feast, Jesus consecrated the wine for the Apostles to drink, thus changing it into the blood of Christ.

From 257-261 A.D., the Roman Emperor Valerian was aggressively persecuting Christians and stripping the Church of power and property. In 258 A.D., he ordered the beheading of Pope Sixtus II. Alarmed, Lawrence immediately began selling church possessions and giving away the money to the poor. For safekeeping, he gave the Holy Chalice to a soldier to spirit it away to Lawrence’s homeland in Spain, in present-day Aragon.

Then came the order from the Roman prefect (commander) for Lawrence to turn over all the treasures of the Church. Lawrence rushed out into the city. He gathered together lepers, the blind, the sick, widows, orphans, the elderly, the poor, the crippled, and the homeless and took the crowd to be presented to the Roman prefect.

“Here,” Lawrence announced to the commander, gesturing at all the people assembled, ”here is the church’s treasure.”

The commander was incensed. He ordered that Lawrence be stripped of his clothing and bound with ropes. He had Lawrence laid on his back upon a gridiron and roasted over a slow fire.

After saying a prayer for the Christian conversion of Rome, he died.

St. Lawrence is the patron saint of cooks and comedians alike. In art, he is often portrayed carrying a long cross on his shoulder and a gospel book in his hand. His emblems are the gridiron and a bag of money for the poor.

White, Kristin E. A Guide to the Saints. New York: Ivy Books, 1991.

Gulyás Leves - Cowboy Beef Soup

Layer in the bottom of a crock pot, set on high, butter, salt, pepper, paprika, malt vinegar, and stew beef. Add on top of this bite sized cuts of potatoes, carrots, leeks, shallots and a white onion. This is often made with tomatoes but I wanted to stick with the Hungarian Cattlemen recipe that includes only items that would have been easily transported along the cattle trails in Hungary. Cover and cook for one hour then add 3 to 4 cups boiling hot water and continue to cook for another 2 hours. Serve with buttered bread and a side salad.

Kale Chips

Wash the kale and dry well with either a salad spinner, bagged with holes punched in the bottom and swung until the excess is removed, or patted dry with clean dish towels. Toss with olive oil and sea salt and then bake in batches. Lay out each batch on a parchment paper or paper bag lined cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Handle carefully as they will be fragile. These are best when served warm, they lost some appeal when they cooled. As a side, although they were tasty hot, they were not very interesting. And they most definitely do not taste like potato chips as I've read. They taste like dried leaves from a bouquet of flowers when cold. I'll be trying these again in twice baked potatoes as I think they'll add a nice earthy flavorful crunch.

French Lentil and Maple Ham with Beet Horseradish

2 cups soaked French Lentils

1 lbs well trimmed bite sized cuts of spiral cut maple ham

3 cups of water

2 tbls olive oil

2 tbls whole grain dijon mustard

Salt, white and freshly cracked pepper

2 tsp hickory liquid smoke

Beet horseradish added for flavor

Layer all of the ingredients into a crock pot and cook on medium for four hours. Stir well and serve with a large dollop of beet horseradish.

Dijon Tarragon Chicken and Butternut Squash Bowl with Peaches and Baked Kale Chips

Cut a Butternut squash so that the bowl like interior sits upright. Fill with peach preserves or freshly stewed peaches. Bake covered at 400* for 1 1/2 hours, or until easily pierced by a fork.

Flatten chicken thighs with a mallet.

Tarragon, Basil, salt, pepper, olive oil, minced garlic, and whole grain dijon mustard.

Fry the chicken with slivered shallots. Then add the seasoning.

Once the squash is finished set it out to cool for 20 minutes and then slice.

Cover the chicken once browned, turning the heat down low as you plate the food.

I served this with Kale Chips for flavor and texture.

Yakisoba with Squash, Pomegranate and Teriyaki Chicken

Bake the chicken at 350 degrees for one hour in Teriyaki sauce covered with foil. Teriyaki: Kikkoman organic soybean soy sauce, mirin, water, brown sugar, grated ginger, minced garlic, sesame seeds, vinegar, minced onion, garlic powder, salt, 5 Chinese Spice

Boil soba until just soft, about two minutes. In a large pan, heat sesame oil and add slivered onions. Drain the soba very well and add to the hot pan. Press the noodles to fry and then flip over to fry the other side. Work fast and neatly to prevent splattering and sticking.

Steam the squash and separate the pomegranate seeds and rinse them well. Shred the chicken and dish with extra sauce on top.

Apple Jack Vinegar: AKA Dear God What Have I Made?

So a while back I made some really delicious Apple butter. Love this stuff! It's stupendous!

Which leads me to the second part of that post...the doomed Apple Jack/ Vinegar experiment.

 Isn't that lovely looking. The color is so beautiful....wait why is it pouring like corn syrup?

Dear God! Someone please hand me a slice of bread to mask the horrible...well I don't even know what to call this. It's got champagne bubbles, it smells sweet and fruity, and it has this beautiful honey color. It pours like cough syrup and has a strange clot of cream at the bottom of the container, and it tastes like I sucked hard cider out of the carpet...that was spilled three days ago....blahgah!


I almost want to hold onto it for another month just to see what happens next. What do you think? Save it and see if it mutates or pour it down the drain and hope it doesn't crawl back out?

White Chicken Sausage Chili with Pureed Leek and Japanese Sweet Potato in a Bread Bowl

In a crock-pot, add two large cans of pinto and cannelloni beans. Add in 1 cup of water, 3 tbls of white pepper and freshly cracked or ground pepper, 1 tbls salt, 1 tbls powdered garlic, 3 tsp dry mustard, and 3 tbls of minced parsley. Pan fry 5 Spar's chicken sausages (I recommend the Apple, Bacon, Chive and Herb Sausages). Slice and add to the chili and cook for 4 hours.

Spray the bottoms of four oven safe bowls with olive oil spray. Divide pizza dough and shape into bowl shapes and fit over the bottoms of the containers, resting them onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Boil one medium sized sliced leek in 1 cup of water. Puree with a stick blender.

 Steam bake 1 Japanese Sweet Potato (Paper bag and microwave on the potato setting). Then slice and add to the leek puree.




Puree the sweet potato and then fill a pastry bag with the green creaminess and pipe onto your bowl, either on top or under the chili.

Five nice sized servings contain your day's recommended level of fiber and has been clinically shown to reduce blood sugar levels. Baked in its skin, 100 grams of sweet potato contains 90 calories with no cholesterol and minimal fat. Japanese sweet potatoes contain 11,509 micrograms of beta-carotene, which is especially important to the health of your eyes. An excellent source of vitamin A, sweet potatoes fulfil almost 12 times the daily amount recommended by the Institute of Medicine to maintain a low risk of chronic diseases. The vitamin C content in sweet potatoes is comparable to grapefruit and supplies 30 percent DV, or daily value.

One medium Japanese sweet potato contains 4 percent DV for calcium and iron and contains significant amounts of magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium. Sweet potatoes contain B vitamins -- thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, folate and B-6. In addition, Japanese sweet potatoes contain essential amino acids.

To learn another way to make this awesome fall vegetable go to this link.

Simple Chicken Parmigiana

Tomatoes, Water, Onion Puree, Olive Oil, Salt, Roasted Garlic and Basil for the sauce. Pour the sauce into a 9x13 pan. 

 Chicken is sliced into 1 oz pieces, breaded and then placed into the sauce.

 Cover with less that 1/2 inch of shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake at 380 degrees for 45 minutes.

Best served on spaghetti with a large side salad.

Cook books and the very persnickety chef

I like cookbooks, a lot.

Especially the oversized variety with sheaves of full color photographs of food porn.

But what I don't like are the plethora of lousy recipes that have, quite obviously, never been created by the author layered in between all of those lovely graphics.

Because of this, my stack of books is quite small and includes a couple of classics....

Yesterday while harassing Joe Petri, co-owner of West Side Stories, I was gifted a new cook book; "Shakespeare's Kitchen" by Francine Segan.


This lovely hardcover, mint condition book is a history lover/chef/book nerd's dream. Combining real recipes from the 16 and 1700's, with exquisite photographs, and tested and easy to re-create recipes, it is easy to see why supper lasted three hours and had more than five courses. As an herbal gardener I also love the use of flowers and their essences in many of the recipes and their dishing. Look for future posts, for which I will be pulling heavily from this book.

Our Wedding Cake!

The crew at Zillycakes created our all vegan wedding cake and cupcake tower and did a phenomenal job from conception to presentation! The bride and groom cake was vegan chocolate and the cupcakes were vegan chocolate and spice and had vegan chocolate, mojito, and spice frosting. Each came with either a chocolate coin, chocolate chips, or an intricately colored sugar skull.

Our cake topper came from Mexico....
                              love the sweet pea inspired design...

...and this was our crazy quilt cake table cloth that I made.









We danced our way to the table to Average White Band's "Cut the Cake" and theatrically cut up and fed each other little bites as our friends and family watched and giggled hysterically at our antics.

Another Amazing Masterpiece from Zillycakes!

Thank you Zilly and Crew!


Photos provided by Denise Sanchez of Dee's Digital Delight.