We Now Return You to Winter Weather

One day after returning to "sunny" Southern Indiana, we were greeted with this sight in the early morning hours.

Such beauty.

Such coldness.

What a dichotemy.

Given that the temperatures were in the teens, it's not surprising that the frost is heavy.

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And now, over a week after the actual event, we finally got to have our "Thanksgiving Day Feast."

However, there were a few caveats.

First, the husband didn't want a traditional Thanksgiving Day feast.

Oh, who am I kidding?

He didn't want turkey at all, but since I already had this turkey breast, his argument fell on deaf ears.

The Foodie Boyfriend asked for an apple pie.

Unfortunately for him, I was sick and I learned long ago that sick people cannot bake.

This was easily the worst pie crust I have ever made.

Still, I managed to score on the filling.

Repeat after me: Sick people should not bake.

Now, let's turn our attention to that turkey breast.

I found a recipe for Honey and Thyme Brined Turkey Breast.


The brine ingredients were honey, fresh thyme, black pepper, brown sugar and of course salt.

Of course I had to buy this turkey breast.

After all, I only paid 88 cents a pound for the thing.

Score!

After dissolving the salt and sugar mixture in the water, The turkey breast was added to the cooled brine.

This then sat in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Following the recipe directions, I removed the turkey breast from the brine and patted it dry with paper towels.

Then I rubbed olive oil on the skin and patted on a mixture of fresh chopped thyme and ground black pepper.

The turkey breast roasted in a 400 degree oven for about one hour, or until the internal temperature reached 165 degrees.

I removed the turkey breast from the oven and covered it with aluminum foil so it could rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Gorgeous.

I opted to make things simple for myself and roasted green beans with bacon and potatoes with bacon and onion in the oven with the turkey.

The turkey breast was moist, tender and succulent.

The flavors from the brine weren't overwhelming, allowing the turkey to take center stage.

The skin was crispy and delicious, if you like that sort of thing.

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Apparently, the Foodie Daughter and the Foodie Boyfriend are, as they actually fought over the last piece of meat with skin attached.

It was that good.

The meat was cooked to perfection:

cooked through, but not overcooked and dry.



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And just how did this rate?

The Foodie Daughter, her boyfriend and I all gave this 5 stars

as we couldn't possibly imagine this being any better.

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The husband gave this 3 stars.

He thought the turkey should have been cooked more well done

and that it didn't taste like turkey.

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We are pretending that we don't know this man.

The next day I decided to use some of the leftover turkey meat to make turkey salad.

This time around I opted to add

mayonnaise,

honey Dijon mustard,

onion,

celery (including the leafy greens),

craisins.

This was mixed to taste.

I never go by recipes for this sort of thing.

That hit the spot.

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Later, my daughter and a friend came over to study and finished off the rest of the turkey salad on crackers.

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Oh, and that carcass?

That went into the freezer until it's time to make more turkey stock.

It's all good.

A Sunday Evening Dinner

After my husband and I tried the Blarney Puffballs (registered, The Irish Lion Restaurant) a couple of weeks ago, I had been given the directive to find the recipe for these little bundles of goodness.

Fortunately for me, fellow world-famous blogger, Rosie Hawthorne of Kitchens Are Monkey Business, took up the gauntlet and made her version recently. Since Rosie had taken some of the Monkey Business out of recreating the recipe for me, I started with her notes and ran.

Here is my partial mise en place for my take on Irish Pancakes Patties.

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 Yukon Gold potatoes

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 egg

1/2 shallot, grated

1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

1 teaspoon rosemary, chopped

4 garlic cloves, grated

First I peeled and cubed the potatoes before adding to some water and sprinkling with some kosher salt. The potatoes cooked in the microwave for about six minutes, until fork tender.

I added the butter and mashed until fairly smooth. I then placed the potatoes in the refrigerator to cool.

Meanwhile, I grated the garlic, shallot and cheese. The minced herbs, flour, salt, pepper, baking powder and egg were mixed together and set aside.

Once the potatoes had cooled, I mixed in the other ingredients and put everything back into the refrigerator for another couple of hours.

Then, I wisely decided to make a test patty as after much deliberation, I opted to take Rosie's suggestion and make potato patties rather than puffballs. The deciding factor ended up being that with the patties I would not have to deep fry the potatoes.






I used a cookie scoop to measure out the right amount of potato mixture and then gently flattened the ball into a patty. I fried the patty in a bit of oil and served with a dollop of sour cream with a sprinkling of chives.





The Foodie daughter and I both decided that a bit of bacon would not be amiss and I finely chopped up some cooked bacon for the potatoes. More cheddar cheese was also added at this point.

I also decided to add in about 1 tablespoon of sour cream to the mix, just to kick things up a notch.







There, that looks much better. Back into the refrigerator.







Turning back to Rosie's recipe, I scooped out the potato balls before flattening and dredging in bread crumbs. And these patties then went back into the refrigerator to firm up before frying.

I fried a few patties at a time in canola oil before draining on a rack. The finished potato patties were then held in a warm oven until dinner time.

I had also chosen to bake a turkey breast roast for our dinner.






Unfortunately, I was unable to find an unseasoned turkey breast, so I settled for a roast that had added salt, dextrose, sodium phosphate and vegetable oil. It could be worse, I guess.

I wanted to make a special sauce for the turkey. I ended up creating my own sauce in the end, but I did start off with a recipe from the Internet.

3 tablespoons whole grain mustard
2/3 cup turkey stock
2/3 cup sherry
1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoons water
1/2 cup Craisins, half chopped, half whole
1 teaspoon chives, chopped





The sherry, turkey stock and mustard cooked together for five minutes.

Then the Craisins were added.

The cornstarch slurry (cornstarch and water) were added along with the chives.

After tasting, yellow mustard, honey and black pepper were added to taste. Guess I couldn't leave well enough alone.

Not too bad, but I think I'll stick to my own recipe from now on.

Dinner is served.

The turkey breast was tender and flavorful. The sauce added just the right kick to the moist meat.

The Irish Potato Patties were a hit, with the bold flavors of the bacon, rosemary and chives adding just the right amount of interest to the potatoes. The sour cream and chopped chives on the side helped to ground and round out the flavors.

The Foodie daughter asked for corn with bacon, ignoring both her boyfriend's and my suggestion for broccoli as a side dish. Next time you get broccoli, dear daughter.

Everyone seemed to enjoy dinner and raved over the Irish Potato Patties.

I am a very happy Foodie.