Archive - November, 2011
I’m excited to introduce a new category today: Tips & Techniques. I hope this will turn into a section that can provide you all with helpful tips to make home cooking a little easier. Feedback is much appreciated, so if you have any great tips or techniques to share, please add them via the comment form. The first tip I’m sharing is quite simple but very helpful nevertheless.
Pasta and beans, or Pasta e Fagioli, is a staple in Italian cooking. Like many Italian dishes, it started as a peasant meal consisting of basic, widely available ingredients. I love cooking with both pasta and beans, so I enjoyed preparing a dish that combines the two. The result is a well rounded dish where the beans provide a good amount of protein to the pasta. Leave out the butter and prosciutto for an excellent vegan meal.
Here’s a simple dessert made from leftover Thanksgiving mashed sweet potatoes. These mini casseroles are a perfect little sweet treat with a crunchy pecan and pumpkin seed topping. Since the sweet potato mash is already done, this will be ready in a flash!
As much as I love my Thanksgiving turkey fresh out of the oven, I almost prefer the leftover meals you can make from it! My favorite is turkey noodle soup with vegetables. It’s simple to prepare and extremely comforting this time of year. The turkey cooked with chicken broth is flavorful enough, but for more richness I added my leftover turkey gravy into the mix.
Homemade herbed butter is one of the easiest and most satisfying condiments to make. You can use most herbs (try rosemary, basil, parsley) and store it in the freezer or fridge until it’s ready to be used. The ice cube shapes make it readily available in your cooking and there are endless possibilities to use your herb butter (read below).
This is one of the easiest mashed sweet potatoes recipes to make. I quickly whipped it up as I was roasting my herb turkey thighs recipe. Besides the sweet potato, all you need is milk, salt and pepper. To finish it off, top the mash with homemade herbed garlic butter or some turkey gravy to make for a fantastic Thanksgiving side dish.
This year, before spending a more hectic Thanksgiving with family, I decided to create a quiet feast fit for two. I loosely adapted this recipe from an article in the NY Times. I love the flavor and juiciness of roast chicken thighs, so I was thrilled to try turkey thighs for the first time. During the final half hour of roasting, I added potatoes, garlic cloves, pearl onions and whole sprigs of herbs to create a wonderful one-pot meal.
Continue Reading…
Wishful Chef is about cooking simple and healthy dishes. A fusion of different cuisines, my recipes are inspired by family, travels & cooking idols.
Thanks for visiting!
Thanks for visiting!
