Herbed Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce

When I think of Sunday dinners, I think about comforting foods, a table full of love and laughter, and family.  Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around the dinner table, and I hope that the same will hold true for Caroline.  Sometimes I'll cook a meal and it's just "right."  The main dish and the sides all complement each other, the flavors play well off of each other, and its hard to pick a favorite dish on the table.  My sister and niece are staying here for a while, and I thought it would be nice to cook a family dinner on Sunday after church. 

Since I've been featuring Thanksgiving-like recipes that don't involve roasting a whole turkey, I thought I would continue the trend.  I found this recipe and knew that it would be a hit with both Caroline and my niece, but I was disappointed to see that the meatballs had an egg in them, since Caroline is allergic.  No worries - I just subbed in 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree, and they held together beautifully.  In my small amount of experimentation, pumpkin puree works the best as egg-substitute binders for meat and baked casseroles, but I like using flax or chia "eggs" in baking - or just adjusting the ratios to leave out eggs.

In any case, Caroline chowed DOWN on these meatballs.  Mashed potatoes have always been one of her favorite foods, but she left hers by the wayside to eat FOUR of the meatballs - that's how many I ate!!  Speaking of mashed potatoes, I knew they were a must for the side, and I also made maple-mustard roasted green beans, which Joey has proclaimed to be the only way he wants to eat green beans from now on.

The meatballs are very easy to throw together, and as a bonus, they cook in the oven rather than on the stove top.  This is great for two reasons.  One, they are healthier, and two, they are less labor-intensive and you don't have to worry about oil splatters.  The cranberry-orange sauce goes really well with the savory herbed meatballs as well.

I think this would be a great meal to make if you want the flavors of Thanksgiving without all the hassle.  I also think they would make a great appetizer for a party - just make them a tad bit smaller and bake a few minutes less.

One Year Ago:  Fontina Shells and Cheese


Herbed Turkey Meatballs
adapted from Williams Sonoma
serves 4

• 1 Tbs unsalted butter
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely choped
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs, or panko
• 1/4 cup pumpin puree, or 1 egg
• 2 Tbs fresh oregano, minced
• 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 2 Tbs fresh parsley, minced
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2/3 cup orange juice
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/4 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, and lightly oil a baking sheet.

In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the onion and celery, and cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, combine the celery and onion, turkey, bread crumbs, pumpkin puree, oregano, poultry seasoning, parsley, salt, and pepper.  Gently mix to incorporate with your hands.  Using a cookie scoop, form the mixture in meatballs, and arrange them on the baking sheet.

Bake 10 minutes, until cooked through.

Meanwhile, make the cranberry sauce. combine the orange juice, shallot, cranberries, and sugar in a medium skillet.  Cook over medium heat, until the cranberries pop and the mixture begins to thicken slightly, about 5 minutes.

Serve the meatballs with the cranberry sauce.

Sweet Potato Milkshakes with Burnt Marshmallow Topping

Top Chef is pretty much my favorite tv show (save for Top Chef DC - it was a hugely disapointing season).  As I've said in previous posts, my best friend Emilie and I love going to eat at (stalking) cheftestants restaurants, and one of our favorites is FLiP Burger Boutique, which is owned by Season 4's Richard Blais (sidenote:  I am so embarrassingly excited about Top Chef All-Stars).  The concept is gourmet burgers, which are awesomely creative and delicious, but the real stand-outs are the liquid Nitrogen milkshakes.  They are all super-fun flavors, but my favorite is the Nutella with burnt marshmallow topping.  Reee-diculously good.  I have tried sips of some of the other flavors, but I always come back to the Nutella. 

So when I made the sweet potato ice cream, I was inspired to add some marshmallows to the top and torch them.  For one thing, I always like to torch things in the kitchen - so fun!  Also, burnt marshmallow is one of the greatest things ever created.  Since sweet potatoes are often paired with marshmallows, I thought it would be a great flavor for a milkshake.  Annnd of course I was right.  So so good.  Joey, who said "blech" when I told him I was making sweet potato ice cream, even enjoyed the milkshake.  I was having a little bit of a rough day when I made these, so I added a splash of bourbon, but they certainly don't neeeeed it.  Overall, a super fun and festive milkshake!

Sweet Potato Milkshake with Burnt Marshmallow Topping
Pink Parsley Original
makes 2 milkshakes

• 3/4 cup sweet potato ice cream, slightly softened
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup bourbon or  splash of vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• mini  marhmallows

In a blender, combine the ice cream, milk, bourbon, and cinnamon.  Blend until smooth and thick, and divide between 2 small glasses.  Add a layer of mini marshmallows on top, and using a kitchen torch, burn them and melt in spots.  Allow the marshmallow topping to cool slightly, and serve.

Sweet Potato Ice Cream

I know that the concept of sweet potato ice cream sounds kind of weird, but trust me - this is good stuff.  I absolutely love sweet potatoes, and while I typically eat them in more savory fashions, I am also a fan of sweet potato pie.  Which is basically what this ice cream tastes like.  Fresh sweet potatoes, pureed with milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and I added a little bourbon to the mix - as far as I'm concerned very few things are made worse by the addition of bourbon.

I think this ice cream would make a great addition to a Thanksgiving dessert buffet:  Serve a scoop with sweet potato pie for a double whammy, or on top of a cinnamon cake for something a little out of the norm.  You could even use it to make an ice cream cake if you're feeling really adventurous.

The original recipe calls for maple-glazed pecans to be mixed into the ice cream during the churning step, but I had other plans for this that required a smooth ice cream.  And what I did - well I'm sharing it tomorrow, but rest assured it was something evil and genius.  I'll give you a hint:  toasted marshmallow was involved. 

Sweet Potato Ice Cream
adapted from David Lebovitz, The Perfect Scoop
makes about 1 quart

• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled
• 1 cup plus 2 Tbs whole milk
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp bourbon or whiskey
• pinch of salt

Cut the sweet potatoes into 1-inch cubes.  Place in a medium saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer about 20 minutes, or until tender when poked with a sharp knife.  Drain the sweet potatoes and cool to room temperature.

In a blender, add the cooled potatoes, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, bourbon, and salt.  Puree until very smooth, at least 30 seconds.  Press the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for several hours in the refrigerator.

Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Transfer to a container and freeze for several hours before serving.

Menu: Football Party

Even though my beloved Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets aren't having a noteworthy football season, your favorite team may be.  And even if they aren't, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't get together with friends to watch college football on Saturdays!  I am firmly in the camp of preferring tailgates over the actual game, so I am always excited to plan out menu items for our tailgate.  And while we're on the subject, let me share a few things about or awesome tailgate.

Since we all went to Georgia Tech (read:  we're all super nerds), we prepare a spreadsheet at the beginning of each football season for food assignments.  Two couples are responsible for meat, and that sets the tone for the remaining items:  snack, appetizer, bread, sides, and dessert.  Back in our rowdier days we had people assigned to signature cocktails as well, and they brought a signature cocktail that was usually related to the opposing team.  I absolutely love our tailgate group, and I really look forward to game day.  Joey and I are the first of our group to have a child, so Caroline always gets a lot of attention from our friends.  And of course she eats it right up.  At the last tailgate, we had her face painted.  I thought they would just paint a little yellow jacket or GT on her cheek, but we walked away with this craziness:

That was a little shocking, but she thought she was hot stuff!  Normally she is much more chill and low-key:

(sidenote:  she somehow dug that butterfly out of the depths of her diaper bag.  It is actually a pacifier clip that she hasn't used in a year and a half, but she thought it was a bow and insisted on wearing it).

Anyway, back to the subject at hand.  If you are looking to host a game day party, I thought I would share some fun menu ideas.  Chili is always a great choice at this time of year.  It is easy to make for a crowd, low maintenance, and there are so many ways to dress it up.  I built this menu around my new favorite chili, the pork and chorizo chili.  Other great chili recipes that are worth checking out are the crockpot white bean chili and Chicken Chili.  If you want to offer a second option, this Texas Tortilla Soup would make a great addition as well.  Put out a big pot of chili, some sour cream, shredded cheese, lime wedges, jalapenos, etc, and let everyone customize their own bowl.

I always like to have some snacks and appetizers out when guests arrive, and its nice to have something to snack on during commercial breaks. Might I suggest ham and cheddar pretzel bites, roasted tomatillo salsa, and grilled BBQ chicken wings?

On to the main course!  I am in love with this pork and chorizo chili.  So smoky and spicy, with lots of great flavor.  If you are looking for a vegetarian option, beer-glazed black beans would definitely be well-received!

Served with Jalapeno-Cheddar Cornbread and a side salad, this makes a great meal (though if I'm being honest, most guys won't eat the salad when also presented with chips, salsa, and wings).

And on to dessert, my favorite part of any meal!  Cupcakes and brownies are always great options for tailgate and game-day food.  I think that the s'mores cupcakes and Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes would keep anyone happy!

Have plenty of beer on tap, a big tv for game-watching, and you're set to go!  Enjoy your weekend!

BB: French Toast Bread Pudding

I'm actually playing catch-up a bit here; this was last week's recipe for Barefoot Bloggers.  Even though I made something similiar over the summer for Project Pastry Queen, I was still looking forward to trying this version.  As far as I'm concerned, you can never make too much French toast.  Challah baked in custard is never a bad thing.  Since Ina's recipe makes enough for 8, and there are only 2 people in my house who can eat eggs, I wanted to cut it down quite a bit.  I really liked the idea of serving it in individual ramekins, so I adapted her recipe to fit my needs.

I also have developed the bad habit of not reading recipes thoroughly enough before going to the grocery store.  Since I keep a fairly well-stocked pantry, I just assume that I have all the baking staples and don't read the ingredients very closely.  It has come back to bite me a few times, this recipe included.  I didn't notice the orange zest in the ingredients list, and I was also out of honey.  I just omitted the zest, and I used maple syrup in lieu of the honey.  I definitely think next time I'll be sure to have an orange on hand, as I think the dish would have really benefitted from the freshness. 

As far as other changes go, I cut the bread into cubes versus slices so they'd fit in the ramekins. I also used low-fat milk instead of half and half, and I added a bit of cinnamon to the custard as well.  I think adding a handful of raisins to the filling would be delicious too.

Joey and I both really enjoyed this breakfast.  Its not often that I make decadent breakfasts, so this truly was a treat last weekend. 

One Year Ago:  Red Chile Chicken with Black Beans and Rice

French Toast Bread Pudding
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa, How Easy is That?
serves 4

• 1/2 large challah loaf, cut into cubes
• 4 large eggs
• 2.5 cups milk
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 Tbs grated orange zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• confectioners' sugar and maple syrup, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray 4 ramekins with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs.  Whisk in the milk, maple syrup, orange zest, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Gently fold in the challah cubes, and combine well.  Divide the bread and custard among the ramekins.  Allow to soak for at least 10 minutes.

Place the ramekins on a baking sheet, and cover with foil.  Make slashes in the foil with a sharp knife to allow steam to escape.  Bake 30 minutes, then remove the foil.  Bake an additional 20-30 minutes, until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set.  Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve hot with maple syrup.

BB: Pomegranate Mojitos

I've been abundantly clear about my love for Ina Garten's new cookbook (probably annoyingly so).  Starting this month, the Barefoot Bloggers will blog our way through How Easy is That, one recipe per week.  This week the recipe was watermelon mojitos.  Since one of my schticks here is that I cook seasonal foods, I wasn't too jazzed about making something with watermelon.  However, I decided that the basis of the recipe was just basically a fruit puree added to the mojito base.  So I decided to mix things up and go with a pomegranate mojito.  I made these drinks when we had the Turkey Cranchiladas, and we had ourselves a fall fiesta!

Overall, I really liked these drinks, but I think next time I would simply muddle the mint versus adding chopped mint to the drinks.  I felt like the little bits of herb were kind of distracting, and I just didn't really like the texture it added.  I've made this change in my version below.  I did really enjoy the pomegranate + mint combination though, and I really can't wait to make these next summer with watermelon.  

One Year Ago:  Jalapeno-Cheddar Cornbread


Pomegranate Mojitos
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa, How Easy is That?
makes 6 drinks

• 30 fresh mint leaves, coarsly torn by hand
• 2 cups Pomegranate juice
• 12 ounces light rum
• 1/2 cup simple syrup 
• 6 Tbs freshly squeezed lime juice (3 limes)
• sprigs of fresh mint, for garnish

In a large pitcher, add the mint.  Press on the mint with the back of a wooden spoon until broken and bruised.  Add the pomegranate juice, rum, simple syrup, and lime juice, and stir to combine.

Place ice cubs in 6 glasses, and pour the mojito mixture into the glasses, distributing evenly.  Garnish with sprigs of fresh mint, and serve ice cold.

Bedtime Stories Baby Shower

My best friend in the whole wide world is pregnant!  Emilie and I have been friends since the first day of the sixth grade.  I could really embarrass us both by posting a picture of us from middle school, but I'll refrain.  Let's just say that we both went through an awkward phase and leave it at that.  She is one of the funniest people I know, one of the smartest people I know, absolutely gorgeous, and one of the truest friends I've ever had.  We have seen each other through the best and worst of times, and I have no doubt that we'll be friends for life.  Last year after graduating from pharmacy school, she and her husband Chip moved back to Atlanta, and have settled very close to us.  Over the past year and a half we have all gotten together for Top Chef (Emilie and I are more than a little obsessed), fun dinners out, cookouts, movie nights, etc.  It has been so much fun having my BFF live here again.  And now she is expecting a baby boy in December (I hope Caroline likes younger men).  I couldn't be more thrilled for her, and of course I wanted to throw her a shower.

Throughout the years of our friendship, one of the things we've always had in common was our love for reading.  We are constantly passing books back and forth to each other, discussing books we've read recently, and going to see movies that are made of our favorite books (ummm Twilight, anyone?).  She even reads book after book after book to Caroline when she's over visiting.  So when I saw a baby shower with a bedtime stories theme on The Hostess with the Mostess Blog, I knew immediately that I wanted to use that idea as inspiration for Emilie's shower.

For the decor, I "made up" my dining room table to look like a bed, and used classic books down the center.  I also interspersed a few stuffed animals for a playful touch.   Even though I already own most of these books, I purchased them to give to Emilie as part of her shower gift to help her build her baby's library.  I used Green Eggs & Ham, Where the Wild Things Are, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Goodnight Moon, The Giving Tree, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Peter Rabbit.  To set the mood, I created a Pandora station of lullabies as background music.

For the menu,I went back and forth between serving 'bedtime' foods, like milk and cookies, hot tea, biscotti, etc, or serving foods that were inspired by popular children's books.  I eventually decided to go with a book-themed menu because I felt like I'd have more room for creativity.  I wanted the food to be somewhat substantial, but since the shower was at 3 pm, I didn't feel like I needed to serve a meal (though unsurprisingly, I still ended up serving a lot of food).  I thought it would be cute to serve both food that is featured in some of the books, and use a play on words for other dishes.  I also made little place cards to give the name of each dish, so the guests would get the tie-ins.  Here is what I ended up with:

Veggies from Mr. McGregor's Garden

Crudite with lemon-herb dipping sauce

Where the Wild Mushrooms Are

Cheesy Mushroom Dip with Toasted Bread

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Tray

Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Cookies served with "shots" of milk

The Very Hungry Caterpillar's Fruit Salad

Fruit Salad featuring the caterpillar's favorite fruit

Green Eggs and Ham Sliders

Deviled Eggs and Ham Sliders (inspiration from Annie's Eats)

Goodnight Moon Pies

Homemade Mini Moon Pies

The Giving Tree's Apple Cider

Hot Apple Cider

I was so happy with how everything turned out, and Emilie loved the theme.  The only regret I have is that I didn't' take my time taking pictures of the set-up.  I was rushing to take the pictures because guests were arriving, and I didn't end up with pictures I was happy with.  But when all was said and done, I don't think Emilie cared about the quality of the pictures ;-)

Congratulations, Emilie!  I can't wait to meet Baby Sullivan! Isn't she the cutest pregnant lady you've ever seen?