So I’ve missed posting about the most important foodie holiday - Thanksgiving. It was a long week. I started prepping on Monday and spent hours cooking every day leading up to it. Was it worth it? The turkey was phenomenal, stuffing I prefer to eat my mom’s recipe, and I have to say this was the BEST gravy I have ever had. I did give myself due credit when I tasted the gravy from the roasting pan - absolute heavenly richness. I also ventured to make my own turkey stock. We ended up having fewer people than I bought a turkey for so I carved that 20 pound sucker up and used the carcass and gizzards to make a lovely stock which I still have extra in the freezer, along with another half of turkey when the mood strikes.

I did splurge on the holiday. I bought a local turkey and special ordered Applewood bacon for the Bacon Dijon butter and stuffing. Having these key quality ingredients made all the difference - worth the couple weeks of pumpkin and veggie meals for this night. We had friend contribute some amazing potatoes and the token green bean casserole. The 6 of us feasted and then tried our hands at Wii tennis and indulged in a pumpkin cheesecake - another hit.

Gordon Ramsay's Theatre - He's making duck breast!

Another excuse for the lack of posting was a trip to the UK for a friends wedding. We did however indulge at Gordon Ramsay’s Taste of Christmas - a brilliant production where Ramsay was not bleeped as on Fox, which made it that much more authentic. We also were able to get a reservation at Fifteen London, Jamie Oliver’s brain child. A very memorable meal where the staff was attentive but not overbearing, and didn’t rush us, even though we were seated next to the busy kitchen.

My wonderful hustband at Fifteen London

Now I”m busy arranging catering type events and gearing up for another week with the family down south. There may not be a whole lot of interesting menus or recipes the next couple weeks but I promise to share my mother’s roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for Christmas as well as any new discoveries. I’m looking forward to the routine of the new year. I was very encouraged by some friends who said they missed my posting and they followed the site. Routine is looking better and better every day.

I’m also going to post some articles I have been keeping up with writing for Blackpower.com. These are a bit more wordy than just recipes but I’m quite proud and still learning the blogging ropes.

This was another dish I wanted to make before Thanksgiving. It’s light and fresh, but still looks festive with the green cucumber and red tomatoes. Cornbread is also on everyone’s mind right now as well. I’ll admit I used a cornbread mix (gasp) but I had make something for dinner in between making turkey stock, gravy base, and pumpkin cheesecake for Thursday. The cucumber was $.50, I used half the tomatoes of a package that was $1.89, and we’ve been using the Fontina since last week and this was the last of it. This would also be great on Friday after you’re stuffed and tired of the heavy food (if you are that is). There’s no cooking, and you might just have all the ingredients on hand. Here’s Giada’s recipe.

This isn’t exactly dinner, but we quite enjoyed it last night. I wanted to buy as little new groceries this week and make my leftovers from last week stretch, like cheese, and basics I have in the pantry. I bought some asparagus for $4.00 and used half of it for this dish. Last week I took another class at The Astor Center and learned how to make my own mayo so I wanted to practice that as well. And who doesn’t love a toasted baguette with a poached egg and cheese? I also roasted some garlic for another layer of flavor and made an aioli, which just means mayo with roasted garlic - fancy I know… Here’s how I made it:

Serves 2

1/2 lb apsaragus

1 head of garlic, top cut off

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 cup veg or canola oil

1/2 cup melty cheese ( I used fontina, you could cheddar, gruyére, whatever you have on hand)

2 slices leftover baguette

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Drizzle garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap in tin foil and place in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until cloves are soft.

2. In a large bowl that won’t slip (I put my stainless mixing bowl on top of a pot so it won’t move while whisking) put in your egg yolks, dijon, lemon juice, and 2 cloves of the roasted garlic. Whisk until emulsified (everything is mixed together). In a dripping stream, while constantly whisking, dribble in your oil. This is the tricky part, this is where you know whether your mayo will come together or not. Keep whisking and adding oil until you get your desired consistency. I used about 1/2 cup of the oil because I wanted mine a bit looser and less like a spread. Add salt to taste. You’ve just made mayo without all the junk from store bought!

3. Bring a pot of water to boil and drop in asparagus for 2-3 minutes. Remove and immediately place in an ice bath (this is called blanching). Remove from cold water and dry on a paper towel. Bring a second pot of water to boil and add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar for poaching your eggs. Drop your eggs one or two at time into the vinegar water. I break mine into a ladle and put the ladle in the water, it helps keep the egg white from floating everywhere. Remove eggs after about 3 minutes or when the white is cooked.

4. Spread one roasted garlic clove over each piece of bread. Top with cheese and broil in the oven for about 3 minutes or until the cheese is melty. Top bread with poached egg, asparagus, and drizzle with aioli.

So obviously this is Thanksgiving week and prep will begin today! Last week, I will admit, we didn’t eat at home much which indicates the holidays are in full swing. I’m out all day and pick up a falafel sandwich on my way to somewhere else and Johnathan usually just eats pretzels for as long as possible if I’m not there to feed him. This week probably won’t be much different. Turkey prep and holiday shopping take a lot of time and hutzpah. We’re also gearing up for a week in the UK for a wedding, so there’s shoe repair and clutch searching to be done as well. That aside, I still have to think of some quick dishes for us this week. I still have cheese from last week as well as tomatoes and a good stock of canned goods. I see pizza in our near future, and the panzanella I didn’t make last week. Here’s what I’m thinking:

Monday - BLTs with Fontina

Tuesday - Panzanella with cornbread

Wednesday - homemade pizza with gruyere and pepperoni

Thursday - Thanksgiving - I”m making the bacon dijon turkey from Bon Appetit

Friday - Leftovers, and into next week. I saw Sunny Anderson make these fried stuffing balls - yes please!

I don’t generally care for cauliflower. The aversion isn’t as intense as Brussel sprouts which cannot be redeemed no matter how much bacon they’re baked with. I thought dressing cauliflower up in risotto added another veg element while still eating gooey risotto. By now, I’ve made several different risottos, all based on Jamie Oliver’s Risotto Bianco which is a basic white risotto which can then be changed all sorts of ways. This is a great vegetarian option, just sub the chicken stock for veg stock and you’re golden. The other thing I also like best about risotto is the commitment to it - you’re basically massaging you’re meal until it’s done, it’s very intimate and soothing. Anyway, here’s Jamie’s recipe. Sneak in some veggies this week!

Price Breakdown:

Cauliflower - $1.49

Celery 2 stalks - $1.99

I already had Arborio rice, Vermouth (I only use it for risotto, so it lasts a while), butter, onions, and the last of Parm from last week. I also used up the rest of a carton of chicken stock I had in the fridge. For the bread crumbs, I used anchovy paste I already had and chili pepper. Also you can use the baguette from the onion soup for these bread crumbs!

This is great for a fast lunch if you make the broth ahead of time. This recipe makes 8 servings, so I made all the broth and put the rest in the fridge. Make sure you heat up the broth before you pop it in the oven to let the cheesy goodness melt. I used a super easy classic recipe from The Joy of Cooking. I’ll write it below. This is the perfect cozy fall meal, and this tastes just as good as the $13 soup from Pastis!

Makes about 8 cups

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 medium onions, thinly sliced

Pinch of dried thyme

2 tablespoons dry sherry or cognac

3 1/2 cups (almost one carton) unsalted or low-salt beef broth, or veg broth for a veggie dish - but the beef is classic, and tastes better.

1-3 slices per person of toasted bread - I used a baguette

Gruyére for the top - however much you want!

1. Heat in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the olive oil and butter and cook until the butter is melted. Add the onions and thyme and stir to coat. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally and making sure the onions don’t scorch. As soon as they start to brown, about 15 minutes, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, covered, stirring, until they are a rich brown, about 30-40 minutes.

2. Stir in Cognac or sherry (I have a bottle of sherry on hand for cooking). Increase the heat to high and cook, stirring constantly, until the sherry has evaporated. Stir in beef stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Place your ovenproof soup bowls or crocks ona baking sheet. Ladle the hot soup into the bowls and top each with your toasted bread. Sprinkle each bowl with Gruyére or Swiss. Broil in the oven until the cheese is melted and brown. Call Pasits and cancel your reservation because you just made the best French Soup at home.

Price Breakdown:

Bag of Onions - $.99

Organic Beef Broth - $2.29

Fresh Baguette - $1.49

Gruyére ( I used about 1/4 of it so far) - $4.99

This week I’m going to have to do my grocery shopping in batches, so I’m going to break down the prices by meal, referring to various receipts. You’ll see the totals below each meal. This is one of my favorite easy sauces - carbonara. Not so healthy, but oh so delicious. Bacon is the only meat I’m buying this week. My sister-in-law had carbonara at a restaurant last night, so I thought I’d try to be remotely healthy by adding some broccoli. I used frozen chopped broccoli - it was on sale for $.99 and didn’t have anything added to it, so I did it. I’m not familiar with using frozen veggies but this worked great. We also made our own pasta since we had all the ingredients and didn’t want to buy any. This is quick classic that feeds a lot - warning - it doesn’t reheat that well, so try to eat it in one day or one sitting. Here’s how it goes:

Serves 4

Pasta Recipe

8 Slices of Bacon, coursely chopped

1 package of frozen chopped broccoli - or fresh, or any other veggie that suits you, maybe zucchini?

4 egg yolks - you can save the egg whites for an omlette!

1/2 cup of heavy cream

Couple handfuls of Parm

Fresh Thyme - I didn’t have any, so I just used my dried stuff.

Fresh ground pepper, salt

1. Bring a salted pot of water to a boil (or put it on the stove and just wait, ours takes forever). In a small bowl combine egg yolks, cream, and one handful of Parm. Don’t mix too much, just enough to combine everything. Set mixture aside.

2. In the largest fry pan you have - 14 inches is great - heat over medium heat and add a couple turns of olive oil. Add chopped bacon and fry until crispy and brown. Defrost broccoli, and add to the bacon and oil. Let is soak up the bacon oil and fry just a little bit. Season generously with pepper - you want it to have a bit of a kick. Add thyme to taste - about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon.

3. Cook pasta and reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and transfer to the fry pan. NOW, TURN THE HEAT OFF. Add about half of your cooking water and the egg and cream mixture. You can even let the pan cool for a few minutes, you just want to make sure you don’t scramble your eggs - they will cook through, but you want them silky not scrambled. Mix everything together and add more water so the sauce is silky and loose. Add the other handful of Parm and serve immediately with fresh ground pepper. You probably won’t need more salt because of the bacon, Parm, and salted pasta water. Bon Appétit!

Grocery Totals:

Eggs, Semolina Flour, Thyme, Salt, Pepper, Oil, Parm - Already had, some carried over from last week.

Frozen Chopped Broccoli - $.99

Heavy Cream - $2.29 (used only 1/2 cup)

Bacon - $4.99 (used half of package)

I want to start posting about cheap restaurants and eats we find around NYC, and where ever we happen to travel. I’ll admit Johnathan and I are not great about eating out cheap - we don’t do it often so when we do, we tend to spend a little bit more. Inevitably we can’t spend $100 on dinner every time we eat out, so I wanted to start passing on what we find. My friend Jess B introduced me to this Korea Town place the other night. Korea Town is about a block long, 32nd St between 5 & 6th Ave. It’s like walking into any ethnic anywhere - lined with restaurants, all serving pretty much the same thing, so how do you know what’s good? A recommendation. Jess took me to Pho Cha at 15 W 32nd. It’s on the second floor, which makes it even better and doesn’t attract the tourists from the LaQuinta Inn a couple doors down. Jess had a large steaming bowl of ramen, and I had the same but with Udon. So good, so filling, so cheap - $5-$7!! We each had a $5 OB Korean beer (which tastes exactly like Corona - probably the same stuff). It’s a great experience, and there’s a variety on the menu - barbeque, mussels (I’d be careful there, but they were on a lot of tables), and sizzling plates of meat and veggies. But if you need a cheap Manhattan meal with a unique ethnic experience - here’s your spot!

This week’s food budget for us is smaller than usual - a good challenge I think. I also wanted to detox before the Thanksgiving hoopla. This week’s menu is going to be super simple, vegetarian (well, maybe there might be some bacon or pancetta) and I”m making as cheap as possible - while still being healthy (trust me, I know Ramen is cheap). I’ll make my own pasta - I have lots semolina flour around, do some hearty salads, maybe even make a pie crust for a quiche. So rather than selecting recipes before I venture out to the shops, I’ll spend as little as possible and make it up this week. When life gives you less money, make better food.

What food festival would you love to attend?

Sign me up for the Food&Wine Classic in Aspen! The next Top Chef will be there!