Grateful for more than a Good Harvest.

Essentially, what is the holiday of Thanksgiving all about?  This made me recently wonder due to Thanksgiving being notated on my wall calendar, but for different countries.  I knew about the holiday happening in the USA and Canada, but more countries than those two?  Our basic definition is an autumn holiday designated as a day to give thanks for the blessings of the harvest, and all the “good” that occurred during the year.  In other countries, it is still an autumn holiday, but has a much deeper meaning than a bountiful harvest.

In Grenada, Thanksgiving Day, celebrated on October 25, marks the anniversary of the 1983 day when US-led military forces arrived to stop a coup after the country’s president had been executed.

In Japan, it is called "Labor Thanksgiving Day", celebrated on November 23, and designated as a day to commemorate labor and production while also giving thanks to one another. The celebration includes an ancient Shinto ceremony.

Other countries that have a version of a “giving of thanks day” are: Philippines, Saint Lucia, Rwanda, Netherlands, Liberia, Brazil, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, to name a few.  Being thankful for a bountiful harvest takes place around the world, each country giving the day its own name, and date of celebration.  Imagine if you were able to travel to each country, on that specific date, and taste the various food dishes served?  It would give a whole new meaning to “jet lag”, considering the excess weight you would put on after each meal.

Now, I could give you recipe after recipe related to Thanksgiving, not just in the USA, but other countries, but I already seemed to have done that.  Looking back at the lists of foods served, I was gobsmacked by the number I had already written about in the San Juan Record.  Here I was, thinking just to introduce all you folks to foods of other countries, not knowing they were holiday related in some way. Then it occurred to me, another meaning related to the holiday, and that is being grateful for the family and friends in your own life.

Once in a great while, I am talking once in a blue moon while, my hubby, Roy, will actually, not just help out in the kitchen, but cook a meal.  Oh yes, I still have to supervise, but at least he makes the effort and actually wants to try something new.

Thanksgiving is busy for me as I make two complete meals, one for us, and one for his family in Moab.  Why not eat together?  The work schedules for both Roy, and his brother, do not mesh well, so this is just easier, for everyone, all around.  However, after all the stress and demands of getting Thanksgiving dinner prepped, cooked and cleaned up after one year, I finally had a meltdown.  By Saturday afternoon the headache and muscle cramping hit big time and decided to stick around until Sunday night. My hunny made me tea and fluffed my pillows, he cooked up scrambled eggs and biscuits as it made me feel calm all over.  Oh, I can hear you all going, “Aww”., and yes, it was very sweet of him.

I had promised him Pepper Steak with Onions for dinner for Sunday, but I just could not find the energy. Who came to the rescue?  Roy, and he once again did a great job with the prep work and the cooking of the dish itself. He did moan and groan though and several times gripe, "but it looks so much easier when you do it". Me? I snickered in smug satisfaction.  But, kudos to my hubby and his amazing kitchen skills...when he is desperately hungry that is.

 

Oh, before I give the recipe, and end story time, I would like to wish Donna Blauer, residing in California, a huge “Happy Thanksgiving!”.  Donna was a born and raised resident of Monticello for many years before moving to California.  I have fans of my food column, but folks at the San Juan Record call her my “biggest fan”.  She is planning on making the Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Cake Mix Muffins, I wrote about in the November 6, 2024 issue, for Thanksgiving.  I know Donna reads this column, so Donna, I am happy to have gotten to know you, and hope those muffins are a huge hit.

Pepper Steak with Onions

Ingredients:

2 lbs. London broil, cut into - inch thick strips

2 medium green bell peppers, seeded and cut into ¼-inch thick strips

2 medium onions, cut into ¼-inch thick strips

2 Tbsp. canola oil

½ cup soy sauce

½ tsp. white pepper

1 tsp. ground ginger

Preparation:

In a large skillet or Wok, on medium-high heat, brown the meat; remove to bowl and set aside. In same skillet or Wok, sauté the peppers and onions with the oil until softened. Add back the meat; add the soy sauce, white pepper and ginger; mix thoroughly. Let cook an additional 10 minutes before serving over white, fried or brown rice.

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour

 

 

A Recipe Inspired by a Ghostly Chef.

Currently I am reading Ghostly Awakening, by E M Leya (a Salt Lake City, Utah resident), which is about assistant medical examiner, Lance who is involved in a near fatal car accident and receives a severe head injury.  Finally able to return to work, he suddenly starts seeing ghosts, and worries he is losing his mind.  However, many of the ghosts are those he does autopsies on, and they are able to provide information to help catch their murderers.  This is a huge help to homicide detective, Angus Young (his parents love AC/DC) whose mother has had the same ability, as Lance, since childhood.  Lance does see other ghosts, ones that have not made the decision to move on, as yet, and one of these is local tv chef, Celeste Dupont.  Lance and his brother loved her show, and one of their favorite recipes to try out was “Lemonade Chicken”. 

The description was enticing and knew I wanted to try it out myself.  Unfortunately, the recipe is not in the book, so off to Google I searched and found way too many recipes.  Many were simplified, only a few ingredients; some were complicated with long lists of ingredients.  So, I attempted to find the origin of the lemonade chicken recipe itself.

Supposedly, it was created in America’s southern states, but this is speculation and has not been confirmed.  I even asked our lovely Southern Belle, Melissa Gill, of the Monticello City Office, and she has never heard of such a “southern dish”.

Lemonade Chicken is simply an Americanized version of Lemon Chicken which has its roots in Chinese Cantonese, or Mediterranean cuisines, such as Italian and Greek.  Lemon juice is the main focal point of the marinade while garlic, soy sauce and a variety of herbs are flavorful additions, depending on the cuisine.

Personally, I have made Greek Chicken which has a simple marinade of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme and marjoram.  A most yummy dish when served over slices of tomato, and garnished with black olives and Feta cheese.  As to the Chinese style lemon chicken, while I have not made it myself, I order it often at Chinese restaurants.

The recommended side dish is a baked potato topped with butter.  Any melted butter, oozing off the potato and touching the chicken, mixes well with the taste of the marinade, and the combination of butter and lemon juice is recognizable in Mediterranean cuisines.

 

Anyway, I decided to go with the simplest of recipes that appeared the most in my Google search; a three-ingredient marinade with cooking options for either boneless or bone-in chicken.

 

 

Lemonade Chicken 

Ingredients:

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or bone-in chicken thighs, skin and excess fat removed

6 oz. frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

½ cup soy sauce (regular or low sodium)

1 tsp. garlic powder

Preparation:

 

In a small bowl, whisk together lemonade concentrate, soy sauce and garlic powder. Place chicken in a gallon sized, sealable, plastic bag; pour marinade over top. Work the marinade around the chicken pieces, and then gently press out air while sealing the bag.  Place bag in refrigerator, laid out flat, and let sit for 24 hours.

 

The chicken can be cooked by several methods: grilling, baking, pan frying or crock pot.

Grilling

Remove chicken from bag and discard marinade.  Heat outdoor grill to medium-high heat, and remember to coat grill with olive oil, or non-stick cooking spray first. Grill chicken on each side, 5 minutes per side for small, thin chicken breasts or up to 10-12 minutes per side for larger, thick chicken breasts. The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165F.  The grill lines and golden-brown coloring of the chicken will be a lovely presentation.

Baking

Preheat the oven to 425F. Place chicken and marinade in a large baking dish; cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes if boneless; for bone-in, cook 30 minutes. Remove foil, spoon sauce over the chicken, and bake for 10-15 more minutes, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F. If you want your chicken to have some darker coloration place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes.  Spoon sauce over the chicken before serving.

 

Ready for Oven

Done Baking

2 Minutes Under Broiler

 

Pan Frying

Preheat large skillet, on medium-high heat.  Place chicken and marinade into skillet, if boneless cook chicken 4-5 minutes per side if thin; if thick 9-10 minutes; if bone-in 20-25 minutes per side.  Internal temperature should be 165F.  Spoon sauce over chicken before serving.

 

Crock Pot

In a 4-quart crock pot, on low heat, add in chicken and marinade, cover and cook 4-6 hours depending on whether boneless or bone-in, and internal temperature of 165F is reached.

Notes:

Make sure to own a heavy-duty pair of kitchen scissors aka poultry shears.  I have two all metal that I purchased in the 1980s, and they are still working well.  I have tried several styles of the “more modern” plastic handled shears, and they lasted about three months before the handles snapped.

The shears come in handy when working with skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces.  For this recipe, remove the skin and as much fat as possible, and shears make this task easier to accomplish.  Why remove?  The skin and fat do not add any extra flavor, and will make the sauce a slimy, oily mess.

When working with an acidic marinade, many recipes have varying times that the chicken should be left in the refrigerator.  Personally, I have found that the marinade helps to break down the fibers, especially if using chicken or pork, and allow the flavors to infuse the poultry or meat all the way through, not just the top layer.  This is especially important if using a bone-in product.  The breaking up of fibers also allows for a quicker cooking time.

With this Lemonade Chicken recipe, I used 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast which I pan fried.  I also used 2 pounds of bone-in chicken thighs which were oven baked.  First, I wanted to see the results of both methods.  Secondly, since the recommended side is baked potatoes, the potatoes would bake in the same oven as the chicken thighs, and be ready at the same time for dining.  The results were definitely on the high side of the delicious scale.  Both cuts of chicken were moist, tender and flavorful, and the baked potatoes were a perfect accompaniment.

Mary Cokenour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Heavens That is Good Gravy.

Gravy making, why does it seem to be so complicated? Growing up, the only gravy I remember having at a meal was at Thanksgiving time, and it was not homemade, but came out of a can. During my first marriage I would watch my, then, mother-in-law make a slurry of flour, garlic powder and water, pour it into the meat drippings to create a lumpy, oily mess. Not very good examples for making my own gravy, and thus avoided the issue whenever I could. Thank you, thank you, thank you for whomever invented the crock pot; not just for the easy cooking it afforded the home cook, but for the luscious stock that could be made into a stupendous gravy.

"Impossible!", you say; "Cannot make gravy without drippings from roasted meat or poultry!", you say...yep, you can.  First off, I will tell you how by using the crock pot; secondly from drippings out of a roasting pan, without adding butter, cream or extra flour.  Being fair here by giving the choice of crock pot or roasting pan, and not absently dismissing the traditional roasting method.  Now sit back, relax and have a good read...

Scenario: Making pot roast in a crock pot; put your meat in first, but before you put it in, coat it liberally with flour (this is all you will need for that gravy later on); put in your veggies, seasonings and then pour two cups of beef stock over it all; cover, set it and forget it till done.  If making poultry, use chicken stock instead, but use the same coating with flour and veggies over the top process.

 

Gravy brings a pot roast dinner all together.

The meat is done, put it on a platter to rest with 3/4 of the vegetables.  Looking into the crock pot, you will see an oily sheen on top; that is the oil that came out of your meat or poultry during the cooking process.  Do not worry, we are going to get rid of that easily, and not lose any flavor.

 

Pureed vegetables will thicken the gravy.

The liquid inside the pot is also thin; the flour you coated the meat in was not enough to thicken, but just enough to help with the process.  The 1/4 portion of vegetables that you left inside is going to be your true thickener.  What is neat about this is that anyone that refuses to eat their veggies, but loves gravy, is going to eat veggies and not even know.  Well, they will if you tell them, but we are keeping this a secret, right? Of course, you can leave bits of veggies if you like, so long as no one you are serving is a problem eater.

 

Bits of veggies hidden in the gravy.

 

Now, you all know how I love my immersion blender, but if you still have not purchased your own (why not!?!), then a regular blender will do.  Begin pulverizing the vegetables inside the pot, being careful not to raise the blender too high and splash the liquid around the kitchen.  Not only will the soon to be gravy be thickening up, but you will see it turn to a rich color; you will be tempted to serve it as is, but patience grasshopper, patience.

 

 

To get the oil out of your gravy, pour the amount of pureed liquid you need into a plastic container and place into the freezer for one hour.  Take the container out of the freezer and you will see that the fats have solidified on top; carefully spoon them out and do not forget to scrape it off the sides of the container too. You will probably have a lot more gravy left over which can be defatted, frozen and reheated when needed; because you did not use any dairy in its making, the chance of separating is none. 

Place in freezer safe plastic container.

 

Scrape off the fat solids.

 

 

 

To serve, just warm up the gravy; no further seasonings need to be added, especially salt which would have come from the stock you initially used when cooking your meat.  If you really need to have a smooth gravy, go ahead and strain out all the little bits that the blender could not pulverize.  We like it rustic; it proves that it is homemade, not out of some can or jar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The color of the gravy depends on what vegetables were used during the cooking process. More carrots and tomatoes give a redder coloring.

Ok, now for the roasted part of this post; you are going to need a deep roasting pan for this process.  Either use a rack to lay your meat or poultry on, or a very thick layer of cut up vegetables will work too.  In the pan, lay out all your cut up vegetables and sprinkle a little flour over all of them; pour your stock over all; then place the rack with meat, or the meat itself on top and roast until done.  Oh, do not forget to season your meat or poultry; as the fat melts, it will take some of the seasoning with it and add it to the veggies down below.  Now just follow the same gravy making process as I explained for the crock pot; you just might want to transfer your liquid and 1/4 portion to a deep bowl first though. 

How come I did not use any water in the crock pot or roasting pan?  The vegetables gave me all I needed; during the cooking process, they sweated out their excess moisture, so adding water at the beginning would have thinned out the gravy way too much at the end.

Making gravy is not so hard after all; just remember to not additional seasonings until after the process is done and you have tasted the end product.  You will be very surprised.  Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour

 

 

Cake Mix Muffins are Killer Good.

"Do you know the Muffin man

The Muffin man, the Muffin man

Oh, do you know the Muffin man

Who lives on Drury Lane?"

This song, or nursery rhyme, was first published in 1820, but its origin story goes back farther than that.  It is based upon an urban legend about a baker in London’s West End, a poor slum region that saw little of the law.  Born 1563, and died in 1612, Frederick Thomas Lynwood, aka “The Drury Lane Dicer,” would tie strings around muffins, toss them outside his shop, and lure children inside.  During the years 1589 and 1598, he “diced” up 15 children, and stabbed to death 7 rival bakers with a sharpened wooden spoon. This is where the urban legend comes in, there is no documentation, no birth/death records, no court records, no written materials at all that can corroborate any of this. 

The song, again, did not even come into existence until 1820, and the last line about Drury Lane was originally Blueberry Lane.  There are several stories about why the line was changed, so this makes it an urban legend unto itself.  Of course, this makes another nursery rhyme, with rather dubious connotations, sung to, and by, children.

When we think of muffins, it us usually the denser than a cupcake type of cake, and with a paper wrapper around its bottom half.  However, muffins can be traced back to 10^th century Wales, when they were made from a yeast-leavened baked cake called "bara mean". The word muffin originates from the French word moufflet, which means "soft bread".  This soft bread was cheap to make, and buy, and was later on given a more genteel name, crumpet. 

In America, we equate this muffin type to the most popular brand known, Thomas’ English Muffins.  During the colonization of North America’s east coast, English immigrants brought many of their traditional recipes with them.  It was in 1874 that Samuel Bath Thomas created his “toaster crumpet” while working in a New York City bakery.  The name was changed as its popularity grew, and became a household breakfast item.

So, how did the crumpet become a type of cake?  It was later on in the 19^th century that bakeries, and baking companies, experimented with the muffin recipe to create a sweeter baked good.  In the 1920s, the first muffin mix was created by Mr. McCollum of New Brunswick, NJ.  By the 1950s, muffin mixes were made available, to local market and supermarket shelves, for at home use. 

A basic muffin mix is a blank canvas; the pantry is a paint palette; your imagination creates the final portrait of flavors and textures.  Adding in extracts, nuts, chips (chocolate, toffee, cinnamon) dried or fresh fruits, even coconut flakes, provides an endless possibility of variety.

Basic Muffin Recipe

Ingredients:

¾ cup warmed milk (not hot or scalding)

 ½ cup unsalted butter, melted 

 2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar or equivalent sugar substitute

2 tsp. baking powder

 ½ tsp. salt

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin pan for 12, or 2 pans for 6, with paper liners; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, butter, and eggs together until well combined.  Note: if adding a liquid extract, this is where it should be added.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Add the flour mixture and stir with a spatula until combined.  Note: if adding in nuts, chips, etc., this is where it should be carefully added, as to not over mix.

Use a 2 and ¼-inch wide ice cream scoop to fill each paper liner 2/3s full of the batter.  

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out cleanly.  Note:  a few moist crumbs attached is alright as well.  Transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Makes 12.

Ah, but I have discovered a semi-homemade way to make muffins, using store bought cake mix and a little imagination, Cake Mix Muffins.

Here is the basic recipe…

Basic Cake Mix into Muffins

Ingredients:

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

2 large eggs

1 (15.25 oz.) box cake mix (only have 13.25 box, then add ¼ cup flour)

1 cup add-ins (chocolate chips, nuts, raisins, berries)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin tin(s) with paper liners.

Add the milk, oil and eggs to a large mixing bowl. Stir until well combined.

Add the cake mix and mix until just combined; do not overmix (the mixture may still look a little lumpy). Fold in add-ins.

Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 of the way full. Sprinkle extra add-ins over top, if desired.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden and toothpick comes out of center cleanly.  

Cool the muffins in the tin for 5 minutes, before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes 12.

Notes:

Muffins are denser than cupcakes, so liquid needs to be reduced.  For high altitude, adding extra flour will not be necessary.

Basically, any flavor of cake mix can be used, but white and vanilla mixes are more versatile. The main difference between white cake and vanilla cake is the presence of vanilla extract. White cake is a plain cake with no additional flavors or extracts, while vanilla cake is infused with the flavor of vanilla.  White cake typically uses all egg whites, no yolks. This means less fat and more sponginess.  Vanilla cake uses the entire egg which gives a richer texture.

Armed with this basic information, I created the most scrumptious Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip muffins.  The cinnamon chips are simply dreamy; pumpkin and cinnamon…’tis the season! 

Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

2/3 cup pure pumpkin

1/3 cup oil

2 large eggs

1 (15.25 oz) box vanilla cake mix

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice mix (store bought or homemade)

½ tsp. cardamon

1 cup cinnamon chips

 

Preparation:

Follow directions from Basic Cake Mix into Muffins recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There you have it, muffin recipes that even an urban legend, serial killer, baker would be proud of.

Mary Cokenour