A Hunt Breakfast Revelation

What to do on the Saturday after Thanksgiving? Why, eat more, of course. Let me introduce you to a marvelous Virginia tradition, the Hunt Breakfast. Mine was dished up by a friend of the family, a classy Virginia lady (who, incidentally, appears as the hand model in the whipped cream picture below) who shall henceforth be referred to as The Hostess. The whole meal was fantastic--the photogenic ham, the creamed chipped beef, the hash browns, the bacon, the mimosas, the bloody marys--but the biscuits took the cake. (Hey, I'm not above mixing a metaphor or two when it serves my purposes.) I begged for the recipe that produced these salty, cheesy, garlicky biscuits, and The Hostess gracefully responded: "Oh, I'll tell you my secret family recipe if you really insist." I insisted. "Bisquick," she replied, and then lit a cigarette and breezed off to make sure everyone's glasses were full.

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Secret Family Recipe Garlic Cheese Biscuits

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix, until soft dough forms:
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (2 ounces)

Drop 9 spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Stir together:
2 tablespoons butter
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Brush over warm biscuits. Eat immediately. Burn your mouth severely. Fail to care because biscuits are so delicious.

Best Use of Thanksgiving Leftovers

You can keep your turkey tetrazini, your turkey sandwiches, and your turkey soup. This is the best use of Thanksgiving leftovers--period. A small piece of pumpkin pie crust with a dollop of whipped cream (squirted from a can, of course) balanced on it, eaten out of hand. Repeat as desired. Lovely leftovers, indeed.

Burp!

The Best Cranberry Man EVER

Meet the Cranberry Man.

When my sister and I were small, the cranberry man was a diversionary tactic. As my mom thickened gravy and steamed green beans, my dad distracted the kids by creating a sculpture of the jellied cranberry sauce. This year, my sister and I were the artistes. The key was the fresh sage leftover from the dressing (see above) which formed the cranberry man's hair. The cranberry man has become an major tradition of its own, and now--rather than keeping the kids out from under mom's feet--we take over the kitchen at the crucial moment when mom just wants to be thickening of the gravy and the steaming of the green beans in peace.

Turkey Day pictoral

I have no particular insights on the Thanksgiving Day classics, so I offer this pictorial for your voyeristic pleasure:

Purse Tabasco and Other Delights: BBM#3

Have you ever been at a restaurant and thought: "My food is insufficiently spicy, but I don't want to be a jackass and send it back? If only I had a tiny purse-size Tabasco to liven things up." Well, now I do! I received 6 tiny Tabascos and so much more in my Blogging by Mail box from Janis at Yarn!.

A close second favorite in Janis's box was the jar of homemade garlicky cranberry chutney which came in very handy Friday around lunchtime. Also included: Lemon stuffed olives for martinis (I always drink my martinis dirty with extra olives, so these will be a brilliant "twist" on the usual.) Since Janis hails from the San Fran area, I was the happy recipients of some Ghiradelli chocolate. A few very squashed fortune cookies (Note: Cookies didn't make it. Good thought though.) and some of those little green plastic things they put on sushi trays were also included. And--presumably to use when I serve my martinis--the coolest cocktail napkins ever (see pic at right). The lady pictured on the napkins looks eerily like my profile image, so I can tell Janis did her homework.

Thanks again, Janis. (And thanks to Cathy for hosting this BBM.)

Virtuous Chorizo and Chickpea Soup

There's something about cooking with ham hock that makes me feel virtuous. It seems resourceful, as if I am using all the parts of the animal that I killed--like the Indians. I buy them in packs of three and freeze two. When it finally got cold, it seemed appropriate to make some soup, and what better way to make a savory, delicious soup than with a ham hock?

I wanted something spicy, but I have an aversion to tomato-based soups. Perhaps because I always use canned tomatoes, they all come out tasting like Campbell's minestrone no matter what I do. Eventually, I was inspired by Nigella's cannellini bean and chorizo casserole. Here's my soupier take on it:

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Chorizo and Chickpea Soup

In a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, heat:
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Add, and saute until soft over medium heat:
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed with the side of a large knife

Turn the heat up to high and fry until they give off oil:
1 ham hock
12 ounces chorizo sausage (semi-dry is best), sliced and quartered

Then add:
4 cups chicken stock plus water to desired volume
2 cans chickpeas, you can use large or small cans, depending on the desired ratio of chickpeas to chorizo
Sweet paprika, salt, and pepper, to taste

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for at least half an hour. The longer it simmers, the more tender and flavorful the chickpeas become. When you are ready to serve, fish out the ham hock and the bay leaves and toss them. I'm sure Squanto would cut the meat off the ham hock and put it back in, but all that gristle and leathery pig skin grosses me out, so I just chuck it.

Consuming Onions with Relish

...as relish, actually.

Let's suppose that, hypothetically, I was trying to make a classic family seasonal/holiday-type recipe that could be sent somewhere in the mail. After consultation with my mom, I decided to brew up a batch of onion relish. It's vaguely credited to the Romania-on-the-Ohio culinary tradition present in many of my mom's inherited recipes. More important than its provenance, though, is that it is easy and low impact. The result of a few hours of inattentive simmering is warming and festively red. It's also versatile. Pour it over chicken breasts for a quick dinner, or eat it right out of the fridge on pita bread for a dinner's-not-ready- because-you-were-cooking-for-someone-you've-never-met?! snack.

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Onion Relish

(Before we begin, I should note that the quantities below are mere suggestions. There's not much science going on here.)

Roughly chop:
5 large onions (I used sweet, but any kind will do)

Saute them until soft-ish in a heavy-bottomed pan with:
1 Tablespoon oil

Add:
1 small can of diced tomatoes
or
1-2 tomatoes, diced
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon salt (less if you are wary of sodium)
1 Tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
2 Tablespoons rice (not optional)
Water to cover

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for three hours, stirring occasionally. Keeps in the refrigerator for a couple of months, easy.

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In case you're wondering why I consider this a "holiday food": Onion relish is part of my mom's repertoire for when people are traveling to our house for festive occasions. Arrival times are often...flexible. And, similar to a big pot-o-chili or spaghetti sauce, you can put this on the stove and it will patiently wait for as long as missed flights, traffic, or snow delays require.

Sweet Corn Puddin'

The Washington Post's Wednesday food section was devoted to (duh) Thanksgiving. While I don't give a rat's ass about the proper way to brine a turkey, nor do I buy the notion that "Ginger Makes Pumpkin Pie Trendy," the recipe for corn pudding did hold a certain appeal.

For the cheese, I used a mix of half applewood smoked gouda, half robusto. I have no idea what "robusto" is, and I'm pretty sure the pilgrims didn't have fancy Whole Foods cheese at the first Thanksgiving. Still, the puddin' was good and seemed authentic-ish.

The Human Vacuum, thinking himself a comedian, asked if I was planning to eat the leftovers for breakfast with maple syrup. While some might argue that my maple syrup usage is excessive, and his question was posed purely in the spirit of mockery, I think it'll probably be good. A sort of creamier corn fritter. I'll let you know how the combo works.

(BREAKFAST UPDATE: Really very nice with the maple syrup. Though I think it would have been a little more like a "hearty pioneer breakfast" if I'd used molasses or corn syrup instead.)

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WaPo Corn Pudding

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a baking dish. Don't make the mistake I did and use a deep casserole. Instead, go for something with a wide mouth, to maximize the crispy top--It's clearly the best part.

In a skillet, melt:
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter

Add:
1 yellow onion, finely diced
Cook until soft and lightly colored, about 10 minutes

Thaw in hot water for 5 minutes:
1 package frozen sweet corn (16 ounces or 3 cups)
The WaPo says to boil the corn, but I didn't feel like involving an additional pan. Either way should work. Drain and reserve.

Combine in a seperate bowl:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cream or milk
1 cup grated cheese (see above)
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano (WaPo says marjoram)
Ground pepper to taste

Actually, to save having to wash another bowl, I dumped the onions and the corn in the baking dish, added the cheese and the herbs, and then poured the egg/milk mixture over the top.

Sprinkle with:
Sweet paprika

Bake until "puffed and golden." Mine didn't really puff, but it did brown nicely after about 45 minutes. Serve warm.

Adapted from the Washington Post, which it turn ripped off "Local Flavors," by Deborah Madison (Broadway Books, 2002). The WaPo provides nutritional information. It's somewhat horrifying, so I'll spare you.