Canning Basics October 23

If you've ever wondered how to can and preserve foods, here's a great workshop for you. I happen to have a TON of apples right now, so we'll process them into things like applesauce, apple butter and chutneys - whatever you'd like. These are super easy to do, so great for canning first-timers. And, it's always more fun with friends!

I'll provide all the equipment, ingredients, recipes and lids. If you have any pint or smaller-size jars that you'd like to use, please bring them.

Sunday, Oct. 23 from 3 to 6 p.m., 2812 NE 8th Ave.

Cost will be $10 per person, and will include some snacks, and taking home several jars of goodies (depending on how much we do)!

Email me to reserve your spot - class size will be limited!

Homemade Bacon and Worchestershire - Jan. 17

Well, since it's the new year I thought I'd ruin all your resolutions about eating less pork fat and stuff by hosting another homemade bacon workshop on January 17 from 3 to 6 p.m. We're also gonna make Worchestershire sauce, which I've wanted to do for a while now. The contribution for this workshop will be $30 and will include about 3.5 pounds of bacon (delivered about one week later after aging/smoking) and/or pancetta and a bottle of Worchestershire, plus a lifetime of memories! Email me if you'd like to be one of the 10 lucky ones to participate in the first of the 2010 pantries!

Update on Monday, January 11, 2010 at 10:52AM by Tanya's Pantry

Sorry, folks. I've fractued my shoulder so it seems that workshops are on hold for quite some time. Indeed cooking at all will be out for at least 4 to 6 weeks.That's going to be the hardest part of all! If I'm able at some point to use both hands for typing, I may be bringing more. Until then I am being taken care of by my husband and many friends...

Spatchcocking!

I've been practicing spatchcocking with chickens all fall in preparation for Thanksgiving. This method cooks the bird faster and more evenly, and solves the age-old problem of the breast drying out before the thighs are done. So here it is, my first instructional video!

Thanksgiving Recap

Thanks to Kate for the photos!

Well, it was yet another epic year here at our house. We hosted about 75 friends for Thanksgiving dinner. Needless, to say I'm still getting caught up with everything - including this blog! So, how do we do it? And more importantly, what did we eat!?

How we do it

1. We have very good friends who do these things often. (This was our 10th or 11th big Thanksgiving.) We ask for help, and we get it. We don't ask for help and we get it anyway, because everyone just knows what needs to be done and does it - and with style and grace. Things get moved. Side dishes are made. Dishes get washed. Recycling goes out. That's the kind of friends we have.
2. I happen to have plenty of catering equipment - gathered over the years starting with our own wedding, when we bought plates and glasses instead of renting. These have now been used dozens and dozens of times over the last 7+ years. Every year I add a litle more to the collection, so now we have service for 100, chafing dishes, napkins and more.
3. We move everything out of the living and dining room and put down low tables made several years ago just for Thanksgiving. So we all sit on the floor on pillows and such - you can fit a lot more people in that way!
4. Finally, Facebook (and before that Tribe and Evite) keeps all the communication and guest list in order!

What we ate!

1. Turkeys, of course. My husband Matthew is renowned for his smoked turkeys, and it's no wonder - they're the most delicious turkeys around! He brines 'em for 10 to 12 hours and smokes 'em for about 6 hours. They are moist and tasty! Every year I like to play around and experiment a little with the roasted birds, which we also make so we have the drippings for gravy (and more turkey). This year, it was Iron Chef Jose Garces' Citrus Marinated Turkey, which included chipotle, annato paste (a new ingredient for me), orange juice and roasted garlic. It required a 24-hour brining and a 24-hour marinade. I'm told it was really stellar (I just got one quick bite myself), and the gravy was divine! The other roasted turkey (a 19+ pounder that I spatchcocked) I did simply with butter and our friend's Rivera's Rubs, a Puerto Rican spice rub that's pretty much good on just about anything you use it for! Our friend Rich, a butcher, also brought us a TurDuckEn, which went so fast I couldn't believe it. Despite the four turkeys and the TurDuckEn, we had NO leftovers for sandwiches. So, Friday our friend Bryndl went out and bought another 23-pound bird, which we roasted with butter and chimichurri rub. This, too was gone almost immediately, but I managed to save just enough for about four sandwiches, our first in several years.
2. Everyone brings a side dish, and this year they were particularly stellar. Of the ones I was able to taste, I remember particularly Chet's cornbread sausage stuffing; Sabrina's chanterelle, spinach and cheese casserole; the other Sabrina's radicchio, brie and caramelized onion dish; Diana's lemon and lime tartlets and Shanti's mashed potato and carrots and peas cupcakes, which looked so realistic but tasted so good!

Chicken Soup Redeux

With several friends down sick with the flu last week, I thought it would be good to make some chicken soup. But I didn't want to make it basic. Enter Barefoot Contessa and her Italian Wedding Soup. Chicken broth with chicken meatballs and lovely veggies. I found chicken breasts on sale and ground them myself for the meatballs- super easy and frugal, too. Perfect!

I have every one of Ina's cookbooks. Her recipes are elegant, simple and always accessible. No crazy ingredients or techniques. She loves to cook but also loves to live her life and that's what I adore about her. So, if you're tired of the same ol' chicken soup, give it a shot.

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

nocoupons

• 3/4 pound ground chicken
• 1/2 pound chicken sausage, casings removed
• 2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup:

nocoupons

• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 cup minced yellow onion
• 1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 10 cups homemade chicken stock
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars
• 1/4 cup minced fresh dill
• 12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don't have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.

In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.