RECIPE: Roast Butternut Squash

RECIPE: Applesauce

PHOTOGRAPHS: A Flower

RECIPE: Grilled Asparagus

RECIPE: Hummus

QUICK COOK RECIPE: Chicken Breasts with Herbs and Panko Crust

RECIPE: Lamb Stuffed with Hazelnuts and Mint

ON FOOD: How to Roast a Red Pepper

EVENT: Fall Salads Update

Hello Everyone,

The Fall Salads Round up will be a bit delayed. My husband suddenly had to be rushed to the hospital last week. We just found out that he has diabetes. So I have not been able to keep up with the blog at all as you can see. I also have been taking care of my two sick children, bronchitis and ear infection. And then of course, I got a fever and a bad cold and a sinus infection so I am trying to crawl out from under it all.

I am very excited to go through all the recipes and do the round up but it will take a couple of days. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

xo Gabriella

EVENT: Fall Salads At Reluctant Housewife

The chill is in the air. Well maybe not in Southern California on most days. But I do remember the bliss of putting on a warm, thick sweater a pair of jeans and going for a nice walk in the country or down the streets of New York City to meet up with some friends for brunch on the weekend.

I know that many of us had fun with the Summer Salads at Reluctant Housewife - and the three large recaps: Round Up1 Round Up 2 Round Up 3 a few months back and wanted to bring us all together to share some of our favorite Fall Salads.

If you would like to participate in this event please email me at: msgabriellatrue @ aol dot com by Sunday, December 3 with the following information and I will post a round-up a few days later. Within your blog, please be sure to include a link to My Life As A Reluctant Housewife and this Fall Salads Event within your entry.

The name of your recipe
- The permalink URL of your ice cream entry
- Your name
- Your blog’s name
- Your blog’s front page URL

. Thanks!

RECIPE: Pomegranate Syrup

RECIPE: Caramelized Sweet Onions

Caramelized Sweet Onions
Makes 1 1/2 cups

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 onions, ¼ inch rounds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Melt butter over medium heat. Cut onions into thin slices and place in pan. Cook for about 20 minutes until liquid is evaporated, stir occasionally. Reduce heat to low and cook for 1½ hours until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper. The onions can be made three days ahead.

RECIPE: Corn and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

ON FOOD: Thanksgiving Menu

Brine Roasted Turkey with Herb Butter
Candied Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon
Creamy Lima Beans
Maple Cranberry Sauce
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Puree of Sweet Potatoes
Perfect Pumpkin Pie
Parsley and Sage Stuffing
Turkey Gravy
Toasted Pecan Pie
Sour Cream Apple Pie
Perfect Pumpkin Pie

PHOTOGRAPHS: Three Thanksgiving Pies

Toasted Pecan Pie
Sour Cream Apple Pie
Perfect Pumpkin Pie

RECIPE: Candied Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon

Candied Sweet Potatoes
Serves 8

3 lb large sweet potatoes, peeled
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground ginger
1/4 to 1/3 cup bourbon
2 cups marshmallows

Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut each potato half lengthwise into fourths. Steam potatoes on a steamer rack set over boiling water, covered, until just tender, 10 to 15 minutes, then cool, uncovered. Transfer to a buttered 3-quart shallow baking dish.

Simmer brown sugar, butter, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and syrup is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bourbon to taste. Drizzle syrup over potatoes and bake in middle of oven, basting occasionally, until syrup is thickened, about 1 1/4 hours.

Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until marshmallows are lightly browned.

• May be made without the marshmallows 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Reheated and then add marshmallows and baked

RECIPE: Brine Roasted Turkey and Herb Butter

Brine Roasted Turkey

1-12 pound turkey
Brine:
1 gallon cider plus 2 cups
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup whole allspice
6 bay leaves
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup kosher salt
Herb Butter:
8 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped sage
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
Basting Broth:
3 cups chicken stock
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
6 fresh sage leaves
Glaze:
2 cups cider
1 stick unsalted butter
Stuffing:
Celery
Onion
Carrots
Apples

Brine: Bring 1 quart of cider and brining herbs to a boil. Add salt and sugar and stir until dissolved. Turn off heat and add and the rest of the cider, reserving 2 cups and 1 gallon of water. Chill until cold. Place turkey in brining bag in refrigerator.

Herb Butter: In a food processor, blend all the ingredients.

Glaze: Boil cider in saucepan until reduced to ¼ cup, about 15 minutes. Whisk in butter and cool completely.

Basting Broth: Bring to a boil and simmer a bit until slightly reduced and vegetables are soft.

Cooking the Turkey: Preheat the oven to 425° F. Remove turkey from the brine, rinse, dry with paper towels. Separate skin from breast pipe in the Herb Butter. Rub the remaining butter all over the outside of the bird. Fill cavity with chopped vegetable/fruit stuffing. Truss the bird. Place bird on a rack in the roasting pan. Pour broth into the pan. Roast for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375° F and cook about 12 minutes per pound. (144 mins/2:10 min)If the turkey is browning too fast, place tin foil over the bird. Baste the bird every 30 minutes and brush with the glaze. Continue to roast until thermometer inserted into innermost part of thigh registers 175°F and the juices run clear. Take the bird out of oven, cover with foil and let rest for 20 minutes.

RECIPE: Sour Cream Apple Pie

Sour Cream Apple Pie

2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 lb Granny Smith apples
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round (1/8 inch thick), then fit into a 9-inch metal pie plate. Trim edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang under and crimp edge decoratively. Chill shell 30 minutes.
While shell chills, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
Whisk together eggs, sour cream, vanilla, 1 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, nutmeg, ginger and salt in a bowl until smooth. Peel and core apples, then cut into wedges slightly less than 1/4 inch thick. Arrange apples in pie shell, then pour sour cream mixture evenly over them, coating all apples.
Bake pie 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake until filling is puffed and golden and apples are tender, 45 to 50 minutes.
While pie bakes, stir together remaining 1/3 cup sugar, remaining 1/3 cup flour, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in a bowl, then blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture forms small clumps.
Remove pie from oven and increase oven temperature to 400°F. Crumble topping evenly over top and bake until sugar is melted, about 10 minutes. Cool pie on a rack at least 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

RECIPE: Toasted Pecan Pie

Toasted Pecan Pie

3 cups pecans about 3/4 pound, divided
6 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups dark corn syrup
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coarsely chop 2 cups pecans and reserve. Spread 1 cup pecans on rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven until nuts are aromatic and darker in color, about 12 minutes. Cool, then grind nuts finely in processor. Maintain oven temperature.
Roll out crust on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round and place crust to 10-inch-diameter pie dish. Fold overhang under, forming high-standing rim. Crimp edges decoratively. Freeze crust 20 minutes. Whisk eggs in large bowl until frothy. Add sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, vanilla, salt, and ground toasted pecans; whisk until blended. Mix in chopped pecans. Pour filling into crust.
Bake pie until crust is golden and filling is puffed and set (center may still move when dish is shaken), about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool at least 3 hours. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

ENTERTAINING: Thanksgiving 04

In 2004 the boys were just under 6 months. So it had been a very long time since I had really done a whole "to do". I really needed some "Me" projects. So I picked a big Thanksgiving dinner. I made the table cloths, did up a major meal, made a lovely flower arrangement and so on and so forth. It was a very special first Thanksgiving for our family.


I know we started with my squash curry soup and then moved on to a traditional Thanksgiving feast. I did make a failure of a dish that I had gotten from one of the food magazines. It was a sweet potatoe torte. It was revoltingly sweet. It also burned a bit but that was probably the best tasting part of it.