Thanksgiving Favorites

Are you planning your Thanksgiving menu yet? Do you pick new recipes to try every year or stick to your tried-and-true ones? Truth be told, we don't normally host. I think I have hosted a total of two times ever. And I've only made a turkey one of those times. We normally have Thanksgiving lunch with my family at my mom's house, and Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's family at my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's house. We do make several dishes between the two meals though! 

We have some dishes that we see year after year for Thanksgiving. And then there are some that we have made for non-thanksgiving meals because we like them so much! For our dinner meal, there is usually some sort of theme and many new dishes to try. 

To start, I always like a sparkling wine drink. For thanksgiving and the holidays, I love drinks with pomegranates, similar to this one: 
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/pomegranate-champagne-cocktail-recipe.html

And an appetizer easy to grab with one hand while you're finishing up cooking is necessary, too! We love this twist on bruschetta: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/portobello-bruschetta-with-rosemary-aioli-104179

Sides are just as, if not more, important than the turkey and stuffing! Most people go back for seconds of sides, not as much for turkey. Aside from the usual green beans and potatoes, this is a favorite:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cauliflower-and-brussels-sprout-gratin-with-pine-nut-breadcrumb-topping-350452

And to finish off a filling meal, what better way than to indulge in a rich pie?! This makes a showing at least once a year. It's my husband's favorite. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-bourbon-pecan-pie

I hope you take some time to enjoy making the food, and spending time with people you love. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

New York, New York

It's no secret that I like to eat. I enjoy going out to eat even more than I enjoy eating at home! ;) I like posting about where I eat when I travel. It gives me a sort of recap and closing of the trip. And I refer back to it when someone asks for recommendations (or places to steer clear of!). New York City is saturated with amazing food. Truth be told, if you ask five people for NYC restaurant recommendations, you will get 20 different answers! There are very few places I have been to there that I feel like are "steer clear of" worthy over the years. 

This year, we knew we were going to have a couple of nights of late dinners. We had reservations at several different places and really only narrowed down and finalized at the last minute. (There was some map-app confusion on the location of a business event on Saturday night.) It ended up working out though, because the restaurant we ended up at that night was my favorite of the weekend! 

We had heard rave reviews about Il Mulino so we opted to try the Trattoria (straight from the airport!) on Friday night. Aside from the first 10-15 minutes of completely being ignored (it was the weirdest thing!), the service ended up being great and the food was so tasty. The capellini pasta with arugula pesto, black pepper and pistachio was creamy, full of delicate flavors that didn't overpower. The very simply grilled branzino was tender, moist, and perfectly seasoned. It was the perfect lighter meal for a late night dinner. To end the meal, we decided on an old favorite with a twist - limoncello tiramisu. Enough said?

The next day, we had a late breakfast, a late lunch, and a late dinner. We opted to have granola and pastries for breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien, a favorite of ours in London. While the granola wasn't the exact same as it is in London, it was very good. I also enjoyed a seasonal cinnamon latte (twice) during the weekend! We love the simple, communal atmosphere and the quality of the food there. 

After walking up and down 5th and Madison, we ended up at one of the Via Quadranno locations for our late lunch. It had been recommended to us, and was packed with locals even at 3 in the afternoon. We thought that was a good sign, and were not disappointed. The sandwiches were simple with few ingredients but very tasty and filling. Oh and did I mention we got dessert? The nocciola mousse cake was ah-mazing. And the lemon sorbetto with prosecco was a light ending to a late lunch. 

Our last meal of the evening was the one we decided on at the last minute. We found our way to Liberty Room at Aureole. What a meal! The service was exceptional. The options were plenty but not overwhelming. We start with a couple of oysters each, topped with a mignonette dressing. They knocked our socks off. Two of the three entrees were recommended by the server and they did not disappoint. I had the skate wing with cauliflower, crushed potatoes, marcona almonds, and verjus. It was a perfect amount of food, perfect flavors all together, and perfectly cooked. The crust of the fish was just browned enough, the inside filled with melt-in-your-mouth tenderness, and lightly seasoned meal married well with pickled cauliflower, almonds, potatoes and the verjus. To end our meal, we enjoyed a donut. Yep, a donut. Not just any donut though. One with chocolate mousse, salted caramel, and a praline crunch. We enjoyed it tremendously, obvi.

So do yourself a favor and get up to NYC for a food weekend, if nothing else! 

Weekly Meal Planning for November 9-14

As the rainy gloom continues here, there is very little I want to eat (or even plan to eat) other than comforting soups and foods. But sometimes the rain prevents me from wanting to go to the farmers market to get good ingredients and I end up just making breakfast for dinner. That's what's happening tonight. 

I also just got back from a weekend trip to NYC during which I ate some amazing meals so I'm feeling like it's okay to take it easy this week!

Monday: scrambled eggs with spinach and tomatoes, pumpkin muffin
Tuesday: chicken tortilla soup
Wednesday: beef stroganoff 
Thursday: leftover soup
Friday: leftover stroganoff
Saturday: school festival, depends what time we get home afterwards 

Vegetarian White Bean Chili

I made this chili on Saturday for our neighborhood Halloween party, and we had leftovers Sunday evening. It was especially perfect on Sunday since it was a dreary, rainy day. We all loved it and my youngest asked me to make it again. It was very simple to make. I didn't have much time so I just tossed all the ingredients into a crockpot on Saturday morning, and by early afternoon, it was ready. 

Ingredients:

5 cans white cannelini beans, rinsed and drained

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1 green bell pepper, chopped 

1 can of green chiles 

1 10 oz bag of frozen corn 

4 cups broth 

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder 

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice of one lime 

Optional toppings:

Avocado 

Sour cream

Cheddar cheese, shredded

Lime wedges

Red onion, chopped

Cornbread

Hot sauce 

1. Place beans, chopped onion, chopped pepper, minced garlic, chiles, and corn into the crockpot. Top with spices and salt and pepper. Pour broth over the contents of the crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

2. With an immersion blender, blend about a third of the chili to thicken it. Don't blend all of it. Add more spices to taste (I added more chili powder and cumin at this point, but didn't measure). Squeeze lime juice into the chili, mix well, and serve with toppings. 

Weekly Meal Planning for November 1-7

Happy November! I hope you all survived the sugar highs and crashes that may have accompanied your Halloween festivities. This week will be a short cooking week for me as I'm heading to NYC with my mom and sister on Friday. So I asked each member of the family to pick a meal and I would cook it this week. Here's what they came up with. 

Sunday: leftover white chili

Monday: some sort of pasta (husband's choice)

Tuesday: beef tacos (oldest daughter's choice)

Wednesday: chicken nuggets, red pepper strips, fruit (youngest daughter's choice)

Thursday: leftovers 

Friday, Saturday, Sunday: they're on their own!