And the Countdown Begins..."T - 5" Days

Saturday, November 19th

I’m 5 days and 14 people away from Thanksgiving! I had a brief panic attack yesterday, but feel back on track now. My turkey breasts are ordered (all 12-16 pounds of them), my tablecloths are washed and ironed, and my new burlap table runners from FairStreetCrafts have arrived!

Grocery shopping started yesterday with trips to Whole Foods and Jewel. Today, I added a trip to Caputos along with a visit to Celidan Florist, to drop off vases for my Thanksgiving centerpieces. I have a batch of Sunday Gravy and my turkey stock both simmering on the stove and I just made the dough for my butter and parsley rolls (this is my test batch). I’m taking my first break since 6:30am - sitting on the couch in front of a nice warm fire with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon from Tin Barn and some soppresseta and crackers. It’s nice to finally get a break!

Well, I guess it is time to share some recipes, huh? Well, I used the Sunday gravy recipe already on this page, but I did make a couple of minor tweaks. This time, I added three anchovies packed in oil to the pot while I sautéed my onions. The anchovies melted completely and just sort of rounded out the flavor. I’m only 5 hours into the cooking process, so we will see what the final product tastes like! This time, I also used ¾ bottle of Chianti and a full box of beef broth. The tomatoes just didn’t have as much juice as normal, so it needed the extra liquid to get a good simmer going.

For my turkey stock recipe, I borrowed Sam Sifton’s Serious Turkey Stock recipe from the New York Times. I made a few changes to the original recipe:

• I used 4 turkey drumsticks instead of the combination of drumsticks and wings. Why? Because Whole Foods only had drumsticks!
• I tossed the drumsticks with canola oil, salt and pepper before roasting them in the oven. I also cut up two two slices of cottage bacon and placed that under each drumstick.
• I added the onion, celery, carrot, and thyme to the stock pot before even bringing the water to a boil. It was early and I hadn’t had any coffee yet, so this was just me, not fully reading the recipe.
• Instead of using all water, I used 6 cups of water and 2 boxes of chicken stock. I also added 6 cloves of garlic to the pot.

The recipe says “simmer as long as you can manage.” We are 5 hours in…I’ll let you know how long I managed!

I’ll add the recipe for the garlic parsley rolls once my “test” is complete. Right now, my break is over, so its back to the kitchen to stir the gravy and get those rolls in the oven!

More to come…

Gravy Time!

Its gravy day!

My husband is the main gravy maker in our house, but this week, I decided to pull out my recipe for a change. I’m confident that all y'all know what gravy is, but just in case, I want to be clear. This is the kind of gravy that you use for spaghetti, not the kind you put on mashed potatoes! Some people call it “red sauce,” but I grew up calling it gravy.

Gravy is an all day project. It cooks for 4-6 hours, sits covered in the gravy pot for another couple of hours, and then is finally strained through a tomato press or what my family calls the “monkey grinder.” Given the time commitment, when I make gravy, I make a lot of gravy. That requires having just the right gravy pot. Here is mine…

Ingredients

• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 2 bulbs of garlic, peeled and “smashed”
• 1 ½ pounds Italian sausage (mix both mild and hot sausage; you can buy it ground or in links, but make sure to remove the sausage from the casing before cooking)
• 4 28-oz cans of crushed tomatoes
• 4 28-oz cans of San Marzano crushed tomatoes
• 8 6-oz cans of tomato paste
• Approximately 16-oz (½ box) of low sodium beef stock
• 1 bottle of Chianti
• Kosher salt
• Pepper
• Italian seasoning
• Red pepper flakes
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh oregano

Make the Gravy

I think the order of the steps is really important, but I might be in the minority of the gravy-making population. Here goes…

Heat the gravy pot over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add about 1 ½ tablespoons of canola oil. Once the oil has a nice shine, add the sausage. and brown. This can take about 7 minutes. Once browned, remove the sausage from the pot with a mesh strainer or a slotted spoon. The goal is to let the fat drain from the sausage. You want to use the fat from the sausage to cook your onions and garlic. Reserve the sausage in a bowl.

Add the sliced onions to the gravy pot and cook until they start to soften. While the onions are cooking, add a good pinch of salt, some black pepper and a 3 tablespoons of Italian seasoning. Add the garlic once the onions start to soften and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Add all of the tomato paste into the gravy pot and mix it in the onion and garlic mixture. Add another good pinch of salt and pepper, along with 3 more tablespoons of Italian seasoning. Let the paste cook for about 2-3 minutes. You want to make sure you keep stirring the paste/onion/garlic mixture so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of your gravy pot and burn.

Add a half bottle of Chianti. Then, pour yourself a small glass! Let the wine cook for about 4-5 minutes, then add about half of the beef stock. Let the stock cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Now its time to add the tomatoes. Add all eight cans of tomatoes and stir well to incorporate the tomatoes into the paste/onion/garlic mixture. Add another good pinch of salt and pepper, along with 3 tablespoons of Italian seasoning and about a 1 tablespoons of red pepper flakes. Don’t overdo the red pepper flakes. You can always add more later. Once everything is well incorporated, turn your heat up to high and let the gravy cook until it just starts to come to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the sausage back to the pot. Mix well, place the lid half way on the pot, then reduce the heat to low and let it sit!

The gravy should cook at least four hours, but six is better. Stir the gravy every 30 minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot every time. Taste the gravy every time you stir. Add additional salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes to taste. Add the seasoning slowly throughout the cooking process.

About half way through the cooking, add the remaining wine, and if you have some fresh spices available like thyme and oregano, add a few springs to the gravy. Every time you add something in, make sure to stir the gravy a few times, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot.

At the end of the cooking time (4-6 hours), turn off the heat and transfer the pot to a cool burner. Stir the gravy one more time, then put the lid back on the pot. Let the gravy sit at least one hour, completely covered. I actually let my gravy sit overnight and it was still a little warm the next morning!

Monkey Grinder Time!

Once you figure out how to setup your monkey grinder, start pouring your gravy into the contraption. I usually add about 3 ladles of gravy to the grinder before starting to grind. When you start to grind the gravy, there will be two outputs: the strained gravy and the waste.

After you have strained about 9 ladles of gravy, pour the waste back into the grinder and grind that one more time. The “new” waste should be disposed of. Continue to repeat this process until you have strained all of the gravy from the pot.

I usually use 5 cup plastic containers to store my gravy. I fill each container with 4 ladles of gravy. Once the gravy has cooled, cover the gravy and freeze.

Gravy Tips

Using 8 cans of tomatoes yielded about 10 ½ containers of gravy. For two people, this is 10 meals!

When you are defrosting gravy, take it out of the freezer the morning you want to use it. Let the gravy defrost in the refrigerator. If you forget, just run the gravy container under cool water for about 5 minutes, then put it in a medium sized pot and cook on low. It will take about 30 minutes to return to a liquid state, but if you have the time (or just forgot), this method works!

Mangia!

Chicken Parmesan

This is probably Tony’s favorite meal and was one of the first recipes he made sure that I got from his mom (a.k.a. “Grandma Pat”).  Her recipe is amazing and over the years, I have pretty much stayed true to the original.  Here is my most current version:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 4 cups (about) panko breadcrumbs (see note below)
• 4 tablespoons (about) Parmesan cheese
• 1.5 - 2 lbs Mozzarella cheese
• Cayenne pepper
• Salt, pepper

Special note on breadcrumbs: My sister Lia introduced me to Whole Foods Italian breadcrumbs. These are REALLY good.  In this picture, I used a combination of the Whole Foods breadcrumbs and panko breadcrumbs.  SO good!

Before you get started on prepping your chicken, make sure your gravy is cooked and ready to serve.  That’s gravy, not sauce and yes, it is red (gravy recipe will be a separate post one day!).

The chicken needs to be dredged in flour, egg and breadcrumbs (in that order).  I use three different Pyrex dishes and create the following “mixes:”

1. Flour mixed with a couple of pinches of cayenne
2. Egg beaten with a shot of water and a pinch of salt and pepper
3. Mix of panko, Whole Food breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese

Dip the chicken in the flour, then the egg and then the breadcrumbs.  Once all of the chicken breasts are coated, place in the refrigerator for about an hour before cooking.

Heat a large frying pan and add enough canola oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Once the oil is hot, place the chicken breasts in the pan and let them brown on one side; about 3 minutes.  Flip the chicken and brown the breasts on the other side.

Place a small amount of gravy all over the bottom of a sheet pan.  Place the browned chicken on top of the gravy.  Put a small amount of gravy on top of each piece of chicken.  Smother the chicken with shredded mozzarella and cook the chicken for approximately 15 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.  Serve your chicken parm with a side of spaghetti or penne.

A note about cheese: I like to shred my own cheese.  It takes more time and some days  I curse when I have to do it, but I really feel like it tastes better.  My favorite mozzarella right now is Whole Foods part skim mozzarella.  My “back-up” mozzarella is Boars Head whole milk mozzarella (I get this at Caputo’s - ask the deli to cut you a “chunk” of mozzarella, which is about 1 ½ pounds).

Enjoy!