Roasted Butter Herb Turkey on the Food Network

This is a no fail turkey recipe - every year we have had a wonderful moist turkey that is cooked before you know it:

Roasted Butter Herb Turkey on the Food Network

Creamy Mashed Potatoes on the Food Network

The mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving:

Creamy Mashed Potatoes on the Food Network.

Thanksgiving 2011

It seems fitting that we decided to start this blog the week of Thanksgiving- perhaps the truest celebration of family, friends, tradition, and food.

All attendees to the Bristow Thanksgiving contributed wonderful dishes to the feast. There was visiting, drinking, cooking, football watching: all the necessary trimmings of the holiday. Oh and a first....live-tweeting of the day which connected us with our family celebrating #arthursthanksgiving on Long Island.

As for the food, I'll add the recipes I made with hopes that others will post theirs. I was on appetizer duty (which I looove) and based on this handy chart, I also brought a dessert (sans pecan).

Smashed New Potatoes with Goat Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roast new potatoes with salt and pepper and olive oil for 25 minutes

Allow to cool, cut in half, smash flat and top with goat cheese.

Mexican Tortilla Cups with Guac

I combined this recipe for braised mexican beef (minus the serrano chiles) with this one for tortilla cups (lightly salt the cups before baking) and topped them with my recipe for guac: 3 avocados, 2 lime wedges worth of juice, minced garlic, little bit of onion minced, splash of tabasco, and salt to taste.

Spiced Carrot Lettuce Wraps (aka feast of the rabbits)

This is adapted from one of my favorite food folks: Jamie Oliver and his recipe for Roast Carrot and Avocado Salad with Orange and Lemon Dressing.

Ingredients:

4 carrots, sliced into bit size pieces
2 level teaspoons whole cumin seeds
1 or 2 small dried chiles, crumbled
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled
4 sprigs rosemary
Extra-virgin olive oil
white wine vinegar
1 orange, halved
1 lime, halved
Romaine lettuce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Get a pestle and mortar (or cutting board and ulu) and smash up the cumin seeds, chilles, salt and pepper. Add the garlic and thyme leaves and smash up again until you have a kind of paste. Jamie's idea is to build up the flavors.

Parboil the carrots in boiling, salted water for 10 minutes, until they are very nearly cooked, then drain and put them into a roasting pan.

Add enough extra-virgin olive oil to generously cover the chile, garlic, herb paste you just made, and add a good swig of vinegar. Stir together, then pour over the carrots in the pan, coating them well. Add the orange and lime halves, cut side down. These will roast along with the carrots, and their juice can be used as the basis of the dressing. Place in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden.

Remove the carrots from the oven. Carefully, using some tongs, squeeze the roasted orange and lime juice into a bowl and add the same amount of extra-virgin olive oil and a little swig of white wine vinegar. Season, and pour this dressing over the carrots. Mix together, have a taste and correct the seasoning. Serve wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Who else would have a more fabulous recipe for pumpkin cheesecake than good ole Paula Dean?

Ingredients

Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place in oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Photos from #bristowthanksgiving:

The Blog's Namesake (Half Cup Whiskey Steak)

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Irish whiskey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced green onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
4 (8 ounce) flat iron steaks

Directions

1) Combine the olive oil, whiskey, soy sauce, green onion, garlic, pepper, parsley, thyme, and rosemary in a large, sealable plastic bag; seal and shake to mix. Add the steaks to the marinade. Seal the bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Refrigerate for approximately 24 hours. Remove steaks from marinade; discard the marinade. Allow the steaks to come to room temperature before cooking.

2) Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.

3) Cook the steaks until they are beginning to firm and are hot and slightly pink in the center, 6 to 7 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 140 degrees F (60 degrees C). Cover the meat with two layers of aluminum foil and allow to rest in a warm area for 10 minutes before serving.

Additional Notes:

• If you cannot find flat iron steak, you can use skirt steak or any other type of thin steak.
• It's also possible to do this in an oven if a grill is not available. Cook at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes (depending on the temperature that you prefer.)

Beef Stew

Worked off Tyler Florence's Ultimate Beef Stew recipe.

Timing: Should start at 2pm to be ready for a 6 o'clock dinner

Ingredients

1 bottle red wine (I used Rioja)

2-3 lbs of Chuck Roast (cubed)

1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

flour

2 1/2 cups of beef stock

1 orange

3 carrots (sliced)

6 garlic cloves

3 springs of rosemary

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon ground cloves

9 small new potatoes (cut in half)

2 cups of frozen pearl onions

2 cups of frozen peas

Instructions

1) Cut up chuck roast into 2 inch cubes, season with salt and pepper, coat in flour.

2) Heat oil and butter in pan. If you are browning the meat in batches, spread out the fats accordingly (ie only use a half or third for each batch)

3) Brown off the meats in the pan. You just want to get the cubes good and sealed- they will cook plenty in the stew.

4) After browning the meat, remove and set aside. Pour wine into pot, scraping all the yummy goodness off the bottom.

5) Add 3 rosemary springs, bay leafs, smashed garlic, orange zest, ground cloves, beef stock and meat back into pan.

6) Bring to boil, then simmer for 15-20 min. to thicken the stew. Then cover the pot and let simmer for 2 hours.

Take a 20 minute break (walk the dog or watch an episode of Parks & Recreation)

7) Prep the veggies- slice carrots, cut potatoes and fix any side dishes (I went with mashed potatos)

8) At two hour mark, add in the vegtables and leave the cover off for the last 30 min. of simmering.

9) Right when you are getting your bread all sliced, butter all out (ie 1 minute out from service), add the frozen peas to the stew.

10) Serve and enjoy.