Thanksgiving in July: Slow Cooker Stuffing

"Tomorrow, I'm going to make stuffing in the slow cooker."

As a single person, I tend to accumulate a lot of half-loaves of hardened bread in my freezer. It's too stale to make a decent sandwich with, but it's not moldy or bad for me.

So, in the spirit of minimizing food waste, I got to thinking about what to do with hard bread. STUFFING!

Hamilton Beach 4-Quart Oval Slow Cooker

 (Amazon Affiliate Link)

Bought for myself as a reward 

for finishing NaPoWriMo.

Then, in the spirit of being obsessed with my new slow cooker, I did a Pinterest search for slow cooker stuffing, and found out it's totally a thing.

Slow Cooker Stuffing

Ingredients:

12 cups dry bread cubes (The original blogger baked the bread cubes to dry them out, but my bread was already so dry from squatting in my freezer, I skipped that step.)

2 cups celery (about 4 stalks)

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup dried parsley (or 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley if you plan ahead better than I did)

2 tsp dried sage

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

14.5 oz can broth (1 3/4 cups)

1/3 cup butter, melted

1. Combine everything except the broth and butter. Pour the broth and butter over the top. Mix well.

2. Transfer mixture to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.

It smelled too good, so at hour 3, I broke into it early. The celery and onions were still raw but the flavors had saturated the bread well. I ate it with a turkey breast and side of mashed potatoes I got at a deli. (What am I, supposed to cook 3 things?! Preposterous.) I let the rest of it finish cooking and stored it to make a week's worth of Slow Cooker Stuffing Sandwiches.

Original recipe from The Kitchen is My Playground. With thanks.

Today's art print is "Bread and Butter" by Robo Rat. Just too cute.

Party Like its 1799: Hot Buttered Rum

“Tomorrow, I’m going to celebrate the holidays like an American Colonist.”

The tradition of drinking sweet hot alcoholic beverages in winter is very old.  Colonists in what would become the US started drinking them with the alcohol popular in the new world: rum. 

Most traditional recipes for Hot Buttered Rum involve hot water, rum, and spices, with a pat of butter floated on top.  

Imagine its the dead of a winter, in pre-revolutionary times, before the electric light.  Its cold and dark, and you’re probably sick with any number of awful diseases.  Watered down rum is probably the closest thing you’re going to get to cough syrup, so I get that.  Spices?  Delicious and festive.  But I don’t really understand why someone decided to add a pat of butter to all of that.  Apparently it was a common practice, as people also added it to beer.

At some point in the 20th century, someone decided to add ice cream.  And why not? Ice cream makes everything great.  For my recipe, I used less sugar than many recipes and froze the batter in a silicon muffin tin for pre-portioned servings.  If you don’t drink alcohol, try just adding boiling water (I drank watered down batter every year as a kid and kind of prefer it now). Alternately, I’m told that it is a delicious addition to coffee.

Waiting for boiling water.

Hot Buttered Rum Batter
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup softened vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Combine ingredients in medium bowl with a hand mixer. The butter will harden up upon contact with the cold ice cream, and that's alright. As long as the lumps are small and emulsified in the mixture, everything will be fine. 

Portion 1/4 cup servings into a silicon muffin tin.  Freeze at least 6 hours or overnight. 

To serve: Combine with desired amount of dark rum (completely depends on how much you like rum, but start with about 1 oz) and 8 oz boiling water. Stir until melted.
OR, combine with hot strong coffee and stir until melted.

Do yourself a favor and use good tasting rum,
the hot water seems to enhance the flavor.

Recipe Source: Loosely based on this recipe, from Allrecipes.

Info on Hot Toddies, Hot Buttered Rum, and more:

Guerreri, Matthew. "Fuzzy Math: The Hot Toddy (a history)" Wonderlandkitchen.com. Jan 30, 2012.
Therlot, Lars. "Hot Buttered Rum."  12bottlebar.com. Dec 10, 2010.
Hesser, Amanda. The New York Times Cookbook.

Musings: Non-Traditional Christmas Cookies

“Tomorrow, I’m going to make Christmas Cookies that people want to eat.”

Since medieval times, cookies have been a Christmas tradition. Far from being an everyday food, cookies were a special part of festival seasons.  During the industrial revolution, cookies became less about eating a sweet treat and more about decorating. Manufactured cookie cutters, molds and decorating tools became available to everyone.  

Today, when I think Christmas Cookies, I think of sugar cookies cut in many marvelous shapes, topped with bright icing. My family always made those.  If your family has other traditions, I’d love to hear about them.

Personally, I don’t like frosted sugar cookies at all.  I think they have no flavor other than cloying sweetness.  I hate how the frosting gets hard as a rock after a day or so.  Judging by how they seem to stick around, I don’t think I’m alone.  I love decorating them, but when they’re done, I pawn them off on other people.

This year, I said no more. This year, I made some cookies that I actually want to eat. I made Chocolate Spice Quickies, from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.  They are simple slice and bake cookies, made with cocoa and ground almonds, flavored with zippy allspice and a swirl of melted chocolate.  

My humble cookies, small but mighty.

They might not win any beauty contests, but they are a crumbly, buttery delight.  They’re a manageable size so I don’t have to feel guilty for having just one.  They won’t linger around until Christmas.  They’ll be gone and I can make more cookies!

Someday, I’ll make a sugar cookie recipe that feels the same way.  With icing that doesn’t taste like a sweet fossil. Someday.

I encourage everyone to dress up their favorite cookies for Christmas.  There’s no reason that we have to stick to the sugar cookie cutout formula.  Its a Christmas revolution!

And if you absolutely love sugar cookies, I’d be glad to give you some! Maybe we can make a registry of sugar cookie donors and receivers.

Christmas Cookie History Source: The Food Timeline

Holiday Leftovers: Winter Squash Risotto

 “Tomorrow, I will use up my leftover squash puree.”

I never seem to have the exact amount of squash puree that a recipe calls for.  Sometimes I have too little to use in another recipe, yet too much to throw out.  Usually it ends up in the trash anyway. Or ends up sitting in the fridge for weeks before ending up in the trash. But how do you use a tiny amount of squash puree?  Why, throw it in a risotto of course! 

Disclaimer: risotto in general is not a health food, and this version is no exception.  It is butter, starchy, and cheesy.  “Carb-tastic,” if you will.  I try to limit my portion size.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can vary the amount of squash that you use, depending on how much you have and how much squashy flavor you like.  A little bit of squash just adds a layer of depth to the primary cheese flavor.  Adding more will feature the squash flavor more prominently.

Even the smallest amount will turn the risotto a brilliant orange, making it look similar to Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.  That resemblance alone made the picky eaters in my life much more open to trying it!

I served this as a side dish to steaks.  That was a mistake. Its so heavy and creamy, I think that it can be a meal on its own, when accompanied by an interesting salad.

Winter Squash Risotto

3 tablespoons butter, divided
½ medium onion (or one small onion), finely chopped
¼-3/4 cup winter squash puree (ie pumpkin, kabocha, butternut, I used red kuri)
1 ½ cups Arborio rice
~5 cups chicken broth
½ cup white wine
⅓ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
salt

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until translucent.  Add rice and toss well to coat with butter. Stir and cook until translucent, but be careful not to allow the rice to brown.

Add the wine.  Cook until the wine is almost entirely absorbed.  Add the squash puree and 1 cup of broth.  Simmer, stirring occasionally until the liquid is almost entirely absorbed, then add another ½ cup broth.

Continue cooking, adding broth in half cup increments when the liquid is almost absorbed.  The rice should never get dry.  After about 20 minutes from the first addition of broth, start tasting the rice for doneness.  When the risotto is done, the rice will be tender but not mushy.  You may not need the full 5 cups of broth (I didn’t.)

When the rice is tender, add 1 tablespoon butter and the parmesan cheese. Turn off the heat and stir the risotto vigorously.  Season to taste with salt. Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

Source: Heavily adapted from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters

Some pictures of the cooking process that might help you:

Liquid is not absorbed, just stir and cook

Liquid has been absorbed- add more broth

Holiday Leftovers: Turkey Kale Soup

“Tomorrow, I am going to use up my leftover holiday turkey.”

Soup is a delicious way to use up a great deal of leftover turkey from Thanksgiving or another holiday feast. Turkey soup is healthy and light, which is a nice counterpoint to the rich meals of this time of year.

I made broth by boiling the turkey carcass and some assorted vegetables.  Apparently bones contain magical substances that combine with water to become pure deliciousness.  Don’t throw away your turkey bones without unleashing their awesome power!

So Christmas-y!

Making broth takes a long time, but you don’t have to pay much attention to it.  It just kind of does its thing.  If you have time, I suggest cooling the broth in the fridge so you can scoop off the congealed fat that floats to the surface.  Its a dirty job, but I’d rather have the fat in the garbage than in my arteries.

For the rest of the soup, I sauteed some onions/celery/carrots, which also happened to be leftovers from Thanksgiving.  Don’t use the veggies from the broth, they’ll be slimy and bland at this point.  I added some turkey and cooked kale and voila!  Soup!

Turkey Kale Soup

Broth: 1 turkey carcass
2 parsley sprigs
2 thyme sprigs
1 carrot, cut into chunks
3 celery sticks, trimmed and cut into chunks
1 small onion or half of a large onion, peeled
1 bay leaf

Soup:
Olive oil
1 small onion or half a large onion, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 head of kale, stems removed
1-2 cups leftover turkey, shredded

Place turkey carcass and all other broth ingredients in a large pot.  Cover (or mostly cover) with water (about 4 quarts).  Simmer for two hours. If you have time, cool and skim off fat.
Bring a pot of water to boiling, and add the kale.  Cook for 3-5 minutes until bright green and tender.  Drain, rinse with cool water and chop.  
Saute onions, celery, and carrots in olive oil until soft.  Add broth, turkey and kale.  Simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Source: The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters

Playlist: Unconventional Xmas

"Tomorrow, I'm going to get into the Christmas spirit...my own way."

Thanksgiving has passed. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not ready to jump into the Christmas spirit with both feet. So I made a bizarre little playlist to ease into the holiday. Whether you’re sick of traditional Christmas music and want a change, or just love love love all things Christmas, these are fun, interesting songs, and I think you’ll enjoy them. This is the kind of playlist you listen to with headphones while you wait for the bus.

I tend to feel that way about most playlists.

In any case, after preparing and listening to my Unconventional Christmas Playlist, I suddenly crave snow. I think that’s a sign of success!

Most of these songs qualify as indie rock or folk, but I threw in some other gems. The first song is J-pop. Nothing says “Christmas” like J-pop! (Who knew?!) 
1. Shonen Knife- Sweet Christmas
2. Dressy Bessy- Hopped Up (on Xmas)
3. The Polyphonic Spree- A Working Elf’s Theme
4. Frightened Rabbit- It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop 2008 (Remixed by David Karsten Daniels)
5. Arthur & Yu- My White Elephant
6. Slow Club- Christmas TV
7. The Raveonettes- Christmas Ghosts
8. The Be Good Tanyas- Rudy
9. Of Montreal- Christmas Isn’t Safe For Animals
10. Deer Tick- Holy S%!t, It’s Christmas!
11. The Four Corners- My Gift To You (It’s Me)
12. The Weepies- All That I Want


It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop and Rudy have exceptionally beautiful (and sad) lyrics.
Check them out:
http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858740351/
http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858560161/