Ifferjenn Independent

I am a vegetarian, in case you didn’t know, but our kids are not, so we do still make a turkey for Thanksgiving. Actually, I enjoy cooking the turkey, as it’s not hard to do, but I still get a sense of satisfaction about doing it. Plus, she is pretty, don’t you think?

Scarborough Fair Turkey: First, make sure your turkey is thawed, and you’ve removed the bags of parts from it. (There are two…remember that.) In a separate bowl, coarsely cut an apple and an onion, cover generously with olive oil, and mix with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. After you’ve rinsed your turkey and patted her dry, put her on a rack inside a baking dish. Holding the bowl of apple/onion/olive oil mixture above her, stuff the inside with the large chunks. use the remaining olive oil and spices to rub down the skin, putting any extra inside the cavity. Apologize, then put her into a 350 degree oven. Refer to the package directions on how long to cook, but every half hour go back and baste with the juices that have run into the bottom of the pan. When you have an hour left, cover the breast with a tin foil shield. After you take her out of the oven, let her rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.

Don’t forget to let your cats have some after dinner, but be prepared for them to flock around the fridge every time you open it until the leftovers are gone. Also be prepared for dirty cat looks when you refuse to give them more turkey. They probably won’t kill you in your sleep.

Part of my yummy Thanksgiving.

Glazed carrots: Boil about 3 pounds of carrots until they are firm, but you can stick a fork through them easily. After draining, return pan to the burner and melt 8 tablespoons of butter. Add about a half cup of brown sugar and stir until you get a smooth sauce. Toss carrots in sauce and serve.

Butternut squash: Peel and cube 2 whole butternut squash. Boil for until tender. Drain and return to pan (not on burner). Add a stick of butter, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, a couple generous dashes of nutmeg, and salt to taste. Beat with mixer until smooth, but not watery.

By the way, next Thanksgiving hopefully I will remember to buy pre-peeled squash. Because damn, I will never complain about peeling potatoes again after those things!

Admittedly, I took the recipe from here, though with a slight tweak.

I have 8 basil plants in my garden this year, hence, I have a LOT of basil. One great way I’ve found to use it is in making pesto. It’s dead simple, and completely delicious.

Ingredients:

2 cups basil
3 garlic cloves
1/3 cup nuts (I chose peanuts)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated cheese (I use a blend ’cause I can’t remember which my dad says I should use)
salt and pepper to taste

Assemble all the ingredients with your food processor, like so:

I went and sliced up the garlic a little. And, as you can see, 2 cups of basil is a heck of a lot of basil. In fact, it filled up my whole food processor bowl!

First, take the basil and peanuts and whir them together. They reduce surprisingly fast. Add the garlic and whir again. (I actually used 3.5 garlic cloves since I love garlic so much.) Once everything is mixed, keep the food processor going and add the oil in a continuous stream. Keep scraping the sides down while you work. I didn’t add all the oil at once, instead adding the cheese when I still had about 1/8th of a cup to go. Whir everything again until it’s mostly smooth, and looks like so:

I put it in a deli container, and it made over a cup of pesto. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but you don’t use a whole lot on your pasta, so this will certainly last us a while. Probably I will make another batch (or two) and freeze them for the winter. Also, this really doesn’t take long at all to make…I finished this batch before the water boiled for the gnocchi we had for dinner.

One great thing about John is how he’s gotten me hooked on all kinds of delicious food I hadn’t eaten before. Falafel is one of them…mostly thanks to visits to The Falafel Palace in Central Square, Cambridge, MA. After a couple visits, we wanted our own falafel at home, so I got to learn to make it. It’s actually quite easy, particularly starting off with this recipe, which I’ve modified a little bit in the year or so since I’ve been making it.

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp. coriander
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 2 Tbsp. parsley
• at least 3 Tbsp. white flour

First quarter the onions and toss into a food processor. Give them a bit of a whirl to start mincing them, then add your garlic. Whir again to mix the two together. Add your spices and whirl until everything is mixed well. These measurements are for dried spices, which are easier for us to buy in bulk. If you are using fresh spices, you should only need about half. Add your chickpeas, then whir until everything is mixed fairly well.

Take everything out of the food processor and transfer to a  large bowl. This starts the trickiest part: getting the consistency just right. You’ll want to add flour until you get a moist dough you can roll into small balls. I’ll usually start with 2 heaping tablespoons of white flour, but will sometimes add 2 more, one at a time. With some experimentation, you’ll get the hang of it. Your goal will be to make about a dozed golf-ball sized dough balls, which you should squish down slightly so they’re like little patties.

In a big frying pan, pour about 1.5 inches of olive oil. Heat the oil, then add the falafel balls. Fry on one side for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. Flip and fry on the other side for an additional 4 minutes. Drain on a paper lunch bag. Wrap in Syrian bread or a lavash rollup, or stuff inside a pita pocket with lettuce, tomato, hummus, pickles, onion, and feta cheese. Also makes great leftovers heated up and over a salad with hummus for dressing.

Now, I make the recipe with a food processor, because it is sooo much easier on me. Prior to using the food processor, however, we used an old school potato masher, which also helps to build up your arm muscles. If you’re doing it that way, you’ll want to make sure to finely mince your onions and garlic, as well as heating up (then cooling) your chickpeas to help them mash better. I’ve also experimented with wheat flour, which did not help to hold them together very well, and frying in peanut oil, which definitely gave them a different flavor. I also don’t make them more than once or twice a month, so I’ll usually double the recipe, as they do make very good leftovers.

I love having a good meal. Particularly meals where the deliciousness is inversely proportional to effort. Allow me to give you an example from my own dinner tonight.

1) Take a clove of garlic. Slice off the top and put in a small baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with aluminum foil. Put in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, take a giant loaf of Syrian bread.

A note on Syrian bread. Here in Worcester, you would go to Bay State Bakery for these. Outside of Worcester, you’d probably want to find your own local Middle Eastern bakery. Good Syrian breads will get nice and crispy in the oven, which is what we’re looking for. Your big-brand pita pockets won’t work here.

3) Shread enough sharp cheddar cheese to just cover the loaf. When there’s about 10 minutes to go, slide the loaf directly onto the rack. Check after 5 minutes, though, as you’ll take it out as soon as the cheese is melted.

4) Top with hummus, the freshly roasted garlic, or whatever else piques your fancy!

I highly recommend the roasted garlic.

I like cooking, particularly if it’s a seemingly complicated recipe that requires special tools. Like a blowtorch. Mmm…blowtorch… Last night’s dinner did not require the blowtorch (I need a new one anyway), but I did get out the food processor, so it kind of counts. And it involved frying! Without further ado…Falafel!

In the food processor, take two onions, quartered, and whir them up until they’re at least minced. Toss in four cloves of garlic or so (last night was a six-clove night), and whir a bit more. Large chunks of garlic are okay, as garlic is just magical in its own right. Drain two cans of chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans), and put them in the food processor as well. Let all that mix together for a bit, at least until you can’t see many separate chickpeas.

For spices, now you should add in four teaspoons each of cumin and coriander. Also add in four tablespoons of parsley. Your boyfriend might sneak in a symbolic amount of olive oil (less than a teaspoon), which is okay. Too much, though, and you might as well start making hummus. Mix this all together well, occasionally scraping down the sides. Before you take it off the processor, you can start mixing in flour to firm up the dough. You’ll probably need at least four tablespoons…though I think I used about twice that yesterday.

Roll the dough into 15-20 balls, no bigger than a golf ball, though you’ll want to flatten them a little before putting them in the oil. I use a wok with about an inch or two of olive oil in the bottom, which I heat up while I’m finishing up the first batch of balls. Fry each side for about 5-8 minutes per side. The timing will depend on how big the balls are and how warm the oil is. Either way, they are done once they are golden brown and delicious.

How to eat these treasures? For us, we’ll pick up some real Syrian breads at one of the local bakeries in town. Many times, we’ll go to the Bay State Bakery on Water Street in Worcester, but yesterday we went to Lee’s Bakery on Hamilton Street. Both have equally delicious bread, even more so as they are baked fresh. They also have fantastic hummus. Wrap up the falafel balls with some hummus, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and cheese (feta, preferably), and you’ve got yourself some deliciousness!