Tuesday
Nov172009
Can I Interest You In Some Toast?
I GUESS THE TOASTER IS HEADED OUT OF COUNTRY BECAUSE COMMENT #59 IS THE WINNER. LINDSAY C FROM CANADA, CONTACT ME AT MONICABIELANKO AT YAHOO DOT COM WITH YOUR INFO.
All right y'all. I'm cooking up another giveaway here because I like you and I like your comments and so you have to comment to win...wait for it...A BRAND NEW TOASTER! I was totally channeling Bob Barker there.
So I've got a brand-new-still-in-the-box-digital-toaster that can, like, toast a bagel or do the housework for you. It just looks fancy is all I'm saying. And it's General Electric. Which is a reputable company, no? I just mean it isn't some funky brand that is likely to break on you like some of the funky brands are inclined to do. But sometimes? I've had funky brands go the distance and the Sony or the Kenmore or whatever totally wanks out.
Anyway, if you're as stoked about toast as I am just leave a comment about your favorite Thanksgiving dish. Is it the turkey you crave or does that slippery brick of Jell-O just rock your world? Let me know and tomorrow night or maybe thursday morning I'll have Serge draw a number out of the hat (because he's SO good at it!) and that commenter gets a free toaster shipped to their home! Did I mention free? And toaster? TOAST! TOASTED THINGS! There is no limit to the toastiness.
Also, in keeping with the giveaway theme (if I've only done it once before can it be a theme?) here is my current favorite crock pot recipe.
COCONUT CHICKEN CURRY WITH SWEET POTATOES
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 green onions, diced
3 tsp curry powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of ginger, grated
2/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup chicken broth or stock
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
diced cilantro (optional)
Let's begin, shall we? First off, I usually grab three or four chicken breasts and poach them in boiling water for, oh, say 15 minutes, then I let 'em cool and slice 'em up and throw 'em in the crock pot. But have you ever tried to photograph raw chicken breasts? Not as fun as photographing real breasts, I can assure you. So let's just get on with the prettier stuff! Dice two medium-sized yellow onions. Like so:
Oh but wait, there's more! Onions, I mean. Slice up two green onions.
Throw all your onions in the crock pot and let's get cracking on the sweet potatoes. They're kind of a bastard because you gotta peel 'em, like this:
and then cut them into cubes, but man, are they worth it.
Now, grate a small handful of ginger right into the crock pot.
Did you know the super cool easy way to get the garlic cloves out of their papery skins? Just place a couple beneath your knife like so:
And then pound the knife with your fist like you're arguing with your husband and require pounding the coffee table for effect. Thusly:
The garlic cloves pop right out of their little garlic homes like little garlic nudists, see?
And then they're all ready to mince! Mince. That word makes me laugh. It's just so prissy.
Sorry about that last blurry photo but, well, it's hard to photograph and mince with wet hands. All right, all the choppy choppy is done! Now comes the easy pouring part. No, wait! Load in three teaspoons of curry powder! Now! Do it! After all, what is a curry without the curry?
Now just pour in about 2/3 a cup of chicken broth or stock and about the same amount of orange juice. I'm not real precise here with my measurements. In fact, last week I got crazy with the O.J. and it turned out great! Here, I'll show you!
Wait, don't stop now! There's more pouring to do. A whole can of coconut milk. Mmmmm yummy!
Okay, so I lied. You have to slice one more thing! But it's optional. If you feel like it, slice up some cilantro and throw it in! Because I'm not so hot with a knife I sometimes cheat and use scissors to cut the cilantro .
Now just sprinkle it into the crock pot!
Congratulations! You're done. Just salt and pepper and let it cook on low for six hours or so. You'll know when it's done. It looks like this!
Sorry about that black grouty stuff in my counter. It's just there all the time. I clean it a lot, I swear.
Enjoy! Now leave a comment and win a toaster!
All right y'all. I'm cooking up another giveaway here because I like you and I like your comments and so you have to comment to win...wait for it...A BRAND NEW TOASTER! I was totally channeling Bob Barker there.
So I've got a brand-new-still-in-the-box-digital-toaster that can, like, toast a bagel or do the housework for you. It just looks fancy is all I'm saying. And it's General Electric. Which is a reputable company, no? I just mean it isn't some funky brand that is likely to break on you like some of the funky brands are inclined to do. But sometimes? I've had funky brands go the distance and the Sony or the Kenmore or whatever totally wanks out.
Anyway, if you're as stoked about toast as I am just leave a comment about your favorite Thanksgiving dish. Is it the turkey you crave or does that slippery brick of Jell-O just rock your world? Let me know and tomorrow night or maybe thursday morning I'll have Serge draw a number out of the hat (because he's SO good at it!) and that commenter gets a free toaster shipped to their home! Did I mention free? And toaster? TOAST! TOASTED THINGS! There is no limit to the toastiness.
Also, in keeping with the giveaway theme (if I've only done it once before can it be a theme?) here is my current favorite crock pot recipe.
COCONUT CHICKEN CURRY WITH SWEET POTATOES
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 green onions, diced
3 tsp curry powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of ginger, grated
2/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup chicken broth or stock
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
diced cilantro (optional)
Let's begin, shall we? First off, I usually grab three or four chicken breasts and poach them in boiling water for, oh, say 15 minutes, then I let 'em cool and slice 'em up and throw 'em in the crock pot. But have you ever tried to photograph raw chicken breasts? Not as fun as photographing real breasts, I can assure you. So let's just get on with the prettier stuff! Dice two medium-sized yellow onions. Like so:
Oh but wait, there's more! Onions, I mean. Slice up two green onions.
Throw all your onions in the crock pot and let's get cracking on the sweet potatoes. They're kind of a bastard because you gotta peel 'em, like this:
and then cut them into cubes, but man, are they worth it.
Now, grate a small handful of ginger right into the crock pot.
Did you know the super cool easy way to get the garlic cloves out of their papery skins? Just place a couple beneath your knife like so:
And then pound the knife with your fist like you're arguing with your husband and require pounding the coffee table for effect. Thusly:
The garlic cloves pop right out of their little garlic homes like little garlic nudists, see?
And then they're all ready to mince! Mince. That word makes me laugh. It's just so prissy.
Sorry about that last blurry photo but, well, it's hard to photograph and mince with wet hands. All right, all the choppy choppy is done! Now comes the easy pouring part. No, wait! Load in three teaspoons of curry powder! Now! Do it! After all, what is a curry without the curry?
Now just pour in about 2/3 a cup of chicken broth or stock and about the same amount of orange juice. I'm not real precise here with my measurements. In fact, last week I got crazy with the O.J. and it turned out great! Here, I'll show you!
Wait, don't stop now! There's more pouring to do. A whole can of coconut milk. Mmmmm yummy!
Okay, so I lied. You have to slice one more thing! But it's optional. If you feel like it, slice up some cilantro and throw it in! Because I'm not so hot with a knife I sometimes cheat and use scissors to cut the cilantro .
Now just sprinkle it into the crock pot!
Congratulations! You're done. Just salt and pepper and let it cook on low for six hours or so. You'll know when it's done. It looks like this!
Sorry about that black grouty stuff in my counter. It's just there all the time. I clean it a lot, I swear.
Enjoy! Now leave a comment and win a toaster!
Nov 17, 2009
Reader Comments (64)
I'm not a curry fan, but you made this look so delicious! And I LOVE the photos @ each step, like a virtual cookbook--you take such wonderful photos, and especially of food! I love food, I'm a foodie all the way! Which is why I totally love Thanksgiving! Now, I too love sweet potatoes, but my FAVORITE Thanksgiving food is the Cranberries!
I take 1 bag of frozen (fresh) cranberries, half 6--10oz. (depending on how much flavor you want) frozen raspberries, 1 tsp. of grated orange peel, and however much sugar/water it says to put on the back of the bag of cranberries--I believe it's 1c. and 1c., but I don't know for sure. Anyway, boil all day and cook it all together as directed on the back of the bag of cranberries--and viola--an absolutely deliciously scrumptious FRESH Cranberry--Raspberry sauce with a hint of orange! Yum! (Even people who don't like cranberry sauce will like this one--I've tried it time and time again!).
My other favorite TG recipe is Paula Deen's Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie...you can find the recipe on www.foodnetwork.com and oh my is it ever heavenly!!! I don't eat pumpkin pie, but I eat half of this one every time--and every year now, it's EXPECTED of me to make this special (apple butter) pumpkin pie....so go on the website and check it out--super simple and super delicious!
I also have recently come to love Stuffing--I take a boxed stuffing and add sauteed' onions and apples (sauteed in butter, not oil), a pinch or two of ground sage, thyme and a dash of freshly cracked black pepper--stir it all in and bake it! So freakin' delicious!
I'm getting hungry, so I must stop. But, I do hope this helps, I really like your blog--I'm a regular reader!
Good luck and enjoy Violet's first Thanksgiving--we've all got so much to be thankful for! Take care and Happy Turkey Day!
Many Blessings,
-Sarah Liz :)
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is cheesy mashed potatoes. I throw some Old English Cheddar and sour cream into plain mashed potatoes and spend the next year trying to work them off my hips. So good.
P.S. About the cranberries--do NOT boil it ALL day--I meant to put boil it all DOWN....as directed on the bag...sorry for the typo....seriously, please, don't boil it all day...by the way-this cranberry sauce can be served warm (my personal favorite) or cold. The colder it gets, obviously, the more it "sets up"!
-Sarah Liz
hmmm, I'd have to say the cranberries. I used to be a loyal canned jelly fan, but one year just before my 2nd son was born I went all out. I made them from scratch. Ok, I bought the bag and boiled water, but I had to look at the recipe like five times so it was kinda hard. I love eating them raw, picking out the yucky ones as I wash them, and hearing them pop when they hit the sugary, syrupy, bubbly water. So Fun!!
Thanks for the new recipe. I can't wait to try it!
my favorite thanksgiving side dish is wild turkey. not rye. rye is for when you're trying to forget your relatives. thanksgiving gives you no such relief. I tend to go for the traditional in my celebrations. And if there's no wild turkey, I've been known to baste myself in old crow as well. Not as tasty, but it makes the green bean casserole more palatable.
Hands down - my favorite Thanksgiving dish is the stuffing! Oh glorious stuffing!!!
Fave dish is Paula Deen's Cranberry-Pineapple Jello Salad with cream cheese cool whip stuff on top instead of plain cranberries. SO so good.
I am so trying this recipe this weekend. A whole bunch of my favorite things in one pot, yay! Thank you :)
Ok, so my favorite Thanksgiving dish... it's my mother's amazing homemade stuffing. She even cooks it in the turkey which "they" say is far too risky. Scandalous, I know. I always refused it growing up, but then I remember trying it one year after she turned up her nose at the stuffing at the restaurant where I worked. "Too much sage" was her reasoning. After that, I decided to try hers to see what she was talking about. And you know what? She was totally right.
So it's not necessarily a dish, but I most looked forward to these little M&M turkeys my family would make. You get tulle type netting and cut it into squares, put some M&Ms in and tie it with yarn, then insert a little pipecleaner head with googly eyes and a beak on it.
And Serge, if you feel like cheating, I could REALLY use a new toaster...
You need to get yourself a decent potato peeler. Or any potato peeler. Looks like you attacked the sweet potato with some sort of blunt instrument.
I was always a big fan of the mashed potatoes until a few Thanksgiving's ago when I roasted carrots in butter, maple syrup and thyme. Add a little salt and pepper and it's Thanksgiving heaven.
In our family we have this amazing wild rice dressing. Not stuffing, dressing. And I have yet to hear about another person who does it. And too bad for them because it is the most amazing thing ever. My in-laws are going to have it forced upon them when they come to my house this year and if they don't like it, that's cool because it's just more for me.
Many things must be put through a grinder for this dressing and it's kind of a family tradition to have a couple of us sit there for a couple of hours grinding away. A tradition I've told my husband he is stuck with for life.
STUFFING!! I'm sorry, I don't cook much yet so I can't offer any recipes.
You should try scrubbing bubbles bathroom cleaner on your tile. My shower was a mess like that and it was sparkling clean when the bubbles were done with it!!
My favorite Thanksgiving dish was my Great-Grandmother's baked apples. No one in the family has the recipe...I've tried to replicate it but no luck. Have great memories of them though.
I suppose my favorite thing is the stuffing...or maybe the canned cranberry sauce. I love to cook fun stuff, but my family likes the old tried and true.
My fave dish at Thanksgiving is of course dessert...specifically Crunchy Carmel Apple Pie. It's divine.
For the past 14 years or so my extended family has travelled to my Uncle's house in Virginia for Thanksgiving. Since there are so many of us we don't all fit in his house for Thanksgiving dinner so we go out to a country club, which has a buffet. They also have a dessert buffet which is almost as long as the food table itself. It's amazing. So I would have to say my favorite thanksgiving food is the entire dessert buffet.
Mashed sweet potatoes. Nom.
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is the turkey and the stuffing. . . well really all of it. I look forward to this meal all year round!
Traditionally - love me some pumpkin pie. But dear husband, who is from England where they apparently don't have pumpkin, thinks pumpkin pie is just. plain. wrong. (Sigh)
I saw a recipe for pumpkin cheesecake in Better Homes & Gardens that sounds awesome to try this year.
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is oyster/corn bread stuffing. I can eat pounds of it.
I love love LOVE mashed potatoes with LOTS of gravy!! :) I'm drooling just thinking about it!
Cornbread dressing! With lots of sage and black pepper.
Ok I will just trust you that what you made was good, but I probably wouldn't eat it.
But my favorite Thanksgiving dish is Cauliflower Gratin, a la The Barefoot Contessa, google it, you won't be sorry. You make sort of a white sauce with Gruyere cheese, then a buttery crunchy topping, to die for, never any leftovers. Paula Deen's stuffing is the best, hands down! I ABSOLUTELY HATE crockpot dressing, so don't even try it!
I'm a purist I love mashed potatoes and corn...sometimes mixed together haha
This meal looks amazing, I think my husband would love it too.
My favorite is the dressing (or stuffing, we don't stuff a deep fried turkey) and a new dish I've started taking to my family's celebration: Cheesy Veggies. Yum! I can't wait.
Thanks for the giveaway, my kids eat toast every day of the friggin' week, and I think my toaster is about to go caput. :)
Favorite Thanksgiving dish is brussels sprouts roasted in olive oil and a few seasonings, including dashes of angostura bitters. Reading through the comments, Tom R has the right idea with the Wild Turkey. Also? My husband is an absolute off-the-rails toast freak and nothing would make him happier than a toaster that actually does the job (rather than our "vintage" toaster oven), so fingers crossed.
Your crock pot posts are gearing me up to finally break out that crock pot we received as a wedding gift three years ago!
Favorite Thanksgiving dish I'm looking forward to this year (granted I'm 5 1/2 months pregnant and highly anticipating EVERYTHING being served) but I'd say it's the cheesy potatoes casserole.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Kate
My favorite item is actually more of a favorite memory, and something I won't be having this year. I'm feeling nostalgic for my grandmother who used to host Thanksgiving in her little house in Indiana. Every Thanksgiving we had red jello with nuts, dried fruit and a cream cheese topping as our "salad." Every year, for almost the entire three hour drive down from Detroit, my Dad, would complain about the lack of fresh greens for dinner and emphatically state he would not eat the jello. My Grandmother also made wine, one particular favorite was called "White and Wild" comprised of domestic grapes and wild grapes picked along the fence by the farm. She and Daddy would go down to the cellar and polish off a few bottles before dinner, and when my Daddy came up he'd eat the jello salad. Every year.
Man, seems like the majority go for stuffing or cranberry sauce, and I think those are the first things that come to mind for Thanksgiving dinner, but I don't like either and still Iook forward to this day all year long. I think the reason is family not food! If I had to pick something I can't wait to eat thoguh it is either my Grandma's spinach dip or her pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream. You havent had whipped cream til you've had homemade! YUM!
my favorite dish is my mom's home made stuffing. she prepares the dough, puts in a nickel (boiled in water to be sterilized) and bakes it. once baked, the whoe the bread is cut in as many pieces as family members and the one that gets the nickel has the good luck for the year.
the bread gets torn in bite size pieces and is cooked with spring onions, greek oregano and turkey drippings - voila that is the stuffing.
love your and sarge's blogs.
happy thanksgiving
I grew up in southern California and had a great deal of Mexican food infused into my diet as a kid, so as an adult I like to incorporate Mexican cuisine into our regular meals as often as I can. One traditional dish (little known) are these fantastic tequilla-soaked sweet potatoes. They are pan-fried candied yams with a kick...or if I make them, a serious kick. They are the absolute best when made with gold tequillas-- I like good brands like Sauza Hornitos.
I've made them for our friends' get-together as well as for my family event and they go over great...and if cooked long enough they are kid-safe too. I don't reserve these just for the holidays though...they are just too awesome.
I've got to be honest, I really don't like Thanksgiving dinner. Odd enough I know. If I had to choose my favortite it would be mashed potatoes and gravy.
P.S. Toaster would be a great gift as I don't even own one!!!
It has to be the homemade cranberry sauce. The turkey just needs it. Happy Holidays.
PUMPKIN PIE!!! rich creamy yummy goodness. I'm hungry just thinking about it!
the green bean casserole as long as I don't look it because, eewww, it looks disgusting.
and your recipe looks delicious!
Wow, that chicken looks GOOD - I'll have to try it! My favorite Thanksgiving dish is fresh cranberry relish:
1 bag fresh cranberries
1 orange, peeled and seeded
1-2 cups sugar, to taste
Throw it all together in the food processor until it looks like it's the right consistency. I LOVE this stuff - I try to remember to buy extra bags of cranberries in the fall and keep them in the freezer so I can make it during the year.
Sausage Stuffing and Green Bean Casserole for sure! Mmmmm....I'm so excited for Thanksgiving, best day ever, lol.
Stuffing! And mashed potatoes. And sweet potatoes. And pumpkin pie. Obviously, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. That curry looks amaaazing. I'm going to make it.
Hey Monica! Loving the recipe. Mince is a prissy word. My fave Turkey Day dish BY FAR is Chorizo and Cornbread Stuffing. Did I mention that it's made with Bourbon? BOURBON. Love it.
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is "Cream Corn Like No Other"!
I get all Dr. Suess-like with it; "I like it hot, I like it cold. I like it warm. I can it eat it with a spoon. I can eat it with a fork. When the corn meets my tongue I act like a loon!"
I have a question about the recipe, why not just put the chicken raw into the crock pot?
I don't have a crock pot so maybe that's a crack pot question, I don't know?! I would be making this in a large pot on the stovetop and since I am unheard of types of lazy I am thinking that there isn't really a need for poaching the chicken first - is there?
The deviled eggs... I love everything about them... making them... eating them... everything!
BTW - I read your post from yesterday and your comments are off, but I wanted you to know that whatever bigoted idiot took it upon themselves to email you dribble like that should be ashamed. But you and I both know that people like that never see themselves in that light. Personally, I love your blog and your writing. You have a way of putting into words what I've felt about that subject for years, but can't because my family reads my blog. So, anyway, the long and short of that is... KUDDOS for writing what you do when you do it and keep it up!
Well, I think the best dish at Thanksgiving is always the booze. Does that count? After I finish with mimosas, wine, champagne and gimlets I will be needing some toast on Black Friday to help soothe my hangover, just like in college. I'd love to get my hands on that GE toaster! My favorite actual Thanksgiving food requires toast: leftover turkey + brie + cranberry relish on toast. Yum!
I really don't need another toaster, but I love talking about Thanksgiving food, so I'll chime in. I will always love candied sweet potatoes the best, but lately have a second fave: Spicy Southwestern Corn Soup as a first course. Now on to more important things: McCormick Curry Powder? That just seems wrong! Penzeys.com has some great curry varieties. Check it out.
My favorite dish is my mother's cornbread dressing. But my Aunt Kim's homemade mac & cheese runs a very close second. Now I'm drooling just thinking about it.
I love TOAST; but I don't have a toaster :(
My fav Thanksgiving dish is the cheesy green beans, but as I get older and my family gets more crazier I am learning to appreciate the finer art of a light, spiked holiday punch buzz.
I have to say I was chastised into entering by your recent twitter post ;)
I'm a bit of a Thanksgiving grinch. Especially November Thanksgiving, since here in Canada it was last month. But I digress!
I don't particularly care for turkey or that awful turnip carrot blend or brussel sprouts or pumpkin pie. All those big family dinner stand by's leave me a bit cold. Although my sister swayed me a bit this year with an exceptionally juicy bird with crispy skin. mmm. skin. so gross and fantastic and the same time.
SO the upshot is this: my favorite Thanksgiving dish is totally the booze. The pre-dinner beers, the during-dinner wine, the post-dinner bailey's. Yup, booze is my favorite dish. Because I'm just that sad.
BUT to mitigate the sadness, I already have a toaster, but have started the yearly collection for my local food and christmas hamper charities, so, should I be so lucky as to win despite the booze, I will add the bright spanking new toaster to the hamper for one lucky toasterific family this holiday time.
Best Wishes!
HOLY SHIT! TOAST! WOOHOO!
Toasted turkey sandwich, toasted green beans, toasted cranberry sauce...hmmm make that toasted cranberry juice...
my favourite part about thanksgiving is the toast! (no, not that toast...) the toast to the chef(s) because that means it's time to get eating!