There was entirely too much loss in my world last year, starting with my nephew Tim, I wish you could have all known him, such a wonderful young man and from the day we layed eyes on each other when he was born we had a bond, I miss him terribly. I also lost my best friend a few weeks after Tim, Noreen and I met on the day Martin Luther King was killed and we formed a tight bond that lasted until the day she left us, everyone could take a lesson from her in living an honorable life and the true meaning of friendship and loyalty, I will be missing our midnight call tonight. Lastly we lost my husbands aunt Helen a few weeks ago, she was my absolute favorite in his family, she was a strong woman who made her way in this life and raised her three children to be fine educated people on her own, she loved my husband unconditionally and we loved her, we spent many, many times laughing so hard we would all cry, it is sad to realize her laughter is no more.

Hold your loved ones close and tell them what they mean to you in your lives, and may we all have a good new year filled with many blessings. May you all enjoy great health and hapiness in the coming year!

Mattie

Brined Turkey

I am a really big fan of brining a turkey. It helps to ensure a nice moist bird and adds nice flavor to the meat. I usually brine mine for 24 hours before they are roasted. To make my brine I use:

2 cups of sugar, preferably light brown

1 heaping cup of kosher salt

2 tablespoons chopped sage leaves

2 tablespoons thyme leaves

1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon cracked peppercorns

1 tablespoon crushed garlic

5 bay leaves

1 large onion cut in quarters

Put all of the above into a saucepan with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil, continue to boil for 5 minutes then take off the heat and allow to cool. Unwrap the turkey and wash it well, put the turkey into a large insulated cooler and pour the cooled brine mixture over it. Fill the cooler with a large bag of ice and then more cold water to cover the turkey. Close the cover tightly and place in a cool place, replenish the ice as needed so the water stays very cold. Brine the turkey for 24 hours. When ready to cook, remove the turkey from the brine and rinse it well under running water, place the bird on a rack in a roasting pan and follow your normal recipe to cook it.  For my turkey at this point I mix up some butter with a bit of the same seasonings I used in the brine (minus the sugar and bay leaf) and place it under the skin on the breast and leg areas then roast it at 325 degrees until it is done. Always allow your turkey to rest when you remove it from the oven for at least 20 minutes so the juices don’t all run out when you begin to carve it. I’ve been brining my birds for over 20 years now and it really does make a difference in the birds moistness when it is cooked.

Shrimp Po Boys

Tonight we had a little departure from our normal type meals. I was going through the freezer and noticed I had some shrimp in there that we had gotten a few weeks ago and also had some of the long rolls I had made, I took them both out and decided to make us some shrimp po-boys for dinner. I don’t normally serve a lot of fried foods but I was in the mood for some tonight so finding these in the freezer worked out nicely. I didn’t bother taking out and filling the large fryer that I have, I just used a large saute pan on the stove top to cook these, frying them took all of about 3 minutes as they weren’t the huge shrimp we usually get. The rolls I had made  and blogged about 2-3 weeks ago were just perfect for them and one roll was shared between hubby and I, it hit the spot and served with a few potato chips on the side was more than enough for each of us…….and no, I didn’t make fresh potato chips for this, but I have at other times.

                                                  Shrimp Po-Boys

1 pound of medium to large shrimp, shelled and de-veined

1/2 cup corn flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 egg white mixed into the milk

shredded lettuce and sliced tomatoes

deep fat fryer or saute pan with 2 inches of oil in it, heated to 325 degrees

Check over the shrimp for shells  and place them into the milk/egg wash. Mix the all purpose flour and the corn flour together in a large bowl, add the salt and pepper to it and mix well. Pull the shrimp from the milk wash and put into the flour mixture and shake together to coat the shrimp, remove from the flour and set aside while the oil heats in a pan, when the oil is hot (325 degrees) put a layer of shrimp into it and fry for approximately 3-4 minutes, depending on the size of your shrimp, let them get to a nice medium brown, remove them and drain on paper towels. Cut a long roll in half and place a layer of shredded lettuce and a few tomatoes on the bottom, cover with the fried shrimp and some mayonaise or tartar sauce, close the top over and enjoy!

Roasted Chicken Ravioli

See the picture above? Doesn’t that make your mouth just get ready for a great dinner? Well it did us! Unfortunately it was terrible, well at least to us it was. I should explain why………Last night we went to Sams to pick up a few things for our Labor Day BBQ and I spotted these ravioli in their case, the package said Roasted Chicken and Cheese Ravioli……YMMMM….ravioli is one of our favorites and I have made roasted chicken ravioli from scratch before, it takes quite a bit of time and these in the case looked so pretty we decided to give them a try. I am trying to make some things this week that won’t be on our BBQ so we get some variety this week. Today I took two chicken breasts out of the freezer and seasoned them then let them sit to defrost, I figured I would make a quick dinner of the chicken breasts and some ravioli all baked together with some mozzarella. The pasta being what the store labels as “fresh”, although how fresh could it possibly be when it has an expiration date more than 30 days away, would only take a few minutes to cook, mixed with some home made sauce and cheese and then baked for a few minutes and topped with the breasts that were sauteed on the stove top. It was a very simple dinner to plan and cook and was done in under 30 minutes and it looked so pretty and appetizing when I brought it to the table. We each took a portion and hubby took a bite and didn’t say anything, he just gave me a funny little look. I asked him if it was alright and he still didn’t say anything but took a few bites of his chicken. I cut one of the large ravioli in half and took a bite, it was quite nice I thought. I ate a bit of my chicken breast and noticed hubby hadn’t touched his ravioli again, I cut a second ravioli in half and took one half up on my fork, as I took the first chew of it I almost choked…………it was nothing but raw garlic stuffed inside the pasta. Now I should say hubby is not fond of a strong garlic flavor, me on the other hand I like the taste of a bit of garlic and if you have been reading this blog you know I do use it and hubby eats all the foods I use it in. Neither one of us however are fond of raw garlic and especially not fond of getting a mouth full of raw garlic stuffed into pasta that is supposed to be filled with chicken and cheese. Hubby finished his chicken breast and dumped his ravioli in the trash can…………me on the other hand cut into each one of the ravioli and found that they were all different, some were indeed what the package acclaimed them to be and others were just filled with a bit of cheese and then others with nothing but raw garlic, in any case I think the manufacturers need to get someone on their quality control issue with these, we sure won’t be buying them again and tonights dinner was a real bust for us. Thank goodness I didn’t serve them for dinner tomorrow night as it is our 40th anniversary and hubby would have thought I was trying to get rid of him, he just ate a bowl of cereal to make up for his non existant dinner. If you really love the taste of raw garlic you may want to try these from Sams, they are in the refridgerator cases (not freezer cases) near the fresh meat area.

Roasted Chicken Ravioli

Best Ever Rib Roast

Tonight we had what we have all agreed is the best rib roast I have ever made! What made it so good? A new to me technique I came upon quite by accident. If you have been reading my posts then you know that we were very lucky and a local store had whole rib roasts on sale at quite a low price, we had picked up two of them and they were cut into steaks and roasts, this was the last of the roasts. I had forgotten to take it from the freezer and put it in the fridge last night so it could defrost. I remembered I was supposed to make the roast today at about 1 o’clock and took it from the freezer and placed it on the counter with the hope it would at least defrost halfway before I had to cook it. At 3 o’clock it was still frozen rock solid except for about a quarter inch on the outside, I was now in a panic as I had nothing else handy to prepare. I went ahead and seasoned it and put it on a rack in a shallow roasting pan while I heated the oven up to 400 degrees. I know there is a technique some use where they start the roast at a high heat and then lower it for a long cook time and I have used it with great results but today I didn’t have the luxury of time on my side. I put the roast in the oven and left it at 400 for 2 hours then shut the oven off and left the roast in there for another hour, in the meantime I searched for my digital thermometer, which I never did manage to find. When hubby got home I took the roast out of the oven and hoped for the best, I did tell him that I might have to finish cooking our dinner in a saute pan after it was cut into steaks, he was ok with that. I got the green beans ready and cut the potatoes open and then took the meat and my carving knife and cut the first slice……….it was a thing of beauty! It was done with a crispy outside and a beautiful pink inside, but the best thing was how moist it was, it was tender and just melted in our mouths. The time it had spent sitting in the oven with the burner off had done a wonderful job of keeping the juice inside and making the meat so tender. This dinner was a resounding success and this is my new technique for doing a rib roast. The roast tonight was about 2 1/2 pounds and did not shrink at all as far as I could tell.

Best Ever Rib Roast