Clean Out The Refrigerator Soup


Perfect for a few days after Thanks-eating. If you are like me, the fridge is driving you crazy. Gotta get rid of it all. By now you have had turkey sandwiches, leftover dressing, eaten all of the pie…..and are ready to chuck it, or make something good.

Here is a great soup recipe for ya!

Cut up the rest of the turkey, bones and all. Stick it in a big assed pot. Add a couple of leftover onions, the rest of your celery and a few carrots you have sitting in the bottom of the fridge. Cover it with water and simmer for a few hours. Now, go and throw away any dressing, leftover banana pudding, and cranberry sauce that is still sitting around. Trust me. It ain’t no good no more.

Now, strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve or china cap, and save the liquid and the turkey meat. Throw the rest of the stuff away.

The next step is to go dig in your refrigerator. See if you have any more onion, some garlic, any carrots or celery left. If you do, cut it up and begin to sautée it in a pan with a teaspoon of olive oil. Add it to your strained stock and turkey meat. Now, really start diggin’. Even check out your freezer. Look for leftover rice, boiled potatoes or pasta. Scourage around for some leftover peas, corn, or mushrooms. Some green onions, and some macaroni or noodles would be good. Use what you have and your imagination! Add some parsley and/or fresh basil.

Simmah.

Now, did you have any leftover wine? Didn’t think so. You are soooooooo S.O.L.

Just grab a loaf of French bread and dig in. This is especially good if you got sick as a dog the day after Thanks-eating and haven’t been able to eat since. It might cure what ails ya. I’ll let you know.

A Recipe for Happiness

Family, Friends and Good Food are the perfect ingredients for happiness and fun! It was a great Thanksgiving!!! Now......we're officially in holiday mode!

Tid Bits

Grandbabies arive in 10 minutes, so no blogging tonight! If you don't know what you're having for Thanksgiving, well, Gawd Bless Ya. Just don't go and buy a frozen turkey on Thanksgiving and throw it in a 400 degree oven, with the giblets still in the paper in the neck, like my friend Rebecca did.

You life and your reputation will suck. I will make fun of her until the day she dies.

Grandma Fifi's Oyster Dressing

Holy shit. I AM Grandma Fifi! How the hell did I become a Grandma??? Shut up. I know. I shouldn't have had kids at age 4.

Anyway, this is my favorite dressing. It is my husband's favorite. It is my friend's favorite. It is everyone's favorite that likes oysters. At my house this is a tradition. Although I do make Peachy's Chicken and Dressing just to appease the folks that need a good southern fix.

Grandma Fifi's Old Fashioned Oyster Dressing

Heat up your oven to 400 degrees. Butter up a 13X9 inch pan. Load it on. Shit, it's Thanksgiving and don't whine about calories. In a large sautee pan heat up about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. When it is hot, add about a cup of chopped onions and 1/4 cup of chopped celery. Sautee for 2 minutes.

Add 2 cups of small diced eggplant and 1/4 each of chopped red and green peppers. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Season the shit out of it with kosher salt and cayenne pepper. Add about 5 cloves of chopped fresh garlic and 1/2 cup of chopped green onions. Sautee for 2-5 minutes on medium heat. Stir in 1- 1 1/2 lbs of chopped shucked oysters. Sautee for 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Chop up the oysters if they are really large.

In a mixing bowl, whisk 1 cup of oyster likker,( "liquor" for the Fancy folks) 1/2 cup of dry white wine, 6 eggs, and a quart of heavy cream. Yes, this is "to die for" fattening, but this is is Thanksgiving. If you eat this everyday, shame on you. If you deprive yourself of this 1 day a year, shame on you.

Put the sauteed mixture into the bowl with the cream and mix well. Stir in 4 - 6 cups or more of day old French and Sourdough breadcubes. You want a nice moist consistency. Have your bakery cube it for you a few days before Thanksgiving. Reseason with salt and cayenne. Add some chopped up flat leaf Italian parsley. Pour the dressing into a nice casserole dish.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and add a generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. or until it is set in the center.

Remove from oven and let it set and cool for about 30 minutes before serving.

This is the BOMB! if you love oysters, Thanksgiving, and great food!

Plus, I've heard that oysters make you sexy. We could all use some sexy. ;)

Tid Bits

Take the little bit of extra time you have today and tomorrow to chop up your veggies. Onions, bell pepper, celery, carrots etc. will keep really well if sealed in a really tight zip lock in the fridge. It will cut your prep time in 1/2 on Wednesday and Thursday! And, it makes cooking more fun if the prep work is already finished!

Get a lot of it done ahead of time so that you can party with your friends and family!

Holy Hell

I don't have time to post this....but I must, if I am loyal to y'all and worth a shit as a food blogger. I don't want to take a bucket of guilt to my grave. I am working my ass off from now until Thanksgiving, and I have to cook when I can. Remember, I do most everything from scratch. I HAVE to do a soup for Thanksgiving. Fall = Soup. Period. The soup I made tonight makes me want to slap the crap out of someone's Grandma.

This is not easy, but it is not hard. It is just time consuming. Get a bottle of wine, and prepare yourself for the aroma that will escape from your kitchen.

Butternut Squash with Sausage and Wild Rice Bisque

Heat up your oven to 400 degrees. Peel and seed about 4-5 lbs. (3-4) Butternut Squash. Cut it up into 1" chunks. Toss the chunks in a bowl with a few tablespoons olive oil and some kosher salt. Line a baking sheet or two with foil and roast for 45 minutes to one hour. Blow your nose, because you want to smell this stuff really good! Remove it from the oven and cool completely. Put it in a really large bowl and add about 3 cups of chicken stock. Puree it with a boat motor hand held blender, or put it in a real blender in batches. Puree until smooth and set aside.

Have a glass of wine.

While your squash is in the oven cook 1 1/2 cups of wild rice in 5 cups of chicken stock. Heat the stock first, with 1 cup of chopped onions, then add the rice. Simmer for about an hour. Remove the rice and spread on a cookie sheet to cool. Line it with foil so the cleanup is easy and you don't have to scrub the damn pan.

Get about 5 ears of corn and cut the kernels off of the cob. Cut up about another 1 1/2 cup of onions and add to the corn.

Now, heat up a few tablespoons of olive oil in a stock pot. Add 1 1/2 lbs of chopped up smoked sausage. Sautee for 3 minutes. Add the corn and onions and sautee for 3 more minutes. Add some kosher salt and cracked pepper. Add 6- more cups of stock and the Butternut Squash Puree and the rice. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Now, of you are making this way early, like I am, cool to room temperature and freeze until the day before you want to serve. If you are making this to eat ASAP, then add 2 cups of half and half and a tablespoon of flat leaf parsley leaves. Serve. If you freeze it, add the 1/2 and 1/2 and parsley after you reheat it. Don't freeze if you are serving this less than 2 days before you make it.

A dollop of goat cheese in the center when you serve, will be amazing!

This soup will make you famous. Trust me.

This is easy Gor-met soup that will impress your friends and enemies. Especially your enemies. ;)

Corn Machoux

Tired of holiday casseroles made with Cream of Crap Soup? I am. Or, was. I haven't had Cream of Crap anything for about 10 years. What the hell is in that stuff, anyway? Here is how to have an amazing veggie side dish that is not only delicious, very easy, but is gorgeous, too!

Cajun Corn Machoux ( Ma-Shoe for the Yankees out there)

Get a bunch of fresh ears of corn. I don't know how much....how many are you going to feed? 6-8 ought to do it. Cut it off the cob and put in a large bowl. Scrape the cob to add that wonderful sweet corn milk. Dice up a green bell pepper, a orange bell pepper, and a red bell pepper. Add to the bowl. Chop up an onion. Add. Chop up a few green onions tops included. Add. Chop up some garlic. Guess what?.....ADD! Finely chop a few jalapeno peppers. Add. Slice a basketful of those baby tomatoes in half. Add. Chop up some flat leaf parsley. Throw it in. Now, optionally you can add some fresh asparagus tips, some diced zucchini, or any other veggie you are in love with. Stir it all up in the bowl.

On a side note, if you are extremely industrious, you can grill the veggies before you assemble. The grill marks make it really cool!

Melt some butter in a large dutch oven. Add your veggies, and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Add a small amount of chicken stock, just to give it a bit of liquid. Cook until the veggies are cooked, yet still crisp. Now, some Cajun cooks would add some heavy cream and reduce it slightly, but I don't because it is yummy just like this and I don't need the calories anyway.

This is awesome! It is delicious, colorful, fresh, healthy, and you won't be duct taping it to your ass like you would with a Cream of Crap concoction topped with deep fried fake onions.

5 days until Thanksgiving!!!

Tid Bits

The Beaujolais Nouveau came out yesterday. KICK ASS! Fun times! Fun times! Not a wine to discuss.....just enjoy! Drink now! Party at my house.........

Gobble Gobble!

Time to start thinking turkey. There are 3 types. A Broadbreasted White....this is the kind most found in typical grocery stores. Think turkey with a boob job. They are bred to offer more white meat, yet the flavor is lacking and can be very dry. Similar to your typical bimbo with size 38 E's.

The next kind is a Free Range Organic. Think of these turkeys being raised in San Francisco. They are natural, roam around a lot, and like to hang out with other turkeys of the same sex. Ok. I'm kidding about that part. Organic free range have more flavor and no hormones, etc.

The next is a Heritage Turkey. To me, these babies have the most amount of flavor and you simply cannot screw them up unless you are on crack. These turkeys are the elite of Turkeyville. They have never been frozen.

I always brine my bird. Brining imparts the most succulent meat, and always gives you a juicy bird. Think of it as putting your turkey at a day spa for 2 days before you place her in the oven.

Here is my brine recipe:

Dissolve 1 cup of salt and 1 cup of brown sugar in a large container. I use 2 huge thick garbage sacks (one inside the other) placed in an ice chest. Chop up 2 oranges and 2 lemons. Throw them in the bag. Now add 6 sprigs of thyme and 4 sprigs of rosemary. If you have a big assed turkey ( not your husband, Silly) add 1/2 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of brown sugar for every extra gallon of water. You are going to give your bird a bath in this stuff.

Rinse out your bird and remove all of the guts from his neck. Reserve that crap for gravy if you want. Soak the turkey in the bag, in the brine for 24 hours. I just lay it in the ice chest, tie it up real good so it doesn't leak, and put a bag of ice on top of it.

When you are ready to cook your bird, remove it from the bath, rinse it out REALLY good, and pat that baby dry with a turkish towel. OK....paper towels will do.

Place the turkey breast side up in a roasting pan on a rack. Rub the boobs with orange segments and butter, stuffing some butter under the skin. Get your husband to help and make stupid jokes. Season the outside with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with onion, orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Hey! Now I know where Simon and Garfunkle got the idea for that crappy song they sang! they must have been making turkeys together...or maybe they were turkeys....I dunno.

Tie the legs together with kitchen string. Now, flip that bird over. (hehehe!) Breast side DOWN! Add some white wine to the bottom of the pan. Roast for 1 hour. Then, flip it back over and baste every hour with the stock.

Put the grocery store bird in the oven at 325 degrees and roast until it reaches 165 degrees internal temperature. Stick the thermometer in the thick part of the thigh, but do not touch a bone. I roast my Heritage bird on 275 to 300 degrees for a longer time. I want it to cook slower.

I can't tell you how long to cook the thing because I don't know how big of a bird you bought. I prefer 2 smaller birds over a very large one because it will be more flavorful if you need lots of meat. Just get it to 160-165 degrees.

When your bird is the right temperature take it out of the oven and tent it with foil. Let it rest for about 30-40 minutes before carving. Actually, you may take the bird out at 160 degrees, because it will continue to cook while it is resting. Do NOT overcook this sucker!

You will have the moistest, most flavorful turkey you have ever eaten. Trust me.

Tid Bits

Go to the store today or tomorrow for all of the basics you will need for next week. Butter, cream, seasonings, cheese, brine crap, and stuff like that. This weekend is going to be HELL in a grocery store and Monday and Tuesday will be even worse. The less you need to pick up the better. Also, if you are getting a frozen turkey, buy it today or tomorrow and let it defrost slowly in the refrigerator.

And today is opening day for Beaujolais Nouveau!!!! Haul your ass to the wine store while you're out. Cheers!