Stuffed Turkey Breast with CHAMPAGNE VINEGAR BROWN SUGAR SAUCE and a CONTEST!

Whew, Lot to cover today, so hold on for the ride, it will be worth it!

First up... Today is a fun day for me. I have been asked to be a guest poster at OUR KRAZY KITCHEN (That you can reach by clicking HERE)! As part of my My Wife's Boss is Coming to Dinner - Sucking Up for a Raise Menu - Thanksgiving Preview, menu, I made this original recipe, a wonderful little Vegetable and Cheese GALETTE with Balsamic Vinegar. If you click the Krazy Kitchen link, you will see that recipe in all it's glory. And before I get accused of it, let me admit that I am breaking rank with my hairy knuckled Neanderthal meat fire cooker brothers and posting that recipe on that site just to show off to the girls (and a few guys) who are REAL cooks. I feel honored to be asked, and wanted to show off a bit. So, please follow the links and take a look at their group effort site. And if you like what you see, get involved. I might have found a group I can be a part of. So thanks Tamy, I hope you like what I did.

And next... I was recently contacted by O. No, not "that" O, but O OLIVE OIL (Which you can reach by clicking HERE). O Olive Oil is the original maker of organic CITRUS-CRUSHED Olive Oils and premium Barrel aged Wine Vinegars. I was given a sampling of their extensive product line, and was asked to "PLAY - ENJOY - WRITE/BLOG AWAY". Well, while waiting for my shipment to arrive, I took a look at their website for details about their company... Oh My is all I can say. These are artists in the art of oil press and aging vinegar. For details, click this link for the process an Abruzzese olive mill that crushed lemons along with the olives creates. From the humble beginnings, they have been recognised by OPRAH (yeah, that O), Bon Appetit, Gourmet, magazines, as well as Good Morning America, The Tyra Banks Show and the New York Times as perfect products!

The good folks at O Olive Oil have provided me a gift box of their FALL COLLECTION (pictured above) of products to GIVEAWAY. The collection includes 1 bottle each of their O Zinfandel Vinegar, O Blood Orange Olive Oil, O Porto Vinegar. "Imagine roasted beet salads with chunks of insalata ricotta cheese. A $38 value"! I love contests, and you can read the details about how to win at the bottom of this post...

OK, I promise that tomorrow I will post all about my POMEGRANATE CAJUN INJECTED BUTTER BASTED TURKEY, worthy of serving to your Mother-in-Law (or your wife's Boss). But I wanted to post a recipe I made with one of the vinegars that I was sent by O OLIVE OIL today in order to launch the giveaway contest.

So, here's what I did to show off their product...

I made a HUGE bird, 20 pounds. I carved one breast for the Bosses' dinner. I was able to save the entire other breast to use for a turkey leftover recipe! I carefully removed it intact so that I could do amazing things with it...

But first, I leapfrogged out of my comfort zone, and for the first time ever, your humble hairy knuckled neanderthal host... MADE A STOCK!

Here's what I did to make the stock...

I stripped as much of the meat as possible from the bones. I busted them up in order to fit into the crock pot. I added some vegetables, carrots, garlic and red onions. I also added a bit more Cajun spices (two tablespoons). I filled the pot with as much water as would fit (it ended up making 8 cups) Turned the crock pot on medium and let the smells fill the kitchen!

8 hours later, I removed the big pieces, strained the stock and fast as you could say, "Bob's your Uncle", I added a new cooking skill to my growing list of things I never knew I would do in the kitchen before I started blogging.

And here's what I did with some of the stock...

I took 1 cup of the stock,
added 3/4 cup of a flavored vinegar. If you are trying to replicate this recipe, a rice wine vinegar, a quality balsamic or even some cooking wine can substitute. But I was lucky enough to have been sent a bottle of O OLIVE OIL's O Champagne vinegar.

"O champagne vinegar

Our most popular vinegar. O Champagne vinegar sparkles with crisp, light and dry accents celebrated in regional California champagnes. Barrel-aged in white oak. Timeless aging and evaporation removes the bubbles and enhances the brilliant complex flavors. $12"

I added the O Champagne Vinegar to the stock, and
added 4 tablespoons of brown sugar, and heated and stirred to a soft simmer.

I added a teaspoon of fresh spices, thyme and rosemary (I didn't have any parsley or sage, but I sang the song anyway). I let this simmer while I worked on the stuffing for the turkey breast.

I made a simple red pesto... In my mini chopper, I put...

1/2 a short pour jigger of the O Champagne Vinegar (since it is a liquer based oil, I used liquer measurements, but for the non drinkers in the crowd, about a half a short pour shot, or half an ounce)
1/4 cup red pepper
1 Tablespoon pine nuts
1 basel leaf
half dozen twists of peppercorn ground

I split the turkey breast, in the middle I put a couple of slices of provolone cheese (my favorite cheese to cook with), and topped with the red pesto. I then topped with the second half of the turkey breast, and topped with a few more slices of provolone.

I then poured the hot O Champagne vinegar/stock/brown sugar mixture over the breast.

in a baking dish, covered just about 1/2 inch of the breast.

This is to be cooked just to warm up. You are adding moisture to the breast, but overcooking will certainly dry the breast out... in the oven, cook at 300 degrees for about 45 minutes and the cheese will be nicely melted and the breast warmed completely.

But I didn't do that...

I needed my oven at higher temperatures for other projects, so I fired up my gas grill and used it as an oven. I set it up for indirect grilling and (because I know the heat zones of my grill) I raised the dish up an inch over the grill by putting an upside down dish under the cooking dish. You may not need to do this to use your grill as an oven. I have a 4 burner grill, so I just turned the two outside burners to low-medium, leave the middle burners off, and it works great to reheat this.

I was all done with that sucking up to the boss nonsense of the night before, and invited our fun neighbors Herme and Jim over for dinner (they brought the wine - whoo whoo)!

While everything was cooking, we popped open a bottle of O clementine olive oil that the good folks at O OLIVE OIL had also sent me... I just poured a little into a dish, and served it up as a bread dip (have i ever mentioned I am a master bread baker?). I had some of the Fugasse bread left over from the night before! WOW, what a great flavor! The process the O people use involves crushing the olives and the citrus together. Much more than just a flavored infused oil.

"O clementine olive oil

Limited production. The sumptuous taste of fresh mandarin olive oil. A flavor sensation when mixed with O California White Balsamic for the perfect vinaigrette. Sweet & tangy.

Perfect for summer salads & fresh crab. Absolutely delicious mixed with O Cassis vinegar brushed over grilled chicken with black sesame seeds. $18"

Back to the Turkey breast...

And here is the finished product!

Stuffed Turkey Breast with
CHAMPAGNE VINEGAR
BROWN SUGAR SAUCE

Very moist and full of wonderful flavors!

Served it up with some left over savory bread pudding (that I moistened with some of the turkey stock... have I mentioned that I am now a master turkey stock maker?). I will be blogging about the savory bread pudding in a few days...

Must have liked it, this is all that was left after the four of us dived in. Bet you my lunch today is better than your lunch!

The sauce really flavored this up a lot. Different from a gravy, it ads zest to the leftovers instead of just moisture, With all the flavored vinegars coming into the market (as well as mail order from O), I will be making this (or a version of this) again this holiday season. the sauce is perfect for leftovers, or to spice up a turkey breast if you don't go to all the trouble of making an entire bird.

OK... Contest time...
3 ways to win!
3 prizes to win!!!

I LOVE these products. Quality will show, and I was inspired to create something special with them. O Olive Oil has been very generous in offering not just one gift, but three combinations of their oils/vinegars. So, I will be offering three ways to win...

First, I will be running a similar contest at OUR KRAZY KITCHEN (That you can reach by clicking HERE)! Follow the link, follow the rules about posting a comment on that site and you double your chances.

Next, on my site, just follow the link I am posting to the O OLIVE OIL HOME PAGE (that you can reach by clicking HERE). Surf around and see what they are all about. take a look at their about us page, and especially enjoy their "crush" page where you can really see the quality and difference they put into their product. Finally, head to their products page and follow the links on the side to see all the different items they have for sale. then come back here and just make a comment about which is your favorite product. Everyone who leaves a comment on this page listing a product that O OLIVE OIL sells will receive an entree into the contest/ I will assign each entry a data base number, and use WWW.RANDOM.ORG to pull a virtual number out of a hat and let you know who won! This contest is open to US and Canada only (sorry to my very loyal reader in Saudi Arabia). You can get a second entree if you become a "follower" to my site (those little pictures of faces at the top of my center sidebar). If you are already a follower, just drop me that message in my comment section.

One more time, here is what the winner wins...
The Fall Collection
3 bottles in an attractive gift box

O Zinfandel Vinegar, O Blood Orange Olive Oil, O Porto Vinegar.
In a decorative gift box
Imagine roasted beet salads with chunks of insalata ricotta cheese. $38

Good luck to all!

Oh wait... that's just two ways to win (comment here, comment on OUR KRAZY KITCHEN, I promised a third...

How about a ...

RECIPE CONTEST!

The good folks at O OLIVE OIL COMPANY want to see what you might do with their oils or vinegars. Now, you do not have to list an original recipe, simply comment here a link to something you have posted in the past. It can be a magazine recipe, original or great grandma's recipe. It can even be just an idea for something you might like to try. I will forward all these ideas to the vice president of O OLIVE OIL and he will decide which recipe he would most like to see made with any of their products. Please leave these comments separate from the comments you made above so I can keep track. The comments must be attached to this post, and are only open to residents of the US or Canada. Again, no need to post the recipe on my comments page, just send me a link to what you have posted previously. If you have not posted, you have a week to post and get the link to me. Or, you can comment with just your idea of what you would like to do with their oils.vinegars. One hint I should pass on from O - remember these are mostly finishing oils and do not do well when heated—the citrus portion tends to dissipate under certain temps. Though our blood orange does well on roasted fowl and grilled seafood so often it depends on the recipe/use. Jalapeno lime does great on grilling veggies so...depends. That’s what makes it fun to experiment. The vinegars, of course, are another thing. They are great for reductions, for punching up soups/stews, adding flavor texture to most any thing. Experiment. Play. Enjoy.

Feel free to submit a recipe post on this site AND submit a recipe on the OUR KRAZY KITCHEN site. There will be only one winner from both sites, but this way you can enter twice to double your chances. If you have any questions, drop me a note. The contest closes at midnight, next Friday, November 13th, and a winner will be announced over the weekend. It will take just a few days longer to announce the winner of the recipe contest...

Oh yeah, the winner of the recipe contest will receive a gift box of your choice of one of the seasonal box collections...

fall collection O Zinfandel Vinegar, O Blood Orange Olive Oil, O Porto Vinegar.
Imagine roasted beet salads with chunks of insalata ricotta cheese. $38 value

or

spring collection O Ginger Rice Vinegar, O Jalapeño Lime Olive Oil, O Citrus Champagne Vinegar. Early spring fish tacos with crunchy slaw will sing with these exotic flavors. Crumble feta cheese in there for the Wow! $38 value

or

summer collection O Champagne Vinegar, O Meyer Lemon Olive Oil, O Pomegranate Vinegar. Perfect for late summer heirloom tomato & garden lettuces. $38 value

or

winter collection O Sherry Vinegar, O Ruby Grapefruit Olive Oil, O Porto Vinegar. The Ruby and Porto in this gift set will dazzle home chefs gathered around warm fires with crusty bread & brie. $38 value

And now... Good luck to everyone!

My Wife's Boss is Coming to Dinner - Sucking Up for a Raise Menu - Thanksgiving Preview

As long time readers know, my wife has this inconvenient day job. It gets in the way of a lot of my plans, but it gives her a special purpose, so I tolerate it. Going along with the inconvenient day job is her boss. Actually, as bosses go, Jackie and I really like this woman. Led an interesting life, and is fun to be with.

Well, we get together a couple times a year for dinner, and yesterday I decided was a great chance to enjoy their company again... But it made me ponder, what dinner menu planning (and executing) is more fraught with pressure than hosting dinner with the boss???

And then it occurred to me... Someone, somewhere out there in the world, hundreds of cooks are hosting their first Thanksgiving dinner, sure, that's a lot of pressure, but what if it was the first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner for your Mother-in Law? Now that is pressure. So, I decided to preview a possible Thanksgiving meal with the dinner party for my wife's boss (and her husband) for any potential Mother-in-law hosts.

What would Thanksgiving be without a Turkey? I decided to smoke mine, so it was up at dawn to get this 20 pound monster on the cooker. I will blog the specifics soon...

Back in October, I blogged about my ALL VEGETARIAN MEAL. For that meal, I made an appetizer dip with eggplant. You can read all about this recipe by going HERE. How to GRILL WHOLE EGGPLANTS for Eggplant Dip - Steven Raichlen is a terrific recipe that is perfect for a milling about having the first glass of wine time. I have already blogged about this and you can follow the links above, but only change I made was rather than grilling, I smoked the plant... Came out GREAT (those slits are filled with garlic...yum).

Stuffing with turkey is VERY overrated. In fact, many a meal is disappointing BECAUSE you stuff the bird with the dressing. When done right, it is fine, but there are two problems with stuffing. First, if you stuff too full, the air flow needed to cook everything through is restricted. So your stuffing will not reach critical temperature (165 degrees). That means potentially poisoning your mother-in-law. While no jury would convict you, it will dampen the family spirits for every future Thanksgiving. Your other problem is the opposite of stuffing too full, and that is to have too much air flow, making your stuffing overcooked and dry by the time the turkey is done.

So, instead, I usually cook my dressing in the oven in a side pan. But for this dinner, I experimented and came up with a savory bread pudding, made with buttermilk and pork sausage ( the reason I am showing two different pans, one of my guests can not eat pork, so i made a savory bread pudding without meat for him. I will absolutely be blogging this recipe in the next couple of days.

And here is my wife's bosses' husband, who can not eat pork. But, I insisted he have a little pig. And, you will be pleased to know that I will not be making another post about my Fugasse Bread making skills (which are legendary in my own mind). If you are interested, you can click HERE for the recipe. But, it is a terrific bread for making shapes... Like this pig face!

But I did like the pig faced bread so much, I am showing it twice...

I invented a recipe...

A Cornmeal Vegetarian Galette (fancy name for Tart, which is just a less fancy name for a little pie).

Everybody.... OHHH AHHH, and I will be blogging this recipe soon as well (with a surprise twist)

For potatoes, I used a modification of my Bacon Wrapped Grilled Potato Boats with Goat Cheese and Asparagus that you can check out the details by clicking HERE. These I smoked instead of grilled, and I will be making a post about them as well.

And I am now a master candy maker, as I made homemade truffles (Caramel-pumpkin pie) for dessert. And you know that I am so full of myself that I will make this post about my first attempt to make candy!

So, there you go... 7 courses, a meal fit for a king (or your wife's boss, or your first attempt at a hosting your mother-in-law for Thanksgiving). Stay tuned for the details, they will be coming in the next few days.

Three wine bottles in the trash, maybe I cooked and served my way towards a raise for my wife. Someone had a good time!

Hot Apple Cider & Brandy Toddy for around the firepit

OK, two days ago, I told you all about Halloween in the Cul de Sac, from the kiddies (and the cats) point of view. And yesterday, I told you about the cheesecake my wife made for the adults after trick or treat weenie roast party (scroll down a post to see that work of art). Today, I will fill you in on my contribution to the after party...

A cool fall night (about 45-50 degrees), a roaring fire, and an evening spent with little crumb crunchers begging for candy ... Sounds like a drinking opportunity to me.

So, here's what I did...

128 ounces of Apple Cider (there were about 12 of us)
24 shots of brandy (1 shot for each 5 ounces)
half a dozen cinamon sticks,
an orange, cut in half and squeezed a little (I used the orange that was left when my wife made her zest for the cheesecake)

Bring it to a soft boil, and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

Strain, put into a couple of Thermoses, and let the party begin!

Hard to believe, but someone in the neighborhood took a video of us all after a few sips of this...

It went great with cheesecake!

Day of Rest - JACKIE's Citrus Zest CHEESECAKE

It's another chance for your hairy knuckled neanderthal host to take a day of rest, as my wife Jackie shares her sainted Grandmother's recipe for cheesecake...

You may recall when I was bragging about my recent cake decorating success that I mentioned my wife has a few chops in the baking department. Here she is (to the left) with a recent wedding cake she made for friends (love is lovelier the second time around... And she is is good luck, as all her cake couples are still married)!

Here's the finished product (above) we took over to our neighbors house on Halloween. Once the kiddies are done trick or treating, the adults in the neighborhood without kids at home gather in Tom and Lucia's back yard for a weenie roast and a chance to bitch about the state of children these days... dag gum em' little whippersnappers ought to be more polite... Dad gum em', back in my day, my pa would have tanned my hide, and that's the trouble with kids today, dad gum em'

But I digress, here's what she did...

Everything by scratch, this girl... First the crust...

mash up 1 and 1/2 cups cinnamon graham crackers...
add 2 tablespoons sugar (add another 2 tablespoons if using plain graham crackers)
add 2 tablespoons very softened butter

Mix well
She has those fancy spring sided cake pans, which she sprayed with a spray canola oil.

Then she mushed the graham cracker things into the bottom, but she has a tip...

Use the bottom of a flat measuring cup to get a flat even layer.

Bake this crust for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow it to cool, while you...

Start mixing the goop of the cake...

20 ounces (2 and 1/2 packages) of softened Cream Cheese
1 cup sugar added gradually as it mixes on slow in MY (we started fighting over ownership) beloved Kitchenaid mixer
also add 1 tsp grated lemon peal
and 1 tsp grated orange peal
and finally, three eggs one at a time

Mix well...
And then pour into the cooled baked crust bottom

"Be happy in our work"

Gloop, Gloop

Then bake at 300 degrees for one hour...

Then let it cool in the fridge for at least three hours.

Next, spread 1 cup of sour cream around the top...

Remove from the fancy springform pans

Make homemade whipped cream from heavy cream, perform a miracle and get it to come out of the can like my wife claims she did while I was napping.

Add lemon and orange zest...

And if you love your husband, add even more zest cause that's the way he likes it. That makes up for trying to pull the canned whipped topping gag on me when I was sleeping.

Tah TaTa TAAAA

Let those young whippersnapper neer'do wells eat their snickers and Candy Corn... I get cheesecake!

And you can get cheesecake too... or at least more pie and cake recipes from my wife if you leave a comment of encouragement. Cause I deserve more days of rest!

And tomorrow, I'll blog the recipe for what I took to the party... Needless to say, Dave and Jackie will be welcome anytime!

Halloween in the Cul de Sac

There is a special place in purgatory reserved
for people who dress up their cats.

Lots of pictures coming, but short "Dick and Jane" captions...

My normally calm passive fat cat Eng, shows how happy he is with a full display of claws flared

So we took off the hat and had to split his old costume in order to make him a pumpkin. Sigh, I can relate.

Chang and Eng, a pumpkin and a bee! And additional time in purgatory for me.

One happy family! Eng hangs his head in shame, and Chang curses me and my children's children.

And then we set up in the driveway, Eng was sick of it all, and we let him escape to the safety of under the bed, Chang helped hand out treats. My wife was in charge of candy, and Chang and I handed out the bling (Those little glow stick necklaces that make the kiddies safe).

You will have forgotten her, but this is my neighbor Kylie, who loved my Chocolate covered bacon.
And this is Kylie's dog HERCULES. At least Jackie and I will have friends and neighbors in that special corner of purgatory.

My favorite costume of the night, as one of our neighbors has had a series of surgeries over the last year, She had to come as a patient, while her husband came as the doctor... Devil is in the details, heavily padded butt showing through the open back robe, and the catheter bag filled with (she claimed, apple juice). Good humor on the street! And it was great to see her so happy and healthy and HAVING FUN after the long difficult year they have had.

Anyone want to see a post about my talented wife's homemade cheesecake with lemon and orange zest she made for the neighbors post trick or treater weenie roast???

This was a great night all around. I love my neighborhood, and you'll hear more about that night tomorrow!