I have nothing intelligent to say about Thanksgiving...

...except that last year we covered our turkey with an entire package of bacon (having stolen the idea from our brother-in-law) and it was so wicked good that it's a do ovah. Yeah, the gravy did taste like cured pork but I didn't care.

The only change in this year's stuffing (Pepperidge Farm with mirepoix) is the addition of dried chanterelles.

The rest of the menu is standard - squash with maple syrup, mashed carrot and turnip, lumpy mashed potatoes (I don't like white food unless it has lots of texture) and pumpkin pie ala One Pie canned pie filling. No green vegetables allowed, especially green beans with those canned fried onions.

Maybe I'll Just Get a New Fridge....

I play racquetball. I work out with a trainer. I ski at least a couple of days a week. It's not enough. Maybe if I get a 5 inch icebox I can exercise more portion control. Maybe I should just get my jaw wired shut. Take this weekend for example: Friday started out ok with a bowl of cereal and yogurt; scrambled eggs and a small dish of yogurt for lunch after I came back from skiing; steak, baked potato and salad for dinner, with two diet cokes and a beer. No dessert. Saturday rolls around and the skiing blows because Friday's mush turned into Saturday's death cookies (see, I even compare snow to food) and we come home early. I get bored, and the caloric shit hits the fan. It starts out pretty tame - I start the brisket for a traditional New England boiled dinner and then think about lunch, a nice, simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I forgot to bring the bread, so I make a batch of biscuits, and we devour the entire batch with butter and blueberry jam. Then I make peach cobbler for dessert that night and have leftover crumb topping (mmmmmm...crumb topping....can't waste that) so I make a quick coffee cake from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook for Sunday breakfast. After a movie I finish preparing the boiled dinner, eat that and devour 1/4 of a huge pan of peach cobbler with Ben and Jerry's Vanilla. Hey, it's Vermont. I didn't have any New Hampshire Ice cream on hand.

Sunday Morning it's pouring rain, but we decide to go out for a few runs anyway, thanks to gore tex. But not before consuming half of the entire coffee cake. Lunch was leftover brisket, peach cobbler for a snack, too full to eat dinner, then Geoff makes a batch of peanut butter cookies. I ate a bunch of them. Yep. My name is Evelyn, and I'm compulsive in every way.

Maybe it's not the fridge...it's the damned oven.

Stewing in November

I don't care what Auberon Waugh thinks, I like stew in November. Here are two that aren't too fattening and have big flavor:

Lentil and Wild Rice Stew with Sage



Chop and saute 2 medium onions, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 cup of carrots and 4 uncooked sliced sausages in some olive oil in a heavy pot. If you are using cooked sausages, like the low fat chicken sausage that I use in this dish, then just brown and hurl them in when you put in the lentils.

Add a cup of Red wine to deglaze and 1/2 cup of dried mushrooms like chanterelles, and 1 dried chili pepper like a New Mexico or Ancho, chopped up. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Dried mushrooms add a richer flavor to this stew than fresh - at least I think so.

Add a box of Pomi chopped tomatoes, 1 cup of wild rice, a jumbo can of chicken broth, 1 tablespoon of sage, 1 teaspoon of fennel seed and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg.

Simmer for 1/2 hour, then add 1 1/2 cups of small lentils - I used some festive mixed lentils that I got at Sid Wainer. French lentils would work well too. Add the chicken sausage as I mentioned above - only if it's fully cooked, but be sure to brown the slices before putting them in.

Simmer for another 1/2 to 3/4 hour until the lentils are soft and the wild rice grains have split. Add salt and pepper to taste.


Chicken Chili (Sort of)


I don't know if this is a Tex Mex Chicken Stew or Chili, but it tastes good.

Toast 2 ancho chili peppers and 2 chipotle peppers in a 450 degree oven for about 6-8 minutes, or until puffed up. Watch them carefully so they don't burn.

Remove the seeds and grind up the peppers in a spice grinder or food processor. The chili powder doesn't have to be super fine, about the texture of kosher salt works.

Brown 6-8 chicken thighs in a heavy pot, then remove chicken and set aside.

Add and saute 2 chopped onions, 3 poblano peppers, 1 serrano pepper and 3 minced garlic cloves until soft.

Put the chicken thighs back in the pot and add two small cans of tomato paste, chili powder, 1 teaspoon of Epazote, two teaspoons each of cumin (or more to taste, I like cumin) and coriander.

Simmer for 1/2 hour then add 1- 1 1/2 cups of shoepeg corn (frozen is fine) 3 small sliced summer squash or zucchini and 2 cans of black beans, rinsed.

Simmer for another 20-30 minutes, or until squash and chicken are tender. Garnish with green onion and grated cheese and serve with corn bread.

Hauling Home the Cookbook Booty

I went trolling for cookbooks today and scored big.


First stop Jeanne's Attic on Pleasant Street in Laconia, NH - a cool shop with reasonable prices and lots of mid-century modern goodies. I made a larger purchase at Country Tyme in Belmont, but the shopping experience was less satisfying. They advertised a storewide sale, however when I whipped out the credit card I was told that I could only have the discount if I paid cash. How tacky and crass. One price for everyone, I say.

So here's my loot (the rule is to not pay more that $15 unless it's unobtainium - I do try to keep purchases under $10):

The prize has to be The Entertaining Book by Teresa and Auberon Waugh. It's caustic, funny and the illustrations are lovely. It still doesn't make up for not having Waugh on Wine which is over $200 when I do manage to find it. Live in hope, die in despair.


The Blue Strawbery Cookbook
autographed by James Haller, the man who put Portsmouth on the culinary map. I pick up this one and Another Blue Strawbery Cookbook whenever I find them because they make great gifts.

Two by Craig Claiborne: Kitchen Primer,
a good present for beginning cooks with charming illustrations
and Cooking with Herbs & Spices.

Another choice for beginners is The Kitchenware Book

Gadabouts Cookbook & Travel Guide highlights all the cool restaurants in the Upper Valley, even Claude's, my favorite Killington restaurant and Powderhounds, which is, alas no more. Geoff will just have to settle for the recipe for cold peanut and sesame noodles on page 155.


My last stop was Borders Books, and though I hate to pay retail I could not pass up New Hampshire From Farm to Kitchen by Helen Brody.

I knew some of the locations featured including the Swain Farm in Sanbornton and Hillside Farm on Turkey Street in Chocorua. Yep, they raise turkeys there. My brother gets a fresh one from the Pughs every Thanksgiving; humane treatment of the birds and natural processing make a significant difference.

The recipe for Cucumber Salad with New Hampshire Fried Horned Pout made me all nostalgic - I remember when my brother and I would walk down to Woody's dock and catch the mean, cranky old things, which were considered inedible at the time. Now that catfish is popular I may have to rethink Horned Pout, especially if it's fried in corn meal.