Taste, Taste, Taste

On my way home from Arizona this week I finished reading "The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry" by Kathleen Flinn. In a nutshell, it's about an American woman who gets "downsized", empties her savings, moves to Paris and enrolls in Le Cordon Bleu. It is a great story of not letting anything get in the way of following your passion. I have started realizing over the past couple months that the kitchen is really where I find my bliss. I can't wait for Friday to roll around every week so that I can try something new in the kitchen. I had a great opportunity this weekend to cater Dan's sister, Lisa's birthday party ( I am a gentleman so I will not reveal which birthday it was, although I'm sure she wouldn't mind...)I couldn't wait to get up and start cooking, to chop and roast, knead dough, mix and taste. It's not work to me, it actually is relaxing.(The menu consisted of sweet potato rolls, pulled pork, summer squash & zucchini tartlets, artichoke bruschetta and scallion tarts). The party was great, the food was a hit, and the pomegranate martinis were delicious (courtesy of Dan the mixologist...) You might think that after spending all that time preparing all that food, I would have been done for the weekend. Well it snowed 7 inches in Denver on Saturday night, so Sunday seemed like the perfect day for soup. Sunday morning I started in again...dill pickle soup, chicken nachos and tapioca pudding. ( Knowing how busy the coming weeks are going to be, I even got the house decorated for Christmas). I hate for Monday to come. If you get a chance to read the book, I would definitely recommend it, one of the last paragraphs in the book draws a great parallel between cooking and life...

"As in cooking, living requires that you taste, taste, taste as you go along-you can't wait until the dish of life is done. In my career, I always looked ahead to the place I wanted to go, the next rung on the ladder. It reminds me of "The Station" by Robert Hastings...the message is that while on a journey, we are sure the answer lies at the destination. But in reality, there is no station, no "place to arrive at once and for all. The joy of life is the trip, and the station is the dream that constantly outdistances us." - Kathleen Flinn, The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry.

Halloween is over...stock up on the candy corn

My friend Tara told me about a Candy Corn Martini that she had heard about on the radio. Always curious about finding new cocktails, I did a little research. I made the recipe the way I found it, then made it MY way, which I have to say is much better. It was great for an impromptu Halloween dinner last weekend.

Candy Corn Martini (original recipe)

from Food Network Magazine

1/2 cup candy corn

1 1/2 cups vodka

2 oz. orange liqueur

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 large egg white

Begin by combining the candy corn and the vodka in an airtight container. Allow to sit at least 3 hours. The candy corn will dissolve in the vodka.

For the drink, combine 4 oz. of the vodka, 2 oz. orange liqueur, the lemon juice and egg white. Fill cocktail shaker with ice and shake until combined (about 30 seconds). Pour into 2 martini glasses, garnish with candy corn.

MY Candy Corn Martini

Use the same method for infusing the vodka with the candy corn.

Combine 4 oz. infused vodka, 1 oz. vanilla vodka, 2 oz. orange liqueur, juice of 1 orange, 1 tablespoon simple syrup and 1 1/2 oz. cream. Fill cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Makes 2 martinis.

Here Turkey, Turkey...

Thanksgiving is hurling toward us a million miles an hour! In about 3 weeks we'll be sitting down to the big dinner, stuffing and gorging ourselves until we are miserable. Ah, traditions. I've been eating turkey a lot lately. I eat a lot of turkey sandwiches when I'm traveling because it's easy and I know I feel better when I eat better. I have never (up until recently) been a huge fan of ground turkey, using it to replace ground beef, was never something I thought gave me the same result or flavor that I wanted. I stumbled across a recipe for Cumin Turkey Burgers a month or two ago and have made them several times since. Tonight I had some of the meat already mixed up and in the freezer so I browned it up and made some delicious nachos. Of course you can make them into patties and eat them with all your favorite toppings. You won't miss the beef in these burgers, trust me.

Cumin Turkey Burgers

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

1 egg

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon mustard powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup dried bread crumbs

Mix the egg, jalapeno and garlic in a large mixing bowl until the egg is well blended. Add the soy sauce, Worcestershire, cumin, mustard, paprika, chili powder, salt, bread crumbs and turkey; mix well and form into 6 patties.

Grill the burgers, or cook on stove top.

I add a chopped chipotle pepper to some mayonnaise and caramelize onions to top the burgers.