Today I was so excited to get the prep started for a number of reasons. First being, I purchased a new cutting/chopping knife at Macy's by Martha Stewart. Wow! Chop, chop! And chop I did! Onions that is; until my eyes were running. Who knew I could be so damn happy to buy a knife? Ah, the simply joys in life.
Second reason for being so excited about the prep; I had a sous chef in the kitchen this evening...and I don't mean Malik. Arron was on hand this evening to help with the dirty dishes, measure out some ingredients and try his hand at making macaroni and cheese. The votes are out until tomorrow on that one.
So here's the menu:
Two Roasted Cornish Hens with Herbs
Rice
Sweet Potato Yams
Braised Collard Greens
Macaroni and Cheese
Sauteed Spinach
Cornbread
and for a beverage; Eggnog
Let me share the ingredients and prep information of what we've accomplished thus far. Since I wanted the cornish hens to ooze flavor and retain its juice and tenderness, I followed Lucinda's recipe to the letter with the omission of one thing...caraway seeds. When Arron and I went to get the last of the ingredients, he frowned his nose at the thought of eating seeds with his hen, so I decided at $3.94 for a 0.5oz jar, and with all else that the recipe entailed, we wouldn't miss it. With that being said, I placed the rosemary, sage, marjoram, thyme, chives, and bay leaves on the chopping board combined to integrate the spices. Once all was mixed together I combined the herbs with salt and pepper (I know, more spices), lemon juice and olive oil to give it a paste like texture. While the herbs were mingling, I cleaned the hens very thoroughly, then patted them dry with paper towels and then proceed to pour lemon juice over each one, inside and out. After they were all juiced up, I rubbed the herb concoction every where, including the inside right before I tossed the lemon rinds into the cavity. I covered the hens, placed them in the fridge and waved goodbye until we meet again in the morning.
Then I got started on the rice. This recipe called Rice and Noodle Pilaf consisted of butter, onions, broken vermicelli noodles, chicken broth and long grain white rice. While my local store (and myself for that matter) had no idea what vermicelli noodles were and Lucinda suggested spaghetti as a substitute, I when with that instead. Don't worry! I broke up the long strands of spaghetti into one inch pieces prior to mixing. Once I had the butter, onions and spaghetti all combined, it was now time to add the rice and broth. Thinking that I could substitute white rice for brown without missing a beat, I was in for a rude awakening. First lesson learned; brown rice cooks at least thirty minutes longer than white. Second lesson learned; don't listen to your husband when you're shopping for ingredients and he tells you it's okay to use brown instead of white rice. "Rice is rice." Needless to say, I had to scrap the entire dish because the brown rice never got tender and the spaghetti turned into mush. So now, tomorrow I'm forced to make that already prepared come in a pouch microwave rice because we have no white rice in the house. Ugh!
On to the sweet potato yams. I've been making this all my adult life so another person's recipe wasn't needed. I peeled my yams, washed them off, then cut them into round disc. After all the yams were cut, I placed them into a 9x12 dish layered at the bottom with syrup, brown and cane sugar, butter and cinnamon. Then again after all the yams were in, I repeated the sweet mixture to coat the top. I tossed those bad boys into the oven at 375 degrees and wait for the sweetness to soak through. About an hour or more later, the yams are soft, sweet and ready to be eaten.
Next up, the braised collard greens. That was very easy to prepare. This recipe called for onions, bacon, red pepper flakes and red-wine vinegar. First I had to clean the greens. I washed them good, removed the stems, then rolled them up like a cigar to cut into strips. That put aside, I had to add my onions, bacon and red pepper to the oil. Since I'm not a huge bacon eater, I substituted the bacon for prosciutto. Yup, I sure did! What a twist right? Having learned just recently that prosciutto is just a fancy name for ham and bacon is the same thing, I figured it couldn't hurt. I fried that all together until the onions were soft and the ham was beginning to render its fat and crisp up. Y-u-m-m-y! Fifteen minutes later, I added the greens. I tossed that around for a minute then added the vinegar to slowly be absorbed by the greens. Another fifteen minutes later, the greens were tender and flavorful with a kick. Nice!
For the duration of my yams and collard greens preparation, Arron has been on the sidelines all the while preparing his own dish. His macaroni and cheese called for butter (of course), pepper, elbow macaroni, evaporated milk, regular or skim milk, eggs, salt, garlic powder, extra sharp and monterey jack cheeses. I wasn't watching the process, but I can tell you the end result looked absolutely delicious. He had to stop me and Malik from taking a fork to it. Tomorrow I will render my verdict.
Since the spinach only takes about five minutes, and because Arron likes it raw, he decided to wait until tomorrow to prepare it. And because you can't make cornbread the day before and expect it to be all hot and buttery, I waited on that. So instead, we decided to make our very own eggnog. That's right! We made it from scratch. Milk, sugar, eggs yolks and heavy cream are the ingredients that makes up this holiday staple. Bourbon was also an option, but I like my eggnog sweet, not spiked. I have to admit, this recipe is better prepared with two people. Constant whisking and pouring is made much easier if help is present. Plus, when the mixture starts to look more like scrambled eggs and less like eggnog, you'll need that companion to tell you all the reasons why you thought this was a good idea to make in the first place. Like the mac and cheese, I can't tell you yet how this one came out because instructions dictate to let it cool completely, then refrigerate until chilled. Tomorrow I'll have that and all the recipes prepared to share as well. If you can't wait, go the www.marthastewart.com and type in each dish name in the search box.
Until then, Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Rochelle
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