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It's raining in Southern California today. Hooray!
We are in the midst of a drought so this is really good news for everyone except my dogs, they don't like rain (probably because it is so foreign to them). Hopefully it won't cause any mudslides or flash floods in the wildfire areas.
How about a hot gooey grilled cheese & tomato sandwich for lunch on a rainy day?
Cooking the carcass for soup the next day makes the kitchen smell like Thanksgiving all over again. The broth is rich and flavorful, and the soup is delicious and not too heavy, just right for after the holiday.
This recipe is All Leftovers from Thanksgiving plus a couple pantry items.
Saute onions, leeks, celery, and carrots until soft, then add garlic and cook for another couple minutes.
Meanwhile add 2 bay leaves to the turkey broth and add pearl barley.
Cook for about an hour until the barley is tender.
Add the vegetables and diced turkey. Simmer for about 10 minutes more.
To finish, add chopped parsley and low sodium high-quality soy sauce.
Salt and pepper to taste.
The 25 lb. beauty, pictured here.
My "Do Nothing" recipe for cooking a turkey:
1. Loosely stuff the cavity with roughly chopped onions, carrots, and celery, lots of butter and salt and pepper.
2. Rub the entire outside of the bird with soft butter and salt and pepper.
3. Put more roughly chopped onions, carrots and celery in the bottom of the roasting pan with enough chicken stock so that the pan does not dry out.
4. Roast at 325 for about 5 hours and leave the bird alone, don't baste, don't cover, just "do nothing" and then marvel at the beautiful bird when it reaches 165 to 170 degree internal temperature.
I believe the secret is to start with a great turkey. This is a fresh Diestel Turkey Ranch Premium Range Grown Broad Breasted Young Hen Turkey.
It's our tradition to serve oysters on Thanksgiving.
This year, we have Tori & Tom's special recipe: Pacific oysters on the grill with a pat of butter, minced garlic, smokey barbecue sauce, a dash of Crystal Hot Sauce, and freshly grated horseradish.
Ooooh! Were these ever good! We could have eaten another 3 dozen...
A special thank you to Tori, Oyster Shucker Extraordinaire!
These oysters are from Hood Canal, Washington."Oysters adore Hood Canal. The water is kept brackish, cold, and oxygenated by the Olympic rivers." Rowan Jacobsen
Cook's Tip: Barbecuing the oysters takes one dish and guests out of the kitchen while you're preparing the big meal :)
The cauliflower soup was served with a vanilla chestnut cream swirl on Thanksgiving.
But for this "Leftovers Soup," I coarsely chopped the leftover roasted Brussels sprouts, heated them in the microwave, and combined them with the cauliflower soup, drizzled with balsamic reduction and a sprinkling of gray salt crystals.
To make Vanilla Chestnut Cream: In a food processor - combine one jar of whole roasted chestnuts, creme fraiche, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Puree until smooth, add water or cream to get the right consistency to swirl into the cauliflower soup upon serving.
Cauliflower Soup: Saute onions, celery and leeks in a good amount of butter until soft, then add chicken stock and cauliflower, cook until tender. Puree with an immersion blender, then season with salt, pepper, nutmeg.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts: Toss Brussels sprouts in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast until tender and the outer leaves are brown and crispy. Toss with a balsamic reduction.
This "nothing fancy" dressing always gets rave reviews.
I make the bread cubes from rustic French loaves, and let the cubes dry out for a couple days, then they can soak up the broth and butter.
Sauté equal amounts of celery and onions and leeks in butter until soft, season with salt and pepper.
Sauté mushrooms separately in butter, season with salt and pepper.
Use an equal ratio of bread to veggies.
In about 2 cups of good chicken stock, melt 1/2 to 3/4 stick of butter.
Toss bread cubes, onion mixture, and mushrooms together.
Pour butter-broth over the mixture, add enough to just moisten the bread.
Add plenty of fresh chopped parsley and sage in a 2:1 ratio. Season and toss again.
Pack loosely in a baking dish, dot with butter.
Cover with foil and bake 30-45 minutes, at 350, remove the foil about half way to get a browned top layer and watch it so it doesn't burn.
Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to All!
We thoroughly enjoyed a bottle of the rich and elegant Sea Smoke TEN 2005 Pinot Noir at Melisse Restaurant in Santa Monica.
Appellation: Santa Barbara County, Santa Rita Hills.
Named after the afternoon marine fog (sea ‘smoke’).
From their website:
The 2005 Sea Smoke Ten Pinot Noir shows deep extraction and intensity of flavor, maintains good balance across the palate, and culminates in a firm, but velvety finish. Aromas of dark plum, black cherry, currants, as well as cedar and a hint of earthiness are characteristic of this wine. 
At Sea Smoke we believe that the vineyard is the wine. For this reason, we produce Pinot Noir grown exclusively on our estate vineyard. 
100% Pinot Noir (Ten Clones, from which the wine takes its name)
We recommend decanting thirty to sixty minutes prior to drinking, particularly if consumed before 2009.
"Burrata is to mozzarella as foie gras is to chicken liver." Russ Parsons
Burrata - fresh mozzarella stuffed with "rags" of mozzarella and heavy cream. It is a regional speciality in Italy, from the area around Bari. It is always served raw, cool, but not too cold, so all the wonderful delicate creamy, sweet, sour, and earthy flavors come through.
Keep it simple!
In a salad: Burrata on freshly made chilled tomato sauce, over arugula dressed with olive oil.
I make the tomato sauce with olive oil heated gently with garlic and red pepper flakes. Then I add crushed Italian tomatoes and finish with fresh basil, and sea salt.
On bruschetta, with high quality olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
A combination I heard about from Valentino restaurateur, Piero Selvaggio. He says he likes his burrata topped with caviar.
So...I gave that a try. Here the burrata is topped with ikura (salmon roe). It was fabulous!
We had a great time learning how to make fresh mozzarella and burrata while attending the Cal Poly Farmstead Cheesemaker course which I highly recommend for those with a passion for cheese.
Burrata tip: use a serrated knife to cut the ball into quarters.
POST post 11/18:
A Burrata Bonus - Burrata Four Ways!
After posting about this delicious cheese, we went to dinner at Melisse Restaurant in Santa Monica. Chef Josiah had burrata on the menu...his was heavenly, topped with an ethereal basil foam.
True Cod wild caught off the coast of Oregon in a Mexican style stew.
The fresh fish is cooked in butter with salt and pepper. Remove the fish from the pan and keep warm.
In the same pan add some olive oil and cook onions, then add garlic, jalapeno, tomatoes, Mexican oregano, lime, and green olives.
White wine is added and reduced, then clam juice and canned tomato with juice is added. Then place the fish back in the pan to cook through.
Traditionally made with Red Snapper (Huachinango Veracruzano), this dish was delicious with the fresh caught True Cod.
'Too Hot Tamales' Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Millikin inspired this recipe. They make theirs with Sea Bass.
One baking dish, so easy and flavorful! Garnish with chopped parsley and chopped smoked almonds. Serve with steamy white rice or crusty bread to sop up the juices.
Prunes, sliced green olives, chopped garlic, dried oregano, bay leaves, olive oil, dry sherry, seasoned rice vinegar, salt and pepper.
Combine all the ingredients in the baking dish, add the chicken thighs and coat with the mixture, then top chicken with a sprinkle of sugar. Bake at 350 until the chicken is cooked and the skin is brown and beautiful.
This recipe was adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini blog and originally came from the Silver Palate cookbook by Julee Rosso (an Alpha Phi, AOE). Thanks for the delicious idea, Clotilde!
Gourmet Peruvian Cookies.
These are Alfajores Finos. The little delectable morsels look somewhat like a macaron but have a completely different flavor.
Flour, butter, milk, sugar, salt. Ha! Five ingredients, unbelievably fantastic! The incredible soft, light texture melts in your mouth. These little cookies are filled with dulce de leche.
I get them from Mama Ocllo Bakery in San Pedro, California. You can too, they ship! 
P.S. I've been away, in Chicago, spending time and cooking with my 3 and 5 year-old nephews. We made funny-face pizzas one afternoon. This is Jett's creation.
I thought of Carol and her love of macarons at Paris Breakfasts blog when I created this post.
